That tripod has a “bog grip” which is similar to a hog saddle. That does not require the use of an arca plate mounted to your rifle as it squeezes your rifle with the grips. This gripper mounts to the tripod via arca. If you want to remove the gripper and mount an arca plate to your rifle, you will be able to mount your rifle directly to the ball head using the existing arca clamp assuming it is close enough to spec to hold the rail on your rifle.
An arcalock rail will not do you any good in this scenario as the plate is not designed to make use of the serrations.
My opinion, if you are using this for shooting then run as is until you are ready for an upgrade. Then look into a beefier tripod like RRS/Two Vets and put an anvil 30 on top of it. It will be costly but it will a big difference in stability.
The hog saddle is removable and the ball joint mount has an Arca-Swiss clamp. I'm reading as much as I can about this but my original idea was to mount an Arcalock rail on my rifle and then use the BOG tripod. It appears I would have to replace the Arca-Swiss clamp with one from Area 419.
I was visiting GA Precision in KS, MO and they had a TwoVets tripod with Arcalock that they demo'ed and I like the idea but not the $800 price tag for someone like me who is a hunter but does not compete. This is how the hole idea started and my wife was present and decided to get me the BOG (good wife) for my birthday. Now I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to make my rifle work with this tripod.
I like the tripod but 1) it's too short for standing shooting and 2) I don't like the center column as it's not nearly as stable and the "no center column type" like TwoVets.
My second issue is that if I mount an Arcalock rail on my rifle (it's a newly ordered McMillan that I'm not keen on drilling hole in) I would use the mount holes for the short pic rail where the front sling swivel would have been. I do realize that the Arcalock rail should be closer to the magazine for balance but I'm not quite dedicated to modifying this stock quite yet.
So, I have to decide whether to keep the set she gave me and adapt or send it back and start over with some investment on my part.
Going to do some more research today and I appreciate the input. For the moment, I'm going to storm prep for the hurricane that's bearing down on us.
Here's the candidate rifle I DIY built with Defiance/Proof/McMillan/Hawkins/TriggerTech (now wears ARC rings)
The good folks at GA Precision with the rifle Bradley Cooper used in the movie American Sniper (I think he use it at the end at the range as a civilian)
www.midwayusa.com
twovetssportinggoods.com
