The Claw

[The Claw]

Jade,

Yes, I remeber you. We met once before probably some 10 years ago. Yes, you should get a Claw report from Bill. He was there to witness the one shot 725 yard kill on my Dad's bull. In fact I seen the bull scouting and Bill glassed it up that afternoon. He was really impressed that my dad (who is your typical weekend warrior hunter) was able to make the shot that he did. No BS, he made a one shot kill smack dab on that bull's shoulder right through both lungs at 725 yards with very little practice. It sounds cliche but if my dad can make that shot then anyone can if they have the right equipment. Obviously, The Claw doesn't make your rifle shoot better but rather it doesn't limit your rifle's potential by limiting your shot opportunities. For instance, my rifle would have killed Dad's bull at 725 yards without The Claw but not in that specific situation because the canyon side was a 70 degree angle and it was thick oakbrush. No way to get prone and would have taken forever to set up with bipod and sticks under butt of rifle for him because he is not skilled enough to manage both. Anyways he made a great shot, on video no less.

 

I do wish Jeremy was there to help pack out (he has always been my packhorse, although he didn;t get put to use much when we were teenagers..lol). I attached a picture of Bill packing the rack out. Of course he had to be the one to pack the rack out..would Bill have it any other way?...lol

 

Cade

[COUESAZ]

I do remember Bill telling me it was a heck of a shot. And yes you let Bill do what he wants or you may get the smack down.

 

He is like my brother, All i have to say is I bet you cant pack this deer from here to the top of the canyon. And the rest is easy for you because they will show you they can pack it all the way to the truck.

 

Good luck with the claw. I am sure it will help many of us out. I deal with alot of first time shooters and have had them shoot from the tripod many times and not conect. No matter what they always want to pull the shot or see where the bullet hit. The claw seems it would help make a much cleaner shot for a shooter like that for sure. This year i shot my coues buck on the run so it would have been extra weight in my pack, But the final shot to put him out of sufering was done from the top of my tripod. By that time i was sufering my self from the rush and i had the shakes. I was thinking how nice it would be to be able to lock the rifle on so i could be sure to put the finishing shot on this buck for his sake. After all we owe it to them to make a clean first shot.

[Red Rabbit]

I had the chance today to take the Claw, Harris bipod and shooting stix to a gravel pit to shoot 425 yards. I could not finish as some one decided to drive past me and park at the other end where the target was.

 

With the Claw and a light hold, I could keep the crosshairs steady on a single prickly pear pad at around 1300 yards (furthest I could get a reading was 1216). Using a shooting stick under the rifle butt decreased most of the small amount of up and down play allowed by the flexing of the tripod and head.

 

A stiff tripod and head will be necessary to use the Claw. Flexing in the legs and head will be evident otherwise. A lightweight Slik Sprint tripod, or flimsy plastic tripod and head from WalMart, need not apply for the job. I found it best to have the tripod post extended as little as possible and extend the legs for more height.

 

In the little shooting I was able to do, I found the Harris in the prone position with a rear bag under the butt to be steadiest, followed by the Claw with shooting sticks under the butt. The Harris extended and with Stix under the rifle butt, to allow using the sitting position had too much fore and aft movement. I did not get the chance to shoot off the tripod with Stix under the butt, nor prone off a pack.

 

I shot the Claw with one tripod leg forward and the other two angled back. When shot, the tripod rocked backward and the rifle pointed upward after the shot. I was going to shoot with one tripod leg directly backward and the two angled forward to see if this reduced or stopped the rocking, but the lady drove out to the target area before i could shoot this configuration.

 

The Claw is nice in that is will get you above most of the grass encountered at prone position, and will be better when shooting uphill/downhill angles than prone off a pack.

[GameHauler]

Thanks Doug for the report.

I keep looking at it,

And then the price tag,

then another look at it,

Price tag,

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN

[Red Rabbit]

Mike,

 

I would imagine that about half the price is due to cost of materials and production, as the Claw is certainly not being mass produced in China. Add the cost of developing prototypes, advertising, etc, and certainly the makers are not getting rich.

 

A Harris bipod is $100 or more these days.

[GameHauler]

Mike,

 

I would imagine that about half the price is due to cost of materials and production, as the Claw is certainly not being mass produced in China. Add the cost of developing prototypes, advertising, etc, and certainly the makers are not getting rich.

 

A Harris bipod is $100 or more these days.

 

 

Doug, I agree and understand that,

but I think they are trying to recope the cost to fast.

R.D., tooling, marketing can not be expected to paid for

in the first year of production if you want to get the product out

and into the hands of hunters who will make or brake the product.

 

I just feel that one of the investors wants a return to quick.

I do not know him or anything about him but have read many

of his posts about it on other sites and that is my gut feeling.

 

Again, great idea and maybe product(Need one in hand to tell)

I wish them the best and I still want one

[SO I HUNT]

Great idea but feel like the rest, the cost is holding me back from buying it. Wish work was was better than buying it wouldn't hurt as much

[Red Rabbit]

I was able to borrow 300WSM's Bogen/Manfrotto tripod and 701HDV head and experiment some more with the Gun Claw The detachable plate on the Bogen/Manfrotto 701 HDV head is longer and more secure, and did not wobble like the smaller RC2 plate on my Manfrotto700 head. Total weight on the Bogen pod and 701HDV head was 6 lbs, 4 oz. The Velbon EFL 4 and 157Q head was 4 lb 4 oz, both sans plates.

 

When I clamped down all adjustment knobs, I noticed that most of the wiggle seemed to come from the rubber strips on the plate that the Claw was resting on. Perhaps an extra plate can have its rubber strip removed and then the plate epoxied to the Claw and the screw from below tightened with red Loctite. Have the Claw Clamped to the gun before the hunt, and one would be only seconds from sliding the system into the tripod head and be ready to shoot. Again, the use of shooting sticks under the rifle butt did a lot to make a steadier rest.

 

Doug~RR

[30-378shtr]

Doug, you make a great suggestion about removing the rubber strips on adapter plate. I have the 701 head and that is exactly what i did to remove that last bit of wiggle.

[dan0]

i just gotta say i think this thing stinks. i'd rather not carry a benchrest into the woods to shoot deer offa.... kinda takes the fun out of it for me. but to each his own.

 

Dan Jensen

[Guest AZ>NMcouesaddict]

I do have to agree with GameHauler to a certain extent. I would sure like it if a few really rich people could invent and produce gadgets that I could use in the field and just give them out for free. That would be nice. But, I guess until that starts happening I'll have to pay for the items I choose to haul out to the field with me. Sometimes you gotta pay a little extra for quality. I don't imagine the inventors/producers of this item will be quitting their day jobs soon because of the extreme wealth the claw has brought them, but they deserve to profit from their willingness to go out on limb and produce this product. I used to be scared of high prices until I finally broke down and paid for quality items. Won't have it any other way now. I shoot off of the claw and have had success, with no impact on the quality of my hunting experiences. Here are a few other reasons we like it.

[jeffcros]

I don't understand how anybody can its too much. How much do we spend on Hunting/Fishing licenses, gas, trail cameras, salt, batteries, propane, camping equip, rifles, optics, reloading supplies, ect? Is this TOOL any different? I have three sons, I AM BUYING ONE!!! If you are helping/teaching someone to hunt shouldn't you give them the best experiment you can. If I buy this it not only helps my sons but I can use it myself. I'm not afraid to tell you I have missed a deer before due to a sub-par rest. If there is honest people out there they will agree with me on that comment.. What is $200 in the grand scheme of things. If you put $25 a week back you can have one the first of June. Its not that crazy of an idea.

[Red Rabbit]

One nice thing about the Claw is using it with young or novice hunters who may have difficulty finding the game in the scope. You can line it up for them, lock it in place, and the critter will be there in the scope for the other hunter to see.

 

Not to also mention that you can have the rifle lined up while waiting for an animal to get out of its bed, or come out fro behind a bush.

 

Sure do like its steadiness to help eliminate the jitters and wobbles to reduce misses and marginal hits. All we can do to have better hits should be done.

 

Doug~RR

[Kilimanjaro]

How would this thing work with a muzzleloader.. more specifially a break-open TC?? I'm kicking the idea around to get one of these to take on the elk hunt.

[Red Rabbit]

I would imagine that it would clamp to the forearm of the TC just fine. Should not get in the way of breaking open the action.