Camera on hunting rifle

kenr74 · Apr 15, 2012

I was looking at my new helmet camera and wondering if anybody has used one attached to a hunting rifle. I found videos being used with some AR type rifles but don't know if the camera would handle the recoil of a 7mm.

Anybody tried it? I don't have a picatinny rail so I'm not sure how it would attach but it would be cool to be able to record the action if I can figure out how to rig it up.

BlayzinDro · Apr 15, 2012

I've been wanting a GoPro just for this! I want to put it on my M&P 15-22 and do a Doom type scene with targets in the woods. I can hear the theme music in my head!

bmgm37 · Apr 15, 2012

The Gopro can take some abuse. I mounted one to my M16 with a Shrike BF Upper, have lots of video but havent had tome to edit it, here is a short clip. I have also placed a couple of Gopro's 15' away from Tannerite and they survived fine. I have also ahd them mounted on the bottom of my sandrail while jumping and bottomed out in the sand and while it flipped the camera on the mount, it didnt hurt the camera at all. You can get pretty creative with mounts, I have made up a bunch of different ones using the RAM ball mount system.

There is also a new small camera almost just like the GoPro that is a LOT less money that is HD and comes with a LCD view screen, rechargeable battery and a Remote. Costco.com com has them right now for $179.99 with a 4GB card through 4/30. They are made by Swann which is well known for security cameras. I have one on order that should be here tomorrow.

bmgm37 · Apr 15, 2012

Here is the Tannerite video...

kenr74 · Apr 16, 2012

Looks like it will work. Just need to figure out how to mount it now since I don't have a rail on the gun.

elsie · Apr 16, 2012

kenr74 said:
Looks like it will work. Just need to figure out how to mount it now since I don't have a rail on the gun.

What I have seen is, assuming you have a scope on the rifle:
1. you take an extra set of rings and mount them upside down on the scope;
2. attach a rail that has a hole that will accept a screw that fits the tripod mount for the camera to the upside down rings;
3. get a spare camera attachment screw from a tripod and attach the camera to the rail.
I seem to recall seeing some pictures of this sort of setup from shootingsquirrels.com but those tend to be lighter recoil firearms.

I think the lighter the camera, the better. Remember that this is going to have a rather long axis perpendicular to the recoil and a lot of weight could torque your scope and mount with heavy recoil.

Another possibility would be to rig some sort of side tandem mount that either clamps to the barrel or forearm.

elsie