Shooting Tripods

[MTPaul]

Paul, nice setup, sweet Cooper MTV in beautiful country to boot!
Great photo, and I'm sure the rockchuck is pleased to be posed in such a nice setting too. lol

The upcoming season is approaching, and I'm looking forward to deploying my now finished tripod setup identical to yours for rockchucks here.
Question for you....what suppressor are you running on that Cooper MTV? I'm considering taking the suppressor plunge also.

What suppressor you ask? Well, there's a story...

Having spent my youth shooting all manner of firearms in OR without wearing any sort of hearing protection and then spending time around jet powered aircraft and repairing these same engines during my four years serving in the US Navy, my hearing upon discharge wasn't the greatest. When I first started considering the purchase of a suppressor to help preserve what little hearing remained and to protect the hearing of my nearby kids and then grandkids, I finally settled on two suppressors from ThunderBeast Arms Co. (TBAC) out of Cheyenne, WY. In addition to sound suppression, at the time of purchase (in 2018) there was a fair amount of concern about a POI shift when attaching, removing and reattaching a suppressor and those being offered by TBAC seemed able to alleviate this concern. Yes, these suppressors do require threading of the barrel - a fact that may limit some from going down that route.

The two TBAC suppressors I own are 1.) 22 Takedown and and 2.) Ultra 7. As you might imagine the 22 Takedown is for the smaller caliber firearms (.17 HMR, .17 Hornet, and various .22s) while the Ultra 7 is for everything from .204 up to the .30 calibers. The cover you see in the picture is from Armageddon Gear and is meant to help protect my hands from the heat generated when removing the suppressor and reduce the heat mirage. Although, I seldom allow the barrels to get very hot, thereby reducing the heat generated by the suppressor.

I've been very happy with both cans, and they afford a decided advantage to the shooter (not so much for the intended target) when set up in a target rich environment. Many, many times, the nearby varmints seldom move when their neighbor suddenly "splodes", allowing for numerous follow-up shots.

 

[rickiesrevenge]

I'm sure looking into it. Been resisting it for years now, but it appears with the new suppressors available that do not require threading the barrel, it's a viable option. I sure don't want to bugger up any of my nice Coopers by threading the muzzle.

So what's the consensus on suppressors that don't require any machine work on the rifle?

What suppressor doesnt require machine work to attach it to the barrel? I've seen muzzle brakes that clamp on. But a brake doesnt need anywhere near the alignment that a suppressor does because its so much shorter. Also the bore is on those brakes is opened up substantially more than would be normally done on a brake that was threaded on. Any runout of the barrel starts to show up in a noticeable way after the 6-9" of asuppressor.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

What suppressor doesnt require machine work to attach it to the barrel? .

That's the question I'm asking too, as I do not want to have machine work done on any of my rat rifles, especially my Coopers.

 

[Bullseye69]

I don't believe there is one like that.
I haven't seen any like that.
The amount of pressure when fired can remove a threaded one if it so desired.
Clamping to a tapered barrel would be a real problem.
IMO.

 

[Old Hickory]

*** I did not see a subject line on this new forum for field gear, so posting here....hope it's okay.

This subject is fairly new to me. I've pondered it for a while, and after seeing the USSS using them in Butler PA when Trump got shot in the ear, I looked into them further.

I see shooting tripods running from el cheapo to 'professional grade' costing over a grand. Now being into 'geezerhood', getting down into prone and staying there for extended periods of time using a bipod puts a real cramp into my neck, not to mention an old guy getting back up from laying down (not a pretty sight). And I've had trouble lately with bipods not able to get over high grass where I shoot rock chucks, so a tripod started to make sense.

In the end, I opted for the BOG Death Grip tripod. Seemed like a good option as I didn't need to add an ARCA rail to any of my Cooper's with nice Clarlo wood stocks, and even my Phoenix model Cooper gets clamped in solidly. Problem was leveling the rifle. The only way was to move the legs......time consuming and not ideal when shooter movement needs to be minimal.

Answer: The neat ball-head conversion from Little Crow Gunworks. They offer a complete kit to modify the Death Grip using a 40mm ball-head. With a small portable camp stool, it may be the answer, but I've not had a chance to try it out in the field yet, being fall and recovering from surgery last month.

So....looking for others experiences with shooting tripods, good ones, ones to be avoided, and overall field impressions.

I got one of those BOG Death Grip bipods for Christmas and am trying it out tomorrow for tree squirrels.

 

[Bullseye69]

I got one of those BOG Death Grip bipods for Christmas and am trying it out tomorrow for tree squirrels.

You'll like it a lot. Great fur shooting limb chickens!!

 

[Old Hickory]

I live and hunt on the Mississippi River bluff and most of it is very steep, so a fella needs both hands free on the bluff. My brother is making me an over the shoulder carry bag for the BOG and my folding hunting 3 legs hunting chair.
The BOG will work a lot better than the camera tripod I have been using.
I go for head shots only so a good rest is important, especially hunting with my .17 WSM rifles.

 

[Old Hickory]

My Iowa daily limit of 6, a good day with my Savage .17 WSM BMAG.

 

[Old Hickory]

On the other side of the steep river bluff, my favorite hunting spot.

 

[Old Hickory]

A very difficult off-hand quick shot with my Savage A17 .17 WSM. You can understand the need to use a good rifle rest. This was a neck shot but was a tried head shot.