TB bipod or MDT for PRS and all around shooting?

Kubitza123

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Aug 15, 2012
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I’ve always used Atlas PSR or LRA bipods. I’ve been out of shooting a couple of years and see they have some pretty new trick bipods available.

They are both about the same price, so curious to which one does it all better ?

Info from those who have played with both would be great.

It will be going on the rifle pictured with Arca rail installed . I’d say it weighs around 18lbs
 

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I’m assuming you’re asking about the mdt Ckye pod?

If so, the ckye pod has more adjustments, but also has more play to load out. It also doesn’t totally lock out the pan feature too well if that’s what you want to do. Again, tons of adjustment.

Tbac is kinda a middle ground. Best part of a Harris and Atlas rolled into one. It’s slightly less “sturdy” feeling than an atlas when you’re shooting, but much less slack than a ckye pod.

For me, the ckye pod had too many adjustments (if that makes sense) and I didn’t like the amount of slack to load out. I run tbac for everything now.

That being said, I run standard style prs matches. Not too many field matches. If I ran a lot of field matches, I’d either run a ckyepod 100% or at least keep one in my pack.

The adjustability of a ckyepod for field matches is really, really nice.
 
I own multiple Harris, multiple Atlas, an LRA F-class and a Ckye-pod.

For field/PRS shooting, I love the ckye-pod. Very cleverly designed and well built. Big range of motion, can go super low to way higher then any of the other bipods, which can be accomplished through a combination of leg width and leg extension adjustments. Leg adjustments are fairly rapid, and I like the touch of having grip tape on the legs. Pan and cant features are not changeable on the fly - rather you set it once to your desired tension level with an allen wrench and shoot from there - which for me I personally like, but could be a downside to others. Option of ARCA/RRS or picatinny mount. There's a bonus barricade stop built into the bipod which you may or may not find useful, but certainly doesn't hurt to have. The feet are talons and are of good quality, have shot off of multiple surfaces including concrete with no issues. It's an expensive bipod, but the features and build quality are more then worthy of the price. If you shoot mostly on a square range, it may be hard to justify the price as all the features will not of much benefit, but this bipod really shines for field work.

I like the Atlas design and they have great customer support. Kasey and his team is awesome. I have the older versions with the wheel tension knob for cant, and I've found that the tension loosens up a lot over time, to the point that it can be difficult to get the proper tension on the bipod if it's too worn out. Of course, Atlas will take care of you in that case. The new CAL version looks really nice, and would be the way to go

The Harris' have a poor value proposition, as you have to pump a bunch of money into them to make them more versatile for our sport. Aftermarket mounting components if you want to go picatinny or ARCA/RRS (some are pretty weak and can fail), aftermarket leg extensions, feet, and even if you pump a bunch of money into them, you still at the end of the day have a mediocre quality bipod with stamped metal legs and very minimal adjustments.

No experience with the TBAC bipod. Seems like a well made and thought out bipod, but it's not going to replace my Ckye-pod.
 
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I do not understand the price of the TBAC. At all.

Harris or Atlas CAL. I prefer the Harris due to deploy and redeploy ease and quickness.
The cost is R&D, engineering, materials and production, all wrapped up with a margin to make some money. I know the guys at TBAC really well, and they put out a superior product. The Cyke Pod is the same way, and Cyke selling it to MDT will probably bring the cost down a bit, but I don't suspect by a whole lot.

The TBAC bipod is my go-to now. Its more simple, easier to deploy and adjust.
 
I do not understand the price of the TBAC. At all.

Harris or Atlas CAL. I prefer the Harris due to deploy and redeploy ease and quickness.
The TBAC is just as fast to deploy and superior to Harris in every way. I moved from a Harris to a TBAC and now I don't even want to use my Harris on hunting rifle.

And as Caylen mentioned, R&D costs money and so does machining, material, coating, and assembly. These aren't just thrown together and cheaply made (Harris).
 
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The TBAC is just as fast to deploy and superior to Harris in every way. I moved from a Harris to a TBAC and now I don't even want to use my Harris on hunting rifle.

And as Caylen mentioned, R&D costs money and so does machining, material, coating, and assembly. These aren't just thrown together and cheaply made (Harris).
Pardon me if I disagree with you. A leg without a release will always deploy and redeploy quicker than one with a release. $400 for a bipod that does less than at atlas (legs go back, but not forwards) and no arca attachment included in the price tag.

I have no hate for Thunderbeast, I believe they have the beast suppressors in the industry, bar none. Their bipod, however, is just not worth the price of entry considering the options we already have.
 
Pardon me if I disagree with you. A leg without a release will always deploy and redeploy quicker than one with a release. $400 for a bipod that does less than at atlas (legs go back, but not forwards) and no arca attachment included in the price tag.

I have no hate for Thunderbeast, I believe they have the beast suppressors in the industry, bar none. Their bipod, however, is just not worth the price of entry considering the options we already have.
I'm not sure you understand how a tbac works?
 
Little off topic, but I’d like to hear more of the downfalls of Harris. Iv got a few, because I was cheap at the time, but have had my eye on some different bipods. Would like to know what to look for.
 
Little off topic, but I’d like to hear more of the downfalls of Harris. Iv got a few, because I was cheap at the time, but have had my eye on some different bipods. Would like to know what to look for.

Very limited adjustment range. Needs aftermarket parts if you want to mount to picatinny or ARCA/RRS, some of these mounts are prone to breaking. If you want to extend the bipod height from it's very limited range, you have to buy aftermarket leg extensions. And then after pumping all that money into a Harris, you still have a stamped metal bipod where the legs aren't even square.
 
Fold without a lever? I would assume you would want the legs to lock once deployed otherwise the bipod would just collapse under the weight of the rifle. I can't think of a situation where I would need that feature.
 
Thanks for the kind words guys and I appreciate the insight from @CaylenW into the R&D and cost to make some of these products, that gets overlooked a lot. Ckye nailed the design of the Ckye-Pod to be the most versatile bipod on the market and to work in the wide variety of terrain he was/is shooting in (Montana/Wyoming mountains, wide open plains, rocky desert, etc.)! The versatility of this bipod, of course, comes with some challenges in that each adjustment brings a new set of tolerances that stack on top of eachother. Since going into large scale production, we have been working closely with Ckye and our machinists to ensure that we can do all that is in our power to limit the amount of "wiggle" and give in the bipod, to provide you guys, the shooters, with a solution for getting stable anywhere, any time. We are continuously making improvements whilst also working on new attachments, production of the double and triple pull legs, and more!

TBAC, B&T and Harris all make exceptional products that fill a space in this market and maybe they are the right choice for the shooting you're doing :) We trust the Ckye-Pod and believe it's worth the money, but at the end of the day, you guys are the ones pulling the trigger, make sure you get what makes sense for you.
 
Yeah, so the thing most folks are missing....

The original post is asking about bipod for PRS.

The data above shows the Harris is the #1 bipod in PRS.

I have no doubt these other bipods are of great quality, but this thread (like most) has strayed way off what the original poster has asked.
 
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OP, thank you for your patronage. Seems like the bipod market kind of blew up with a lot of options which is great for consumers and keeps manufacturers on their toes so today there's a bit of a "shake out" going on. The Ckye bipod is truly an novel design, I've not handled one but the comments here pretty much sum up what I've heard and it seemingly offers adjustments no other bipod offers.



I have a couple of Harris as most people do, 2x ckye pods, and a Cal G2. I had a G1 PSR but sold it.

I have to say the Ckye Pods are definitely my favorite. They are really adaptable and feature rich. That said I have observed no measurable increase in accuracy, scores, hit probability shooting them.

I have shot Harris bipods for a very long time and have been fairly competitive with them. I tried out the Atlas and was very dissapointed. I saw folks shooting them with the legs extended and they just appeared to be a sloppy mess. So much play. Against my better judgement I tried one and it worked out as expected. Really I shoot a field match very regularly that requires a large adjustment of legs and thought the leg extensions on the Atlas might be the answer.

For their fault of uneven legs the Harris are at least consistent and have a hard stop to load.

The Ckye Pod is really excellent and I have to say I don't quite see the play that some folks talk about but the loosening Allen set screws that allow the pan and tilt to activate really detract from it. Super fucking annoying. Because it's so fucking avoidable. I picked up an Atlas Cal G2 after seeing a buddy's. I'd pretty much all but written Atlas bipods off but this bipod is really pretty good. It seems to have quite a bit less play, doesn't pan, and the tilt is lockable with the KMW podlock. Of course the down side is the legs don't flip or spring-extend. But given how simple it is as a bipod I really appreciate it.

IMO if MDT could unfuck the slipping pan and tilt the Ckye Pod would easily be my number 1 bipod. PLS unfuck it...

I haven't tried the TBAC bc I just don't need a Harris with straighter legs for 4x as much. But maybe one day I will try one and decide, "the night time is the right time". (Adam Sandler)


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