Whether you’re hunting from a stand or blind, or going on a stalking mission, making sure you have the best rifle bipod you can find is an essential part of the mission. A bipod allows for stability from almost any angle and you can turn any decent surface into a shooting bench without too much effort when you utilize one.
Read on, and we’ll show you how to pick out the best rifle bipod around and then show you some of the pick of the litter.
Best Rifle Bipods | Quality | Price | Our Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
A+ | $$ | |||
B | $ | |||
A- | $$ | |||
A | $$$ | |||
B+ | $ |
Top 5 Best Rifle Bipods On The Market
We’ve dug around and brought you five of the best bipods currently available for your viewing pleasure and convenience. One of these should be ideally suited for pretty much every shooter, but you really can’t go wrong with any of them.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at each and their benefits and drawbacks so you can find the perfect rifle companion for your next hunting season.
Best Rifle Bipod for Hunting: Harris Engineering 1A2-LM Solid Base 9 - 13-Inch BiPod
If you ask competition shooters what brand of bipod they prefer, the answer will be Harris three out of four times. This 9”-13” bipod is perfectly adaptable for most hunting situations without being cumbersome or even particularly expensive.
Via: Amazon.com
The notched leg allow you to adjust the height in perfect increments, a bonus for pretty much any hunter since it will allow for amazing consistency in how it performs. It’s also lightweight and compacts with a quiet spring system.
Harris’ designs are a no-go if you were planning on attaching this one to an AR frame rifle with rails, instead they’re designed to be used with a swivel mount. Adapters do exist, however, if you still think the AR is the perfect choice for your hunt.
This is a solid bipod, at a budget price. Pretty much any shooter should be fine with it and it’s usable in a wide variety of different situations.
Pros
- Compact design
- Highly durable
- Notched legs at 1” increments
- No flex or lean
Cons
- Lugs come loose after repeated firing
- Needs adapter for picatinny rails
UTG Tactical OP Bipod, Rubber Feet, Center Height 8.3"-12.7"
UTG makes a fine line of bipods, and this is one of the best. It comes with a great range of height settings, folds back in a compact manner with the rifle’s barrel, and has a quick retract so you can pull it quickly in if you need to get moving again.
Via: Amazon.com
The rubberized feet will grip well on harder surfaces, keeping muzzle climb at bay.
The legs are independent of each other, so you can easily adapt to uneven terrain as well and they slide freely until locked.
It’s definitely not perfect though, quite a few people have reported problems getting it attached to their rifle with swivel lugs although it seems to be quite solid once it’s been attached.
Pros
- Perfect height range for hunting
- Well-constructed and durable
- Quickly retracting legs
- Independent Legs
Cons
- Some issues attaching to swivel lug
- Not as solid as it could be
Best Rifle Bipod for Long Range Shooting: TipTop EZ Rifle Bipod 13.5" - 23"
This TipTop bipod is perfect if you generally find yourself shooting while sitting or kneeling. It’s not quite the right height if you’re in terrain where you’ll be trying to shoot prone however.
The wide stance is a nice feature as well, keeping things nice and stable as long as you’re on a soft surface to accommodate the smaller feet.
Via: Amazon.com
This one doesn’t have a rail attachment, instead you’ll have to use the swivel lug or get an adapter depending on your rifle.
While it’s fairly situational in it’s usage, this is a dependable bipod which offers height to those who aren’t planning on shooting from super low to the ground. If you like to take the long shots and are in terrain with a lot of rocks and logs, then you’ll be in good hands if you choose to make the investment in the TipTop EZ.
Pros
- Tall enough for shooting while kneeling or sitting
- Very wide stance
- Small feet are perfect for soft terrain
- Fast, quiet retraction
- Rubberized legs
Cons
- No rail mount
- Too tall for many applications
Best Harris Bipod: Harris Engineering S-BRM Hinged Base 6 - 9-Inch BiPod (Harris 6-9 Bipod)
If you’re planning on hunting from a stand, then this 6”-9” bipod is exactly what you’re looking for. It comes with all of the high-quality features you’d expect from a Harris bipod in a tight, compact little package.
Via: Amazon.com
It’s probably not ideal if you’re planning on shooting from a crouch, but if you have a pre-built rest and a bench or prefer to shoot prone, then there’s a lot being offered here.
The swivel is extra nice, allowing you to track your prey and preventing you from ever having to angle your rifle and bipod to the side in order to get your perfect shot.
Like any other bipod that Harris offers, you’re going to have to get an adapter if you plan on putting it on a gun with rails, but other than that it’s pretty much the perfect bipod for anyone looking to hunt prone or from a bench.
Pros
- High-quality construction
- Swiveling base
- Ideal height for prone shooting
- Rubberized feet with a tilt
Cons
- Too short for crouching shooting without a rest
- Needs an adapter for rails
Best Lightweight Bipod For Rifle: UTG Shooter's SWAT Bipod, Rubber Feet, Height 6.2"-6.7"
This is the bipod if you’re planning on shooting prone or from a rest. Accept no substitutions.
Its solid design will absorb a surprising amount of shock, and there’s no flex or bend present in the UTG Shooter’s SWAT Bipod. Instead, you’re left with a rock solid rest that isn’t likely to disappoint once it’s been deployed.
Via: Amazon.com
For the most part, it’s absolutely perfect for that kind of shooting. It’s also super lightweight, as one would expect from such a small bipod.
The problem is that it also doesn’t really lend itself to any other kind of shooting, since the range of extension is so small.
If you need a low profile bipod though, this one is a dream come true.
Pros
- Solid as a rock
- Fits both rails and swivel lugs
- Super lightweight
- Wide stance
Cons
- Too short for many applications
- Can even prevent extended magazines from being used
Choosing a Bipod
In essence, what a bipod does is allows you to create a steady rest for your rifle no matter where you’re at. It might seem to be something quite simple, but putting the sufficient amount of thought into picking out your bipod is crucial.
Some are better suited for different situations and rifles than others and you always want to avoid shoddy workmanship since it might fail you at an inopportune time and cause you to miss a shot.
A good bipod will have the following qualities:
- Extendable height to allow you to adjust to several shooting positions.
- Quiet action to avoid alerting prey
- Sturdy feet to keep it from slipping in sand or gravel
- Fold easily against the barrel of the rifle so it can be tucked away when out of use
If you can find all of those, then you’re in good hands.
The Ideal Height
Your bipod’s ideal height will depend a lot on how you like to shoot. For the most part, a 6”-9” bipod is ideal for shooting prone, a 9”-13” makes a good compromise between prone and sitting shoot and allows you see over small obstacles, and taller bipods ranging from 1’-2’ are perfect for shooting from a cross legged or sitting position.
Via: Amazon.com
Keep in mind, that if you’re hunting from a blind, you should have built a bench rest in there anyways and one which is suited for prone shooting is probably what you’re looking for. More mobile hunters will appreciate the versatility of a medium sized one.
Larger bipods are great if you’re planning on super long distances while hunting, since you can easily see over logs and other obstacles in the field while taking aim.
In all cases, you want to use the minimum height which allows you to shoot comfortably.
FURTHER READING
➜ Best Shooting Tripods Reviews – Make The Perfect Shot With One Of These Top Tripods
➜ Best Shooting Rest Reviews For A Perfect Hunting – Best Shooting Rests Reviews
➜ Best Shooting Sticks That You Can Get In The Market Now (#2 Should Really Please You!)
Durability
The quality of the bipod will play a large part in how useful it ends up being for you. It might surprise you, but used properly a bipod is going to be under a lot of stress while you’re in the field. By minimizing the height you can lower the flex, but the legs are still going to be absorbing some of the recoil no matter what you do.
Over time, this is going to cause failure in even the best bipods, but if you’re a careful hunter then a good one will last you for quite some time.
Mounting Type
You’ll also need to make sure that you can properly attach the bipod to your rifle. For most bipods, there are only two options: swivel lug mounts or picatinny rail mounts. If you’re using an AR, you’re going to need one of the latter or an adapter in order to get some bipods to connect properly.
You may need to purchase and mount a swivel lug if your rifle doesn’t have one already, for hunting you definitely need a semi-permanent mount.
Quiet
If you’re a mobile hunter, then you need to be able to deploy the legs of your bipod and adjust the height quietly. Now, they’re metal so you’re not going to be able to attain total silence but making sure that you can deploy them without any sort of creaking is vital, especially at range of 150 yards or less.
This is as much a maintenance factor as anything else. Take good care of your bipod, it’s essential to your hunting success.
Leg Positioning
A wider stance on the legs is inherently going to be more stable, but it’s also going to add to the bulk at the front of your rifle which can be a problem in the brush. Overall, this is a relatively minor issue, however, so try to pick out the widest legs you can.
In all honesty, only a highly specialized, very expensive tournament bipod is going to be wide enough to cause you trouble in most situations.
Via: Amazon.com
Feet
The feet are a highly important consideration. Different feet will work better in different situations, what might be fine if you’re prone in soft dirt might not be ideal if you’re crouching and resting the rifle on a log.
Wider feet will tend to grip better on harder surfaces, while soft feet can be “dug in” a little bit in softer terrain in order to absorb more of the recoil from the rifle’s shot and help you to avoid troublesome muzzle climb.
Overall
As long as you keep the terrain and your shooting style in mind while you’re looking for a bipod, you really can’t go wrong. It might seem like a whole lot to take in at once, but you can imagine things this way: a bipod serves as a solid platform to enable you to shoot straight with two legs.
How the legs dig in and if they’re high or low enough for your plans is always going to be the deciding factor on if your bipod is an expensive showpiece or a truly useful piece of equipment that you can’t imagine hunting without.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for the best bipod for hunting, one of the above is certain to meet your needs. With any of these, you’ll end up with a solid rest that allows for superior accuracy when compared to not using one, and they might just give you the exact edge you need when you’re hunting. Choose carefully, but make your choice today. Life’s too short to be missing shots.
If you’re not quite sure what you need, we recommend the Harris Engineering 1A2-LM Solid Base 9 - 13-Inch BiPod, which is perfect for a wide range of situations you might find yourself in while hunting.
Like our guide? Leave us a comment below!