Quote History Originally Posted By Dabster:
These all appear to cost more than EIGHT TIMES MORE than the pig. Are you saying that a functional tripod is going to cost that much?
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Hell no. (RRS owner)
You can make anything work from a Pig Saddle with an 0311 to an RRS with their shooting-specific ball heads. The difference is that the high end tripods/heads will be a little steadier in some positions, faster to adjust to get on target, lighter, usually be able to be set up flatter, and adjust (via the head) to a larger range of tilt/pan without having to re-jigger your position or compromise rigidity by adding height (for example, ball heads under a saddle)
An 0311 with a Pig Saddle is not a huge investment and can be a good learning platform; there is a definite learning curve for figuring out how to use these and get the steadiness and consistency you want, and how to control POI shifts from rest/bipod going to the tripod.
IMHO the saddles work best without a ball head under them, especially if you're on a an AL or magnesium tripod or a less expensive carbon fiber. If you have a level on the rifle and point one leg straight at the target you can quickly adjust your overall cant by changing the height of one of the rear legs. Having the line between the two rear legs perpendicular to the target minimizes lateral POI shift on recoil as long as you're square behind your setup.
Also, a lot of wiggle in less expensive setups can be taken out with downward sling wrap pressure between the fore and aft of the rifle, or - if standing - by running paracord on QD swivels between the fore and aft of the rifle and stepping downwards on it to pull the whole setup towards the ground.