Help me not hate my RRS Anvil 30

[Thermal L. Jackson]

Please help me not hate this thing, or find something else that fits my use-case.

I’ll be the first to admit I bought the Anvil 30 purely because of the hype. Everyone was saying it was the next iteration of the already top-tier RRS offerings, and it was unobtanium, so I snatched one when I saw it. Woof. The $70 Chinesium ball head I bought to put on my loaner tripod is better in almost every way.

Cons:

• The Anvil 30’s panning is the furthest thing from smooth and consistent.
• The friction lever has essentially three settings: (1) the gun will be so unstable it’s unusable, (2) the gun will kinda pan but the ballhead will make noise as you do so and the lever is sticking out 90 and getting in the way, and (3) the gun is rock solidly locked into place. I’ve tried timing it based on RRS’s videos. No worky.
• The rail clamp chatters when the tripod is carried on hikes with a sling.
• It is quite difficult to get the dovetail seated into the Anvil quickly in the dark, even after lots of practice.
• The panning lever gets in the way of a VFG on a 12” rail with a 30 round mag. There’s really only two places the RRS dovetail clamp can go. Both are suboptimal.

Pros:

• The Anvil 30 is rock solid for glassing.
• It's light-weight compared to other market offerings.

I have never in my life spent this much money on a shooting accessory sight unseen. I was expecting it to blow my socks off. It’s been a total disappointment. Am I just not using the product as intended? Should I get a RRS ballhead instead? 80% of what I do is spot-and-stalk hog hunting. The other 20% is target shooting on steel.

I’m all ears. Please give me your thoughts.

 

[nexusfire]

I have owned both the Anvil 30 and their leveling base and I prefer the Anvil. Locks solid when you need it or just give it a little tension on the lever and it still will move. The leveling base has more potential for interfering with mags etc.

 

[phlegethon]

I agree. The geometry should make it more stable than a ballhead, or at least a noninverted ballhead, but I find the friction to be completely on/off. I bet you can get most of what you paid for it though. I am probably going back to the TA-3/BH-55 combo I had before.

 

[NoLegs24]

Made an account to cry about RRS. interesting...

 

[Smith1]

Curious on more info from others if they’ve had the same issue. I’ve been debating one or a leveling base and haven’t decided yet

 

[Diver160651]

Please help me not hate this thing, or find something else that fits my use-case.

I’ll be the first to admit I bought the Anvil 30 purely because of the hype. Everyone was saying it was the next iteration of the already top-tier RRS offerings, and it was unobtanium, so I snatched one when I saw it. Woof. The $70 Chinesium ball head I bought to put on my loaner tripod is better in almost every way.

Cons:

• The Anvil 30’s panning is the furthest thing from smooth and consistent.
• The friction lever has essentially three settings: (1) the gun will be so unstable it’s unusable, (2) the gun will kinda pan but the ballhead will make noise as you do so and the lever is sticking out 90 and getting in the way, and (3) the gun is rock solidly locked into place. I’ve tried timing it based on RRS’s videos. No worky.
• The rail clamp chatters when the tripod is carried on hikes with a sling.
• It is quite difficult to get the dovetail seated into the Anvil quickly in the dark, even after lots of practice.
• The panning lever gets in the way of a VFG on a 12” rail with a 30 round mag. There’s really only two places the RRS dovetail clamp can go. Both are suboptimal.

Pros:

• The Anvil 30 is rock solid for glassing.

I have never in my life spent this much money on a shooting accessory sight unseen. I was expecting it to blow my socks off. It’s been a total disappointment. Am I just not using the product as intended? Should I get a RRS ballhead instead? 80% of what I do is spot-and-stalk hog hunting. The other 20% is target shooting on steel.

I’m all ears. Please give me your thoughts.

Can you send us photos of your mounting setup?

For clarity, Stable ball heads like a BH55 can be a better choice but; mine is 2lbs with a lever clamp. My Anvil is 14oz! That over 1 lbs weight savings take about $1,000+ to save in a stock, hell my 9lbs magnum took many thousands to get as light as it is and still have match-grade reputable precision. That is the main value point of the Anvil, plus that it is compact and can be used with pic rails, but I would NOT recommend it. Either way, there is no free lunch once you start dancing on the razor's edge.

Rattling? do you close the leaver?

Getting in the way have you spun it 180? Its not ideal, but can work for some uses. PS - using a SBR or such with cute CQB handles are not the primary use for something like this..

below it is reversed

 

[Mike Casselton]

Made an account to cry about RRS. interesting...

That seems to be the case lately with a lot of newbies.
1-5 posts, all used to complain about a product.

 

[Mk32784]

New Leofoto marketing strategy?

 

[Thermal L. Jackson]

Can you send us photos of your mounting setup?

For clarity, Stable ball heads like a BH55 can be a better choice but; mine is 2lbs with a lever clamp. My Anvil is 14oz! That over 1 lbs weight savings take about $1,000+ to save in a stock, hell my 9lbs magnum took many thousands to get as light as it is and still have match-grade reputable precision. That is the main value point of the Anvil, plus that it is compact and can be used with pic rails, but I would NOT recommend it. Either way, there is no free lunch once you start dancing on the razor's edge.

Rattling? do you close the leaver?

Getting in the way have you spun it 180? Its not ideal, but can work for some uses. PS - using a SBR or such with cute CQB handles are not the primary use for something like this..

below it is reversed
View attachment 7576636

Thanks for the response. I've learned a lot from reading your other threads. Here's my setup. I sure do appreciate the lightweight-ness of the Anvil, so there's another pro.

Rattling: It's the latch that rattles. Does it both ways.
Spun 180: Tried this. It puts the lever in an inaccessible configuration for a right handed shooter trying to whittle down a sounder of pigs.

 

[ClamHammer747]

@ThisWildAdventure is living proof that siblings shouldn’t breed

 

[MPHReallyRightStuff]

@ThisWildAdventure Anvil is not for everyone if you hate it put it for sale and get what you paid for it back. Go try and pick up a BH-40 or 55, someone might be wanting to trade one, the few-and-far-betweeners that don't like the anvil usually are happy with the BH line.

I will tell you this, there is a learning curve to it, you have to practice with it a bit to really find where it shines. If you are already past this point, sorry it isnt working out for you.

If you ever have any questions about RRS gear give me a hollar and hopefully I can steer you right. 385-248-0800
Since your a predator hunter I am taking a stab saying you may have picked it up from thermal optics plus. If so give Cameron a call as well.

If it still doesn't float your boat, I am positive you can find someone looking for one.

 

[Thermal L. Jackson]

@ThisWildAdventure Anvil is not for everyone if you hate it put it for sale and get what you paid for it back. Go try and pick up a BH-40 or 55, someone might be wanting to trade one, the few-and-far-betweeners that don't like the anvil usually are happy with the BH line.

I will tell you this, there is a learning curve to it, you have to practice with it a bit to really find where it shines. If you are already past this point, sorry it isnt working out for you.

If you ever have any questions about RRS gear give me a hollar and hopefully I can steer you right. 385-248-0800
Since your a predator hunter I am taking a stab saying you may have picked it up from thermal optics plus. If so give Cameron a call as well.

If it still doesn't float your boat, I am positive you can find someone looking for one.

Thanks. I was actually just looking at the BH-40. If the Anvil fits the thread pitch on my Feisol Cretac 3372, will the BH be GTG?

 

[phlegethon]

I think it is really just a matter of taste. RRS is one of the best companies out there and every other product I’ve gotten from them has been unbeatable. Most people love the Anvil too—it’s just not my favorite.

 

[NoLegs24]

@ThisWildAdventure I'm trying to get my Anvil30's to 'rattle' as I have a few, and it's a no go. No matter how much force I use to whip them.

Nice buckles you've got on that tripod sling though.... rattle rattle...

What dovetail mount are you using on your rifle? I've seen guys quickly blame the Anvil30 when in fact, it was their garbage out of spec dovetail mount, as other shooters used them right after with RRS Dovetail spec'd rails/ chassis, and easily clamped on.

You have a 12" handgaurd using a 30 round mag, and still want to use a VFG, but lets put all blame the lever on the Anvil30 instead... clearance, maybe you should look into it.

And I'll just ignore that Feisol Tripod for now...



I'm here all week folks.

 

[jsimonh]

Made an account to cry about RRS. interesting...

That seems to be the case lately with a lot of newbies.
1-5 posts, all used to complain about a product.

He had a plan all along, sign up almost 7 months ago, wait patiently and then BOOM drop the hammer on RRS while expressing interest in their other products while not asking about or promoting another brand.....

 

[Downtown]

Kind of a silly thing to complain about. The ball head is out of stock everywhere, including the manufacturer. I wager he could sell it for list price this evening.

 

[Diver160651]

Here is where my BH55 lives now. It's a great way to work on my rifles and uses the Barrel Vice QR so it's a dual purpose..

Jorge, did you see the new ultra-compact RRS rail-bag replacement, smaller and lighter..

 

[kriller134]

@ThisWildAdventure I'm trying to get my Anvil30's to 'rattle' as I have a few, and it's a no go. No matter how much force I use to whip them.

Nice buckles you've got on that tripod sling though.... rattle rattle...

What dovetail mount are you using on your rifle? I've seen guys quickly blame the Anvil30 when in fact, it was their garbage out of spec dovetail mount, as other shooters used them right after with RRS Dovetail spec'd rails/ chassis, and easily clamped on.

You have a 12" handgaurd using a 30 round mag, and still want to use a VFG, but lets put all blame the lever on the Anvil30 instead... clearance, maybe you should look into it.

And I'll just ignore that Feisol Tripod for now...



I'm here all week folks.

Fan boi

 

[NoLegs24]

Fan boi

God damn ladyboi. Your father would’ve off’d you had he known what you’d become.

 

[m1match]

I'm trying to figure out how your Anvil 30 latch isn't locking up tight because I have dovetail mounts from Area 419, HRD, KRG, MPA chassis, and camera mounts from Sunwayfoto, to no name mounts from Amazon and they all lock up tight. Are you rotating the latch 180 degrees from full unlock to full lock? The RRS lever has 3 positions, unlock, 90 degrees keeps the mount in the bullhead but allows you to move it, 180 degrees locks up tight.

For panning, I've had good experience with putting enough locking tension to keep the head in place but allowing a bit of force to pan, I've used this on moving targets and it works well for me and my two Anvil 30s don't make noise when moving.

As for clearance, with a 30 round mag, I'd think you're going to have clearance issues no matter what ballhead or leveling head you are using.

 

[Diver160651]

God damn ladyboi. Your father would’ve off’d you had he known what you’d become.

Things that go on in OC stay in OC?

 

[NoLegs24]

Things that go on in OC stay in OC?

Yeah. I feel sorry for him, so I continue to let him shoot my matches. Even giving him squad mom duties.
He needs to stop letting guys bully him though.

 

[kriller134]

God damn ladyboi. Your father would’ve off’d you had he known what you’d become.

Reported

 

[TheGerman]

I thought the entire purpose of the Anvil was to have something locked on your gun that you could pan the gun around with freely while looking through the optic, and then lock in place to shoot?

 

[theLBC]

i don't have these issues. perhaps you need to watch the video on how to adjust the lever?

 

[Diver160651]

Yeah. I feel sorry for him, so I continue to let him shoot my matches. Even giving him squad mom duties.
He needs to stop letting guys bully him though.

Are you guys coming up for the team match in November? We have worked out a wheeler. Bring your OC crew and will camp out the night before!

 

[E-Tool]

I’ll give you $350 for it.

 

[sodakhunter]

I hunted with mine all last season. It definitely does not rattle or that would be a no go. I agree with the LBC to watch the lever adjustment video. Ive also used a 40 and 55 and i like the panning on these better than the Anvil but as a hunting head the Anvil gets used almost exclusively.

 

[CrabsandFootball]

If only you could you know, remove the vertical grip and run 20 rounders.

Everything about it is adjustable. Those shiney things made from dead trees included with it explain it.

 

[35Remington]

Tagged

 

[FuhQ]

This seems eerily like the dumbass that bought the .30 caliber rifle suppressor and got pissed that it sucked when he shot his 9mm through it...

 

[fanninland]

OP, I have been using my Anvil30 with 22i tripod for spot/stalk pig hunting with good success. I shoot lefty so I run the latch on left side, tension lever on right side & keep my right hand on it continually when shooting, just a minute amount of movement adjusts it from pan to lock down. I have the short RRS arca dovetail plate (key mod) mounted as close to receiver as possible which balances my sbr nicely. I run 15 rd mags (6.8 so equivalent to a 20 rd 5.56) and I even have enough clearance under there to have a Tactical Brass Recovery brass catcher (TBR is an awesome piece of kit). Here’s a pic from night before last....tripod collapsed and legs not balanced for the dog’s photo op but oh well.

Previously I ran a Kopflager Reaper grip on a Slik 700 which worked well for hog hunting but was lacking for daytime precision shooting compared to the RRS setup. Also it was helluva lot heavier, which was the main reason I shelled out for the RRS after lugging that Reaper setup on long stalks across muddy blackland corn fields. I’ve had the RRS setup maybe 6 months and I’m just now feeling like I’m getting it dialed when using it in the dark. If your using pic rail mount I’d suggest trying an arca plate and shorter mag. Otherwise you won’t have any problem selling it. Oh yeah, the RRS inverted 22i is TITS for this type of hunting ...

 

[sea2summit]

@ThisWildAdventure is living proof that siblings shouldn’t breed

That username is on my ignore list on another forum....I’ve got this funny feeling it’s the same douche.

 

[Thermal L. Jackson]

Mike, thanks. I'll give you or Cameron a call. I'm coming from a Reaper Grip, so being able to control the pan and tilt separately is what I've become accustomed to. Looks like the BH-40 would serve me better.

 

[Diver160651]

being able to control the pan and tile separately is what I've become accustomed to. Looks like the BH-40 would serve me better.

if your really looking to "control" pan and tilt separately, you do not want a ball head. Remember the Anvil is still a ball head.

You want a Pan Tilt head to control the two independently. Unfortunately, there is a lot of junk pan-tilt options. The good ones are not cheap, only a few are stable and light like the Jim White fluid or the one in the image. These are best suited for long hours of grid glassing.

Before you buy anything else, I would think about the full-length dovetail, and doing what you can to center the can more forward.

I strongly encourage you to read this thread before getting a BH40.. Maybe jus paly a hair more with what you have, either way converting to 1 dovetail will be better.
(1) RRS Leveling heads- RRS TVC-33 & Feisol 3372 + Anvil 30 comment | Sniper's Hide Forum

 

[phlegethon]

@MPHReallyRightStuff some of us are really hoping for your answer to the Arca Cube (more for cameras and optics, maybe not for shooting).

 

[pineoak]

Main thing I tell people who try it is to start with the tension tighter and slowly loosen it as they learn how much tension they prefer.

It's a progressive curve, not an on/off switch.

It's a tool. May fit your needs, may not.

If you are on a flat range and need panning and tilt separated, ball heads are the wrong tool and will disappoint.

For videography on a level surface or shooting primarily panning, separate pan & tilt is great.

For most point & shoot at differing angles like photo & shooting on a non uniform/level surface, ball heads may be a more flexible tool.

If the Anvil doesn't meet your needs, use a better tool for the job.

Just because everyone else around you drives a Prius, doesn't mean it's the best vehicle for you if you need to tow, drive rough surfaces, or need a bed.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

been running an avil 30 and tvc-33 pretty much since it was released or shortly there after. cant count the guns, miles, or even kills it has on it let alone matches and general spotting/shooting. this thing gets used and abused from -15F to nasty blazing sun summer heat. cannot say ive ever had it rattle, cannot say ive not enjoyed it for instant target tracking and shooting mover coyotes. anyone that has truly used one extensively in a field use setting i doubt theyre bitching. op you should sell that head to someone that will enjoy it. get yourself some primo shooting sticks for your vfg 30rd mag blaster.

 

[st1650]

No dogs in this fight but why would anyone use a 30 round magazine for this task when a straight 20rnd will allow much more flexibility for the arca positioning and balance closer to the center of gravity.

 

[acudaowner]

If you can't be with the gun you want honey love the gun your with ...

 

[pineoak]

If you can't be with the gun you want honey love the gun your with ...

No.

Figure out what your priorities are. If shooting is one of the top, sell other stuff you no longer use, work extra shifts, get a 2nd job...

Get exactly what you want. If it works for you, awesome. If not, sell it and keep looking. Even if for a loss.

Life is short. Be happy. Don't go into stupid debt, but you can work harder and sacrifice other things in life for your top priorities.

Don't live life short because you're a lazy ass dreamer. Be a hard working do-er.

In OP's case, he should sell his Anvil and run the China-made one he likes. Then pocket the $ and use it toward ammo.

For all we know, it's an awesome design that will be proven in time to be better than the Anvil. Doubt it, but possible.

 

[bohica17]

Pretty cheap fix for one issue.