Bi-pods – any of them good for life?

As ridiculous as this sounds, I’ve hit my breaking point of buying and fixing bi-pods. I use 7 to 9″ and 15-17″ pods regularly. I’ve had a very difficult time in accepting a $200+ to $350 price tag on high end pods. But it seems like I am always replacing nuts or screws on Harris, Champion, Caldwell… All these companies have been fantastic and very prompt in sending me replacement stuff. But the point is why are they falling apart to begin with. I know I shoot more than most people, so I probably see more failures than most. But is there a solid option that I can count on? After unpacking from Colorado, and getting ready for this weekend whitetail hunt in WI, I have two pods with missing screws AGAIN

Purple Locktite is my friend for bipods and other things like that.

I have a Harris that I have had zero issues since.

Randy,the screws that you keep losing,are they something that has to do with adjustments of the bi pods? or are they something that gets tightened and stay there,(supposedly)? if the latter is true,put some blue loc-tite on them.

the blue loc-tite will allow disassembly later with out much effort on your part,and they wont shake out while in use.

I’ve used the blue and red locktite so far on these. Before Colorado, I put red locktite in combination with the nylon inserted lock nuts (leg pivot screws). One of them is now gone as well.
The only issue with the Harris i have is the torque nut for the grip to ;come off while in the fanny or back pack. All the others are the leg pivot screws. They come factory with blue locktite and now I’ve tried red. My guess is the screw is too small for the stress of the spring while folding and unfolding the legs.

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generally the self locking nuts dont give fits,I would step up to the mechanical force lock nuts,they are the ones that are crimped,you can duplicate this by squeezing the nut in a vise until it is slightly deformed,it will be a bear to get on,but wont come off,you will know if you over did it if you are stripping the threads when tightening

or if the screw is long enough,double nut it,one plain,and one lock nut,with the loc-tite
the last suggestion I can offer is to safety wire them,this may require some drilling.

if you are in fact breaking the screws from the spring tension,go to aircraft spruce and buy the size you need in mil-spec hardware,these are a heavier duty screws used in structural applications,call them and tell them what you need if you dont know for sure,good folks to deal with.

good luck!!

took a good look at your pic,the screw thread is not extending past the nylock insert,you should have at least one and half threads past this style of nut to work as designed.

the screws are not breaking. Just the nuts backing off while the legs are folded back and forth.

I think i can get a steel rod on each side of the n ut while in place on my vise. I like the stamping idea.

other brands to look at when I replace these?

Iowaboy1 wrote:

took a good look at your pic,the screw thread is not extending past the nylock insert,you should have at least one and half threads past this style of nut to work as designed.

I just put this on and hand tightened this while sitting here on the puter. It’s not tighten yet. Pretty bad when you have a small zip lock bag of parts in your fanny pack because you don’t trust your equipment

if you have a fastenal distributor in your area,see if they can get you some in grade eight,or call brownells,or any good gunsmith should be able to find you some heavy duty hardware,again,in your pic,the screw is not extending past the nut,so it is not engaging the ny-lock properly,you can try turning the nut around,they can be a pain to start,but it can be done.

the ny-locks are a one time use,when you take them off,replace them with new ones.
as a last resort,when the nut is tight,and if you have a couple of threads sticking out past the end of the nut like you should,ding the thread with a punch,it cannot back out then.

must of been typing at the same time you were,didnt see your reply on the nut being tight until I had hit reply.

Randy Wieland wrote:

the screws are not breaking. Just the nuts backing off while the legs are folded back and forth.

I think i can get a steel rod on each side of the n ut while in place on my vise. I like the stamping idea.

other brands to look at when I replace these?

Prevailing Torque Type Lock Nuts that are all metal, like 2 way reversable lock nuts which usually have 3 round or rectangular impressions centered on the flats of the nut, or flex lock nuts will hold up better in your situation. They are highly vibration resistant and not affected by temperature changes like a ny-lock would be.

If you opt to go the self nut distortion route, you will want to squeeze it prior to installing it on the bolt. Keep in mind that this will cause thread damage to the bolt and nut at installation and if squeezed too much could lead to hardware failure. The nice thing with the “off the shelf” 2 way reversing lock nut is the bolt threads don’t have to extend 2-3 threads beyond the nut to keep it secure- just past the center of the nut thickness.

Wouldn’t it be nice if this was used to begin with??

Randy Wieland wrote:

Wouldn’t it be nice if this was used to begin with??

yes,but you have to remember,if something lasted forever,they would go out of business,and this includes anything we buy today.

Randy Wieland wrote:

Wouldn’t it be nice if this was used to begin with??

Purely economics:Ny-locks are far less expensive.