All posts tagged gun stocks

Vertical Grips vs Angled Foregrips vs Magpul Hand Stop, Why?

Magpul Stocks and AccessoriesSo much of this industry is about customizing the Carbine to the person, the accessories you want on you firearm can change depending on your line of work or which range you are going to.   I see guys bring their Eotech or Aimpoint Magnifiers with them to certain competition shoots but most of the time leave it off because those magnifiers are a separate optic and having them on all the time means carrying a M4 Carbine with 2 optics on it.    The original trend towards using vertical grips was because of the flashlights, pressure switches, lasers and IR gadgets that many in the military were using, it’s hard to have a traditional rifle hold and still be able to access all of the buttons and switches.   I’ve personally run out of rail space on one of my AR’s and I’d have to make a decision about putting an extended rail on it or removing one of my optics and putting on an Aimpoint Micro T-1 or the Eotech EXPS2-0 just so I have the space to mount a laser or IR.

The angled foregrips can work as a slide stop but keep in mind, if you are using a flashlight and don’t have a pressure switch, you’re going to have to think long and hard about where you want to access flashlights because as soon as you put on another Magpul Grip, Rail Cover or other panel, you make a jigsaw puzzle for yourself.  One of the best ideas for AR15 Rifles is the Magpul MOE Stock because it gives you a better starting point and if you make major changes it might only mean having to buy a few different Magpul MOE Rail Sections instead of having to drop $180-$250 on a whole knew quad rail.   Most of the Magpul Stocks and Accessories we sell  have features on them that you should educated yourself about before you buy, like QD

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Do you get a new gun or just modify what you have?

Do you get a new gun or modify the one you own?  That would really depend on what you are  intending to do with it.  I would not take a hobby gun to a serious carbine course unless you want to make a fool out of yourself.  The real trick is getting good parts and replacing second rate extractors and springs.  That really is something that can make a huge difference in keeping your firearm up and running.  I have never seen an AR15 go down because it was dirty, most of the ones I saw go down where due to magazines being inserted improperly or an operator error.   The rest of the time it was from parts sheering or breaking.

The things that people tend to one to do with firearms is hang crap all over them, now the trend is towards getting light weight uppers to keep your weight down.   The best product line for accessorizing your AR15 are the Magpul accessories.   We sell about a half a dozen lightweight upper receivers and they all have the new MOE stock accessories.  I  personally have not taken that ride yet but I do see some advantages in it.  Most of my AR15 rifle are close quarters rifles and I have very little use for lasers or large flashlights.  I moved on to the magpul angled fore grips after not having good luck with folding grips.

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Customization of Firearms, fun, but necessary

Even since the AR15 got shortened down to the M4 Carbine, many in the Military and Law Enforcement have realized that there are ways to improve upon the design for the operators advantage.  No longer is an individual issued a rifle and forced to adjust to the stock length.  I have several World War II Vets and Korean War Vets that have told me that they actually hated shooting the M1 Garand and the BAR rifles.  All of those individuals were  under 5’6″ and it was pretty obvious to me as to why they didn’t like it.  They claimed that they couldn’t hit a darn thing with it, but anyone that is a firearm instructor knows that this is probable true.

Nobody starts a 7yr old kid out with a full size bolt action rifle and expects them to shoulder it, now that we have the M4 Carbine in service the stocks are adjustable.   Not just body size, but the types of things you may be wearing like a vest, armor ect can affect LOP.  Magpul Stocks and Accessories are our number one selling stock accessories and and everything from trigger guards to gun grips can be customized.  Body sizes and preferences mean a world of a difference for an operator to become proficient.

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Fall Special on LWRC Upper Recievers

The news coming from LWRC this Fall is that the new Lightweight Stretch upper has replaced the older M6 LWRC rifle.   There is very little different about this upper than the M6.   The LWRC Lightweight upper comes standard with the Magpul MOE Handguard.   It took me awhile to figure out what the big deal was when all of the MOE stuff started showing up.   Sometimes it’s a royal pain to have to research all of the new products that come out around this time of the year because we know that people are going to call about them and we try to look as smart as we can.   If you haven’t know it by now, gun accessories, primarily for the AR15 fill the void for the guys that grew up and stopped playing with LEGOS.

Some of this stuff really does improve the fit and feel of a firearm and lightening your Carbine without weakening it a great thing.   As anyone in the military if they could change something on their M16 to take off 8 oz and they will tell you it’s a good thing.   We recently got in the new LWRC uppers for sale that is the lightweight stretch upper.  This gun comes with the New Magpul MOE stock which is all stock with rail attachments.   There is an aweful lot of un-used weight on many M4 Carbines and the Quad rail thing is great if you are using it, but most people don’t.

 

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Buying guns for novice and youngsters

I have had several regrets in selling off firearms that I wish I would have held on to.  One of  my biggest regrets was selling a Russian Saiga rifle off because I couldn’t get anything but 5rd magazines for it, and then I found out that it was possible to legally alter the firearms so that it could take 30rd magazines.   It was a very small gunsmithing alteration that would have been done in a few minutes.  You just had to know that it could be done.

 

Another regret I had was selling off a Ruger 10/22 rifle because the gun wasn’t very accurate compared to my Marline bolt action rifles,  but after taking several kids to the range, I found out that the children under 8yrs old had trouble with the length of the rifle stocks and something as small as the Ruger 10/22 would have worked since it had such a short LOP.   If a gun isn’t junk, you may want to think about why you should hang on to it, because you may wish you did.

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Improving what you already have

There is nothing wrong with putting some money into the firearms you already own.   For some reason people think that putting a $100 gun stock on an SKS is a waste because you’re spending close to 30% more on your investment.   Well, I am one who  has come to the conclusion that firearms should be customized to the operator.   The good thing about the stock options you have today are many of them are adjustable.   I remember when I was a teenager and many of the rifles that I was shooting were too long for me, now I have trouble getting kids to shoot some of my guns because they are too long.

Guess which firearm is the easiest for me to teach knew shooters that are teenagers and still growing?  You guessed it, the M4 Carbine.   The adjustable stocks are really meant for people that wear body armor, but I have gotten good use out of my Magpul stocks, the PRS AR15 sniper stock also has an adjustable cheek weld which is something that you will learn to appreciate especially if you are not sure about which optics you are going to use on the gun.  The Magpul CTR stock is by far the biggest seller because it is easy to adjust and lock in place.

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Bans on gun stocks and accessories

I feel sorry for some of the people that are gun owners and are presently stepping into the word of AR15, AK or Mini 14 ownership for the first time and live in anti-gun States.  I have had some really bizarre conversations with friends in California and New Jersey that had to take AR15 or FAL gun magazines and have blocks welded into them so they couldn’t take more than 10rds.  To some people these sounds like a good thing, but the real problem is  you are taking something that is functional at a certain operating system and potentially messing the whole thing up.  Magazine capacity restrictions are like putting smaller gas tanks on cars to keep people from speeding.   The other problems that many in New Jersey or California and other States run into are gun accessories like flash hiders or folding stocks, these are all usually banned.

I find the whole issue about bans on gun accessories like bayonets and folding stocks to basically be about people trying to put band aids on your kids body parts where there is no bleeding expecting to stop another person from beating him or her up.    Nobody wants to talk about how most gun crime is from the drug trade which basically is a self inflicted problem due to our Federal Government getting involved.    Gun accessories like, bayonets, flash hiders, folding stocks,  collapsing rifle stocks have no bearing on reducing crime and putting people who are a threat to society in jail for long periods of time would have more impact on reducing crime than making law abiding citizens block 20rd magazines so they can only hold 10.

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Tactical gear and clothing

There are a lot of words that get thrown around in the firearm industry that are fairly broad.    Tactical clothing these days may sound like BDUs to one person and 5.11 tactical clothing to another.    Tactical gear can mean anything from a folding stock to a knife, or a $1500 rifle scope.    The word “tactical” doesn’t really tell you what something is going to be used for in the field.    I have some pretty dressed down AR15 rifles that to some people, just look like violent weapons and scare them, while most of us that are familiar with the accessorized M4 Carbine, will find a A2 style AR15 to be  pretty bland.

The so called tactical clothing and concealed carry markets seem to be new markets and these terms get thrown around a lot but don’t really tell us much.  To the trained individual, they can spot a knife in the pocket and 5.11 style pants from a mile away and loads of pockets full of tactical gear and usually that’s a dead giveaway that someone is carrying a firearm.   Think about what purpose your clothing is to serve and adapt to it.   There are more than a few good clothing companies that are making concealed carry friendly apparel.

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