Shooting Saddles

davsco said:

lock your wallet in your safe, and check out really right stuff. think they have the 'vyce' or maybe that's another brand.

i have the pig saddle and like it. the sides aren't tall enough for my one ar-10 with a quad rail on it, but plenty tall enough for my hunting rifles and chassis rifle. it's real heavy but seems quality built.

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4g64loser said:

A lot of this is really going to be a function of what tripod system you want to use, what you plan to do with it, and what weapon systems/equipment the mount must support. HOG and PIG work. They are less practical for tapered stocks, so keep that in mind. A tapered stock will not "clamp" correctly and thus will need to be fiddled with just about every shot. The VYCE (RRS), I have no personal experience with but, from observing others use them at matches, they are very well made, worth the price, and suffer from the same failing as the HOG/PIG. IF you shoot a "straight" forend (like MOST chassis or a Manners MCS T series), this is essentially a non-issue. IF you plan t hunt with the system or fire a more traditional stock out of it, I would entertain other options.

The Kopfjaeger Reaper Grip does some of the same things as those mentioned above. It also has one of its grip "wings" radially floated so that, when clamping, it will get a larger contact patch on the sides of a tapered forend (or other non-straight object, like a spotting scope body). Its offset design is not as ideal as the VYCE for shooting heavy recoil systems and having them "track" back to target but the difference is minor, given good tripod management and a solid position. The benefit to the offset design (and stated engineering reason) is to accomodate SR type weapon systems, enabling mag changes and other manipulations without removal from the clamp.

The ultimate chicken dinner winner, to me, would be the CruxOrd system. If you think buying RRS stuff makes you, ah, back pocket, bleed then get ready for a whole new level of hurt. I have tested and shot out of these things and they are as solid and well made as anything i have ever used. The system is modular and can "clamp" a rifle or lock to a 1913 rail mounted to the underside of the forearm (or just about anywhere else). They also, I believe, offer a mount that locks to the currently popular ARCA rail that seems to be the latest thing in PRS attachment. The system is really an overwatch type rig. Obviously designed to comfortably support an operators weapon and allow hours (or longer) of easy pan/tilt with the weapon attached as close to the balance point as possible. Anyone who doesn't believe that matters, try holding up the back end of your gun for more than an hour with the front end supported (forward of CG) in a clamp or other mount. Then shoot a group on demand. Even with good rear bags to fill the negative space or a pair of carbon fiber sticks, the hour will cost you performance. The pan/tilt system is built on bearings with adjustable drag from essentially zero to full lock. The first day I used one, it was just over freezing and raining enough that spotting targets kinda got interesting. On a lark, once I got used to thing a bit (it's a monstrosity, for anyone who hasn't seen one), I "locked" the P/Ts and actually took a few shots standing, free recoil. The gun is a relatively heavy, suppressed, 308. The P/Ts needed a slight movement after each shot, but I only "lost" the target in the scope once, and after recoil, the crosshair always settled within 2mil (measured on reticle) even on the shot where I didn't see the shot go in clean. I can't do that with this rifle, period, from any other rest I tried. A guy with a braked 6XC, well, he didn't do diddly. He just locked his knobs, took his shoulder off the stock, tickled the trigger, ran the bolt, and repeated. He never had to move the system (but the recoil generated is a lot lower).

Ok, now that it's obvious I love Crux, let me be clear: I don't own one. It costs to much for the amount I would use it under current circumstances, weighs WAY more than anyone would ever want to hike with, and isn't "out of the truck" fast to set up and lock a weapon to unless you practice a good bit (you can cut steps and time out if you put your mind and your fingers to it). I will eventually buy one, but I got other stuff to do first.

A lot like drag racing, this comes down to the "how fast ya wanna go/how much ya wanna spend?" questions.

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