Tripod Shooting - CH20? Yoke?

[MTBagel]

First post! Been lurking for a while. Almost endless great discussion.

I am a newbie when it comes to tripods, and really glassing in general. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on something I've been considering.

I recently purchased a Sirui St-125 + VA-5 head, on a screaming deal. Planning on picking up some 15x56 binos to round out the glassing kit- previously have just ran 10x42s in a chest rig here in MT.

My initial reaction is that this is a very high quality tripod/head rig. But, a bit heavy and possibly overkill for running up and down mountains. That being said- if I could shoot off this as well, I can easily justify the weight.

There are two options that are most intriguing to me:

1. Pickup a Short center column + Shooting Yoke
- Swapping out columns (with the head on the long column, yoke on short) would be fast, canting is easy in a yoke, and this setup would support a lot of weight. Ultimately would add only about 5oz total (guess). Stable setup, only $30 to implement, however the rifle is not locked-in to the tripod.

2. Replace VA-5 with Smallrig CH20 Head + Shorty Arca Rail
-People seem to like the CH10 head. For a few bucks (and ounces) more, the CH20 appears to be the same head, plus a leveling base. That takes care of canting, and if the performance is on par with the CH10, it should be plenty adequate for glassing with 10x or 15x binos. Plus, it's rated at 8.8 pounds; that theoretically should handle my tikka, with a little arca rail attached. This option would actually drop at least 6oz or so from the VA-5 Head, and maybe 11oz in total from option 1.

Ok, if nothing else, I have brain dumped and put my thoughts to the keyboard. Any input received now is just gravy.

 

[seand]

That is not the ideal setup to shoot a rifle from, especially locked in. You would be better off putting a small bag on the tripod and shooting off of the bag IMO.

The extra stability you are looking for by locking in directly to a tripod head isn’t going to be there unless you have seriously rigid legs and a very solid tripod head.

It’s very possible to shoot really well off a bag on a tripod, the rifles recoil is easier to manage (straight back), and you don’t need nearly rigidity in your tripod setup since it doesn’t need to hold the rifle steady, just needs to support gravity on the bag.

I’ve got a $1500 RRS setup and the last animal we shot was with a gamechanger bag off a $250 Leofoto. The bag has some real advantages.

 

[MTBagel]

That is not the ideal setup to shoot a rifle from, especially locked in. You would be better off putting a small bag on the tripod and shooting off of the bag IMO.

The extra stability you are looking for by locking in directly to a tripod head isn’t going to be there unless you have seriously rigid legs and a very solid tripod head.

It’s very possible to shoot really well off a bag on a tripod, the rifles recoil is easier to manage (straight back), and you don’t need nearly rigidity in your tripod setup since it doesn’t need to hold the rifle steady, just needs to support gravity on the bag.

I’ve got a $1500 RRS setup and the last animal we shot was with a gamechanger bag off a $250 Leofoto. The bag has some real advantages.

I think you're correct. Probably just going to run a bag or the yoke/V- less stress on the tripod/head, and plenty stable for 400 yard shots. Thank you for the input.