Davros Pro (Gen 2) Tripod Head - Shooting

[JSol]

I just received my new tripod head and overall first impressions were good. It's light, built well, easy to operate, and I am a huge fan of the magnetic quick release. I mounted both the classic rifle adapter to the front rifle sling screw on my stock and also installed the gunsmith adapter just in front of my magazine.

First, I want to say the javelin bipod is perfect. No complaints about this one, it is just lightweight and solid. I cinch to attach and detach. Plus, you can throw it in your pocket instead of it getting tangled in tree branches.

I'm less impressed by the Davros Pro head. First, it doesn't have the same "shoulder" built into the stud that is on the Javelin bipod which locks it solid to prevent panning. Maybe I just received a bad unit, but there seems to be a lot of movement in the magnet quick attach socket, which is necessary to some degree to have the ability to connect and detach easily. The smooth head on the Davros Pro head allows for the rifle to spin with no way to lock it. You can lock the pan on the base of the tripod head, but the rifle is still free to rotate on the male portion of the magnetic socket where it attaches to the rifle. This created a shake for me since I couldn't find a position that would allow me to load up the tripod. I can put tension against the ball head to moderate the up-and-down shake, but I haven't found a way to control the side-to-side. It's almost like my rifle is wagging its tail!

I have emailed Spartan Precision to see if I could purchase a male adapter with the shoulder built in, but I have yet to receive a reply.

A couple of questions for you tripod shooters. Does anyone have experience with the system I am using and advice on improving the equipment or myself?

I also want to point out that I am not saying the Davros Pro Head is a bad head or to not buy one. I did a lot of research and for how I backpack hunt, it seemed to be the best choice for an "ultralight" system. I really want to like the system but currently shooting 6 moa with it on a tripod at 100 yards. For reference, I'm shooting 2 moa off trekking poles and moa off shooting bags or Javelin bipod at the same distance.

 

[lil_g]

Did you ever get to a happy place with this system or hear back from Spartan? I’m having the same experience with a lot of lateral play in the connection between the gunsmith adapter and the Davros Pro 2. The magnetic connection is great, can basically pick up the whole tripod with the gun, but same issues with ‘wag’ with the mount in front of the magazine on a Bergara 6.5 PRC.

 

[JSol]

There was no resolution with Spartan on this system, so I ended up selling it and replacing it with the Wiser Precision Quick Sticks system. I still have the Davros Picatinny adapter in my stock. My system uses the Wiser Picatinny quick connect attached to a set of carbon trekking poles. I'm really happy with this system and even opted to get the Wiser panhead for optics only. I find the carbon trekking poles offer enough resistance when twisting to allow me to line up shots for consistent shooting.

I still have the Davros lite bipod and am really happy with it for a quick deploy shooting mount.

 

[lil_g]

Ah, dang, I’m sorry it didn’t work out! Reckon I’ll keep fiddling with mine. Glad you found a system you like!

 

[TheViking]

Bummer to hear this. I just bought a used gun that has the gunsmith adapters installed right by the mag well and near the front. I was thinking about running the bipod + a davros head for tripod shooting.

Sounds like you two didn’t have much luck with it. They also make an arca adapter plate that plugs into the gunsmith adapter, then you can put it on any arca compatible tripod head. Sounds like I might have to go this route.

Arca to Spartan 12mm Converter

Now shooters that have already invested in a third party Arca-compatible ball or pan head can exploit the benefits of the Spartan magnetic rifle attachment system. Made from CNC machined 7075-T7531 aluminium with a durable hard-anodised finish, the Arca to Spartan Converter attaches quickly and...

javelinbipod.com

 

[lil_g]

Can't say that arca adapter is gonna make a huge difference; the post looks the same as the Davros, so the wag/lateral swing may still be there? No experience with that one, though, so maybe worth a shot?

I did give it a second try, and I'm not ready to give up on it yet. Yes, the lateral wag is still there if I let it, but I did wrap a piece of medical tape around the post, which made maybe some difference (or it was a placebo, whatever). Way better shoot overall. Was able to group within MOA out to 300 yards, sitting, with a Revic Stabilizer tripod. Standing, probably 1-2 MOA. My Gunsmith mount is in front of the magazine. Did this out in the wild on some BLM land, too, instead of a public range, so much quieter.

Doing another dope shoot out to 400, maybe 600 yards this week, and will be doing some side by side comparison with the Davros and a Tricer GC gun cradle, same tripod. Shot with the cradle on a separate shoot but don't find it as easy to pan or adjust and notice it flexes a bit.

The Javelin Pro Hunt bipod is awesome, though. Easy within MOA while prone, very stable. That side post on the shoulder of the bipod is money, like OP mentioned.

 

[TheViking]

Can't say that arca adapter is gonna make a huge difference; the post looks the same as the Davros, so the wag/lateral swing may still be there? No experience with that one, though, so maybe worth a shot?

I did give it a second try, and I'm not ready to give up on it yet. Yes, the lateral wag is still there if I let it, but I did wrap a piece of medical tape around the post, which made maybe some difference (or it was a placebo, whatever). Way better shoot overall. Was able to group within MOA out to 300 yards, sitting, with a Revic Stabilizer tripod. Standing, probably 1-2 MOA. My Gunsmith mount is in front of the magazine. Did this out in the wild on some BLM land, too, instead of a public range, so much quieter.

Doing another dope shoot out to 400, maybe 600 yards this week, and will be doing some side by side comparison with the Davros and a Tricer GC gun cradle, same tripod. Shot with the cradle on a separate shoot but don't find it as easy to pan or adjust and notice it flexes a bit.

The Javelin Pro Hunt bipod is awesome, though. Easy within MOA while prone, very stable. That side post on the shoulder of the bipod is money, like OP mentioned.

That makes senses in regards to the lateral swing. I re-read the thread, I see what you're saying now and would agree this probably won't be any different. Bummer. I'll have to keep poking around at other options. Or just mount an arca rail to my gun and forgo the gunsmith adapter near my mag well and just use the front one for the bipod.

Keep me posted on your findings. Not in a hurry to buy anything.

 

[lil_g]

That makes senses in regards to the lateral swing. I re-read the thread, I see what you're saying now and would agree this probably won't be any different. Bummer. I'll have to keep poking around at other options. Or just mount an arca rail to my gun and forgo the gunsmith adapter near my mag well and just use the front one for the bipod.

Keep me posted on your findings. Not in a hurry to buy anything.

TLDR: I'm gonna stick with the Davros for field work. Took an oryx with it this weekend and had zero issues. I wouldn't call it a precision/let's shoot on a range at a 1000 yards standing option (at least not for me!), but it worked exceptionally well sitting in a real-world hunting situation. I did have to shoot with it a lot to be comfortable but it paid off massively. The more stable you can make yourself, i.e., sit or be prone, will reduce or eliminate that play. It's real advantage is in how fast you can work with it and the usability. I did this as a guided hunt and after asking my guide, his only question was "what's faster?" The Davros is hands down the faster option. An arca/picatinny may be just as fast if you're proficient with regards to connecting the weapon to the tripod, but the combined adjustment knobs on the Davros streamline the rest of the process considerably.

Disclaimer: I'm not an experienced long range shooter nor a 'professional' in any sense of the word, so ease of use is gonna be high on my list of needs if it's new kit to me. Hunting in the west is new to me, as I grew up on the east coast hunting with bows and muzzle loaders so shots >100 yards are long shots to me. None of this is written to insult anyone's intelligence or experience, just lessons learned that I gathered from the whole deal.

Forgive me the novel, but here are the deets: after the last post, took it out on Friday the day before the hunt and shot at 200 to confirm zero after travelling, 420, and 500 yards. I was going to do the side by side comparison with that cradle mount, but we got out late due to some personal logistics and were running out of light. We had our 10" steel target at 200, but past that, were just using easily identifiable rocks on a hillside. Simple but effective if you're like me and get target anxiety on a range with paper targets haha Again, shot sitting in a small three-legged stool, and hit every rock spot on. With the scope not zoomed in all the way (7-10 power), the windage movement was negligible and didn't have an impact on my ability to hit the crease in a large rock at either 420 or 500 yards..

For the hunt itself, used the same tripod set up and stool. Little to no wind, 396 yards. With two legs on the tripod forward (vs one in front, two in the back), and once leaned into from the stool with the ability to kind of rest my arm on one of the forward legs while guarding the front of the stock, the lateral play was negligible. There is some small fore and aft play in the adapter itself, but again, leaning into the rifle on the tripod as you would with any other setup eliminated that. Had to readjust our position a couple times to get around yuccas and account for the animal walking, and each time, was able to get back into the rifle super fast. That Revic tripod was also a notable factor in the overall stability of the position; a weaker tripod might have been less effective. Given that you can rotate the weapon 360 just on the post, didn't even need to touch the panning adjuster, only the ball head on the initial setup to get the weapon level. It was an easy and quick couple of twists to get it locked in. Was also able to just pull the rifle off the tripod and grab the whole setup to sprint towards her for a cleanup shot in case she got up and ran.

Ultimately, the lateral wag was no factor to the overall success of the hunt. The shot ended up being ~4"-6" higher than I planned/expected when the gun went off but left and right was exactly where I wanted it. Not sure if it was me, that tiny bit of fore/aft play, or just lacking that last 12 feet of drop since it wasn't quite 400 yards per the dope, so had to make an educated guess on the MOA adjustment. If I'd had that cradle mount, I'd have been fighting it the whole time. I was able to see her drop even with the kick from the gun, so the ball head stayed in place compared to the cradle mount, which on my previous shoot, just ended up with the gun pointing up over the target after shooting because of how hard it was to crank on the adjustment knobs just to get it to lock down with the same efficacy as the Davros.

I'm gonna stick with it. Some looseness in the connection aside, I'm a huge fan of the minimalist setup, and like I said, it forced me to get better at my shooting fundamentals and will continue to do so until I get better at standing shots, which is never a bad thing! (Pic for backup; didn't spend a lot of time getting the tripod level for the picture, so forgive the jenky angle haha)