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Just picked up my rifle today from RBros Rifles - right on schedule. Here's my current setup.
Dang that's a nice looking rig. RBros builds a fine rifle for sure.
Just letting you guys know I'm back over here with the same name.
If you guys have any questions about RRS gear feel free to hit me up on PM or ask openly in the forum.
Michael.
Can't tell you exactly, but my recollection having handled both the big 3372 Feisol and the RRS TVC-33 is that the leg diameter on the Feisol is a bit larger, but the tripod is a bit lighter. Couldn't tell you what the tube wall thickness is if that's what you're asking. Suspect they use thinner material given the lighter weight, though some of that is also likely in the crown. RRS has a much more substantial top crown assembly.
Has anyone tried the Feisol leveling base?? It's laid out like the RRS TA3...
It blows, stay away.
Heard that a few times now. AnchorZero6 actually contacted Feisol and they said that leveling base should be smooth and offer consistent friction similar to other leveling bases and that if it did not to contact them. Also mentioned that grease may help as I recall.
Like Anchor said I went RRS TVC34 and BH55 ball head. Am anxious to try an RRS TA3 leveling base. I'll put a QD plate on the bottom of the BH55 and have he ability to quickly add and remove the ball head from the top of the leveling base. Leveling base only adds about 1/2" height which is nice. Been told that the BH55 is better than leveling base for panning (following movers) additionally it allows for more than 15 degrees of elevation and declination if needed.
Does the TA-3 pan? The weight restriction seems kinda low though RRS's site says 25lbs. Has anyone had any issues with breakage/slippage while your full body weight is loaded? Also, is there a reason I wouldn't want to run the TA-2-LC? I saw the post on the uni mount but I feel like the quick lock at the base of the plate would be nice to have.
Has anyone had any issues with breakage/slippage while your full body weight is loaded?
I'm here. Thanks for the kind words, knockemdown. I've had a couple suggestions for different styles of plates. I should have time to make some parts this week, and I found a local company to Anodize them for me.
Are you still making plates and parts for direct mounting to a ball head or leveling head? I'm interested in putting a plate on a McM carbon fiber stock.
Can't seem to access the messaging system through Tapatalk or I'd PM you
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes, the TA-3 does pan in the same sense that a ballhead pans when it's loose... multidirectional freedom of movement. Agree that the RRS lever clamp is the way to go, my TA-3 has the lever clamp. No concerns at all about the weight rating, should be fine for any match rifle.
What makes the TA-3 so nice is the way that it moves under partial tension. It does a really good job of allowing you to direct the scope onto target, not overshooting/sticking/stopping/starting when under partial tension, and staying stable when you do get on target. Leave the tension loose and its easy to move between targets while still having some tension to stay steady. Tighten it down and it feels the same, just higher effort to move the rifle around.I let one of my shooting buddies try it with my hard plate RRS mount for the Manners mini-chassis. He laughed out loud and said "Now that's just stupid!"
I could see how a ballhead panning base would be the way to get smoothest left/right movement, but you'd need to make sure your base was level with the mover so that as you panned left/right you didn't drift high or low from the target. I could see that being a tough thing to get right when on the clock in competition. Fortunately we're not shooting movers off tripods in any of our comps, they are mostly prone stages where the wind makes it hard enough already.
So another season gone by, do you guys have any other long term feedback on your tripod set ups? Based on this thread; I am going with feisol 3372 legs, but still a bit up in the air on what to top it with.
Tag for reference. I have Manfrotto 055 aluminum, Pig Saddle and crappy ball head (but heavy duty). Will put a leveling head on my list. Photographer here so I had tripod and ball head already.
@AznTactical from the extremes you get a total of 30 deg.
From level/horizontal ranges you have 15 up and 15 down, as well as side to side.
The Really Right Stuff is definitely the way to go from a tripod standpoint, but lucky for everyone you can use their mounting system and even get some similar benefits from less expensive stuff.
The Feisol Tripods are RRS knock offs, one of the downside I found to that system is the ball head. We were using both the RRS and Feisol this past weekend and in doing so I identified a point of weakness in the Feisol ball head that caused a lot of flex in the system. The ball and stem in their system is too weak for rifles. So mixing and matching is a better way to go.
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You can see how small the ball head is, one way around it is the leveling base like posted above, or here below:
View attachment 6259813
This direction connection and very low leveling base will take a metric ton of wobble out of the system as compared to the photo ball heads. A great compromise is to get the cheaper legs but then get the RRS ball head too. It's much more robust when it comes to handling a rifle.
View attachment 6259814
Another shortcut to take, if you are using something else is to mount the Hog Saddle directly to the tripod without a inferior ball head. If you don't have a very heavy duty ball head, go direct with the Hog Saddle, the lower it is mounted the better.
Now with all these direct connection options having the Swiss Arca / RRS Style mounting plates, we have a much lighter and faster option to work with. For legacy stocks the Hog / Pig Saddles or the RRS Vyce are the best options out there, but for rifles with mounting points the RRS Plates blow away the Manfrotto RC-2 plates.
Weight is the key and not just the weight of the rifle you have to consider the shooter loading into the tripod too. Most of the tripods people use are rated for 15LBS or less. The RRS Tripods are rated for 50LBS, this matters. The Feisol legs have a great weight rating too, and the funny this is, you can get Manfrotto tripods to match, but then they cost as much as the RRS. By default everyone opted for cheaper camera tripods and because it worked to some degree, it just continued that way. Until the Camera people came around to educate us, we need more weight rating on our tripods to shoot effectively off of. It matters and it works, go for more in the legs and then mix and match the heads or mounting systems to fit your budget and needs.
We see a difference, you let people use the 15LBS rated Manfrotto and then we let them try the RRS and its immediately noticeable . Their accuracy increases as do the effective range.