Most potential for stability is in the front, but you need rear support.
Most versatile is in front of the mag well at a balance point. You can better balance and reduce wobble zone without rear support.
It’s a cost benefit, but if it is a short plate, I may put it by the mag well if I plan on shooting clamped and never with a bag in too if tripod. With rear support I am almost as stable as if it were in the front. For most hunting distances, it doesn’t make a difference for a practiced shooter with good positional shooting and recoil management.
One drawback when clamping in with a high recoiling rifle is a hinge action. Absent perfect recoil management, clamped by the mag well creates significant problems with elevation/shooting high as recoil increases.
I prefer clamping in the front with rear support. I can get maximum stability to shoot out to 1000 as stable as prone.
But when shooting on a balance point I prefer using a bag on top of the tripod. I get better tracking and eliminate the hinge movement.
There is no one perfect way/place for tripod shooting. I took
@NSI tripod, plate/bag, and walking sticks and went 4 in a row on 1000 after getting the wind call. It has been called old man prone…
I ran a small plate for a while near the mag well, and did a video of a shot back in 2019 when I was first taught some tricks to shooting off a tripod. It’s below.
If I never will shoot with a bag on tripod, then I lean towards putting the plate on the balance point for versatility. If I will shoot with a bag then it goes to the front to get max stability.
