After years of seeing tripods for handgun hunting, I began to get the itch. I hunt with my son who usually gets the "seat at the table" at our ground blind, while I set in a lawn chair, a good rest would be a big help. Sneaking up to the table while a deer is standing at the feeder is no fun, though had to do it.

Of course, the PSR gets great press around here and I recently found one and bought it. The PSR needs no real introduction here, but to anyone unfamiliar with it, here is a quick explanation. It is designed to work with handguns, crossbows, and rifle. It uses a flat platform with an adjustable V at the front. What visually jumps out at one is the pistol grip on the rear. Since I have not shot using it yet, I can only assume that feature allows one to hold that grip with their weak hand for rotating the rest.

The PSR was discontinued some time back, so any found now are used or old new stock. Mine was old new stock, but due to age, the rubber grip was horribly sticky and the rubber mat covering the top of the platform was peeling off from the rear. I tried cleaning the grip with alcohol, as I had read on a forum, but it did nothing. I proceeded to take it apart to see what I could do and saw the grip was not what I would call heavy-duty, so off it went. I grabbed a GI AR pistol grip from my box of stuff and attached it using some redneck engineering. It was pretty straight forward, but required some drilling and filing. It turned out well.

For the peeling mat, I decided to use some cool looking camouflage cloth tape to secure it down. I also covered part of my Bogpod HD tripod with the tape. Warning, if anyone tries to give you camo cloth tape, run. It is the stickiest crap I have seen, on BOTH sides. Luckily, it comes off without leaving much residue...mostly. It came off shortly after these photos were taken. I then just pulled off the rubber mat as I do not foresee needing it.

I wanted some sort of small bag to go with the PSR and found the small Lyman Angled Bag on Amazon for about 20 dollars and it looked perfect. Turns out that it works exactly like I want it. It has a small spout in the front which closes with Velcro, then tucks under a small strap. It is filled with plastic pellets and it is really easy to empty and refill the bag, so I removed some and found it made a nice cradle for my Contender trigger guard. I sewed four small loops of hollowed cord for lacing 550 cord through and securing it to the PSR. A cord lock on the cord, once attached, worked well for keeping it in place securely. See below.

[img]76B741CE-588E-4DF8-8398-E943AB9660DA by jdk112, on Flickr[/img]

[img]E7DFC5FA-859E-427D-92BA-F69288F711FF by jdk112, on Flickr[/img]

It was so stable that I wondered if I even needed the PSR. The HD version of the Bogpod tripod comes with a largish U-shaped cradle. I had seen people using the H-Gear Claw bag laid over fence posts as rests, so decided to try using the Lyman bag on the cradle. Once secured with cord, it was quite stable. I don't knw if I would want to set over a prairie dog town for hours using it, but for most shooting and hunting it would work fine. What I like is that it is small, light weight, and fast. The cradle turns 360 degrees unimpeded by the bag and a handgun can be set onto the bag and tilted for elevation quickly. See below.

[img]8CFFFCE2-8813-462B-8816-7481EA23584A by jdk112, on Flickr[/img]

[img]43DD5634-1DE5-4F8F-BBBC-EFD5EB2B3617 by jdk112, on Flickr[/img]

I am pretty happy with these two options. I am still going to fiddle with them and see what works best. Since the PSR is no longer available, I recommend anyone looking for a hunting tripod to look at the tripod and Lyman bag combo. The smaller Bogpod tripods come with a smaller cradle, but may work just as well. Thanks for looking.

Good stuff!
Thanks!

Nice write-up and good details. I know of several members who have had their PSR break off at the front and your bag/tripod set-up might be a good option. Thanks for sharing!

I think I probably use a BogPod/PSR as much or more than anyone-6 days a week from Feb. to Dec.
Some people on another site have found ways to repair the PSR combo and still use original equipment. I just got one of my broken ones back from gasixgunner(sometimes on here). It works just like it did before it broke.
The Lyman bag idea is a good idea, but when I'm climbing mountains hunting squirrels, turkeys, deer, and groundhogs that's just one more thing to keep track of. Short range trips. Absolutely.
I used to carry a small sandbag to put under the butt of all my guns. Something else to carry. I found that if you put the nongrip hand on the PSR and grip your handgun in that hand just above the PSR you get no whip action that will usually cause you to shoot high. Did 3 revolver shots that way this week at 81, 94, 97 yds. All shoulder or head shots.
The new Death Grip from BogPod MIGHT be an option, but I'm afraid it will give a whip to the gun and shoot high. Waiting for someone to try it.

That should work out nice!

Nice work!

Nice set up. I looked for a PSR for a couple of years, and then lucked out when Natchez closed out the whole Bog Pod Kit including the PSR for around a hundred bucks. I use one of Cody's small bags to rest my grip on. I do need to attach it more permanently though.

I found the whole Bog Pog kit on Natchez too, but guess what, they wouldn't sell one to me in Georgia. Something about not infringing on dealers in this state?? Anyway, I got lucky and found a PSR on the shelf in a local gunshop. I like mine on the range, but it's not compatible with my style of hunting, climbing stands.

Thanks for the write up. I made a red-neck version of the PSR with an older camera tripod. It is heavier than most found now. I am going to try to add the AR grip - that may solve many of my platform motion issues.