Quick bipod question

[Nightcrawler]

The Harris bipod seems to be the most popular aftermarket bipod for rifles these days. There are also others like the Versa-Pod.

So I have a question.

Why do these bipods, when folded, have the legs fold forward? This way they stick out in front of the rifle, and would be a pain in the butt when hiking through the bush.

Wouldn't a bipod that folded rearward (like most "assault bipods") be more useful?

I saw a picture (on this forum) of a Palestinian with an M16, featuring a Harris-looking bipod. Except the legs were folded to the rear, and someone commented that it was backwards.

Is there any reason you can't mount a Harris or similar bipod as such? Do they lock open when extended, or will having them fold rearward cause the bipod to fold up on you when moving around in the prone (if you were to slide forward)?

EDIT: Here's the picture:

 

[SRYnidan]

Nightcrawler

No real reason you can’t mount it that way if you want to.
There are a couple of reasons you might not want to.
First the legs don’t really make for a comfortable forend.
Second the legs will lean back under recoil if the are facing foreword (guess with a poodle shooter it wouldn’t matter that much).
Really comes down to what do you want.

 

[heypete]

I think that Bad Guy put the bipod on backward.

I prefer the legs flipping forward, as then I can "lean into" the shot without worrying about the legs suddenly folding up.

Then again, I use the bipod for moderate-range 100-300yd .30-06 shooting out of a bolt rifle, rather than combat-style use out of a semi. Leaning into the shot gives one a bit more stability when a sling is neither available nor suitable.

The Harris bipods do not lock in either deployed or folded positions, but the legs can be locked in the "extended" or "retracted" position.

 

[warth0g]

Maybe you asked about only harris bipods, but here is some of my experience with Versa-pod. You can fold the versa pod either forward or backward. You can also very easily take the versa pod of the rifle while going trough thick bush or similar. It slips on just as easily. The one thing I dont like about Versa pod is that the rifle can be somewhat "woobly" with it, when standing on the legs on the firing line, it have toppled over for me a couple of times, with change of POI resulting from it, lesson learned, dont leave the rifle standig on the bipods, unatennded.

Warth0g