Outdoorsmans Pistol Grip or Panhead - Final Thoughts Before I Pull the Trigger

[Desert Dan]

Fellas,
The subject says pretty much everything but the specifics are... My Swaro el 12s are on the way and I've narrowed down my tripod head to either the pistol grip along with the panner, or the pan head from The Outdoorsmans. There is a lot of great material on here on both those products but before I commit to buying one or the other I wanted to ask for any experiences on here from anyone who has an opinion either way. There is excellent coues deer hunting right outside my door which of course really can present a challenge when trying to find them bedded down. After spending money on the Swaros I want to maximize their effectiveness with the best tripod head to pair them with. I am leaning toward the pistol grip right now since this next hunting season I will be using the el 12s as my only tripod optic. From everything I've been able to learn the pistol and panner work extremely well for grid glassing with binoculars. When I am able to save up enough I want to add a spotting scope at which point I will also likely pick up the pan head to use with the 85 or 65 spotter. So with that in mind I would love to hear anything that I haven't thought of or read yet. Thanks in advance!

dan

 

[calico pig]

Fellas,
The subject says pretty much everything but the specifics are... My Swaro el 12s are on the way and I've narrowed down my tripod head to either the pistol grip along with the panner, or the pan head from The Outdoorsmans. There is a lot of great material on here on both those products but before I commit to buying one or the other I wanted to ask for any experiences on here from anyone who has an opinion either way. There is excellent coues deer hunting right outside my door which of course really can present a challenge when trying to find them bedded down. After spending money on the Swaros I want to maximize their effectiveness with the best tripod head to pair them with. I am leaning toward the pistol grip right now since this next hunting season I will be using the el 12s as my only tripod optic. From everything I've been able to learn the pistol and panner work extremely well for grid glassing with binoculars. When I am able to save up enough I want to add a spotting scope at which point I will also likely pick up the pan head to use with the 85 or 65 spotter. So with that in mind I would love to hear anything that I haven't thought of or read yet. Thanks in advance!

dan

I have the same dilemma. Picking up some EL 12x50's too. I have the Panhead currently and run my 10x42 SLC's and 65mm spotter on it. I've not tried the pistol grip but I think if it's soley for binos and not a spotter the pistol grip would be awesome and I'm going to switch to it. Where the panhead shines is with heavier optics like an 80mm spotter but it takes longer to adjust when I'm using my binos due to the two adjustment tensioners (one for left to right and one for up down). The point and shoot on the pistol grip looks awesome for binos only and occasional spotter. This year I'll likely be using my 12's primarily so I think the pistol grip will get the nod.

 

[bcimport]

I’ve had both and much prefer the pistol grip. Works fine with my 80mm spotter and my 12’s.

 

[adventure907]

I use the pistol grip with both my binos and 80mm Swaro spotter. I've been into that set up about a year now, love it.

 

[Brian Fahs]

I have both. Prefer the pistol grip with panner for my 10x and 15x swaros. I like the panner for my sts80 spotter better. I have a quick release adpter on my slick 634 tripod. I can change them out in seconds. Best of both worlds.

 

[Desert Dan]

Great, thanks for the feedback guys. Exactly the type of information I needed. Makes my decision easy. At least for this year...

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Another pistol grip user here. I’ve tried both of the pan heads as well, but far prefer the pistol grip for binocular glassing. I’m the kind of guy that uses binoculars 90%+ of the time and then I throw the spotter on to size up an animal. For that style of glassing the pistol grip is perfect.

 

[snakelk]

Yet another pistol grip user here. I've used both and prefer the Outdoorsmans pistol grip with panner for both binos and 82 mm spotter.

 

[Ryan Avery]

I still debate this in my feeble mind

Which Outdoorsmans Tripod Head? - YouTube


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Brian Fahs]

View attachment 69762
Letting my 15s and pistol grip eat today.
Glassing the upper potomac for turkeys.

 

[fatrascal]

I had both the pistol grip and the panhead. Both can handle the job. The pistol grip is faster and the panhead gives more stability. I decided to sell one and chose to keep the panhead because I love to digiscope and feel the panhead is better for that use. You can definitely digiscope with the pistol grip and the panhead is fast enough but both shine a little better at what they are good at. If you are getting the pistol grip now and plan on getting the panhead later then you will have both worlds covered. In the meantime dont be afraid to start out with the pistol grip. Its fast and easy to use and will get the job done. Fatrascal

 

[fatrascal]

Thought you might like to see this review.
Outdoorsmans Pan Head and Binocular Adapter - Gear Review by Wade Nelson of HardcoreOutdoor.com - YouTube
Fatrascal

 

[Desert Dan]

fatrascal,
I ended up going with the pistol grip for now since I will only be running the el 12s this year at least. I'm hoping to be able to save up enough to get either the BTX or ATX next year at which point I may consider adding the pan head but either way giving both a shot and seeing how they each work out with both the optics. I spend most of my time glassing for these little coues deer here around Tucson so the fine point adjustments are huge. I have no doubt the pistol grip will work exceptionally well with the el's but if I get out there and decide it's not quite right I'll make a change to the pan head.
What a great problem to have though, huh? Deciding which high performance hunting gear to buy!

 

[Buckhorn 70]

http://www.rokslide.com/forums/roks...s-outdoorsman-pistol-grip-adapter-panner.html

I have a pistol grip with adapter for sale in Classifieds if my one is interested.

 

[Jordan Budd]

fatrascal,
I ended up going with the pistol grip for now since I will only be running the el 12s this year at least. I'm hoping to be able to save up enough to get either the BTX or ATX next year at which point I may consider adding the pan head but either way giving both a shot and seeing how they each work out with both the optics. I spend most of my time glassing for these little coues deer here around Tucson so the fine point adjustments are huge. I have no doubt the pistol grip will work exceptionally well with the el's but if I get out there and decide it's not quite right I'll make a change to the pan head.
What a great problem to have though, huh? Deciding which high performance hunting gear to buy!

Awesome! I love my pistol grip. I still prefer the pan head for the spotting scope, especially when picking country apart. One thing with the pistol I would seriously recommend is the panner to go with it. Makes gridding quite a bit better imo.

 

[Desert Dan]

Awesome! I love my pistol grip. I still prefer the pan head for the spotting scope, especially when picking country apart. One thing with the pistol I would seriously recommend is the panner to go with it. Makes gridding quite a bit better imo.

I'm really glad I did my homework and got the panner with the pistol grip. So far I haven't used it as much as I thought I would but for the times that I have it's proven to be so much more helpful to just nudge the view over with my nose rather than gripping and shifting over, especially looking out to longer distances. The only problem I've run into is I've been so busy with everything BUT scouting that I've been limited to glassing the mountains around my house as I get familiar with the completely new setup. Binoculars, tripod, head, and digiscope are all different from last year.

dan

 

[northwesthunter]

Has anyone had there trigger on the pistol grip go loose and not apply pressure so your scope doesnt hold up like it should.? I had this happen and took it apart and everything looks fine no broken springs but not sure i am putting it back togethor correctly now and can't find any technical drawings or instructions..??

 

[HuntNTag]

Has anyone had there trigger on the pistol grip go loose and not apply pressure so your scope doesnt hold up like it should.? I had this happen and took it apart and everything looks fine no broken springs but not sure i am putting it back togethor correctly now and can't find any technical drawings or instructions..??

Reach out to outdoorsman’s about it. I’m sure they will guide you in the right direction