The Best Shooting Sticks!

[Philip Glass]

I couldn’t wait for the hunting conventions to handle and purchase the new Blaser Carbon Shooting Stick 2.0. It took some time to get these since they came from Germany but it was well worth the wait. I have to say Blaser has done it again. They have a product unlike any on the market today. The rotating pistol grip front support allows you to follow moving game and has overcome the one downside to quad sticks. Here is my video review.

 

[Red Leg]

I like this concept. I shot my chamois from a set of quads in October in the Alps. The animal was moving, and by the time I fired the right leg of the quad was lifting off the ground (then essentially shooting a monopod). and I was on the point of having to shift the whole contraption. No harm no foul, but if using a quad, this looks far more practical.

 

[dchamp]

That grip being able to track like you have shown sure makes it appealing.

 

[R.M.C.]

They look pretty cool. Definitely be nice to allow the rifle to swivel side to side!!

 

[Newboomer]

I couldn’t wait for the hunting conventions to handle and purchase the new Blaser Carbon Shooting Stick 2.0. It took some time to get these since they came from Germany but it was well worth the wait. I have to say Blaser has done it again. They have a product unlike any on the market today. The rotating pistol grip front support allows you to follow moving game and has overcome the one downside to quad sticks. Here is my video review.

View attachment 444703

Phil,
Great presentation and a very practical innovation. What is the availability and price?

 

[Philip Glass]

Phil,
Great presentation and a very practical innovation. What is the availability and price?

They are $350 and ship from Europe. I am sure some dealers will start stocking them soon. We will see at the shows who has them.

 

[Hunt anything]

I may try these, great presentation. The only time I’ve tried quad sticks was last year and didn’t like them. Kept having to adjust as the gemsbok bull kept shifting in the heard. These may have eliminated that problem.

 

[Goose Cracker]

Very interesting and much less expensive than my Viperflex Journeys.

 

[Red Leg]

Blaser Carbon Shooting Stick V2.0 OSFA Bipods & Monopods | eBay

Blaser Carbon Shooting Stick V2.0. Technical data: Length: 1.24 to 1.98 m Weight: 985 g Weight (incl. Weight: 985 g. Length: 1.24 to 1.98 m. Gives you stability and security to master every hunting situation. ).

www.ebay.com

Looks like one more set available. There were two.

 

[375Fox]

They look like they give you more range of motion than viper flex or 4 stable sticks, but how are they to reload on? Your hand position being so far from the forearm of the rifle I could see slowing you down for a second shot?

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

I do have a question? How do you hold the pistol grip & your forend and the pistol grip on a heavy recoiling rifle? Will the rifle still swing using the forend to swivel the front rest.

 

[Philip Glass]

I was shooting a .375 Ruger in the video and had no trouble at all. Now bigger guns than that we may have to rethink our positioning at the shot. You still have the advantage of the rotation

I do have a question? How do you hold the pistol grip & your forend and the pistol grip on a heavy recoiling rifle? Will the rifle still swing using the forend to swivel the front rest.

 

[revturbo9967]

Those are pretty neat.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

Looks slick. I just bought one and thanks for the information.

 

[Tanks]

I can see it working for PG calibers, I don't see how it would work with my .500 NE or other big bores without holding on to the forend to be able to roll with the recoil.

 

[VertigoBE]

Thanks for the review Philip.
Did you also get to test the PH-Jagt sticks? I’ve been seeing their ads come by quite a lot and it seem you get even more side to side movement with them.

This is a demonstration video of their quad sticks:

I’m not affiliated with them, I already have the 4StableSticks, but these are intriguing.

 

[One Day...]

Hmmmmmmmmmm...........

Bipods, then tripods, then quadpods like this one, then pentapods like the Viper-Flex. No doubt the hexapods are coming, with 3 legs in front and 3 legs in the back, etc.

I appreciate that Philip is not making the range argument, but the folks at International Sportsman (the maker of the Viper-Flex) are talking in their video about shooting game, standing off their sticks at 400 yards... Tell you what, I DO shoot fairly reliably a 6" steel plate between 200 (close to 100% hits) and 300 yards (closer to 70 to 80% hits) standing off the tripod sticks with my R8, but I cannot even begin to think about doing it at 400 yards... Keep in mind that staying in 6" at 400 yards requires the same shooting as staying in 1.5" at 100 yards, standing off the sticks, whatever number of legs they got. God bless those who can!

I do not know........... Sure, these sticks are inscribed in the shoot-longer logical continuum initially started by the magnum calibers, then fed by the laser rangefinder, then the reliable BDC (bullet drop compensation) turrets, etc. all nested in the resurgence of the role of snipers in low intensity warfare, and the inevitable aura attached to them, not to mention the Hollywood idolization, and slowly but surely every one thinks they can do it and hunting migrates toward long range shooting...

Do excitement control, respiration control, heartbeat control, trigger control, recoil control come with the on-line order of paraphernalia? And what about wind doping? And this is assuming that the laser rangefinder is one of the better ones, including atmospheric pressure/elevation and inclination measure.

Do not read me wrong, my R8 PG calibers are .257 Wby and .300 Wby - as magnum as things get; I exchanged my 40 year faithful Zeiss 10x40 BGA binoculars for a Leica Geovid HD B 3000 with integrated laser range finder; and I topped my new Blaser barrels with Zeiss V4 with BDC for which I ordered Kenton Industry turrets calibrated for the loads I shoot clocked in my barrel, so I am well immersed in, and part of, the derivation myself, and maybe these sticks are simply logical in that continuum and I should get a pair of them, but I am starting to wonder about all that...

Thanks for the review, Philip, I can see the point in quadpod, and the pivoting front grip makes sense, for a little less "hunting closer" and a little more "shooting further", which I know you are not advocating, but it seems we are all (or at least most of us, me sadly included) creeping toward...


From a practical perspective, I certainly would not want to shoot a scoped true big bore (e.g. .458 Lott) without grasping firmly the forearm, but this is kind of a moot point, because I doubt that I would try to shoot mine at 400 yards. No doubt some guys will break their nose using these things at 50 yards with their canon, but I doubt that this is the application the designers envisioned...

Also, do we expect to be allowed to fly with this in the cabin? There should not be any reason why not, but "reason" and international air travel regulations seem to have divorced some time ago...

 

[375Fox]

Hmmmmmmmmmm...........

Bipods, then tripods, then quadpods like this one, then pentapods like the Viper-Flex. No doubt the hexapods are coming, with 3 legs in front and 3 legs in the back, etc.

I appreciate that Philip is not making the range argument, but the folks at International Sportsman (the maker of the Viper-Flex) are talking in their video about shooting game, standing off their sticks at 400 yards... Tell you what, I DO shoot fairly reliably a 6" steel plate between 200 (close to 100% hits) and 300 yards (closer to 70 to 80% hits) standing off the tripod sticks with my R8, but I cannot even begin to think about doing it at 400 yards... Keep in mind that staying in 6" at 400 yards requires the same shooting as staying in 1.5" at 100 yards, standing off the sticks, whatever number of legs they got. God bless those who can!

I do not know........... Sure, these sticks are inscribed in the shoot-longer logical continuum initially started by the magnum calibers, then fed by the laser rangefinder, then the reliable BDC (bullet drop compensation) turrets, etc. all nested in the resurgence of the role of snipers in low intensity warfare, and the inevitable aura attached to them, not to mention the Hollywood idolization of them, and slowly but surely hunting migrates toward long range shooting...

Does recoil control, respiration control, trigger control come with the on-line order of paraphernalia? And what about wind doping?

Do not read me wrong, my R8 PG calibers are .257 Wby and .300 Wby - as magnum as things get; I exchanged my 40 year faithful Zeiss 10x40 BGA binoculars for a Leica Geovid HD B 3000 with integrated laser range finder; and I topped my new Blaser barrels with Zeiss V4 with BDC for which I ordered Kenton Industry turrets calibrated for the loads I shoot clocked in my barrel, so I am well immersed in, and part of, the derivation myself, and maybe these sticks are simply logical in that continuum and I should get a pair of them, but I am starting to wonder about all that...

Thanks for the review, Philip, I can see the point in quadpod, and the pivoting front grip makes sense, for a little less "hunting closer" and a little more "shooting further", which I know you are not advocating, but it seems we are all (or at least most of us, me sadly included) creeping toward...


From a practical perspective, I certainly would not want to shoot a true big bore (e.g. .458 Lott) without grasping firmly the forearm, but this is kind of a moot point, because I doubt that I would try to shoot mine at 400 yards. No doubt some guys will break their nose using these things at 50 yards with their canon, but I doubt that this is the application the designers envisioned...

Also, do we expect to be allowed to fly with this in the cabin? There should not be any reason why not, but "reason" and international air travel regulations seem to have divorced some time ago...

I’m interpreting this as a negative comment against quad sticks. I’m assuming it took a lot of practice to reliably hit a 6” plate at 200 and 300 yards from a tripod. With quad sticks the accuracy is much more of a given, a huge amount of practice isn’t really needed. What comes with practice is speed. I’m confident I can send an accurate shot faster off my quad sticks faster than most off a tripod. At 50 yards or 300 yards. The biggest value of quad sticks isn’t the ability to shoot long range, it is the fact the only movement is up or down, so on a broadside shoulder shot there should be no opportunity to wound an animal with a far back shot. I’ve never become comfortable using a tripod. I’ve put my effort into using quad sticks (4 stable sticks) and bring them with me on my trips. If your willing to practice both tripods and quad sticks are both equally practical and fast. This design however I see a big advantage but also a few disadvantages, hopefully I can try the blaser sticks at some point to know.

 

[Dukeisok]

I like the look of these and just ordered a set from Europe. I like my 4 stable ducks but this idea seems nice for following animals

 

[One Day...]

I can see why you would interpret it this way 375Fox, but this is not the intent. I do not criticize quad sticks any more than laser, BDC, chronograph, or any other technological development. I am just lamenting that in so many cases folks use these NOT to be more effective at reasonable distances, as you justly argue, and which is the reason why I have indeed adopted these myself, but as a license to shoot farther.

Through my involvement with the professional safari world, I assure you that, sadly, for every one hunter who uses these, including you and me, and Philip Glass, and many HH members, for ever more ethical hunting, there are many and many who use these the wrong way, with, often and regrettably, disastrous consequences for the animals they shoot.

Admittedly, this is more a philosophical issue than a practical issue, and it has indeed no connection whatsoever to how many legs there may be on a set of shooting sticks, or any other technical consideration.


PS: yes, it takes practice, I typically shoot up to 1,000 rounds of bulk .223 Federal American Eagle annually now (I used to shoot many thousands of .22 LR at 100 yards on 2" and 3" disks in my CZ 550 days), which is why I bought the .223 barrel for the R8. I could not afford to do that with Wby ammo...