Vanguard shooting tripods review

[Travis Bertrand]

Hey all,
Vanguard is now a sponsor of the website, and we thought we would review some of their shooting tripods. Myself, @Justin Crossley and @Team4LongGun will be adding to this thread. They sent me an Endeavor RL 303CGM just in time for my antelope hunt in Wyoming. The trip consisted of 3 generations and was an absolute blast. Spoiler alert: we all killed antelope, one of which was my son's first big game hunt. My son, myself, and my dad all used the tripod in one way or another for our kills. My dad used the tripod with a tac table my son makes and shot off the top in a seated position. Myself and my son both utilized it in a tripod rear setup. Anyway, I have been playing with this tripod and wanted to give you guys my initial thoughts.

This tripod comes in at 500$, which is on the low end of shooting tripods. There are some things I like and dislike, I really like the feet. they are rubber but threaded so you can twist the rubber feet in and out comes a spike. also, the lower section of the tripod has 1' markers on it, making it easy to quickly deploy to your set height. I personally do not like the head that comes on it. It has a big wheel that clamps your rifle into the tripod. While it works well, it is overkill for my style of hunting/shooting. I promptly removed the head and put a shooting ballhead on it with Arca Swiss. also, the tripod isn't as stable as my other tripods dedicated to shooting. For field use, it was more than adequate; however, I will not be taking it to any shooting comps.

take a look at Vanguard's Shooting tripod lineup and let us know your thoughts.

Here are some pics. from the hunt. My dad has his rifle clamped in using the clamp and he really liked the stability.

*Update 12/19/23 Travis' final review is up on the homepage: https://www.rokslide.com/vanguard-endeavor-rl-303c6m-tripod-review/

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Justin Crossley]

I'm testing the aluminum version. So far, it's a great tripod for the money. The twist locks aren't my favorite because they take a little more twisting to loosen/tighten than I like. But, they do lock up solid and function just fine. Like Travis, I'm not a big fan of the rifle clamp but I do think a lot of people will use it if they don't want or have Arca on their rifles.



Something I've been wanting on all shooting tripods is a better/faster way to unlock the legs to widen the stance. This tripod has simple buttons at the top of each leg just for that and it's my favorite feature.

 

[Vanguard Outdoors]

Thank you, Justin and Travis, for checking out the Endeavor shooting tripods. These are the first in a family of shooting tripods coming out. These ones that you have are designed for those who DO want a clamp-style shooting tripod, and we have several models forthcoming that will have an Arca-Swiss/Pic rail attachment setup with the ball/half-bowl head/canopy, so those should be more up your alley from what I am understanding. For anyone who wants to see some video with more info on these first two models in the series, check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/@vanguardusaoutdoors7941/videos

Thanks again, y'all!

 

[Team4LongGun]

I had a chance to utilize this tripod for over a month now, on several different hunts and shoots. My first impression left me impressed, as there was zero "slop" in all of the articulation.

I first put this tripod to work at the range. The stability of the clamping gun mount worked well, and several rifles were quickly zeroed. I have a wooden shooting bench that I normally use, and this tripod is now what I'm shooting off of. The ability to retract the legs and shoot kneeling and sitting while still extending to over 6 feet for standing shots was well received.

I then employed this tripod on a whitetail hunt, where I set up about a quarter mile from the truck. This tripod is large and weighs 6 lbs 6.6 ounces on my scale, so it won't be making a backpacking multi-day hunt, but for this hunt, it performed great. I had another hunter with me, and we both killed deer. The ability to pan and tilt with the vertical grip underneath the mount is innovative and a great feature. By twisting the grip, it locks the desired setting. Another feature that is a great design is the retractable spikes on the feet. By screwing the foot in or out, you expose and hide the spike.




I set this up on my property for some predator hunting, and this will be with me on all my sets from now on. Adjustments in the dark are quiet enough once you learn the features.

My overall opinion after several varied uses is that this tripod punches well above its price. I have several tripods, and the gold standard is the RRS tripod for me. This tripod is a third of the cost of an RRS and, quite frankly, performed just as well in the scenarios I used it.

 

[Brian77]

Loving this review. I will check into these. I need another one

 

[Clydedavid]

Thank you for the review. I use a Vanguard for my spotting scope. I am well satisfied with it.

 

[robby denning]

*Update 12/19/23 Travis' final review is up on the homepage: https://www.rokslide.com/vanguard-endeavor-rl-303c6m-tripod-review/

 

[Wiscodoghunter]

Iv been using a vanguard bipod for predator hunting for a while now and I think they are better than most out there.