The Fixation Of Stationary Bipods
Do not believe your eyes when watching feature films about the work of snipers. Smooth movement of the crosshair of the optical sight. Here it stopped on the victim because it is not like that. In fact, working with an optical sight without support is very difficult and the aiming mark is rushing to the target, and the amplitude of the oscillations is reduced to acceptable only at the final stage of aiming a few moments before the shot. The stable position of the weapon, the ability to move it while aiming and the convenience of guidance are provided by bipods. By reducing the amplitude of the oscillations, they allow increasing the accuracy of aiming 5-8 times (depending on the skill of the shooter) when shooting from a prone position and sitting compared to resting on the elbows of the hands. That’s the reason that makes you pay attention to the design and various ways of using these seemingly simple devices.
During the aiming, the weapon is affected by the butt from the shooter’s shoulder and arms, which causes it to oscillate and to rock. Since the bipods are a relatively stiff and stable support, the weapon makes small-amplitude turns around the centre of rotation, which is approximately located at the point where the bipods are attached to the weapon. With the same amount of movement of the butt as the distance to the centre of rotation increases, the angle of deviation of the axis of the bore of the barrel proportionately decreases from the correct direction, which contributes to a more accurate aiming. Therefore, in most sniper rifles, bipods are attached closer to the front end of the foregrip. The seat of the bipod should be located as far as possible from the butt.
The fixation of stationary bipods on the muzzle of the trunk can be seen on old designs, for instance, the German FG-42 or the Belgian FN FAL with a heavy barrel. The Japanese “Type 61” and American M14A1 bipods are attached to the gas outlet, and on the more modern Swiss SIG-541 are transferred to the forearm. The hinge of French FAMAS falcons is placed on the trunk overlay above the axis of the barrel bore, a solution that is relatively rare. On hunting, carbines of general purpose such as “Scout” ease and portability of bipods are especially important. The bipods in the folded position are completely retracted into the longitudinal channel of the forearm, while their supports form a kind of forehead tip. This clever decision required, however, the maximum simplification and simplification of bipods and for military weapons is unacceptable.
There is also the type of “individual” bipods, for example, the X-shaped design of Underwood Shooting Styx, a combination of two lightweight telescopic rods and a movable tubular crosshair. It is clear that such an adaptation (reminiscent of the familiar reception of shooting with the support of crossed poles) is useful for hunting, but it is unacceptable for the combat situation.
