Buy a used Manfrotto MT055CXPRO 3 OR 4 section on eBay.
Slap an RRS leveling head and ARCA clamp on it and get to practicing.
Long before the days of Feisol and RRS MOST of us were lucky to have a Manfrotto 055 in aluminium let alone carbon.
Folks here either don't remember or are to green to have experienced such primitive conditions.
Once you've gotten a decent familiarity with the Manfrotto, borrow a friend's RRS or Feisol tripod... You'll now the difference immediately, and in price too.
You can, or should be able to, shoot perfectly well with the Manfrotto... Anyone who says different is an idiot.
The more expensive, more modern rigs are definitely more stable, light and versatile.
Oh, and fuck the Chinese and anyone who sells knockoffs, regardless of origin.
As a patent holder & inventor on 15+ patents, that shit just pisses me off.
Learn how to shoot well, regardless of rests used, and then go spastic over gear....
Yep, I remember that's the entire point. This learning to shoot off this old crap before you can shoot good stuff just doesn't make sense with the cost of ammo, time away from work and barrel ware $$. It's almost like some people want to prove how hard it used to be. Again, I've used the 055 and slings and shoot off them before tripod shooting was the rage, etc. So why would I recommend anyone to take the same path?
Remember the 055 was and in some places still used on soft targets relatively close that resemble Military E target (silhouette) -- the target zone is roughly 40"x19.5". It works fine for that type of large soft target. I mean let say at 400 you have a standing shot on the soft target that's almost 10MOA X 5MOA; totally doable. Just a quick note that a lot of the people providing overwatch are indeed out of the o55s or working the way that direction. Now enter PR match setting with today's targets and 90 seconds to bang out a few 2MOA and smaller targets, not so easy, use a sling and you timed out. Worse yet you have a stalk on an Elk on a steep hill 800 yards out and only have a few pressing moments to make the shot, your angular vertical target is about 10x smaller than your standard E target the o55 is measured against at about 1moa, before the wind or whatever else.
What is the true value in learning
super slow legacy tripod stabilization skills like a foot sling, belt sling, arm sling or tripod wrap sling techniques that we used to use, for tripod shooting that doesn't use those today?
You can learn most of all of those same outdated tripod sling shooting techniques off a T-post, fence post, tank trap etc.. for free. Or toss a CG on them and be even more efficient. Screw wasting hundreds of $$ and time learning something your just not going to use.
I call BS on anyone who shoots as well off a 055 standing (you must extend the center column) without spending hours and hours and gobs of money in ammo as you can off today's better setups. It's just the wrong advice to start learning legacy skills that aren't really going to be used today.
Here an image from maybe 4 years ago showing a standing group and another just the other day. I am not the best shot in the world but know the difference is huge.
Bottom left Standing tripod
Here is
kneeling the other day for a Kraft driven target-- just on a schmedium on top of the tripod (gun not attached to the tripod)
For those that might be lost as to why I am calling BS on the idea it's smart to start with the 055, take a look at a few simple stability examples I posted below. You tell me if it makes sense to start with something a hair shakey like a modern tripod or one we used 10+ years ago that's a f'n wet noodle.
I used the "old Gold Standard Manfrotto" without the extra stabilizing stuff like a sling and the same with the RRS and Anvil 30.
Just a dirty non-scientific look thru my night vision on my pest control PCP. Shown to show the difference in stability 350 yards at 14x NOTE that my match gun is way better balanced, heavier, and way less shaky in general.
I purposely mounted the gun and unmounted it without much technique to show how the vibration, the time it takes to settle or how wind might vibrate the gun. (remember wind causes a lot of issues with vibration.)
I ran 9 steps to show instability, both the same
(times below are only for the RRS video)
1. Turned on to see how much vibration takes to settle. Please pay attention to the test in this area. All I did was press firmly on the scope's power button. I did not touch the gun in any other way..
2. Mounting gun, getting comfortable with NPA. 0:12 –o:15
3a Moving to target - holding the tripod loaded on the target (note you can free recoil and be dead still on the target but I was purposely trying to show realistic shake if your loading the gun) 0:16-0:20
3b Deciding on target 0:21-023
3c Holding target 0:34-0:26
4. On mounting the gun 0:27-0:29
5. 1st of 2 Tapping HARD on the Buttstock sideways to show how long it takes to settle 0:30
6 2nd of 2 Tapping HARD on the Buttstock sideways to show how long it takes to settle 0:36
7 Mounting the Gun 0:40
8a Moving to a new Target 0:41-0:46
8b Setting on Target 0:47
9. Un-mounting the gun 0:50
RRS with Anvil 30 stability 1 of 3 comparing Manfrotto Takes 50 seconds to complete even taking extra time, not sure what I was really planning on doing. Also going super slow even though the gun settled.
RRS Anvil test
RRS with Anvil 30 stability 2 of 3 comparing Manfrotto Takes 1:46 to complete.
Manfrotto with center column UP set to RRS Height. NOTE the first few seconds of this video as all I did was press the power button on the NV just like all three tests, holly smokes, there is a HUGE difference!!
RRS with Anvil 30 stability 2 of 3 comparing Manfrotto Takes 1:02 to complete
Manfrotto center column lowered all the way lower than RRS Height. Again, NOTE the first few seconds of this video as all I did was press the power button on the NV just like all three tests.
Note that the cheap carbon fiber tripod a lot of people are saying works just as good, was too close to the Manfrotto to warrant posting
