Jim Owens scope stand

[anotherted]

Has anyone bought the scope stand that Jim Owens offers on his website?
I bought one last week and it arrived yesterday. Awesome setup, very sturdy, lite and it folds up very compact.

There is only one problem. There is no swivel mount for the spotting scope. I couldnt believe it. The pics on the site are kina fuzzy, and I diddnt put it together at the time that he is a big fan of Kowa scopes (they have a build in swivel sleeve).

So, the problem is i can only mount my scope sideways (the eye piece is perminantly sideways. This is a real pain.

Ive been looking around and Ray-vin, Champion's Choice, and a few other companies make a swivel mount, but they cost alot of money, im not positive that they will fit and im afraid it will throw off the balance of the stand.

If any of you have run into this problem and have solved it, id appreciate some ideas. But, ill probably just end up returning it for a CC stand w/ swivel mount.

It seems to me that Jim should make some mention of this issue on his website. Oh well.

Ted

[kj]

The scope mount on this stand is useless for position shooting if your angled scope does not have a rotating collar. My old Kowa doesn't, but I still bought the stand because I liked its other features. You need to buy a saddle head mount. It uses a hose clamp to hold the scope. Look at the Freeland-type saddle mount: http://www.championshooters.com/Stands.htm

I had an old Freeland bi-pod, so I just pirated the saddle head from that and put it on my Owens stand. It works great. If you need a picture, let me know and I can email one in a few days, when I get back into town.

Also, if you want to save some money, you can screw some mild steel bar and a hose clamp (or two) to the Owens. Look at the picture of the saddle mount and it shouldn't be too difficult to rig something up that is similar. If you go this route, you will not have the fine up and down adjustment that a true saddle mount has. Are you using this for Highpower or other position-type competition? If not, then you don't have to have the fine adjustment.

[NRAhighpowershooter]

I used my Owens stand for 3 months and sent it back... by the end of 3 months none of the sections would slide into each other... On the plus side..Jim Owens refunded the cost fully including my shipping. I ended up buying the $175 Creedmore stand.

[anotherted]

Im sorry to hear that. It looks like i will be sending mine back as well. I dont like the saddle set up, it looks to cumbersome.

Thanks.

[phish]

There are some pieces of equipment in which the "buy once, cry once" will apply. I think spotting scope stands are one of them since they hold potentially expensive optics.

The stands made sold by Creedmoor, Ray-Vin, First-Strike, and Giraud Tool are quality units and are built to take abuse.

Creedmoor also sells a stand that clamps onto a bench, much easier than hauling a heavy tri-pod in your range bag.

[ocabj]

I have a Jim Owens stand. I have three (3) main issues with the Jim Owens stand.

#1) The plastic delrin screws are prone to breaking. I had the same one that keeps the rod that holds the scope head to the top piece break twice (the head of the screw).

#2) The bar that connects to the piece of piping that goes into the top of the stand kept coming off. I ended up putting a small pin to go through that bar and the pipe to keep it from coming off.

#3) The weight screws into a metal piece that goes into the bottom of the stand that is held by tension only. That kept coming off. I ended up putting three screws through the bottom pipe of the stand into that metal threaded piece so it doesn't come off.

As far as the pieces of the stand sticking, it becomes a problem when it gets dirty. All I did was polish the pieces with 0000 steel wool and then use a car cleaner/wax to clean everything off.

The Jim Owens stand is a decent stand given it's flaws. It should be priced around $75 though instead of it's above $100 price. I like the compactability of the Jim Owens stand, which is why I bought it. Although, I am looking to get a Ray-Vin since I can use the Ray-Vin kit to clamp it to my Ray-Vin cart as a tow handle. But I prefer the Creedmoor Big Blue head. So I may just get the Ray-Vin stand without the head and get the Creedmoor head to use on it.

Creedmoor also sells a stand that clamps onto a bench, much easier than hauling a heavy tri-pod in your range bag.

Just in case people aren't aware, the Creedmoor bench mount requires that you buy the scope head as well. The price in the catalog is only for the unit that clamps to the bench. I had to double take that product when I first saw it because it is priced significantly cheaper than the Sinclair, then I realized why. Heh, range bags? That's why we use carts!

With regards to the issue of the scope head not swiveling, I guess he could have indicated it's a zoom head. I assumed that when I bought it. Since you want a swivel head, you'd probably be happiest with the Ray-Vin. Creedmoor doesn't make a swivel head. They have a saddle head for their 'deluxe' stand, but not a swivel.