When you want to shoot long range, a bipod is extremely helpful but often they are bolted or mounted as an afterthought to your rifle. Well BLK LBL Bipod is integrated into a handguard for the AR-15 and thus works for the Ruger Precision.  Let’s take a close look at this bipod handguard.

Bipod @ TFB:

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• Strasser BONE Bipod: Light – Stable – Universal

BLK LBL Handguards

BLK LBL sent me two of their handguards. The first one is a lightweight carbon fiber handguard for the AR-15.

I briefly mounted it to an AR to try out.

I took it off and mounted it to my Ruger Precision Rifle. My friend Ted helped me remove the factory barrel nut.

 

I like how the top of the BLK LBL carbon fiber handguard is slick to allow for larger bell objectives. If I need to mount something like night vision in front, I can simply mount a section of M-LOK or Picatinny to the top.

The BLK LBL bipod handguard and this handguard all use an AR-compatible barrel nut and then two screws clamp the handguard to the barrel nut.

The objective of my Leupold Mark 5HD clears the carbon fiber handguard even with the clip cap.

You can see I mounted an ARCA plate on the bottom for use with my ATLAS bipod. There is a small issue with the design of the carbon fiber handguard which you can see below. The last M-LOK slot is part of the split in the rear of the handguard. So when you tighten the screws, it closes the gap in the M-LOK slot making it too narrow to fit an M-LOK nut. I suppose you could install something in that slot first and then install the handguard.

I would have preferred to mount the ARCA plate as far back as possible to use only a tripod. But since I cannot, I have to move the ARCA plate one slot forward.

BLK LBL Bipod Handguard

The carbon fiber handguard is nice but the BLK LBL Bipod is what I was more interested in trying out with my Ruger Precision Rifle.  Luckily, the carbon fiber handguard and the bipod handguard share the same barrel nut.

Somewhat like the HK G3 bipod, the BLK LBL bipod folds up into the handguard. To deploy the legs, you simply stick your thumb or finger in the trapezoid cut out and pull the legs out and down.

The legs are kept in place with this latch mechanism. You only need to release this when you want to close the legs.

Swinging the legs down pops the latches open.

The nice thing about the LBK LBL Bipod is that the legs are mounted on a giant ball joint that is centered around your barrel. So the center of balance is lower and the ball joint can pan as well as tilt. This allows you to pivot the gun over the bipod legs. See the range of motion below.

In front of the ball joint is a cylindrical collar. You can spin this to tighten up the ball joint if you do not care for the pan and tilt function. Just make sure the legs are straight when you close them. Or just tighten that collar when the BLK LBL Bipod legs are closed before opening them.

Each leg on the BLK LBL Bipod can extend 5 additional positions. At the rear of the legs is a tab. You press that tab and slide it down to extend the legs. Press it in to collapse the legs.

The BLK LBL Bipod has some M-LOK slots on the side but due to the bipod legs, there are only some on the sides near the front. There are some at a 45º angle just above the legs stowed position. There are five M-LOK slots along the bottom of the BLK LBL bipod handguard and one near the front.

I bolted the ARCA plate from the carbon fiber handguard onto the BLK LBL bipod handguard. Luckily the plate does not interfere with the bipod legs.

Now I can still use ARCA compatible accessories. While it seems redundant, I can use the ATLAS bipod for shorter platforms.

More importantly, I can mount my Ruger Precision Rifle to my tripod.

Final Thoughts On The BLK LBL Bipod Handguard

The carbon fiber handguard is nice and large enough to tuck a suppressor underneath but I do not see it on their website. With regard to the BLK LBL bipod handguard, it is nice having a bipod on your rifle so there is no chance you forgot one. However, I feel the length of the legs is too long even in the shortest configuration. I prefer having my Ruger Precision lower to the surface I am shooting off of. The lower it is the easier I can use my rear bag or monopod. The BLK LBL bipod handguards retail for $499 to $549 depending on the length of the handguard. This is a bit much when you can just get an ATLAS bipod for just over $300. I prefer my ATLAS bipod because the legs can be positioned at 45º forwards or backwards as well as 90º to the barrel. The BLK LBL bipod legs can only be positioned at a straight 90º. This is very limiting to me. It does come down to personal preference though. If having an integrated bipod interests you for your Ruger Precision or AR-15, then maybe the BLK LBL bipod handguard is for you. Check out their website for more info.