By John Hackett:
Shooting sticks have long been used to steady ones rifle for better shot placement. One of the problems I had with them in the past is they were cumbersome to adjust. You had to loosen and retighten the individual legs. This works great if you have plenty of time to set up your shot, or will be shooting at a known distance. I experienced the same difficulties using bipods that attach to the rifle.
Primos Hunting Calls of Flora MS seems to have solved this problem with the introduction of their Trigger Sticks. As advertised a shooter could fully adjust the height of the shooting stick with one squeeze of the hand. I purchased one of the bipods and gave it a try.
The stick performed admirably for me at the range. I was able to adjust the height very quickly. Once the stick was set at the right height it stayed put under recoil. After 10 rounds or so the stick’s adjustment stayed locked. The stick adjusted very smoothly up or down even with the weight of the rifle resting on it. It also gave me a very stable shooting platform
I tried the Primos Trigger Stick with my 45-70 Contender pistol. I was not able to steady the pistol quite as well on it as I could a rifle, but it was a heck of a lot more stable than trying to shoot off hand. With the use of the stick I was able to shrink my 5” off hand groups at 50 yards down to very acceptable 2 ¼” groups. If I was in a sitting position, and locked into my knees for additional support, the groups shrank even tighter.
The Trigger Stick performed well for me in the field also. Last December I took the stick, and the Contender, with me deer hunting. I used the stick to put a perfect 70 yard hit on the small buck I harvested. With a simple squeeze of the hand I was able to adjust to the height I needed without the buck picking up my movement. With conventional bipods I don’t think this would have been the case.
Primos Trigger Sticks come in a variety of lengths and configurations. They have a mono, bi and tripods to chose from. Adjustment lengths range from “short”, 20” to 30”, to “tall”, 36” to 61”. The price is a little more hefty than most shooting sticks. The Primos Shooting Stick retails for about $70 for the tall bipod. But in my opinion it is money well spent on a quality, and easy to use product.
The Primos Trigger Stick provided the author a stable platform for taking effective 100 yard shots at deer.
The top group is 5 shots off hand with a 45-70 Contender pistol at 50 yards. The bottom group is standing using the Primos Trigger Stick at the same distance.
