Atlas CAL bipod model for Tikka T3x Lite

[MichaelP]

New member here, so be gentle! All my rifle experience was half a century ago (high school competitive shooting, 5.6 mm rifles, iron sights only - the plain vanilla).

I just bought Tikka T3X Lite 30-06 rifle and am looking for a bipod. The main uses for the bipod will be zeroing the scope and occasional bench shooting at a local range to keep myself in a good shape for hunting.

As far as I could see, many people prefer Atlas CAL bipods. If I go this way, what particular model and height of it can you recommend? I think ARCA connector is a nice option.

I'm completely open to other solutions and suggestions.

Any suggestions for a shooting bag brand/model to support the stock?

Thank you.

Mike

 

[wind gypsy]

For bench shooting you'll want the short CAL. The taller one is a little more flexible for field shooting where you might need more elevation but gets pretty high from a bench. Clamp choice is kind of up to you based on how you want to connect it. I have a RRS clamp on mine that connects to picatinny or arca but i have rifles that have full length arca already. If only using a short section for a bipod and you're not going to have full length arca rails on anything, you may find a short picatinny rail at your front sling stud to be preferable and in that case the BT65-LW17 model with the LW17 clamp is a good choice.

That said for just zeroing and bench shooting, i'd consider skipping the bipod and using front and rear rests instead.

The rear bag that LS wild made for Long Range Only is a pretty good rear bag option for bench shooting and of course there are dedicated bunny ear bags as well.

 

[MichaelP]

Thank you, WG! You mentioned longer Arca rails giving me an ability to attach something besides the bipod/tripod. What exactly are those other lower rail accessories that could be helpful for a hunting Tikka?

My plan was to install a scope (Zeiss Conquest V4 3-12x44, 30mm) and have a provision for bipod and sling. By the way, what do you think about installing the scope on a Pikatinni rail and short rings to, possibly, make the scope easily removable and transferable ?

 

[wind gypsy]

Thank you, WG! You mentioned longer Arca rails giving me an ability to attach something besides the bipod/tripod. What exactly are those other lower rail accessories that could be helpful for a hunting Tikka?

The only use case for the full length ARCAs for me is you can connect to a tripod to shoot from as well as slide the bipod fore/aft depending on what is around your shooting position.

My plan was to install a scope (Zeiss Conquest V4 3-12x44, 30mm) and have a provision for bipod and sling. By the way, what do you think about installing the scope on a Pikatinni rail and short rings to, possibly, make the scope easily removable and transferable ?

If you need to move a scope between rifles, Pic rail is the way to go. I lean towards direct to dovetail for most hunting rifles but do have one tikka with a rail that works well to swap scopes between rifles. I like the area419 rail. The SRS lightweight one looks nice as well but it doesn't have pic lugs in the middle which I sometimes want depending on what i'm using for a scope mount and level.

 

[MichaelP]

Understood. Thank you, WG.