What Harris bipod do I need for bench use and maybe some prone shooting ?
6"-9" ?

Use some type of mock up then measure so you know what works best for you.

I use the Harris 6"-9" BRM-S.  I find it to be the perfect height for prone, bench, and makeshift positions.  I think you would be happy with that size.

You need 2 different ones. 6-9" is for bench, 9-13 is for prone. Using a 6-9 on the ground can be kinda a PITA. Not impossible but a PITA.

I have never had a problem prone with the 6-9, it's quite comfortable.  I don't think he needs two.  Unless you're on the bigger side I can't you needing a 9-13.

I don't think that is true at all.  I shoot prone using atlas and Harris both and have never needed over 9" I often use my atlas with the legs at 45 which is about 4.5". A 6-9" Harris will be fine.

Thanks everyone .

No matter what height you get, make sure it swivels and IMO, has notched legs.

Depends on the stock and the guy a bit but how you're shooting more than just the fact that YOU can do it. Yay, joe blow says he can use a short bipod. That's not advice based on any reasoning. It's anecdote as advice. Thick built guys will probably find zero use for a 6" bipod on the ground unless they're shooting into a valley. Consider use case. I'm not putting the guy in for the most limited use case. Quite the opposite and it's based on lots of experience.

If you're just shooting flat and level I'm sure that 9" bipod won't be a problem. If you're shooting down hill then a 6" might even be sufficient. However, you won't have any chance of shooting uphill with such short legs. Think OP might want to do that someday? I don't limit myself like that and I don't make recommendations that blindly ignore that there are other directions but flat and level to shoot in. I shoot PRS competitions that have me shooting up and down hill and shooting flat and shooting off a bench and the ground and off barricades and obstacles. My LSS stocked Savage 10 is just fine on the ground with a 6-9" for flat and downhill shots but that leaves me completely unable to aim appreciably upward. At 13" I can get quite a lot farther up the hill.

When I deploy a 6-9" bipod on the ground I personally don't even bother with the low setting, just jerk the legs out to full extension. Why? Well if I didn't I'd still have to. 6" on the ground is just not terribly useful for most normal sized people unless you're trying to rest the butt stock on the ground for the shot. Homunculi might see things differently. Similarly a 9-13" pod on a bench is going to have the buttstock pretty far off the bench and make it unnecessarily difficult to drop a sandbag under it that'll be useful. A bipod on a bench is a little weird anyway but more than 9" is going to make it excessively hard to use there if you're not shooting seriously uphill.

Just because YOU use something in an apparently massively limited fashion doesn't mean the rest of us do. I can shoot down hill with my bipod at 6" all day too. I just can't shoot up hill AT ALL like that.

OP consider the flexibility you want and the experience and knowledge behind people's recommendations before taking their advice. Mine included.

i've shot over 40 matches since 2011, with right at half of them being PRS matches, pretty evenly mixed western and eastern US.  I've only owned 6-9" harris and the short Atlas bipods.  I can't recall ever needing 10-13" on a bipod.  and it's very hilly around here.

pretty much what i've seen is "normal" sized people are better off with a 6-9", and that includes people who are very muscular (which would definitely not be me).  those with a large beer gut or people with neck injuries that cannot flex their neck normally are much more comfortable with a 9-13".   but the lower you can get, the more stable you will be, so go as low as you can.

take your rifle and just prop up the fore-end with sand bags and see how low you can get comfortably.  see what your range is.  also, go back and look at your rear bag.  for example, if you are using a monopod or something on the rear, then yeah, your rear is going to be so high you would need a 13" bipod up front to shoot level.   with a thick bag and full fill, it's going to put the rear of the rifle higher in the air.  with a thinner canvas and 50% or 75% fill, you can get the butt pretty close to the ground, which means even on 6" you're aiming pretty far up hill.

I have both, both work very well.  Where the taller of the two comes in handy, is if your out in the sticks or an unimproved range it can sometimes get you up over the grass/debris.  I can use either from a bench or prone on a nice mowed range, perhaps its more what the individual prefers.  I find that I rarely shoot the 6-9 all the way collasped, and the 9-13 rarely gets the legs extended past the second notch.  Just my limited experience.

and with a 30rd mag hanging out the bottom. What would you recommend?

Im starting to lean to the 9x13

this is it......

You'd need to go higher to make that work. I think the original question was really geared towards bolt guns. You may be better off using a 20 round mag prone. Not that using 30 rounds mags for precision is wrong, but I can't think of a situation where it offers a real advantage.

I picked up a 9x13 to "Test drive" and it went back for a 6x9 also picked up a ADM Quick lock to go with it.

I don't normally use a 30rd mag either but didn't want to limit myself.

Thanks for the input!

Yep, i had all 3 sizes and sold my 9-13 because i never used it.  6-9 is perfect for prone and bench, then i have the 12-25 for sitting

I almost always use the 6-9, but if shooting uphill all day it's simply not enough.  Otherwise the 9-13 does get used for those with bad backs, on neck injuries.

I am no Larue fan boi, but I just purchased their 6"- 9", notched legs, swivel, Harris bipod.

Mr Larue integrates his QD rail attachment so there's no sling-stud asshattery, etc and also adds a righty-tighty/lefty-loosy dial knob to adjust the swivel function.  Costs a bit more than the standard non-Larue'd Harris bipod, but man, its really nice!

Kahntrol and CORE shooting both make adapter feet that let you use Atlas leg extensions and feet.
I use the Kahntrol ones and keep a set of Atlas legs in my bag. It makes shooting up hill much easier and still lets me use the same bipod on the bench without dragging around two different bipods.

https://kahntrol.com/podmodadapters/
https://www.coreshooting.com/products/harris-bipod-adapters

I have 6/9 on the bolt guns and 9-13 on the ARs. I don't remember ever extending the 9-13 but the 9 just feels more solid.

 


This.  Shorter one for 20 round AR mags and other bolt guns, rimfires, longer for 30 round mags.


 

I have a stack of them.  I bought every discounted, used one I could find on the EE at the time.

6-9 BRM-S.

I've never had a 9-13 feel too long.  I have had a 9-13 feel too short when shooting up hill.  IMO, the 6-9 is only useful for bench or flat ranges.

As others have said, get the notched swivel model.  I like Triad Tactical since they have good prices and only sell the notched swivel ones, so no mistakes (last I checked, at least).

I have a 9-13 on my bolt gun and it works great for prone.
I have only needed to extend it in one scenario where i was in mud shooting uphill, the legs sunk into the mud enough, combined with firing uphill,  required extending quite a bit.


In the very seldom event that i fire from a bench I require quite a bit of bag at the rear for support. So not good for bench.

I have 6-9s on my ARs and have to often extend them at least a few notches.