I want to mount a bipod to my ar15 but there are so many options. What do you guys run or suggest. Btw my bipod is a cheapo Blackhawk from Walmart.
Bipod mount
- Thread starter mzvarner
- Start date
I'm in a similar situation with my REPR but I don't think my selection will help you. I'm looking at either Atlas or the Harris modified by LaRue. Well over $200 for either.
I would welcome comparisons of those two.
I would welcome comparisons of those two.
Thanks for that very constructive advice. Not everyone has the money to throw down $100-300 on a bipod. For me I feel that my money would be better spent on an optic or ammo
Yea send more of your hard earned money to America's largest importer of Chinese crap.
My semi auto is not a precision rifle or any where near it. Jut a stock S&W M&P 15x. I would love am atlas but can't afford it. Thanks choover I will look into the wmidwest industries.
The Atlas and Harris with the necessary direct-rail-mount upgrades are arguably the best, but if you just want to keep the damned Blackhawk and mount it on the handguard rail of your MP15x, there are a whole host of "cheap" swivel-stud mounts like the following that can be had for ~$30 or less.
See here:
BIPOD RAIL ADAPTER | Brownells
or
PICATINNY RAIL BIPOD ADAPTER | Brownells
I personally don't endorse or recommend any of these methods over buying good gear to begin with, but if you are on that tight a budget and don't want to spend good money on better gear, the adapters above will at least be of equal or better quality as the Blackhawk bipod.
See here:
BIPOD RAIL ADAPTER | Brownells
or
PICATINNY RAIL BIPOD ADAPTER | Brownells
I personally don't endorse or recommend any of these methods over buying good gear to begin with, but if you are on that tight a budget and don't want to spend good money on better gear, the adapters above will at least be of equal or better quality as the Blackhawk bipod.
ORD- thanks for those. Believe me I would LOVE to put quality parts on this gun but its just not what it's used for. I have plans to build a precision gas gun after college and hand this down to my wife, but until then I can't justify it when it's not set up to be a precision weapon. Idk maybe I am wrong but I have yet to see stellar groups from it.
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I'm with you. Why spend more than you have too? I remember being a poor college student too. I have several Harris bipods and an Atlas. I like the Harris bipods better. I also have a UTG "tactical ops" cheapo from Amazon ($29) that is a harris knockoff with a rail mount as a base. It's not great but worked OK on my AR when I was saving for the Atlas...
Nobody asked, but do you have hand guards or a rail/free float tube on your rifle? Are you connecting with a sling stud or a bottom rail section?
The most important thing is to free float your barrel so using the bipod does not change your point of impact. After that you will probably have a rail section on the bottom to connect to so I would get a rail to sling swivel stud adapter (like from GGG or YHM are lower cost) and watch for a used harris bipod or a discount/sale somewhere to get a new one.
Let me know what you have/need. I have some spare stuff collecting dust in my safe that might work for you on a plinker (it is more knock off stuff I picked up on a business trip to china, but is functional. Machined metal bits tend to be OK, chinese optics/red dots suck). Maybe we can work a deal if you want. I'm still planning to get a Larue tactical Harris with built in QD mount one of these days so I can get rid of the sling stud adapter on my rifle (that keeps coming loose)...
Nobody asked, but do you have hand guards or a rail/free float tube on your rifle? Are you connecting with a sling stud or a bottom rail section?
The most important thing is to free float your barrel so using the bipod does not change your point of impact. After that you will probably have a rail section on the bottom to connect to so I would get a rail to sling swivel stud adapter (like from GGG or YHM are lower cost) and watch for a used harris bipod or a discount/sale somewhere to get a new one.
Let me know what you have/need. I have some spare stuff collecting dust in my safe that might work for you on a plinker (it is more knock off stuff I picked up on a business trip to china, but is functional. Machined metal bits tend to be OK, chinese optics/red dots suck). Maybe we can work a deal if you want. I'm still planning to get a Larue tactical Harris with built in QD mount one of these days so I can get rid of the sling stud adapter on my rifle (that keeps coming loose)...
I run the Blackhawk bipods on a few of my rifles. As import clones go, IMHO they are probably the best ones out there. The pivot mount on the base is actually welded in place. As far as the base goes, it's actually sturdier than the original Harris unit. The worst part of the Blackhawk bipod is the legs. The internal springs are set up to retract the legs rather than deploy them outward. I can't think of any situation where I would need to quickly retract the legs on a bipod.... They also lack any notches, relying instead on a screw type tensioning device to hold them at a specified length. If you run it from a bench and never need to adjust the legs, it will work pretty well for that. In the field though, the lack of easy one handed adjustment on the legs is definitely an issue. There is a way to fix it though. Find the cheap 6-9" version of the Caldwell bipod, and transplant those legs onto the Blackhawk base. Use the longer Blackhawk springs as well. The spring mounts on the caldwell legs will need to be rotated about 20 degrees to line up with the spring mounts of the Blackhawk base as well.
as far as mounting it to the rifle, I prefer to use a simple sling swivel stud to attach the bipod. It's a simpler, lighter, and lower profile setup than running a picatinny style adapter. I never understood the point of using a QD adapter to mount a bipod that already attaches via a pretty quick acting method itself. A QD mount for attaching your QD mount.... Seems kind of redundant. It's pretty easy to find sling studs with machine screw thead on the backside. A lot of forends have holes already between the slots of the picatinny rail, if not it's pretty easy to drill a 3/16" hole and run the threaded shank of the sling stud through it with a nut on the backside. If the threaded shank is too long, it can interfere with the barrel. It's not hard to cut it to a shorter length and clean up the end with a file. When clamped down against the forend, the bevels on the side of picatinny rails make for a very solid mount of the bipod base against the rifle.
as far as mounting it to the rifle, I prefer to use a simple sling swivel stud to attach the bipod. It's a simpler, lighter, and lower profile setup than running a picatinny style adapter. I never understood the point of using a QD adapter to mount a bipod that already attaches via a pretty quick acting method itself. A QD mount for attaching your QD mount.... Seems kind of redundant. It's pretty easy to find sling studs with machine screw thead on the backside. A lot of forends have holes already between the slots of the picatinny rail, if not it's pretty easy to drill a 3/16" hole and run the threaded shank of the sling stud through it with a nut on the backside. If the threaded shank is too long, it can interfere with the barrel. It's not hard to cut it to a shorter length and clean up the end with a file. When clamped down against the forend, the bevels on the side of picatinny rails make for a very solid mount of the bipod base against the rifle.
