Gear Review: ZRODelta DLOC-SS Bipod Mounting System

Only last weekend I was hunting with a borrowed rifle and found myself swearing at its bipod. Dropping prone on uneven terrain to shoot a walking hog at 375 yards across a lake, the non-canting, non-panning Harris model cost me the better part of 30 seconds that would have been a cant-induced miss if I hadn’t taken that time. For owners of Harris style bipods, with or without cant and pan features, ZRODelta has a significantly better solution . . .

It’s called the DLOC-S or DLOC-SS, depending on whether it only cants or cants as well as pans, and it’s compatible with the genuine Harris item or the myriad similar bipods out there.

Replacing the bipod-to-gun interface, the DLOC vastly improves materials, machining, fit, and finish quality in this critical area. As seen above, a single knob is used to secure the QD mount to your rifle with no tools required other than two fingers. This is the same system as on ZRODelta’s superlative QD optics mounts.

Loosened all the way, the knob stops at the end of its travel (it’s “captive”) and is pushed away from the mount via an internal spring.

Simply press the knob inwards to extend the other side of the clamp and install or remove the mount from your firearm. This spring tension system means the mount — and whatever’s attached to it, whether a big scope or a red dot or a bipod — clamps itself to your gun even without tightening the knob.

As a person who has dropped many an optic to the floor due to checking eye relief or reaching for a tool before tightening a mount, I can attest to loving this spring-loaded design. Even under nothing but the spring’s tension, your accessory ain’t moving a millimeter. And after simply finger tightening that knob, it’s rock freakin’ solid.

I own two ZRODelta DLOC scope mounts and one of their DLOC Aimpoint T1-fit mounts, and cannot recommend them highly enough. It’s the same story, as you’d likely expect, with the mount portion of the DLOC bipod system.

If you spring for the DLOC-S, you’ll get a mount (with or without a bipod) that cants. Or swivels, depending on your preferred nomenclature.

However you call it, it allows the shooter to tilt the rifle side-to-side. Lay it over towards the right side or the left side. When compensating for less-than-perfectly-level terrain (side slope), this is far faster than adjusting the leg length and often more precise, too.

You’ll use the large lever (or the tri-lugged SARG Knob, depending on model) on the shooter side of the bipod to adjust the tension — how easy or how difficult it is to cant the rifle. Typically about a quarter turn takes you from loosey goosey to Fort Knox. When somewhere in the middle, cant adjustment is achieved in a highly controlled and extremely smooth fashion.

This would have helped me immensely when engaging that hog, taking maybe three seconds of intuitive motion instead of a half-minute of stretching and struggling. Unfortunately, the fact that the particular Harris model I was using had a tension dial on the front (muzzle side) of each leg made it even worse. Those dials are difficult to reach from behind the rifle — no joke, I tweaked my left trapezius stretching for it — and it’s practically a circus trick to loosen the dial, pull the leg out against its spring tension that’s trying to retract it, and tighten the dial with one hand.

All the way right.

All the way left.

I don’t know how many degrees of cant this actually is, but somewhere close to 45.

If you’re using the DLOC-S, that fantastic QD mount and smooth cant adjustment round out the notable features. If you’ve gone with the DLOC-SS, it has one more trick up its sleeve: the ability to pan left and right.

Up front is a curved slot with a SARG Knob on bottom. Like the cant adjustment, its tension is easily set by hand and will lock down as securely as can be. It allows the entire gun to pivot regardless of forwards or downwards load on the bipod.

Shoot to the right.

Shoot to the left.

Rather than resetting the rifle’s position, a smooth-panning bipod allows easier tracking of a moving target, compensating for changing winds, or bracing against an angled object. While my hog was far enough away that his slow moseying required very little panning to keep up, I had to reset after looking through the scope, seeing the ripples on the water and the motion of the grasses and bushes on the shore and realizing that I’d have to lead the hog’s nose by a few inches to hit his shoulder.

With the exact same bipod that was on the loaner rifle, ZRODelta’s DLOC-SS mount system would have made my life easier. I would have dropped prone, tilted the rifle to the left until it was level, panned right to compensate for wind and to keep up with the walking hog, and tripped the trigger far sooner and more composed.

On the range, I’ve been using the DLOC-SS since fall and have zero complaints. I like to load up a bipod nice and hard, and the DLOC just don’t care. It even operates smoothly while under load.

Engineering complications aside, if I could change anything about the DLOC-SS it would be moving the panning tension adjustment from in front of the bipod to behind it. This would make it more accessible while shooting.

ZRODelta’s DLOC bipod mounting system is a fantastic upgrade to any Harris style bipod that really brings its functionality into the premium category. For those who like the rapid deployment of a Harris but are wanting extra functionality, or smoother canting and panning with much more secure lockup, the DLOC-S or DLOC-SS is a solid solution.

Specifications: ZRODelta DLOC-SS

Fits: Harris-S style bipods (available on its own or pre-mounted to a bipod)
Mount: 6061-T6 aluminum, anodized, QD, 3 recoil lugs
Motion: pans and cants
Weight: 4.8 ounces
MSRP: $189 (DLOC-S is $149, as seen with bipod is $269)

Ratings (out of five stars):

Quality * * * * *
Machining, fit, and finish are flawless.

Functionality * * * * *
I was swearing at that borrowed Harris because it didn’t pan or cant, but I’ve also sworn at bipods that do so too easily and cannot be locked down well, or that loosen up during use. The DLOC-SS functions perfectly. It moves smoothly and precisely and, when locked, it’s locked solid.

Overall * * * *
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the ZRODelta DLOC-SS at all, but it comes at a cost. Other bipods can provide similar functionality for less money, which makes me hesitant to give a full five stars here. However, for users who prefer the rapid deployment and folding of a Harris bipod and want to take its motion abilities into the 21st century, this is your huckleberry.