Why shoot from a tripod?

When I began precision rifle shooting many years ago, it was a different landscape. An astounding amount of growth has occurred over the years, and it has kept my perspective shifting, as well as my goals. Technology and product innovation have kept our shooting world fluid, making it quite the challenge to stay on the cutting edge.

As a blue collar shooter, I have had trouble over the years fulfilling my desire for top tier hardware. Always having to find a compromise, and doing the best I could with what I had.
A quick browse through gun rags, internet forums, and some of the regional trade shows will surely drive the average shooting enthusiast out of his mind. The ever growing surplus of whiz-bang accessories being peddled to the American shooter is astonishing. And the effort by so many to reach tier zero civilian-operator status fuels it.
In the storm of QD-this, and tactical-that, it’s easy for a guy who just wants to shoot, and shoot well, to get overwhelmed with wants. My father taught me as a child that my “getter” had to be bigger than my “wanter”. Compromise was a learned discipline that over the years, helped me achieve my goals.

All those years ago, a point was reached wherein I thought I had achieved some sort of status. It came from a sense of confidence or accomplishment when I proved to myself that I could hit almost whatever I wanted with my rifle given a few conditions. One of those conditions was to have a good shooting position, which was almost always prone. In order to up my game, I had to “get off my belly”, as put by my friend The Blanman

A crucial step forward was realizing that any fool with enough ammo and a decent rifle and scope can hit distant targets from a prone position. It is entirely a different thing to hit targets from tough positions, at difficult angles, in a short time, and all the while making those first round hits. This was indeed a challenge, and one that required practice, and some additional hardware.

Precision Rifle Solutions

This is where Precision Rifle Solutions came into my kit. I had long wanted for the gear that so many of the pros use, but I simply couldn’t afford to spend four or five hundred dollars on a tripod. So after some research and few reviews, I bought a PRS medium QD tripod. The tripod came with a small padded saddle that was perfect for resting my rifle on.

I quickly became quite fond of this lightweight little tripod, and just as quickly I worked it into my range routine. In the steep and rough mountains that I normally shoot from, it was perfect for when the bipod just wouldn’t do. The easily adjustable legs were quickly deployed and help me get a good solid rest, allowing me to shoot over tall grass, bushes and other obstacles that often block a shot from a regular bipod. It also worked exceptionally well for those high angled shots where again, a standard bipod left me wanting more. I have been using the PRS tripod and saddle for quite some time now, its become one of the most handy tools in my pack.

Well, the good people at Precision Rifle Solutions have been hard at work, looking for more products to offer the serious recreational shooter. And I was excited to get this next one in my hands.
The Freedom Quick Release Mount is a small aluminum block that you can attach to your rifle, and with the QD release plates also available from PRS, you can in a matter of seconds, attach your rifle to any of their tripods. It attaches to your rifles pic rail, giving you a very solid lockup with the tripod. I have found it to be an invaluable addition to my tripod, I can run it either with the saddle, or without. Instead opting to snap the rifle directly to the ball head. The best part of it all, is that I can do all of this without even removing my standard bipod. Allowing me to go from a prone position on my traditional bipod, transitioning to a kneeling, or sitting position in literally a couple seconds. I can just as quickly drop the tripod loose, and go right back to my bipod. The FQRM is very compact and doesn’t interfere with the function of the bipod if your rifle has a full length bottom rail and allows you to mount both.

When coupled with the QD Tripod, and its compact ball clutch, it is amazing how quickly I can transition from one position to another. And if you have a good backpack to use as a rear support, you can get so stable, you’d think you were prone on the ground. Making long range shots quite a doable challenge.

The compact and lightweight tripod easily fits in a daypack for an afternoon hunt, or for a competition. The FQRM is also easily attached and left on most tactical style rifles to be used with or with out a bipod mounted next to it. It can also double as a barricade stop when it’s not attached to the tripod.
The FQRM is attached to a pic rail, sliding on from one end, and using two cross bolts, it clamps down. I got the FQRM with the PRS quick release plate, but with common threads in it, Im sure you could attach any kind of tripod QD mounting plate to it. With additional QR plates, there are countless mounting options, to put, optics, or other accessories on the top of this handy little tripod.

Conclusion

With so many expensive options for shooting accessories, its very refreshing to find good quality gear, made in America, for a reasonable price that the average shooter can afford. I will continue to use the great products from Precision Rifle Solutions, and cant wait to see what innovative and useful product they come up with next.
If you’d like more information, go to their website:
Precision Rifle Solutions

And tell them I sent you, you might get a platypus sticker out of it…
-CBM