A while back I was looking to see if somebody made a permanent picatinny quick release base for the Harris bipods. Not one on these adapters, that just about everyone sells, that has a sling swivel on one side and the picatinny adapter on the other. I wanted something that replaces the original Harris swivel base that attaches to the sling swivel. Turns out I found two. Alamo Four Star and LaRue both make them. Alamo has the complete bipod, or the base alone. LaRue on the other hand only sells you the complete bipod. It's called the LT706. I prefer the LaRue setup because it's lighter, has a lower profile, and the lever system is more to my liking. LaRue also has a rep for making quality stuff. Here are some pics of the LaRue setup:
My problem was that I had a many Harris bipods laying around the house, and didn't see the point in buying another or spending twice as much. Also LaRue only sells their base on the 6-9 and 9-13 bipods. I wanted it for the 13.5-27 Harris bipod. I write them an email to see if it's possible to get the base alone. I get a reply from James from the technical department. This is what he had to say: "<span style="font-style: italic">We don't sale the mounts individually. We build them into the bipods. It isn't something that can be done on a work bench in the garage.</span>" Darn! Maybe they had to mod the bipod to attach the base? Even then I figured that with my skills I would be able to make it work. So I gave up...........until a shooting buddy showed up to the range with one of them. I asked him to borrow it to see what the big mystery about this LaRue base is. I go home and start checking it out. It seems that everything looks straight forward. I wondered if maybe there was a spring under heavy load that required a special tool to compress it to be able to assemble it. I decide to take a leap of faith and pull it apart. I get my 1/4" socket wrench and and loosen the nut inside the big knob. Nothing flies apart. I then release the big knob. Nothing flies apart. Out come the two parts and the bipod is fully disassembled. No big mystery. No flying parts. Nothing! It's all very straight forward. Here is a pic of the two bipods. They are a great example because one is painted and it's easy to see what parts have been swapped. I even installed the large knob on the bipod with the factory base to show that all the parts are completely interchangeable. The red arrow shows where the 1/4" nut is, which is all the is required to install it.
It annoys me when a company such as LaRue takes you for a ride. Why couldn't they just say that they made so many bipods already, and that they didn't want to sell the bases separately till they sold all the bipods, to not lose on their investment. Not that it's the reason, but an example of a simple answer, instead of lying and treating me like I was an idiot. It's their company and they are free to do as they wish, but lying to me just gives me a reason to never buy from them. Alamo Four Star will get my business.
My problem was that I had a many Harris bipods laying around the house, and didn't see the point in buying another or spending twice as much. Also LaRue only sells their base on the 6-9 and 9-13 bipods. I wanted it for the 13.5-27 Harris bipod. I write them an email to see if it's possible to get the base alone. I get a reply from James from the technical department. This is what he had to say: "<span style="font-style: italic">We don't sale the mounts individually. We build them into the bipods. It isn't something that can be done on a work bench in the garage.</span>" Darn! Maybe they had to mod the bipod to attach the base? Even then I figured that with my skills I would be able to make it work. So I gave up...........until a shooting buddy showed up to the range with one of them. I asked him to borrow it to see what the big mystery about this LaRue base is. I go home and start checking it out. It seems that everything looks straight forward. I wondered if maybe there was a spring under heavy load that required a special tool to compress it to be able to assemble it. I decide to take a leap of faith and pull it apart. I get my 1/4" socket wrench and and loosen the nut inside the big knob. Nothing flies apart. I then release the big knob. Nothing flies apart. Out come the two parts and the bipod is fully disassembled. No big mystery. No flying parts. Nothing! It's all very straight forward. Here is a pic of the two bipods. They are a great example because one is painted and it's easy to see what parts have been swapped. I even installed the large knob on the bipod with the factory base to show that all the parts are completely interchangeable. The red arrow shows where the 1/4" nut is, which is all the is required to install it.
It annoys me when a company such as LaRue takes you for a ride. Why couldn't they just say that they made so many bipods already, and that they didn't want to sell the bases separately till they sold all the bipods, to not lose on their investment. Not that it's the reason, but an example of a simple answer, instead of lying and treating me like I was an idiot. It's their company and they are free to do as they wish, but lying to me just gives me a reason to never buy from them. Alamo Four Star will get my business.
