tripod for rifle

What is the best set up for a rifle tripod? which clamping system which tripod any experience?

Edit:I've been corrected

The owner of this company posts on here a lot:

Reaper Rest

You are going to be hard pressed to find a better rest that will allow the use of standard style rifles along with AR styles with 30 round mags. This rest is great, very easy to use, and paired with the right base is unbeatable

any insight on the hog saddle? how would it compare to the reaper rest?

That seems astronomically over priced. $310 for a clamp. Idk, I didn't spend too long on their website after I saw that, but it looks like about $20 worth of material. The reaper rest seems like you get a lot more for the money.

theres not a lot of price difference in reaper and hog saddle. Which one does the best job? I think I could build a hog saddle

Thanks for the kind words guys...... The hog saddle is definitely quality gear. It's kinda hard to do a direct comparison between the the hog saddle and our reaper but we will be coming out with a grip style platform and a rail platform in next couple months. All of these attachments will be interchangeable with our mounting system. The price to set up of a hog saddle with same capabilities (pan/tilt) as the reaper is around $200 more. The hog saddle comes only as an attachment, you still have to buy the mount which can be expensive for a quality one. Probably the most important question is what type of shooting do you plan on doing. Hope this helps.

I need more education. I thought the hog saddle would mount direct to a tripod?

The hog saddle can mount directly to a tripod but without a headmount, you won't be able to lock your rifle in at your desired angle (shooting downhill/uphill). I think you'll would be selling the hog saddle or any quality rest short if you placed it on an inferior camera mount. That's largely the reason we put our rest on our hinge block that we designed for shooting rifles from vs expensive mounts designed to pan/tilt cameras.

Ok now I see how yours work.

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5618744/1

The review I wrote after spending nearly two months with the Reaper Rest. The most impressive shots I made from it (impressed by the rest) were seated on the deck and hit my 5" square at 500 yards, and standing I hit the 16" square at 800 yards. No way could I consistently do that unsupported (no rest).

I use it almost weekly to hold my rifle spotting for students on the range. I forsee lots of dead coyotes while I'm using it in the future.

reaper is the best out there. I also think the tripod is just as important as the rest itself. Some are good for mounting your Chrono but for a rifle, heavy duty is better.

Depending on your budget. Who would have ever thought you can spend up to $600 on a tri-pod with the rest.

I bought the Bog-Pod rest and used it with the regular weight Bog Pod Tripod. It worked "OK" would have been MUCH better with a heavy weight tripod. My rifle weighs about 8lbs, the barrel weight would almost tip it over if I wasn't careful.

If you will use it exclusively, Get the Reaper and just cry once.

You definitely get what you pay for.

It was very steady but not as "lock down" sturdy as the Reaper with a heavy bi-pod.

+1 on the Reaper. It can be used on any gun and is super simple to operate. Even gonna loan it to a friend so he can use it for his kid to shoot a turkey out of a blind this year. I'm sure I will be posting some pics later.

Thanks for the replys. I do like the looks and reviews of the reaper. The one question that I have is this, since the rifle is not attached to the rest? if I need to stalk several yards to shoot pigs I have got a rifle,a tripod and rest,as well as a thermal spotter in my hands. How mobil will this set up be? Is there anything better suited? I was leaning toward a hog saddle because the tripod and rifle become one thing to carry as opposed to two. Am I right or wrong?

Even with the hog saddle, you will probably have to break down your tripod and rifle. Unless your only moving 5-10 yards. In that case you could do the same thing with the reaper. Truenorth, a THF member, does a lot of spot and stalk on hogs and has good success utilizing the reaper. There are several other options out there like primos trigger stick tripod but they won't give you near the stability, versatility, or allow you to go hands free while in your stand.

Does everyone agree on the manfrotto 055 for the tripod?

The reaper rest was very impressive at JG and Chad's shoot. Even being a lefty I found it was easy to operate, I'm trying to convince a customer to let me get him one to mount to his high rack I'm building.

Definitely a solid tripod.

Also, another thing to think about. The Reaper allows 2 points of contact on the rifle (front and back), where the saddle only allows for one point of contact (in the middle).

OK Manfroto 055 on the way. I am now leaning toward the reaper. Any objections? other suggestions

can I borrow it?

Maybe a stupid question but is there a reason not to use one of the carbon fiber tripods? Seems like the weight savings would be nice.

Used both, reaper is an all in one mounting system. Also easier to clean out the axis's on the reapers' built in head.

Reaper + tripod. Go shoot.
Hog saddle + ballhead/or/pan head + tripod. Go shoot

Lots of good tripod's out there. Used a couple different one's on my reaper. In the end it's same as using a tripod for spotting scope, heavier it is more stable platform you will have. I also suggest tabs over twist locks.

You every try to glass with an 80mm spotter on a CF tripod with not weights on bottom? It's not a very stable platform. There is a hook on the head extensions on the tripod for a reason. To add more weight.

You could use a carbon fiber tripod with hog saddle or reaper but it's counter productive

I am using the Manfrotto ball grip head with the Larue adapter. It is designed for a tripod but I use it on a pipe fence solid mount.

https://www.manfrotto.us/grip-ball-head-ergonomic-handle-and-friction-control-wheel

http://www.larue.com/larue-tactical-picatinny-rail-adapter

Makes good sense. So whats the preferred tripods to use. I know the Reaper Grip folks use the Slik tripods and they look awesome. Is there some reason the Manfrotto is a better tripod or one way or the other. I'm already sold on the Reaper Grip as the head unit.

My daughter just turned 6 and has fired 5 times at 5 live animals. She has 4 animals down and 1 clean miss with 5 shots fired. HOG Saddle is expensive... but it's far cheaper than a gut shot Axis/Fallow/Anything Else.


I've used the HOG saddle, and the less expensive PIG saddle. If you don't desire weight savings... get the PIG saddle. I can't comment on the REAPER (I've never used it).

As far as tripods go... see below...

If you desire to save weight and require a stable shooting platform... I recommend GITZO + Acratech (any other quality ball head would work, but I really like the acratech). I am not at all impressed with the lighter weight tripods from any company except GITZO. Most everyone makes stable 'big tripods,' but GITZO is the only company I found that offers lightweight tripods that I would trust.

If weight savings isn't a priority... Most heavy duty tripods (with multiple leg positions) will be fine. My Vortex Skyline is great. My GITZO mountaineer size 1 is the best of all worlds.

The field pics above are all HOG Saddle + Vortex Skyline + Vortex Fluid head.

The HOG Saddle + Gitzo + Acratech combo is new. It's first trip to the field is this weekend...

Whats that Gitzo tripod run? looks like a pretty nice one.

The traveler can get up in price. Think 700-800 plus. I came upon one and really like it. It does struggle if you put something heavy being top heavy, but I just hang my bag off the clip in the coloumn and it's fine.

Below is silk. I've used manfrotto and vortex. All about same when weights are equal

Tripod get expensive the higher end components that are used like carbon fiber. So price point wise your lower price points tripods will suit you just as well as high end ones. Remember you don't need a head with the reaper so make sure it's not a combo tripod/head unit.

nice kit. I'm going to get the same. Is yours the medium or heavy slik?

One more thing to consider before choosing a tripod. Look at the 2 different styles of leg locks below...





When the tripod is strapped to your frame pack... The 'lever-style leg locks' (like my Vortex skyline) can open (and allow all 5 ft of one leg to deploy) when walking through thick brush. The tree & brush limbs will pry open the lever lock. This is unbelievably annoying !!!!!!! It happens at least once per day when I'm hunting in the TX hill country and I've not yet become tolerant of it. I still get pissed every time it happens.

I prefer to strap my rifle to the right side of the pack. If you are left handed (and strap the rifle to the left side of the pack) the tripod legs are 'less likely' to deploy if the tripod is 'head-up' and strapped on the right side of the pack.

The GITZO style leg locks are known to lock up (slight rain + freezing temp) and become unusable. I rarely hunt in conditions which would allow this to happen... and I also rarely extend the legs. (I prefer to glass sitting down).

There's no perfect system.

Really Right Stuff tripods are the cats meow, but Lordy Lordy, they are pricey. I have both a pig saddle and a reaper. The reaper get more range time, but I haven't figured out how to remove it from the tripod, so I can mount my spotter when doing load development.

Anyone played with taking a reaper off of the slick tripod?

Anyone use the Caldwell Field Pod??
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Caldwell-Deadshot-FieldPod-Max/1947900.uts