Way out of my lane, but are tripods fairly common equipment for sniper teams worldwide?
I got a few friends that are Army snipers or retired and are sniper instructors. They say that they shoot off of tripods more than prone now.
Its also a big thing in LE sniping.
I was so confused when all the PRS equipment started crossing over with the photography equipment. Lots of rails now have ARCA rails built into them, and also rail adaptors for camera QD mounts.
Not sure about worldwide but the US definitely uses them.
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You can do it Carlos Hathcock style.
Yup. Tripods with brackets like the Hog Saddle are highly useful. Prone is a staple shooting position on the range and in training, but much less available in the real world.
GTG gear: https://www.hogsaddle.com/
Reminds me that I made a Tripod and a hogs saddle for my Elf On The Shelf and one of those GOAT guns. Made them on my 3D printer, I need to get that back up with some improvements.
Which would be fine if that was Hathcock…
Tripods have become increasingly popular in long range precision shooting, both in civilian and LE/Mil circles, for good reason. Things like the Hog Saddle, and very sturdy lightweight tripods, allow you to get prone-like stability at a variety of heights. You can also use the legs of the tripod as rear support when shooting off of tall barricades etc.
I used to use very tall bipod legs when mule deer hunting, as prone shots in Utah mountains are almost nonexistent, but now i hunt with a Tripod all the time. The nice tripods have a lot of adjustability and can even be shot prone. I like the Really Right Stuff carbon fiber tripods and ball mounts, but there are less expensive options that work well.
Makes sense if you have time and opportunity to set up like that.
Last I checked most field snipers still used the trusty back pack, but it’s been a few years since I last checked. Obviously greater stability means better performance.
Here’s a link to an instagram video by Phil Velayo, demonstrating setting up a tripod to shoot in high kneeling (I don’t think there’s a way to embed instagram posts on this forum). The whole video is about 2 minutes, so it’s a quick watch:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFDm7rpJaPp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
It takes him about 40 seconds to set up the tripod and take a shot. From a position suitable for shooting through a window, loophole in a wall, over a low wall or berm, etc.
It’s been happening for a long time. A few finally embraced it, and (as we all know) gun guys ate it UP.
LE has been way behind the curve in sniping doctrine poaching off of 80’s and 90’s dated military doctrine up until the 2010’s in most places. Given the slow development of gear/tactics in this circle, Centermass marketed a Manfroto TV camera tripod with big-ass saddle/clamp contraption on it back in the late 2000’s. This was around the time we saw some pretty dialed in mil guys using smaller Manfrotto’s over at Camp Atterbury that were doing prone-level work off of tripods. So the LE sniper community was getting the hint…10ish years ago.
Manfrotto, Leofoto, RRS, SLIK (Shadowtech/hog tripod) all are rooted in camera kit first.
Cut to the early 2010’s and the FBI was teaching it in Basic Sniper courses. While PRS isn’t responsible for the use, it helped the explosion that gave us better and more kit and having the industry standardize (mostly) on the RRS/Arca rail. Remember PRS was in its infancy in 2012 and didn’t become a household name for a few years after.
It’s been standard equipment for quite a while now.
Getchu some of this!
Like i mentioned, I’ve become a big fan of using a tripod. Here is a quick pic of my tripod setup, and I have a couple Mlok mounts that stay on a few of my guns, that allow me to quick attach the gun direct to the tripod, so i don’t have to use a clamp mount.
I also have a Hog Saddle for the guns that don’t have a permanent rail mount, and Arca Swiss rail on my PRS gun. This particular tripod will also allow the legs to go almost straight out, so i can shoot the gun prone in the tripod without a bipod up front. Lot’s of flexibility on shooting height from prone to full standing.
I absolutely hate shooting of a tripod. Probably something we need to get back to because, as pointed out, prone is generally not feasible in a real world setting.
Messed around with a friends setup once and was surprised that it was more difficult than anticipated. I don’t shoot competitively so not sure I’ll ever get into it but using a tripod is interesting for sure.
WAY more difficult!!
I guess people started realizing the real world has a lot of sh*t on the ground, even in an urban setting.
Obviously there’s still technique aspects to learn.
Tripod make and weight rating matter as well. If you want it to be “easy”, you got to pay the price. A 15lb rifle on a 20lb rated tripod isn’t going to be as stable as one on a 70-90lb rated rig.
I thought the RRS/carbon fiber uber-tripod was BS geardo hype. It isn’t.
So load them down like stealthy pack mules in Gillie suits.