Pod-Loc subpage

KMW –Long Range Solutions

CAGE: 1TE83

POD-LOC^tm

^{Locking Lever Kit for Harris "S" Series Bipods}

NSN 1005-01-511-9944

Downloadable PDF. file of the POD-LOC Instructions.

FEATURES

No tools needed to adjust: Bipod can be locked and unlocked with only your thumb and finger. . . . . . while you are in position . . . . . within seconds.

Made to be used. Built to survive.

Dirt and weather resistant: The integral dust shields in the Pod-Loc spacer protects the clutch area of the factory Harris mechanism. The clamp lever body is synthetic and the internal parts as well as the spacer are stainless steel.

Low profile: The locking lever can be pulled back slightly to disengage the internal ratchet without effecting the lock tension. Thus, the Pod-Loc clamp lever can be “parked” against the stock to minimize snags when you are on the move. All stainless steel surfaces have been blacked out for a low visual signature.

Standard issue on all U.S.Marine Corp M-40A3 Sniper and S.A.M. Rifles

as well as the new FBI and BATF sniper rifles..

No permanent alteration: Your bipod can be restored to issue configuration within 2 minutes.

Engineered and manufactured in the United States.

WHY DID WE DEVELOP THE POD-LOC?

While attending competitions and classes in 1998 and 1999, I noticed that the new Harris 'S' model bipods were gaining in popularity. It was also quickly noted that almost every one of those bipods was scratched up and damaged around the knurled nut that locks the cant angle of the 'S' model. Almost without exception, everyone was using Leathermans^TM, MultiPliers^TM, or some other plier type tool to adjust the tension of this nut. Some users were so frustrated that they were contemplating going back to the original non-swivel Harris or another brand bipod altogether.

Multiple interviews with team after team documented the same concern that we had already noticed. The knurled nut cannot be easily tightened enough by hand to consistently lock the swivel feature of the bipod. At this point, I recruited several people to help me search for an existing product or kit that would fix or improve this drawback of an otherwise excellent bipod. Extensive searching via web, publications and community networks revealed nothing available that would address this problem.

I was already experimenting with some type of augment for my personal bipods and after seeing a glimpse of the larger picture, began work on a viable kit to upgrade these bipods. This all began in the late months of 1999.

HOW DID WE DEVELOP THE POD-LOC?

From the beginning, I wanted to isolate and improve this one aspect of the bipod. My reason is the Harris Bipod is the most proven and well established bipod in the Western World. Too many modifications would certainly compromise the bipod design and make it a "non-standard" in the eyes of many serious users.

I found that an extended lever used in place of the factory knurled nut would easily and quickly allow me to lock the cant position of the bipod in any position I wanted. One problem was that the lever would sometimes be positioned in a less than ideal location when adjusted to my preference. Finding and testing a lever assembly that featured a re-settable position proved to be a good solution.

Next I experimented with several versions of a spacer to be used between the lever and bipod body. A final design was settled on and worked well in testing. I then made up roughly 10 complete kits and sent them to contacts that I knew were serious shooters and regularly used rifles as part of their work. A couple of these kits were brought with us to the 1999 Autauga Arms Super Sniper Shootout at Camp Shelby, MS. Now known as the North American Sniper Championship, this competition saw law enforcement and military teams from Europe, Russia, Canada and East Asia as well as most branches of the U.S. Military shooting various events over a 4 day period. 100% of the feedback on our initial kits were positive and I made the decision to proceed with a small quantity of finished kits to test the market for such a product.

HOW DO WE PRODUCE THE POD-LOC?

At first we found it difficult to locate quality components that were manufactured in the United States. No offense to some of our overseas neighbors but one of the main tenants of KMW is to use 'made in the U.S.' products when possible.

Many different materials, sizes and finishes for our kit parts were experimented with and tested. Our initial kit consisted of a lever assembly (4 parts) and a job specific spacer/dust cover. All stainless steel internal parts including the spring were specified from the start.

The handle section of the lever assembly was specified as glass reinforced nylon plastic. This part was intentionally chosen over a metal lever. If the user were to accidentally snag this lever on an obstacle during movement, a synthetic lever material would flex or even break thus freeing the rifle. Testing showed that a metal lever could cause the internal pivot rod of the bipod to break before the lever would flex. Thus, I chose to not use a metal lever on this kit. I would rather the synthetic lever break and the bipod remain serviceable rather than chance breaking the internal parts of the bipod.

Used alone on the bipod this lever assembly is somewhat functional but the bipod's exposed pivot rod is not supported and is also vulnerable to dirt and sand. To remedy this, a special spacer/dust cap was designed to fit between the lever assembly and the body of the bipod. This part proved to be very important to the long term function of this kit. The spacer/dust cap on all Pod-Loc kits is CNC machined from 416 stainless steel to my specifications.

The lever assembly used in this kit is not a new design, but it's utility in this role was new at the time the kit was first brought to market. Early on, we realized that off the shelf levers could not be trusted to work properly 100% of the time. We found that many of these lever assemblies had flaws such as incomplete thread profiles, malformed springs, improperly formed teeth on the insert gear and even plastic or metal chips inside the assembly! The only way we could assure the quality of this kit was to have the individual parts manufactured to my specifications and shipped to KMW for inspection.

After all parts are inspected in my shop, the stainless parts are then batched and sent to an industrial finisher for a Chrome Sulphide bath. This process not only produces a non-reflective matte black on the stainless part, it also increases the corrosion resistance of the material.

When the components return from blackening, they are washed and prepped for assembly. Each lever is assembled by KMW one at a time. Thread locker is used on the assembly screw to lessen the chance of a failure. I even adopted a custom assembly screw with a tamper resistant drive head on kits made after 2007. When each lever is complete, a high quality lubricant is placed in the female 10-32 threads so that it efficiently performs under torque load once it is on the bipod.

At this point, the completed lever assemblies are packaged with the spacer/dust cap and green instruction sheet. The packaging includes contact information in the event of any installation problems or usage questions.

WHO IS USING THE POD-LOC?

Since this kit entered the shooting market in early 2000, we have been blessed to have it see wide use throughout many shooting disciplines. A large number of law enforcement agencies and military units now issue this kit as a standard item on their precision rifles. Many competition shooters, varmint hunters, big game hunters and recreational shooters have adopted this kit as a worthwhile improvement to their rifle system.

Because most of our kits are sold through a distributor network, we are not sure how many groups are using these kits. A few users that we are aware of are:

U.S.Marine Corp, U.S. Navy, U.S.Army, British Military, Australian Military, Federal Bureau of Investigation, over 20 State Police SWAT units and a large number of individual officers from police agencies throughout the United States.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

If you read the above list of users, you can understand why we take the quality of this small kit very seriously. We order the highest quality parts, assemble them with great care, inspect them and then package them in protective materials to insure that they are delivered to the user ready to install.

A green instruction sheet is included with each kit. We went to great lengths to provide you with a clear and easy to read guide that would insure proper installation onto the Harris 'S' Model Bipods. I have provided a link to a downloadable PDF file at the top of this page.

I could improve my profit margin on this kit by 100% AND reduce the selling price by using imported and low grade components already preassembled. Because of the clientele we serve, I refuse to compromise the quality and reliability of this or any other KMW product.

HOW CAN I ORDER A POD-LOC?

The primary business of KMW is building precision field rifles. Our business model is not set up to efficiently handle orders for these type items. Also we do not want to directly compete with our group of distributors.

We will continue to supply directly to the U.S. Military and our allies.

While KMW will always be your primary contact for any issues or failures you may experience with this kit, we respectfully ask that you contact one of the businesses listed below if you would like to order a genuine Pod-Loc^TM kit. These fine people offer friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff. Just like KMW, they appreciate your business. Their links in no particular order . . . . . .

BROWNELLS

SINCLAIR INTERNATIONAL

TRIAD TACTICAL

E.ARTHUR BROWN

CLARK CUSTOM GUNS

EuroOptic, Ltd.

TAC-PRO SHOOTING CENTER

PBS INTERNATIONAL - (U.K. and other European orders)

HEINZ HENKE - (Germany)