New Springbok bipod feedback wanted?

[mxgsfmdpx]

Look at the time. Full setup and two shots in 25 seconds. Almost the exact same as the video posted by Form.

Do what works for you homie

I think you’d be a lot happier with the regular spartan bipod with long legs, preset to your standard seated shot height for cutting your time down significantly.

 

[ElPollo]

My Springbok head just got delivered today. Have not shot off it yet, so this is just my initial impressions from swapping the extended legs onto it from my Javelin and slapping my rifle on it in the house. I plan to take it out and shoot groups off both in the field for a comparison. My initial impression is that the Javelin with the long legs seems more stable. I’m going to reserve judgement until I shoot them both in field conditions. Unfortunately, I have to go help a buddy with an off-range oryx hunt this weekend, so it may take a bit.

 

[ElPollo]

I put a few rounds down range on both the javelin head and the springbok this evening. Nothing crazing, just shooting about a box of ammo at a rock across a canyon at about 300 while swapping the head in the middle. I was sitting with my back up against the tire of the truck and had my pack pulled under my right arm as a rear rest. Sorry for the lack of pictures or video. It was just me and I was racing the sunset.

The javelin with the long legs is what I’m already used to. It’s solid and predictable and quick to set up. The Springbok is just kinda weird. It moves around on you in ways you don’t expect. Part of that is because you are putting force into that flexible head to get it where you want it and it is also putting force back into the rifle. You can hit with it, but it feels weird. I definitely noticed that it makes it a bit harder to see your impacts due to that springiness. My setup is pretty pretty good for spotting impacts. It’s a 223 Tikka in a Stocky’s VG Hunter with 6x SWFA and an AB 8-stack with a 3” reflex. I could still see the impacts, but the gun was moving off target by a few feet at 300 with the Springbok.

The other thing I noticed is that the javelins will only let the legs spread so far. The legs Springbok can just keep on spreading to nearly 180 degrees. That sounds like a benefit for the Springbok, but in reality it just makes the bipod less stable. I’m sure there are extreme cases where you need the extra flexibility of the Springbok to get set up in some odd position. But the flexibility and the springiness sacrifices stability.

I will keep on using both in field shooting to try to better identify the use case for the Springbok. When I talked to Rob at Spartan about it, he mentioned the Springbok was better for cases where you need to pan downward. I just need to think about that some more to really understand what he is saying. If you’re panning downwards the butt of the rifle has to come up. Seems the same for both, but you still have that springy head trying to push your rifle around. Maybe I’m not getting it.

For now, I prefer the Javelin with long legs to the Springbok.