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Photography tripod adaptor for shooting?

GlynH

GlynH

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Hi there,

Some years ago I used a piece of 1/2” boilerplate and using a magnetic pad stuck a pellet catcher in the middle of it for paper targets and using a piece of angled aluminium sandwiched between two heavy sections of tool chest made a shelf to rest the boilerplate on with another magnet top centre to stop it tilting forward.

This was great to plink away at with my pistols at a range of 10m with no ricochets whatsoever.

The range was too short for rifles but I’ve just been waving my Daystate Panther/Target around in the back garden and using a Bosch laser measure discovered I have a maximum of 18.5m range to shoot into if I get my ass close to the 7’ steel gate down the side of my house and fire into the garage.

Close enough to 20m in the scheme of things I suppose.

Dragging out my swivel stool from the garage I was looking for a method of supporting the rifle and my first thought was literally fixing a horizontal piece of wood on angle brackets between a fence post and the side of the house.

That would work I suppose but then I got thinking…dangerous I know as I tend to overthink pretty much everything but I still have a Manfrotto 055PROB tripod and 393 gimbal head kicking around from my photography days.

That used to comfortably support & balance my Canon EOS 5D MKIV and EF 500mm f.4L IS USM lens that had a combined weight of 4.76kg / 10.49lbs which is not far from the weight of my rifle & scope at 5.07kg / 11.17lbs.

The capacity of the tripod/gimbal is 20kg / 44.09lbs so well within its working range.

So then I wondered if there were any ready-made adaptor plate that might be available that could fit in place of the hamster and couple to the gimbal head?

I realise that’s a pretty tall order so I guess I’d have to get something made up that would either fit over the two prongs coming down from the bottom of the rifle or maybe use the existing rail to lock into and then clamp to the gimbal.

Either that or buy a crappy old hamster and just fix that directly to the gimbal?

Has anybody been down this road before and used a photography tripod and gimbal or other head to support & balance their rifle?

It would be a perfect solution for me as I have everything waiting for a new lease of life as I sold all of my photography gear during COVID to pay my bills and I won’t be in a position again to get back into photography again.

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-
 
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These sort of things are readily available:


ebay has more.
 
Appreciate the reply WC...looks suspiciously like a Manfrotto QR plate to me?

I used to use these on all of my cameras, smaller lenses with tripod mounts, flashguns, binoculars etc. and still have them on the two video cameras I kept when I sold all of my 35mm/DSLR gear.

I was thinking I could use the 393 Gimbal head to actually balance the rifle hands-free if needed rather than just a front support but I've just looked for the gimbal and can't find it so I'm wondering whether I sold it with the camera gear?

Thought I had kept all of my Manfrotto tripod gear... Shrug tt

Ah well your suggestion would work to cradle the rifle I guess.

-=Glyn=-
 
Do you just want a support on top of the gimbal or a clamp so that you can leave the rifle in place? The yoke from a Primos trigger stick uses a 3/8" camera thread and I am sure lots of others are the same. I made one from a piece of wood, with pipe insulation to protect my hand/gun and glued a whitworth nut in the base. Works fine.
IMG_5689.webp
If you want to clamp the gun, many of the clamps have a 3/8" and/or 1/4" screw fitting in the base. I got a Manbily clamp via Alibaba and it's perfect for clamping my PCPs.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Factory-Best-Mount-Shooting-Hunting-Stand_1600875086618.html
Hope that helps,
 
My GX-40 has an Arca plate on the stock fixing bolt (longer one obviously), that couples to an adaptor (all aliexpress or ebay) on my old Manfrotto or a newer carbon fibre tripod.
The Arca adaptor and plates are dirt cheap.

I have made a rail for my CLX, fits to the arca type clamps but can be moved forward or back, I can't find the thread right now but it is probably not what you are after.

There are lots of saddle clamps available, and Manfrotto even make shooting kit now, so take a look for ideas.

Manfrotto Tripods, Heads & Support Systems

Shop Manfrotto tripods, tripod heads and support systems. Premium equipment for optics, photography and outdoor observation.
www.opticswarehouse.co.uk www.opticswarehouse.co.uk
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply Woodcrafts,

As I alluded to above I do tend to overthink things so my first thought was to use the gimbal to balance the rifle using the gimbal as I used to do with the big Canon 500mm although I used to use the gimbal sling mounted underneath the lens not above as shown in this first photo;
1724706859503.webp

The gimbal sling would be in the position shown below and when balanced would hold the considerable weight of body & lens (or in this case rifle) perfectly still & level;
1724706940661.webp
Not wishing to damage the soft rubberised finish of the stock I was hoping to find a way to utilise the hamster mount or possibly an old, scruffy hamster to affix to the Swiss Arca-type mounting plate of the gimbal rather than just rest the gun in a V-shape but as I said I do tend to overthink these things! :rolleyes:

Anyway thanks to the replies in this thread I now have options to consider which is usually a good thing...

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-
 
I have been shooting standing using a photography tripod. I bought a plastic v shaped adaptor from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Replacement-Holder-Portable-Shotgun-Monopod/dp/B0C7QVYGRG/) which screws onto the tripod and I rest the forward part of the stock in it. I do find that you get more sway shooting this way so it's a bit more of a challenge than sitting. If you're trying to do pellet or gun accuracy testing it's not as good as properly rested.
One advantage is that it's easy to adjust the height depending on if it's me or my daughter shooting.
 
Ah thanks for that OldStock...didn't think of looking for the obvious! Head bang 65

The only problem with using ball heads that used to catch me out in my photography days was whether using it with either the screw clamp or joystick squeeze-to-release handle was the sudden drop of the ball when the brakes/friction were taken off by loosening the screw or squeezing the joystick.

Thanks for the suggestions guys...it will take me a while to research/decide/implement but when I do I will report back with something totally over-engineered for you all to snigger at! ;)

-=Glyn=-
 
And another suggestion...thanks Caruso! (y)

-=Glyn=-
 
I'm now using an ironing board as a shooting table! :D
img_7644-jpeg.550932
 
After your essay, why are you wanting 20 metre rang? What are shooting aspirations; what discipline are you going in for?
 
As others have said, there's loads of adaptors of various kinds on eBay, Amazon, Ali Express, etc, just a quick google will show you lots of examples. Eg: various adaptors, plates, rests etc to connect to various tripods, stands, rests, etc. Cheers
 
Andy from Sandy said:
After your essay, why are you wanting 20 metre rang? What are shooting aspirations; what discipline are you going in for?
Click to expand...
As my essay stated my back garden is 18.5m so close enough to 20m which would be my usual starting distance at the range.

I zeroed the scope at 25m and wouldn't want to be shooting the rifle less than 20m anyway as it doesn't seem much of a challenge.

At the shooting school they have 10m, 20m, 30m, and a target on top of a hill at 40m and at the range they have 25yds out to 55yds.

I just shoot for fun (at the moment anyway) out to 30m so far either solo or with a friend at the school usually following a decent breakfast they serve up or solo out to the same distance at the range on my own.

I have a friend who owns a farm where I am free to use as I please but I don't shoot anything that breathes so need to set up some targets of some sort.

Another friend lives in the middle of 100 acres who has just bought an AA S510T and is setting up his own shooting range from 20m out to 60m so when he is happy he will give me a shout and I will be spending some time with him hopefully.

-=Glyn=-
 
pjgtech said:
As others have said, there's loads of adaptors of various kinds on eBay, Amazon, Ali Express, etc, just a quick google will show you lots of examples. Eg: various adaptors, plates, rests etc to connect to various tripods, stands, rests, etc. Cheers
Click to expand...
They have indeed and until they kindly pointed me in the right direction I hadn't really seen all of those options as I was too focussed on my existing gimbal.

Now I'm spoiled for choice it seems.

-=Glyn=-
 
Most tripods have a 1/4" or 3/4" UNC thread for attaching the head. 1/4"-3/4" thread adapters are pretty easy to get a hold of too. So just about any shooting stick head should fit. I did it with this tabletop tripod:
20230519_010118.webp


This one is dear, but is also Arca Swiss compatible:
www.boghunt.com

DEATHGRIP® ULTRALITE | Bog

DEATHGRIP® ULTRALITE
www.boghunt.com www.boghunt.com
 
weepete said:
Most tripods have a 1/4" or 3/4" UNC thread for attaching the head. 1/4"-3/4" thread adapters are pretty easy to get a hold of too. So just about any shooting stick head should fit. I did it with this tabletop tripod:

This one is dear, but is also Arca Swiss compatible:
www.boghunt.com

DEATHGRIP® ULTRALITE | Bog

DEATHGRIP® ULTRALITE
www.boghunt.com www.boghunt.com
Click to expand...
Most of my smaller tripod gear would be threaded ¼"-20 UNC but the one above also had a ⅜"-16 UNC option.

I also have a couple of mini Manfrotto Pixi tripods but they're only rated up to a max payload of 1kg so couldn't use one of those as a gunrest! :whistle:

That's the second reference I've seen to Manbily...those Chinese certainly have a way with words when it comes to Company names! :ROFLMAO:

Thanks for the suggestions...(y)

-=Glyn=-
 
And thinking about the mini Manfrotto Pixi tripod I wonder if it might be suitable to mount my FX Pocket Chronograph v2 on it and place it under the barrel or silencer instead of physically rubber-banding it onto the gun?

1724739951421.webp

-=Glyn=-
 
GlynH said:
Ah thanks for that OldStock...didn't think of looking for the obvious! Head bang 65

The only problem with using ball heads that used to catch me out in my photography days was whether using it with either the screw clamp or joystick squeeze-to-release handle was the sudden drop of the ball when the brakes/friction were taken off by loosening the screw or squeezing the joystick.

Thanks for the suggestions guys...it will take me a while to research/decide/implement but when I do I will report back with something totally over-engineered for you all to snigger at! ;)

-=Glyn=-
Click to expand...

We must have similar sensibilities in that I have argued against (normal) ball heads on here due to the excessive freedom of movement.
I did have one tripod with clamp, and ball head fall sideways, the gun did not leave the clamp but it alerted me to the unnecessary amount of travel. I fixed that on a small head by a large rubber grommet on the head, it could still go sideways but it took a lot more effort and would not under gravity.

Now I use an Artcise CS90 tripod with levelling bowl (aliexpress item 1005005356703973) and video head (1005005654526336). It can't go sideways, is sturdy and quick to level in the dark or when I don't have time to tweak the legs. it also allows smooth pan and tilt.

The Manfrotto shooting stuff is new, I think, only just got the email from Opticswarehouse and being a fan from ages back would have noticed the range. I see they have the quick handle angled so that sideways, is the hardest (most well controlled), angle for the head to go.

I think the tripod thing can be pared back to just the minimum for ease of use and weight, levelling head and gun saddle perhaps, I've not done that yet as I'm using what I have and that means in the dark I know where the handles are.
 
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