Am I loading the bipod too much?

[maraviadave]

I’ve been shooting groups on paper, at 100 yards, with my rimfire trainer (22 LR Vudoo).

These groups have been shot from; 1) prone - TBAC bipod and Pint Sized GC as a rear bag, 2) sitting - RRS tripod with Anvil 30, 3) kneeling - tripod w/ Anvil 30, 4) standing - tripod w/ Anvil 30, 5) standing - tripod w/ plate & PSGC.

Each position I’m shooting four .... 5-shot groups, measuring them with the Ballistic-X app and then averaging the results (from all 20 shots) to determine group size and differences between POA and POI.

From all positions, I’m averaging between 0.6 - 1.0 MOA.

My groups from the prone are 0.50 - 0.75 inches lower than all of the positions using the tripod.

My suspicion has been that I’m loading the bipod too much. However, when I try shooting the bipod from a neutral position, I still get similar results.

What am I missing? What should I be doing differently? Is this common?

 

[MCHOG]

Is it possible your parallax was not adjusted? One of the big differences between prone and all the other positions is your head/cheek position and angle in relationship to the rifle and scope. If you are looking through the scope at a consistently different angle when prone, and your parallax is not set properly, you will get consistently different points of impact.

 

[sleeplz]

My tripod and prone have a definite shift, shooting tripod is .3 lower. Just record it and know that it's something that will affect your shooting.

 

[loveha]

You are taking the slack out, not trying to help the earth rotate.
Like mentioned though, I'm willing to bet parallax from the situations you have tried.

 

[maraviadave]

In regards to parallax....I feel confident that the ocular adjustment is focused really well for my eye and I have been conscientious about making / checking parallax adjustments from each of the positions.

When I have ‘loaded‘ the bipod ..... I didn’t feel like I was doing much more than taking the slack out.

I’m wondering if it’s some kind of relationship between the rear of the rifle supported by a rear bag in the prone .... versus .... ‘less’ support for the rear of the rifle in the other positions.

 

[MCHOG]

This doesn't sound like a bipod issue, especially if your description of "taking the slack out" is correct. Have you filmed yourself shooting in those positions? I'd be interested to see what your trigger control looks like. If you jerk the trigger, your rifle would be more susceptible to muzzle lift in the non-prone positions. In that case, shots from all the other positions would technically be high, rather than prone being low. If that is the problem, it would be impressive that your trigger jerk is that consistent.

 

[JustSendit]

I’ve seen and experienced the exact same problem. Have you experimented with a different scope, same rifle? If you have, did you get the same result? Or a consistent POI?

I struggled to solve the problem, I went back to ground zero, scope off, out of the mount, remounted, leveled, adjusted ocular focus, rezeroed, readjusted cheek raise, in the process I returned to consistency between props/prone.

Initially, ruled out a lot of thing by using a different scope, where I was able to be consistent. Then rebuilt my rifle.

I can’t point to the specific error, my guess was a combination of incorrect ocular focus, and eye alignment. Whatever it was, that particular rifle and scope are good now.

 

[_Raining]

RRS tripods can get real low can't they, maybe try using the tripod in its lowest position with a rear bag then you can narrow down the issue to how you interface with the rear bag or the bipod.

 

[ManOfMystery]

Have you tried to make sure that your head is in the same spot on the cheek piece in every one of the positions? Does it have the same amount of pressure? Same amount of eye relief from the scope?

Having your head in a different place or different pressure can cause your impact to shift up or down.