Mount your rifle to your tripod with an arca plate

[CarlTuesday]

This thread will cover a relatively straightforward mod I made to Winchester XPR at the front swivel stud so that I could mount it direct to my tripod.

It's still in testing phases and I'll add some details as I make some progress.

But for now, the teaser photos:

 

[Gunnersdad49]

How does your rifle balance with the attachment so far forward? Do you have to support the rear of the rifle the whole time, or can you leave the rifle set, and come back to it?

 

[CarlTuesday]

That was one of my questions and it does actually hold itself up when locked.

It's on a fairly beefy mefoto Globetrotter tripod (4.5 lbs, rated for 30+ lbs). The ball head is heavy enough that it locks down without movement if need be, and the rifle is sub-10lbs, which helps.

When I edit the lead post with more of my steps, I'll show center of gravity vs mount point - not as bad as you might think. The check is in front of the magazine when empty, and moves back when loaded.

The plate I used is a few inches long and runs back towards the butt end from the sling swivel. A longer plate would be even better on this front, but I wanted to avoid messing with where I normally support the stock too much. Partly for confort, partly because of where I could attach to the stock, and partly because I was worried about cold hands and holding that plate on freezing weather (as opposed to the stock).