Primos Bi-Pod

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SDHillbilly

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Hey guys
I am currently preparing for my first Deer Hunt with a rifle. Over the past couple of months I have become proficient on paper from a bench, 2 weeks ago I knew I had to get going on actual hunting positions and purchased the Primos Bi-Pod shooting stick thinking this was the way to go. Well the bottom line is I am struggling, side to side movement is horrible. Has anyone else experienced problems moving to this type of equipment.
 
Bi-pod shooting stick? Stick implies one and Bi denotes two. If it's a bi-pod, there should be little lateral movement.
 
My mistake, it is indeed a bi-pod. Is there anyone familiar with this system, it is a trigger activated telescopic system that stretches from around 3' to 6'. I thought it would be ideal for kneeling shots as well as the standing position.
 
If it's Primos Brothers branded it's built cheap for the Wal-mart market. It might work fine for a while but it won't last long before it breaks.
 
Do you have a sling allowing you to combine a "hasty sling" (google it if you're not familiar) hold with the bi-pod?
 
Does Harris make any 'long leg' bi pods? I agree about their quality but a 12 inch high bi-pod does not meet the OP's need of field shooting from kneeling or standing over potentially medium to high brush.
 
When I first started deer hunting on foot, I knew that my range work from a bench would not translate well to field performance. Accordingly, I bought all manner of shooting sticks and bipods and such to use as surrogate rests. When actually afield, I determined that, for my purposes and how I hunt, they all just sucked. :)

I found that shooting sticks were a pain to carry around, the collapsible ones often rattled and were slow to deploy, and generally the sticks didn't give me much real lateral stability. Bipods were worse - they were heavy on the rifle, bulky, awkward to deploy, and in many cases only useful when prone (which usually means losing sight distance, and in north Texas often means flopping down in a bunch of prickly pear or sharp rock).

In the end, I found that shooting offhand or kneeling for shots out to 90-100 yards worked best for me (especially since shots tend to be fast) and finding improvised support objects in the field was best for anything longer. I shoot from the knee a lot, and can drop to a knee and steady the rifle forearm/support arm on the weak side knee pretty dang fast (even for an old guy). Shooting from the knee is about as laterally stable as the long bipods/short shooting sticks, doesn't cost anything, doesn't increase the field load, and is a whole lot faster to get into.

If I'm stalking a herd that's doing a midday feed, then I'm using curve of the ground and scrub vegetation to my advantage. That usually gives me a bush or tree or something against which I can pin the forearm of the rifle, and that's plenty steady both laterally and vertically for most shots. If I really *do* need to go prone, then I can always use my pack or local objects as a forearm rest if I don't want to trust my prone position technique.

My point is that I have learned that it's better to figure out how to shoot from real field positions rather trying to take the range with you into the field.

Just food for thought.....
 
Rbernie: very good points! I wish I could get better at shooting from the knee but just can't seem to get stable. I do ok standing, better sitting, and best prone but prone is usually useless in the powerline fields or woods of ME, so I've made a set of 'shooting sticks' from two tomato stakes and some thin nylon rope lashing. They are adjustable by sliding the lashing up or down, get good traction on all ground types I encounter, and so far seem to make for much more stable shooting than I can manage on my own. As to the weight, I use them as a walking stick when closed which seems to work well and allows for quick deployment if necessary. I'm still thinking of picking up a tri-pod shooting rest to see if its even more stable. Maybe I'll focus some "off season" time on improving my unsupported shooting with my .22.
 
Thanks for some of the advice given. Since I posted the original message I have been dry firing quite a bit off the shooting stix and seem to be bringing the lateral movement under control, we will have to see the actual results next time I shoot. I would love to take the advice of forgetting about the stix and just shoot off the knee or off hand, but a few years ago I had some health issues that resuted in a bit of nerve damage resuting in tremors and I just dont think off hand is going to be possible.
 
I've been through the gamut on shooting rests, I've tried bipods, tripods, monopods, shooting sticks, slings, skyhooks, fair dust, magical spells and any other assortment of gadgets that you could think of.

For the most part I agree with rbernie with a few exceptions. I will always carry a Harris bipod on my rifle when hunting certain species such as coyotes and pronghorn these are two hunts where I will be either shooting a long distance in open country with no natural rests available or I will be seated to call and the bipod in addition to being a good rest makes for a handy way to store a rifle while outside calling. I will not carry a bipod on my rifle if I am walking much at all as they ruin the carrying characteristics of a rifle not to mention they kill the balance and the ability to swing a rifle or shoot it off hand.

If and only if I know that I will be on high spot still hunting I will carry a bipod into the field in a back pack and put it on once I am in position. There is no denying that a bipod is one of the most solid rests available IF you have time to deploy it and the terrain permits it's use.

Inside of 300 yards however I find that I am adequate enough with field positions to get the job done and I'll usually have enough time to find a tree or a stump or something to rest on if needed.

Standing shooting sticks DO NOT give the stability you need outside of about 100 yards IMHO UNLESS you have a way to rest your trigger hand elbow then they get dramatically better.

Just my $.02.
 
I will not carry a bipod on my rifle if I am walking much at all as they ruin the carrying characteristics of a rifle not to mention they kill the balance and the ability to swing a rifle or shoot it off hand.
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This is a key observation. Bipods make the rifle carry and swing like a soggy fencepost, and catch on brush as you walk. I really like the idea of carrying the bipod in the ruck when hunting open areas, and putting it on when you get to wherever you're going to set up.
 
H & H your observation of the trigger arm needing the rest is exactly the problem. As I said I have been dry firing quite a bit and have discovered that if I use my non trigger hand on either the butt stock or even on the bicep of my trigger arm the stability that I am looking for is coming around. I know this sounds fairly convuluted but I will see how it goes this weekend.
 
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