![5 Podhale Battalion - mortar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/5_Podhale_Battalion_-_mortar.JPG)
A bipod is a V-shaped portable attachment that helps support and steady a device, usually a
weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
such as a
long gun
A long gun is a category of firearms with long barrels. In small arms, a ''long gun'' or longarm is generally designed to be held by both hands and braced against the shoulder, in contrast to a handgun, which can be fired being held with a single ...
or a
mortar. The term comes from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
''bi-'' and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
''pod'', meaning "two" and "foot" respectively.
Bipods are designed to support the weight of the weapon's
front portion and
barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...
, and provide significant stability against unwanted side-to-side movements (i.e.
canting
' (IPA: , VOS Spelling: ''tjanting'', jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦛꦶꦁ, Tjanting) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( jv, ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely '' batik tulis'' (lit. "written batik"). Traditional ''T ...
) while allowing free movements
pivot
Pivot may refer to:
*Pivot, the point of rotation in a lever system
*More generally, the center point of any rotational system
*Pivot joint, a kind of joint between bones in the body
*Pivot turn, a dance move
Companies
*Incitec Pivot, an Austra ...
ing around the transverse
axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
(
pitching). Most modern bipods have foldable and/or
telescoping legs, and allow some limited movements around the vertical axis (
panning) and even the longitudinal axis (
tilting).
A bipod by itself, with only two supporting legs, is not completely stable and needs to be reinforced by at least one more point of support to be steady, especially against the horizontal
shearing force
In solid mechanics, shearing forces are unaligned forces acting on one part of a Rigid body, body in a specific direction, and another part of the body in the opposite direction. When the forces are collinear (aligned with each other), they ...
from
recoil
Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force requ ...
s. This third point of support is typically the
buttstock
A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attached ...
that is firmly pushed/braced against the shooter's body, but can also be a
baseplate
In photography, a tripod is a portable device used to support, stabilize and elevate a camera, a flash unit, or other videographic or observational/measuring equipment. All photographic tripods have three legs and a mounting head to couple wi ...
(in
mortars), sometimes with additional support from a
monopod
A monopod, also called a unipod, is a single staff or pole used to help support cameras, binoculars, rifles or other precision instruments in the field.
Camera and imaging use
The monopod allows a still camera to be held steadier, allowing t ...
or a
bean bag
A bean bag (also beanbag) is a sealed bag containing dried beans, PVC pellets, expanded polystyrene, or expanded polypropylene. The bags are commonly used for throwing games, but they have various other applications.
Furniture
Designed by Pi ...
.
Firearms
![Sako TRG folding stock + Zeiss 3-12x56 SSG P](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Sako_TRG_folding_stock_%2B_Zeiss_3-12x56_SSG_P.JPG)
On
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
s, bipods are commonly used on
rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
s and
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s to provide a forward rest and reduce unwanted motion. They are also seen on other long-barreled weapons. Bipods permit operators to easily rest a weapon on objects, like the ground or a wall, reducing their fatigue and increasing accuracy and stability. Bipods can be of fixed or adjustable length. Some can be tilted and also have their tilting point close to the barrel's central axis, allowing the weapon to tilt left and right. Some designs also allow the weapon to be rotated side-to-side. There are three ways for bipods to be folded: away from the shooter, towards the shooter, or into a vertical foregrip.
History
The first known use of bipods on firearms can be traced back to
hand cannon
The hand cannon (Chinese: 手 銃 ''shŏuchòng'', or 火 銃 ''huŏchòng''), also known as the gonne or handgonne, is the first true firearm and the successor of the fire lance. It is the oldest type of small arms as well as the most mecha ...
s of the
12th century, which were cast iron barrels laid on top of short poles.
Bipods on rifles are first known to have been used in an improvised fashion during the mid-19th century, particularly by
frontiersmen
A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a Border, boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that ...
hunting
American bison
The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...
and other wild animals. For example, the painting "The Long Shot" by
Howard Terpning
Howard Terpning (born November 5, 1927) is an American Painting, painter and illustrator best known for his paintings of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans.
Life and career
Terpning was born in Oak Park, Illinois. His mother ...
shows native American hunters shooting a rifle with an improvised bipod consisting of two crossed arrows.
During the 20th century, use of dedicated bipods increased, and was seen on different types of rifles during wars. For example the
Lewis gun (1914) was fitted with an adjustable bipod. The technology became more advanced, with hinged legs and even extendable or retractable legs.
One of the first companies to manufacture commercially successful bipods was Harris Engineering, Inc founded in 1979 in
Barlow, Kentucky by Gerald Harris, Margaret Harris, and Susan Wilkerson. Before starting the company, Gerald had applied for a patent on the bipod. In 2019, their successful Harris Bipods have been produced for nearly forty years, and have remained relatively unchanged.
Recent advances in manufacture of bipods include use of lightweight materials such as aluminium, carbon fiber and titanium, use of different quick attachment and detachment mechanisms (Picatinny, M-LOK, etc. or even magnets) and various types of feet materials such as rubber, metal, or a "basket" designed to stop the bipod from sinking into soft surfaces such as fine sand or deep snow (inspired by
ski pole
Ski poles, also referred to as poles (in North America), sticks (UK), or stocks (Australia), are used by skiers for balance and propulsion. Modern ski poles are most commonly made from aluminum and carbon fiber, though materials such as bamboo are ...
s and
snowshoe
Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...
s).
Mounting standards
There are several mounting standards for attaching a bipod to a rifle, of which some well known are
swivel stud,
Picatinny
The Picatinny Arsenal ( or ) is an American military research and manufacturing facility located on of land in Jefferson and Rockaway Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, encompassing Picatinny Lake and Lake Denmark. The A ...
,
M-LOK
M-LOK, for Modular Lock, is a firearm rail interface system developed and patented by Magpul Industries. The license is free-of-charge, but subject to an approval process.
M-LOK allows for direct accessory attachment onto the "negative s ...
and Versa Pod spigot mount. Starting in the late 2010s, the
Arca-Swiss style also gained popularity in shooting competitions such as the
Precision Rifle Series
Precision Rifle Series (PRS) is an American long-range and precision rifle-based shooting sport derived from practical shooting. The series have a championship style where competitors collect points from 45 matches spread across nearly twenty U.S ...
since the rail allows for stepless adjustment.
SHOT Show 2018: Really Right Stuff's New Products - PrecisionRifleBlog.com
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See also
*Tripod
A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...
*Monopod
A monopod, also called a unipod, is a single staff or pole used to help support cameras, binoculars, rifles or other precision instruments in the field.
Camera and imaging use
The monopod allows a still camera to be held steadier, allowing t ...
*Shear legs
Shear legs, also known as sheers, shears, or sheer legs, are a form of two-legged lifting device. Shear legs may be permanent, formed of a solid A-frame and supports, as commonly seen on land and the floating sheerleg, or temporary, as aboard a ...
- large bipods used for lifting items
*Shooting sticks (weapon mount)
Shooting sticks are portable weapon mounts commonly used with rifles to brace the weapon on the ground, walls, and other features of the local terrain in order to provide a stable resting position to shoot from; reducing user fatigue and incre ...
References
{{Firearm accessories mounting standards
Firearm components