I have a Harris along with a Caldwell and there is definitely a difference in the quality between the two.
With that being said, it will also depend on your individual use.
If you answer yes to No 1 then a Caldwell is perfectly fine
- Are you wanting a bipod for hunting and/or occasional target shooting from a bench?
- Are you wanting a bipod for long range precision shooting?
If you answered yes to No 2 then spend the money for a Harris.
By a used Atlas...
#2 more than #1
I would shop PRS focused forums and matches.Ever seen a used one for sale. Where do we find those at?
I use a CVLife on my AR-10. It's the Carbon Fiber one. I also have a Harris on my Savage 110 Tactical. The CVLife is for my money as good as the Harris. I found them researching a "Best Bipods" article. They actually had CVLife listed as a great buy. So far, for me it is.I use the Cvlife ones from amazon. They work for me.
Harris under $200. If I feel like I absolutely need to rely on a bipod and can only spend that, no real other option.
As had been mentioned, though, you can get some decent Harris knockoffs pretty cheap if you just need something for range and fun use.
What I did personally was set up my Harris with a QD Picatinny adapter and put pic rails on all my rifles so they can share the same bipod.
What adapter is that? One that mounts to the sling stud? I am wanting this to go on a bolt gun and not an AR.
I use a cheap one like this that came with one of my Harris knockoffsWhat adapter is that? One that mounts to the sling stud? I am wanting this to go on a bolt gun and not an AR.
Yeah I've got a Caldwell Academy store brand rip off Harris and it's OK for the 40 bucks or something I paid for it. It sits under my CZ 457 Pro Varmint 22LR and does just fine on it.Under $200, Harris bar none.
The only exception is the absurdism: Harris knock-offs can be had for $50, half of the price of the real deal, delivering more than half of the performance. They’re not on par with Harris bipods for durability and stability, but for the casual shooter, they are serviceable and cheap.
But the Harris are great. I use them on my match rifles, for a reason.
Harris on my rifles; S models with PodLocs. I've put ARCA rail adapters on a couple of them. I keep wanting to try an Atlas but don't want to spend the money.