RRS tripod, leveling base and gimbal

atombomb

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  • Jan 10, 2011
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    Cajun Country
    I’m also a photographer, so don’t think I bought this just for gun shooting... and crazy at it seems, my camera and lens cost more than the rifle and scope ?

    I have the ball mount also, so I’ve been experimenting will all sorts of setups and this one actually works well. The gimbal tilts and pans flawlessly because you can perfectly balance the gun all around.

    Enjoy the pics
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    Is the system still easy to self spot off and what size groups are you getting?

    It would be great to show us a few groups from the setup :)

    I've only played with it indoors so far, weather is the suck here right now and my range is closed. You can lock the pan and tilt rock solid with
    separate adjusters, so it's as solid as a ball mount or leveling base when locked, so my guess is that it would be as solid as any other properly
    set up tripod system. I can tell you taking pictures of eagles, ospreys and flying birds and tracking them with this setup is easy..
     
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    It looks and sounds like a good setup. I did photography for many years and when you're serious and want the best equipment it is very expensive. I basically stopped when it got to the point that digital became as good or better than film since the cost to switch over would have been too great. Also family matters affected my ability to get out there enough to make it worthwhile.
     
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    Michael at RRS will tell you it's capable of holding a heavy rifle, but it wasn't designed for recoil. Neither was the FH. Don't get me wrong, Michael said he shoot of both of them, but hey will loosen up over time - his words. RRS makes some amazing shit none the less. I want it all.
     
    I've only played with it indoors so far, weather is the suck here right now and my range is closed. You can lock the pan and tilt rock solid with
    separate adjusters, so it's as solid as a ball mount or leveling base when locked, so my guess is that it would be as solid as any other properly
    set up tripod system. I can tell you taking pictures of eagles, ospreys and flying birds and tracking them with this setup is easy..

    I only asked because we used gimbals and booms his heavy film cameras, but the long thin lever arm, shooter influences vibrations (load) and wind is a bit of different world. I have found evrything you add on tends to cause a bit more shake.. That said is your a door gunner your going to use a gimbal you just want to compromise in the correct direction.

    In a match setting simple and light is the key as is hunting. I guess if you were primarily tracking over dead space the gimbal would be better, but more often than not less is more in precision rifle.
     
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    How did you know I was a door gunner back in the day :) all of these pieces are rock solid, but like Sky said, they aren't built for recoil. I think it will handle my lighter rounds with a suppressor, but I won't try the NM and LM on it. I think the leveling base with the flush pan Arca clamp is the way to
    go for simple and solid.
     
    Is it more stable than your BH55? The leveling base is more stable

    I am not trying to crap on the idea, but tripod shooting is not what 99% of the people think it will be once they get out of the living room and or just test with no FFP moves or in the field.. 80% of what the tripods in matches are used are for rear support the other 19.9% is for non-tracking shots..

    You just might find other than testing at a static range the legs and your leveling head out preform the the gimbal.