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Help with head?

Strykervet

ain'T goT no how whaTchamacalliT
Full Member
Minuteman
  • Jun 5, 2011
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    Pierce County, WA
    So I have a USO spotter and a military mk5 LRF. Both use a standard, what, 1/4-20? threaded bolt to attach to a tripod. Spotter is a straight tube, LRF is an oversize spam can with the screw boss on the bottom, center.

    What I'd like is a tripod that will accommodate both the LRF and the spotter. I'd like a section of rail somewhere on it too. Need all this to fit on a sturdy but short tripod.

    Any suggestions? Does anyone make something like this or will I have to get creative?
     
    I've been playing around with just this idea. How to mount my spotter, or binoculars, and my rangefinder. All at the same eye level. Each able to move and point as desired. And be easy to attach and remove.

    The question isn't what tripod. It is what rail/mount to put on it. I have a RRS with the new Anvil30 head. So it accepts picatinny or Arca. I found on Amazon a Neewer rail for about $20. It attaches to the tripod and also has an Arca clamp on top to accept my spotter or binos. The rail is about 8" long. At the other end, I found a small ballhead that has an Arca clamp on the top for my rangefinder. My thought here is that I won't always be able to range from the position of the tripod. So I want to have a way to easily remove it. Oh, and I also put a vertical handle under the rangefinder to help control the movement of the whole setup. You can see in the picture the binos are sitting on top of a pedestal we had to make in order to make the eye levels the same. The spotter doesn't need to be as high.
    binos and rf.jpg
     
    Stryker:

    Had a similar issue with pairing my LRF with my spotter. Looked at numerous possible solutions online and none of them seemed to work. Finally built an adapter to attach to the rail on Spotter 60. Co-witness the LRF with the Spotter using an APO mount. Used it the second time I took the Gunsite XLR class and worked great when mounted on a gearhead. Quite a different setup for the USO spotter but may give an idea of some options.

    IMG_1063.JPG
    IMG_1065.JPG
    IMG_1066.JPG
     
    Idea was to have the eye pieces for both at the same level and just move side to side, When the LRF is mounted on the top rail it is too awkward to use. Use a trigger cable on the LRF tethered to a Nomad running FFS.
     
    You might want to think about editing the title of your thread.... just sayin'

    Another option is the Abel Table from Abelcousa.com
    Here's a recent thread:
    https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...ble-by-abel-company-usa.6889615/#post-7082831

    The table is Mlok compatible and has the Arca rail built in to the bottom.

    In the following pic, the attachment for the Vectronix Terrapin is a prototype microball head that they will be making soon. These photos are of the Abel Table that belongs to Mike from Abel Company.
    IMG_3253.JPG

    Screen Shot 2018-06-07 at 1.38.59 PM.png
     
    Yeah, none of those above will work for me (but certainly look nice). That tray would probably work but so would a straight piece of metal, at least for my needs.

    I'm thinking that since they both mount using the same screw, that the simplest solution would be to take a piece of aluminum and drill a few holes in it and run bolts through the side holes and mount the center to the tripod.

    To stack 'em, I was thinking maybe an aluminum box with the appropriate hole drilled in the bottom and top center with a mounting boss on the bottom. A rail mounted to one side. I could probably make it myself if I could find a, say, a piece of 6x6x6 aluminum square tubing (if they make it). I could probably use a C shape piece too provided it is heavy enough.

    I'm gonna start looking around for that, if anyone has anything like this PM me or if you know where to score something like that and won't break the bank. A box or C shape of that size made of heavy aluminum should do the trick, I can drill the holes and do the rest.

    If anyone knows of something else that would work for an LRF that's larger than a Vectronix and a straight spotter that both use a tripod screw to mount, let me know.