All posts tagged Handguards

A recent stock failure and no time to mess around

I’ve had 2 stock failures in recent  years and one was my fault for not checking the carbine to make sure it was tight after thousands of rounds of use and the other was during a Carbine course where I showed a student how to clear a malfunction by slamming the butt stock on the ground.  There is a YouTube video of someone hurting their  hand with a CTR stock but there are obvious limites on how much banging around a gun or accessory can take.  When there is a fire and you have to break the glass to get to an axe, you don’t need to hit the glass hard that you break the axe handle and end up with a metal wedge.

I’ve had issues with firearms in the past, usually finicky handguns where I just got tired of the intermittent magazine failure that I just replaced all of the mags springs and recoil springs and was done with it.  If you are looking for gun accessories and not sure what you want, take a serious look at the Magpul accessories for the AR15 rifle and  you’ll probable find what you are looking for.   You can’t beat the MOE stocks and accessories but there are always unique things out there that the major firearm accessory companies don’t have.

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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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gun grips and bare hands

As we progress into the tactical accessories market, the more we realize that when we make  one change to a firearm there is a good chance we may have to make another.   For example, there are a lot of rifle scope and rifle stocks  out there, but one may feel too short in the summer when we are wearing a t-shirt, and the other may feel too long if we are wearing a heavy coat.   I still laugh when I hear people say that the AK was built for short people, when the reality was that it was designed for people wearing winter clothing, and that’s why the stocks are so short.

The M4 carbine stock is designed for people that are wearing body armor and may not fit into your shoulder very well if you are not wearing any.   These are minor things to think about, but just as we think about the type of holster we are wearing, we should think about what kind rifle stocks, and how we are going to be shouldering and using a Carbine or Rifle.   Anyone that has gone on any extensive hunting trip will gladly get rid of an extra 2-3 lbs of weight if they can which is why so many prefer a Mini 14 for hunting over a 5rd AR15 type of rifle.

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Upgrades and Doodads

Tactical GearIn the early 1990s there was a surplus of military style rifles coming into the Country.   There were goofy thumbhole stocks to avoid violating gun laws or cheap parts for kits.   Many of these rifles had pretty ugle stocks especially many of the rifles coming in from China or Egypt.   If you have one of those MAK90s or Maadis that works great, but looks like crap, you might want to upgrade your stock with a synthetic.   Many of these stocks are made in the US and can be considered US Parts to add to your legal alterations of your gun.

One of the best and easiest upgrades for any of your Chinese or Russian guns is a Fiberforce stock for your SKS.  The SKS is one of the better balanced guns that the Soviet Bloc states put out and the Fiberforce stock won’t offset that.  There is even a folding stock version that might help you if you want this as a truck gun or want to save some room in your safe.    For AR15 accessories, you can go nuts on AR15 upgrades, but think about what you really want on your gun before you just start buying, try handling your buddies guns before you just order pistol grips that you don’t really know much about or how they really feel.  Everyones hand is different and not all grips will work for you.  You can mess up the balance of your gun if you throw a heavy rail on it, especially if you don’t really need much tactical gear on your gun, why do it.

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