Simplicity and utility over Manfrotto and Ashbury.
A Manfrotto Pro-190 Tripod will get you low in prone as shown above. But, it will negate a Leupold M4 reticle, making it useless.
- Know this. It takes extra setup time to configure a Manfrotto 190 in prone as shown above. You have to first play around with those legs and that center column. Then, you have to work the spotting scope itself to find the correct target down range. Whew!
- And, the footprint spread will be three times larger than the Sniper Ops Tactical Tripod. This large footprint can be an issue on rifle ranges with narrower shooting lanes.
- Plus, the Manfrotto is bulky at 19 inches foldup length.
- Moreover, it is almost unsuitable for use on a bench or table application.
- You can invert a scope with this Manfrotto but it is an involved process.
- To invert, you have to: (1) extend the Manfrotto's legs; (2) spread its legs outward; (3) remove the center column from the tripod and re-position it through the top yoke of the tripod, so it's inverted underneath the legs; then (4) install the spotting scope inverted. You actually observe through the spaces between the legs. It's cumbersome.
- And, there is NO micro adjustment for fine-tuning a reticle onto the target.
Otherwise, the Manfrotto is a great tripod.
Sniper Ops Tactical Tripod versus Ashbury TACT3-S with Tactical Interface Mount (T.I.M)
Sniper Ops Tactical Tripod needs no tool for scope installation, and its minimum scope height is eight (8) inches. It also has a micro-fine elevation adjuster head mount version depicted in the above photo.
TACT3-S requires a screwdriver or a coin to install their Tactical Interface Mount (T.I.M.) accessory, and its minimum scope height, as shown above, is eleven (11) inches from the ground. The T.I.M. allows you to invert the spotting scope as well as mount other devices. The above TACT3-S has NO micro-adjustment feature, and you will need to buy the T.I.M. accessory in order to be able to use the TACT3 in prone comfortably. If you want their micro-adjustable tripod, you can buy the Ashbury TACT3 Sel for $1,283.
The Sniper Ops head mount has a minus fifty (-50) degrees to a plus seventy (+70) degrees of side tilt. And, you can set the legs at different angles if needed to overcome uneven terrain situations.
TACT3 provides a +/- twenty (20) degrees of side tilt. You loosen the center column for side tilt. The head mount itself does not tilt.
To go from the prone to a sitting position, you will need to remove the scope and the T.I.M., then re-install the spotting scope upright.
It is labor intensive.
The Sniper Ops stows to a compact thirteen (13) inches and weighs three (3) pounds and fifteen (15) ounces with three rods.
The TACT3 shown above stows to nineteen (19) inches and weighs three (3) pounds and twelve (12) ounces with the T.I.M.
Sniper Ops Tactical Tripod can be as tall as needed by just adding rods.
The TACT3-S maximum height,as shown here, is twenty-six (26) inches high.
Use multiple mounts, multiple devices on the same visual plane
A number of customers have purchased a second head mount in order to have two devices at the same time on this tripod. The second head mount has been used for devices such as laser range finders and the Kestrel weather station.
The photo above was submitted by GW of Anderson, Texas, who mounted four devices.
(1) Kestrel weather station installed via our custom rod end cap adapter; (2) spotting scope; (3) Vectronix laser range finder; (4) digital camera to record the bullet's vapor trail.
In concert with the legs, the head mount with its unique rocker arm helps compensate for uneven terrain to level your spotting scope accordingly.
This tripod will invert & flip the eyepieces of Leupold Mark 4 Inverted Horus H32 & H36 Reticle spotting scopes.