Gear Rifles

Kit test: Tier One Carbon Tactical Bipod & Blaser mount

Paul Austin reviews the Tier One Carbon Tactical Bipod and Blaser mount, discovering a lightweight system that showcases engineering and design excellence.

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I’ll be honest: for me a bipod’s primary role is to keep the rifle out of wet grass. I do take occasional bipod shots, but quad sticks or a tripod are my typical support. Therefore my trusty old Harris has never really had a challenger, as it’s perfectly capable off the bench, which is where I make most use of it. However, that could change with the arrival of the Carbon Tactical from Tier One.

Tier One are rightly famous for their rings and rails, and are widely considered to be one of the best, if not the best, when it comes to scope mounting in general. However, Tier One do more than manufacture fancy rings, having expanded into a range of shooting accessories, and their bipods are a prime example of that famous engineering excellence applied in another direction.

The Carbon Tactical on test is their tilt Picatinny design, but there are also options for sling stud and pan-and-tilt Picatinny. It’s a great choice for supporting a Blaser R8, especially when paired with Tier One’s add-on Picatinny rail for that rifle.

The R8’s front sling studs are at the end of the Schnabel forend, so to add a bipod you either need to specify a bipod mount when speccing out the rifle or add a third-party mounting point further down the line.

Luckily the R8 forend is cleverly engineered, allowing the final Schnabel section to be removed. You simply replace the existing sling stud with a Tier One R8 Picatinny mount. The whole Schnabel section is held in place with dual screws within an extended bracket, making a very strong mounting point for any add-ons.

As you might imagine, the bipod itself is beautifully engineered. There’s no wiggle in the joints and no rattle when handling the rifle. Everything just clicks into place reassuringly. There are three modes on offer: flat to the barrel for transport, 45° for an extended forward position and less overall height, and the typical 90° deployment for maximum lift.

There’s all manner of adjustment on offer as the Carbon’s outer legs provide adjustment over four locked positions. To adjust, you simply pull the lower leg and it clicks from one fixed height to the next; to shorten you press a rocker switch and it slides back to minimum height.

Push buttons on the shoulder of each leg allow you to switch quickly between flat, 45° and 90°. The legs ship with rubber feet as standard, but they can be easily swapped if required.

There’s tilt on offer for uneven ground and a friction adjuster to help you control the cant of the rifle. Available in 230mm and 180mm leg lengths, in either 7075 T6 aluminium or carbon fibre sleeved, the Tier One Carbon Tactical enables ideal height adjustment from 7.5″-9.5″ or 9″-13″.

If you’re in the market for a high-end and incredibly lightweight bipod in the £300 range, the Tier One warrants serious consideration. It provides a degree of design and engineering excellence on a par with anything on the market. Highly recommended.