IMHO the monopod is a great idea, but its not as versatile as a decent bag like a WieBad Taco
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Is a monopod on the rear of a rifle worth buying vs a bag?
- Thread starter Nickdev47
- Start date
Interesting video. Learned something in the process.
i very much prefer rear bags, but there are no rules against owning both.
Have a pretty accurate MPA BA rifle with an attachment point for a monopod, but have never felt the need to buy one, but heck if there are free monopods on offer, i will take one! It can serve as a less-than-ideal backup if you lose or misplace your favorite rear bag.
How stable your position is has a very big impact on precision/group size: Best groups ever shot with the MPA rifle (as well as my backup Savage 12) have been just below 0.1 MOA, shooting full-on-OCD-mode hand loaded Atips in a near constant wind. In each case 4 groups were shot in quick succession, from the same sturdy BENCH, all done within a minute, before the wind condition changed, using a very heavy (chromium sand) bag rider setup with a front BR rest.
Average group size at 100 yards was/still is 0.4” if i shoot off a good front bipod (Accutac) and a (nothing special) rear bean bag, with “best”/lucky groups around 0.25”. Partly because i suck at wind reading, but also because the rear bag does not always compress in the same way under recoil, and bipod legs can hop a little on hard surfaces. Which just adds to the inconsistency.
To summarize, in my limited experience:
Best groups: Shooting free recoil using a solid locked up BR front rest and a large and very heavy rear bunny-ear bag (Protektor model). Totally impractical for field conditions, and really a BR thing only. Shooting with almost no contact with the rifle. Soft contact with the butt stock. Your beard hairs are just barely touching the cheeck riser! Trigger pressure is between forefinger pad and thumb pad, the other fingers are almost not touching the rifle...
Second best: Shooting off a very large and soft front bag with a small rear sand bag. Zero hop, but you have to counter the torque trying to twist the rifle out of your hand. You have to hold the pistol grip with medium firm pressure, pulling the butt of the rifle straight into the shoulder, but not “fight” the rifle with your trigger hand. Minimal rifle contact with cheek (beard hair only). Moderate/enough shoulder contact to avoid rotating your shoulder too much under recoil.
Third best: High quality front bipod with the legs forward at 45 degrees so the legs drag evenly rearward under recoil, to avoid bipod hop, or load the bipod slightly, plus use a rear sand bag. Medium hard but consistent shoulder contact.
I expect a rear bipod will be fourth on this list, better than no support, or using elbows placed on knees in a hunting situation...
BTW: Several buddies of mine shoot ELR once a month, out to 2,700 yards, using 338 and 375 rifles, and they report that their scores got way better when they started using this Australian designed adjustable bag base:
4aw-store.myshopify.com
Kinda a clever BR rest for the rear bag that seems to work very well for prone shooting. The guy uses it successfully to connect with 24x24” targets out to 4,000 plus and even 5,000 yards shooting super magnums with stout recoil. Very impressive indeed. Don’t own such a bag base yet, so can’t comment too much. And they ain’t cheap either! It might end up second on my list... Good for ELR but not useful for PRS.
Horses for courses argument applies.
i very much prefer rear bags, but there are no rules against owning both.
Have a pretty accurate MPA BA rifle with an attachment point for a monopod, but have never felt the need to buy one, but heck if there are free monopods on offer, i will take one! It can serve as a less-than-ideal backup if you lose or misplace your favorite rear bag.How stable your position is has a very big impact on precision/group size: Best groups ever shot with the MPA rifle (as well as my backup Savage 12) have been just below 0.1 MOA, shooting full-on-OCD-mode hand loaded Atips in a near constant wind. In each case 4 groups were shot in quick succession, from the same sturdy BENCH, all done within a minute, before the wind condition changed, using a very heavy (chromium sand) bag rider setup with a front BR rest.
Average group size at 100 yards was/still is 0.4” if i shoot off a good front bipod (Accutac) and a (nothing special) rear bean bag, with “best”/lucky groups around 0.25”. Partly because i suck at wind reading, but also because the rear bag does not always compress in the same way under recoil, and bipod legs can hop a little on hard surfaces. Which just adds to the inconsistency.
To summarize, in my limited experience:
Best groups: Shooting free recoil using a solid locked up BR front rest and a large and very heavy rear bunny-ear bag (Protektor model). Totally impractical for field conditions, and really a BR thing only. Shooting with almost no contact with the rifle. Soft contact with the butt stock. Your beard hairs are just barely touching the cheeck riser! Trigger pressure is between forefinger pad and thumb pad, the other fingers are almost not touching the rifle...
Second best: Shooting off a very large and soft front bag with a small rear sand bag. Zero hop, but you have to counter the torque trying to twist the rifle out of your hand. You have to hold the pistol grip with medium firm pressure, pulling the butt of the rifle straight into the shoulder, but not “fight” the rifle with your trigger hand. Minimal rifle contact with cheek (beard hair only). Moderate/enough shoulder contact to avoid rotating your shoulder too much under recoil.
Third best: High quality front bipod with the legs forward at 45 degrees so the legs drag evenly rearward under recoil, to avoid bipod hop, or load the bipod slightly, plus use a rear sand bag. Medium hard but consistent shoulder contact.
I expect a rear bipod will be fourth on this list, better than no support, or using elbows placed on knees in a hunting situation...
BTW: Several buddies of mine shoot ELR once a month, out to 2,700 yards, using 338 and 375 rifles, and they report that their scores got way better when they started using this Australian designed adjustable bag base:
4AW Adjustable Bag BASES
Adjustable Bag bases Details for each base are listed with each product Bag set mentioned in video (Allen: Filled Front & Rear Shooters Rest)
4aw-store.myshopify.com
Kinda a clever BR rest for the rear bag that seems to work very well for prone shooting. The guy uses it successfully to connect with 24x24” targets out to 4,000 plus and even 5,000 yards shooting super magnums with stout recoil. Very impressive indeed. Don’t own such a bag base yet, so can’t comment too much. And they ain’t cheap either! It might end up second on my list... Good for ELR but not useful for PRS.
Horses for courses argument applies.
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Got the atlas. Really hate it with mag loads as they flex way too much and are not tight. They really wobble as tolerances aren't too great. For things like 6.5 Creedmore they are ok. For the money, spend it on something else.
I shoot unbraked 300 Norma on an atlas and it’s just fine. I think you need to adjust your technique. The slop in the legs is there so I can shoot unbraked 300 Norma without the bipod sliding.
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A bit of Slop is good.
Work in the top of a radius allows straight movements without the legs skipping around to accommodate movements.
I use both at the same time....I stand the rear monopod on a bag and squeeze for micro adjustment.
VooDoo
VooDoo
Do you mean rear monopod or Atlas bipod?
Maybe there is some confusion about the two types of support?
No confusion. We are talking monopod, right? You guys want to use one, then go ahead. For me I'll stick with the beany bag. The OP asked for opinions and now he has them. You Atlas fanboys can cry about it all you want. Just my 2c.
I'm also not wild about the Atlas prs bipod and ended up sending it back. Tension knob would rotate while panning causing the cant to loosen up. You guys can bitch about this too if you want. There apparently is a market for wrenches to tighten the tension knob. Why do I have to spend extra money for something like that when there are better alternatives out there?
like the CAL? lol understand what you're buying and why it was created and/or don't have bitch hands
i prefer the accu-tac monopod to the accushot (made by the same company that makes atlas bipods).
i just like having something attached to the rifle so i am not dependent on a bean bag or anything else that could be left behind.
i found using the 3D ELR bag for lateral stability with the monopod for fine elevation was also effective.
I also like the idea of something permanently attached to the rifle that cannot go missing (or left at home), but not a fan of monopods. So i have wondered if a small triangular bean bag can be made that attaches permanently to the pistol grip, that you can squeeze between thumb and forefinger... no need to use sand, unless you want the extra weight. I have shot the MPA bolt action chassis rifle that way using a small sock filled with ordinary dirt collected from right next to the bench. Worked surprisingly well!
Or a small rectangular bag flled with plastic balls that attaches in place of the bag rider on a chassis gun...
Or a small rectangular bag flled with plastic balls that attaches in place of the bag rider on a chassis gun...
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