I first began the process of upgrading my 50BMG stick a few years ago at the SHOT show when I met Diann at the MHSA booth (at the time I had an M95). At the show they had a prototype APA bipod on the AW-50 they had out on the table. It's basically the same bipod that APA makes for the Armalite AR-50, but with a spigot attachment. Anyway I ordered one of these bipods with my AW50, but Diann lost faith that it would ever materialize and she refunded that portion of my order. I ended up just using the Parker-Hale type bipod, and so began my quest for improvement.
For some time, I settled on a bipod arrangement that I'd fashioned out of a Vltor mod-pod and Kasey's (Accu-Shot) railed spigot adapter, which I have previously discussed on this board. But about six months ago I knew a change was in the works...
LRA has actually been around for a while, but they've been few and far between (scarce as Hen's Teeth, you might say). I even recall having seen a You-Tube video about it, but at the time I concluded it was specially made for a Chay-Tac rifle that I didn't have. I'd never seen one in person until I dropped off my AW50 for a re-barrel. Mark Pharr (Tumbleweed Customs, who did my re-barrel) had an LRA bipod out on his table, and when I picked it up I thought: "This is the bipod I've been searching for". Mark gave me Dave Kohnow's card (Dave is the owner of LRA), then a few weeks later there was an article about the bipod in Very High Power magazine (the FCSA magazine). So I called Dave. He also had a hand-stop rail adapter for the AI rifle chassis, so I made the order.
As with everything in the super-custom high-end firearms market, it took longer than Dave had expected to produce the next run of bipods (but really, not longer than I had expected)... about three months passed between order and receipt of the goods. But wow, was this thing ever worth the wait!
Affixed to my AW50 this bipod makes for a ROCK-SOLID platform. The cant is adjustable, and lockable. The legs are massive and are extendible and can lock into multiple positions. Look at the bipod compared to the OEM AI bipod:
It should be readily apparent that the LRA bipod has a much wider stance than the AI bipod, but it achieves this wider stance without adding unnecessary height. Out of the box it is basically the perfect height to use with the built-in AI monopod. I should have taken a straight-on photo with the legs deployed to illustrate this, but alas, these are the photos I took:
My only issue right now is that I'm a big fan of quick-detach systems and the LRA bipod requires using an Allen wrench to install and remove, but I think it is mainly intended for bench-rest use. I may get some kind of quick-detach rail riser to use with the bipod.
I'll be taking this rig out shooting on Thursday, and will post about the experience afterwards.
For some time, I settled on a bipod arrangement that I'd fashioned out of a Vltor mod-pod and Kasey's (Accu-Shot) railed spigot adapter, which I have previously discussed on this board. But about six months ago I knew a change was in the works...
LRA has actually been around for a while, but they've been few and far between (scarce as Hen's Teeth, you might say). I even recall having seen a You-Tube video about it, but at the time I concluded it was specially made for a Chay-Tac rifle that I didn't have. I'd never seen one in person until I dropped off my AW50 for a re-barrel. Mark Pharr (Tumbleweed Customs, who did my re-barrel) had an LRA bipod out on his table, and when I picked it up I thought: "This is the bipod I've been searching for". Mark gave me Dave Kohnow's card (Dave is the owner of LRA), then a few weeks later there was an article about the bipod in Very High Power magazine (the FCSA magazine). So I called Dave. He also had a hand-stop rail adapter for the AI rifle chassis, so I made the order.
As with everything in the super-custom high-end firearms market, it took longer than Dave had expected to produce the next run of bipods (but really, not longer than I had expected)... about three months passed between order and receipt of the goods. But wow, was this thing ever worth the wait!
Affixed to my AW50 this bipod makes for a ROCK-SOLID platform. The cant is adjustable, and lockable. The legs are massive and are extendible and can lock into multiple positions. Look at the bipod compared to the OEM AI bipod:
It should be readily apparent that the LRA bipod has a much wider stance than the AI bipod, but it achieves this wider stance without adding unnecessary height. Out of the box it is basically the perfect height to use with the built-in AI monopod. I should have taken a straight-on photo with the legs deployed to illustrate this, but alas, these are the photos I took:
My only issue right now is that I'm a big fan of quick-detach systems and the LRA bipod requires using an Allen wrench to install and remove, but I think it is mainly intended for bench-rest use. I may get some kind of quick-detach rail riser to use with the bipod.
I'll be taking this rig out shooting on Thursday, and will post about the experience afterwards.
