I will help keep us on track....
I purchased an RT-90C and an N52 ball head off of Amazon. All items arrived in typical 2 day fashion of other PRIME items and came well packaged and undamaged.
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Initial inspection and review was very positive. The finishing on the parts is very nice and all machining looks good, head comes with a foam lined nylon case and the legs come with a padded shoulder bag which fits them with the head attached.
It is certainly not to the levels of a RRS product but you can't expect that at this price point. The areas where that is most noticeable are on the edges where the parts are finished to a less elegant standard when it comes to the filets on the inside edges or the chamfers on outside edges. Speaking specifically to the ball head, the anodizing is not nearly as robust at a top tier alternative, I would expect this to be similar on the leg anodizing as well.. Even just playing with it at home initially and putting the rifle in and out of the ARCA clamp wore through the anodizing in the seat of the clamp.
The legs appear to be constructed of quality carbon and my highly scientific flicking it with my fingernail and listening to the sound test would indicate that they are of similar thickness to legs from RRS and others. The twist locks on the legs feel and work fantastically and the quality actually initially appears on par with more expensive brands. This is one area that RRS has been hit or miss for me and others I know when their legs, dust seals refusing to stay in place, etc.
Let's talk mating the head and the legs. This was an area where I had to MacGyver things a little bit to get it to work to my standards. The ball head screws down onto a stud and then is assisted from the bottom by two set screws that work to prevent the head from unscrewing (shown here from above)
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The thread mating on the central stud is a bit on the lose side of things which forced me to crank down pretty tight on these set screws to prevent the head from spinning off. This created a new problem where the pressure exerted upwards on the base of the ball head cause it to deflect enough to provide enough interference that it would seize the rotational pivot shown here.
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My solution was to remove the set screws and, using a drill and sharp bit, dimple out the underside of the ball head to give the set screws some lateral lockupwith the head. I got the whole thing assembled with some blue Loctite on the screws and central stud. Everything is rock solid now and the pivot is good to go without the excess pressure.
The head itself is perfectly serviceable and works great given the cost. It was easy for me to dial in an appropriate amount of tension to hold the gun securely but still allow for changing of positions. The knobs turn smoothly and the entire package punches above its price point for sure.
I have used it a few times in the field and at a local PRS match and did not feel that I was hampered in my performance relative to other options. The Anvil 30 head is the industry standard no doubt, but relative to other similarly styled heads I felt this was a great alternative for those seeking something at a lower price point. The legs will not hinder your performance, the only consideration I can see here is long term reliability, potential customer support, and desire to buy USA.
My final verdict is, buy with confidence. Hard to beat at this price and competitive at double its cost.
