Introduction

Sometimes I forget how long I’ve been around this business of shooting. There was a time when I couldn’t wait to visit the gun shows, and believe it or not I even bought some of the stamped garbage they sell there.

There was a time where I even picked up one of those garbage bipods that clamp to your barrel, looks almost like a WWII machine gun bipod? You know the one. Thank goodness times have changed, my tastes have matured, but they still sell all that garbage.

Leapers UTG

The reason I bring it up is, just as we mature and grow, so too can manufacturers. Leapers UTG is not a new name to me, I have heard it and seen it a million times over the years. I never bought anything from them, but I had always associated the brand with inexpensive gear I considered not worthy of my time.

As the years have passed, I paid them no attention, until I was recently given the chance to try one of their bipods. My historical perception almost instantly biased me against the idea, I was quite sure I wasn’t going to like it. But when it finally arrived in my hands, my bias began to dissipate just as quickly as it had risen.

The UTG Bipod

The UTG Over the Bore Bipod is as its name suggests mounted above the bore. It uses a mounting block that clamps to the 12 o’clock rail of your rifle, the bipod has a spike that is received into the block. The bipod cants on the spike allowing the rifle to be leveled on uneven terrain, the spike is also mounted on a horizontal hinge, which allows the rifle to pan left and right. In the mounting block itself, there is a small tension knob, which tightens like a clutch around the bipod spike to tension the cant of the bipod to your liking.

My initial impression of the bipod mounted to my Desert Tech MDRX was that it looked like a strong and buxom piece of kit, the weight made me confident that it was well built. But I was also initially concerned that the cant and pan of the bipod wouldn’t be sufficient for my anything but flat world.

As it happens, I was quite happy with the panning radius of the bipod, I was able to pan left and right enough to have to move my body position. I figured that if I can pan enough to have to move my body position, then it’s no big deal to reposition the rifle in the process. The cant, while sufficient was not quite as much as I would have liked.

Though this may be directly related to the rifle it is mounted on. The diameter of the barrel/handguard is the limiting factor with this bipod, so the thicker your setup, the less cant you will have before the bipod legs stop against the rifle.

The legs of the bipod are one of its greatest strengths, the pivot of each leg is very robust, and the large lock release on the outer edge of each pivot is easy to feel and press whether or not you are looking at it.

The legs fold both forward and backward with several locking points allowing more stowing options, as well as shooting positions. The legs extend with a pull, and have notches every half-inch or so to lock them at height. The legs are spring retracted when the leg-lock is depressed, these controls are easy and intuitive.

One of my biggest fears when I saw the bipod initially was that it would be too bulky to stow when walking around. Most bipods add bulk to the front bottom end of the rifle handguards, when affixed they reduce the space you have to grip when shooting from the offhand position.

This is something most of us either get over, or get used to. When I saw the size of the UTG bipod, I thought for sure this thing will be a significant hindrance while trying to maneuver. Again, to my surprise, the UTG bipod when stowed to the front or rear was completely out of my way and allowed unmolested use of the entire handguard.

And with the ability to quickly remove it by simply depressing the release on the mounting block, it can easily be stowed elsewhere if you wish.

Shooting with the UTG bipod was also more pleasant than I had anticipated, with both the pan and cant features providing more radius than I expected. Shooting the rifle with the bipod folded up and stowed was also no issue.

Almost every fear I had about this bipod going in was a non-issue, all but one. The only problem I could honestly give about this bipod is its weight, it is not a light bipod. I have several others that weigh very similar, and they are certainly in another class, but cost two to four times as much money too.

Final Thoughts

The UTG bipod is built well enough I would consider using it on very heavy rifles, and even on lighter built rifles provided I didn’t have to pack them very far. I think this bipod would be perfect for range shooting, prairie dog shooting or any other activity where the weight wouldn’t cause an issue.

I love the way my rifle hangs from the bipod, it naturally wants to rest level, and it never wants to topple over, which is an issue I’ve had with many other bipods. With a street price under $150 its no surprise it has five-star reviews from Amazon and Optics Planet.

So, while I’m not going to ditch my Harris and Atlas bipods anytime soon, as they all have their use, this UTG bipod will definitely stay in my collection.
-CBM