Bipods; a comparison

If I had my way, I would probably prefer an Atlas bipod, but somehow cannot seem to want to cough up the cash for them. I have used a Harris S-LM 6-9” and been fairly well satisfied with it, and able to use it on any rifle that has a sling swivel. I acquired a Caldwell XLA 6-9” some time back and put it to use and found it to be just as good as the Harris after using it quite a bit also. Both are swivel models and pretty much impossible to tighten enough to stop unwanted swivel, but use of Alpha Bravo Swivel locks make both of them rock solid, yet easy to loosen enough and use the cant feature when desired. If you set the two side by side, it is difficult to see much difference between the two, except the Caldwell is more gloss black and the Alpha Bravo lever is longer. Both bipods have .5” diameter legs with .375 diameter leg extenders. The Harris frame appeared to be a few thousandths thicker than the Caldwell (.126 vs .122) but I suspect that is simply paint thickness. Both have good rubber feet, and both are rattle free when mounted. The springs look a little heavier on the Harris, but you cannot feel any difference when lowering legs.

When they are mounted, they are quite solid. And the only difference is, again, the Caldwell is glossy, and has the yellow brand labeling.

The biggest difference is the price. Normally at a vendor like Midway the Harris runs $108 and the Caldwell around $59. Last I looked the Caldwell was on sale for $33 at Midway. In the future I may take a closer look at some of the newer upper tier bipods Caldwell is coming out with...the prices seem rather competitive for decent quality. I am not trying to push a product here, simply pointing out what I have learned...I still wish I had money to throw for an Atlas.