If you’re anything like me, you came up in an All-American family that hated anything those commie scum over the pond would produce, from trade-goods, to guns, to foreign policy. You were accustomed to the bad guys in every 80’s and 90’s action movie being a generally terrible human, sporting some kind of AK variant. Then, if you took the next step and joined the military, you would notice the enemy killing your brothers and sisters with these same weapons. AK’s are cheap to buy, cheap to fire, mass-produced, and function nearly anywhere, making them obvious choices for warfare. Lets just say there was no love lost on AK’s in the eyes of myself, and many of the people I came up with in the Marines.
Fast forward a few years out of the Marines, the “All-or-Nothing” Marine mindset starts to fade and I start to get curious as to why these weapons are so widely used. What really makes them so popular when so many newer weapon systems have been developed since the inception of the AK? I also start to think that if we ever get invaded on our own turf, it might be a good idea to have a weapon chambered in the enemy’s rounds on hand, as well as a lot of practice functioning and manipulating such a weapon. So I called up a good friend of mine, Brian Kovacs and told him I was on the hunt for a AK-47, I didn’t know what was quality and what wasn’t at that point but I knew he did and I trust his judgement. He agrees to keep an eye out for a quality one, but then says to me, “47’s are great, but have you ever heard of a AK-74?”. That conversation was the start of a serious love affair (Not just with Brian, but also these weapons) and ultimately led to the collection of my (Closet) favorite weapon, the AK-74.
Sparing you all the weapon specs you can find in a quick google search, I’ll get into a little bit of its history, and why I love this weapon. It was the next evolution of the AKM and what many call Mikhail’s answer to the M16. It was fielded in the Afghan War by Soviet Special Forces initially, and once Americans started to hear rumors of a Russian AK with “poisoned” bullets that could hit nearly anywhere and still kill, the race was on to get a hold of one. The AK-74 uses smaller 5.45x39mm rounds, with a higher velocity, with less recoil and more speed. This means lighter combat loads with more rounds per soldier, more penetrating power, and more accurate automatic fire capabilities. All while keeping the rugged reliability of the AK platform. All these reasons are why I had to try it out, plus the rounds look absolutely wicked, I mean come on.
As soon as I fired the first round I was blown away (right?!). The recoil was less -or at least felt less- than nearly any AR platform weapons that I had fired. Muzzle-rise is non-existent, and the factory trigger surprised me, not only on the first shot, but the following shots as well. The weapon breakdown is that of any AK, super simple, and tool-less, which I find an amazing feat in itself. The shots were surprisingly accurate, even standing, walking the shots out from 50m to 100, then 200 and so on. I could not believe I had just been given a Commie weapon that felt this great to fire and was basically an “Out-of-the-Box” example. I was amazed, and instantly fell in love. It felt so damn dirty to love a gun produced from the enemy so much, but I did, and I do. I hand refinished the wood, sanding it, restaining it, and sealing it over the next week. I cleaned it meticulously and went on the hunt for heaps of ammo for it… I knew I would keep this weapon, it made the cut.
My time in the military had produced a short list of “Must haves” in a weapon. High on that list is the trust that the weapon will fire every time you pull the trigger. Reliability, it seems, starts to outweigh things you thought would be more important like accuracy over 500m, a staple in the Marine mindset through training. Other things like worldwide access to ammo, parts, and ease of maintenance, especially when short on tools or time are also pressing concerns. This is one of those weapons that checks all the big boxes, and most of the little ones. If you ever find yourself in the market for an AK, I’d suggest you start with one of these weapons, but only if you’re OK with falling in love with the enemy.
Movement
People have been shooting hand held weapons since the 13 th century, and the weapon has been moving
ever since. You’re going to move when you shoot – whether you’re using the Isosceles, Weaver,
offhand, or any other stance – the pistol will not be stable during the shooting sequence. Our goal
should be to not ADD to that natural movement by disrupting sight alignment or using poor trigger
control. Shooting within your natural movement will produce tight groups well within the capabilities of
almost any modern weapon. Let’s accept that the pistol is moving, and deal with what we can control.
Sight alignment
Pistol sights are on the weapon to align the point of impact with the point of aim. We are all familiar
with the various types, but regardless of type, keeping them consistently aligned during the shooting
sequence is priority #1. Whether you’re shooting IPSC or International Free Pistol, the first thing to
practice and perfect is your grip. The pistol must be comfortable (my Free Pistol has Bondo all over the
grip to create a perfect match for my hand), correctly sized, and naturally form a straight line from
forearm/hand/barrel of weapon. Any kind of physical discomfort, whether due to injury (my friend
broke his dominant wrist and has an unorthodox grip) or unnatural positioning will result in the body
resisting that position, which will cause subconscious movement away from it. This subconscious
movement away from a natural position causes added variation to our group…which is bad.
Some people love the 17° angle of the 1911, others love the 20° angle of a Glock, and all variations in
between. Be comfortable in your grip. The pistol should be an extension of your arm. It should raise
and be aligned without effort. If it isn’t, you won’t be able to consistently shoot with precision.
Here’s your first practice lesson to maintain sight alignment: put a full-size target on a frame backwards
so that the white of the target is facing you. No bullseye, no silhouette, nothing but a white sheet
staring at you. Holding your pistol at the ready position (45-degree angle toward the ground), raise the
pistol quickly while looking down at the sights, and fire ONE round at the center of the blank white
background, and return to the ready position. Repeat this exercise 50 times – one full box of ammo.
You’ll be surprised at the size of group you shot…all without an aiming point.
Trigger control
Since 1288, when that first guy tried to hold onto his hand cannon while stuffing a lit match down a hole
in the barrel, people have been trying to release rounds downrange without inducing more movement
in the pistol. Triggers have come a long way since then, from Matchlock’s in the 16 th century to today’s
ultra-precision two-stage set triggers and digital triggers, but one thing is the same: anticipation of a
shot still creates flinching, jerking, and movement of the pistol during the firing sequence and induces
MORE variability in our groups.
The first order of business is to make sure your pistol has a great trigger. Whether this is a trigger job
from a gunsmith, or an aftermarket trigger, or a combination of both, your pistol has to have a trigger
that is free from creep, roughness, or excessive pull weight. For tactical applications it is prudent to
have a heavier trigger pull of greater than 4 pounds, while precision shooting allows for much lighter
trigger pull within the rules of the discipline. In either case, a crisp clean trigger break is mandatory for
shooting with precision.
In releasing a shot, the trigger must be touched from the front and pulled backward toward the aiming
eye. It may seem simple to mention this, but you’d be surprised how many people I see on the range
with half their finger inserted in the trigger guard, pulling the trigger with the meat between their first
and second knuckle on their index finger, or barely touching the trigger with the very tip of their index
finger. Both of these mistakes induce sideways movement (right and left, respectively) and add
movement to an already moving pistol.
The area of your index finger between the tip and the first joint is a very sensitive instrument, and when
you place it against a trigger and start pulling, you’ll be able to quickly tell how much effort you’re
exerting. Pulling the trigger should be a steadily increasing application of pressure, rather than a one-
time flick of the finger. Simply add pressure slowly until you’re surprised that the shot has gone off.
Releasing the trigger is one of the most difficult things a shooter can learn. It must be practiced over
and over thousands of times – whether on the range or dry firing at home – until it becomes
subconscious.
Here’s your practice lesson to master trigger control: using a revolver with a nice trigger, do what is
called Ball and Dummy practice. Have your range buddy load your weapon for you using 2-3 rounds of
live ammo and 2-3 rounds of spent brass. Don’t watch him load the weapon. Once he hands it to you,
start at the ready position, cock the weapon (shooting single action only), and raise it quickly to the
center of mass of your target and release the trigger. The pistol should not move if the hammer falls on
a chamber without a live round. If the pistol moves at all, any visible movement, continue practicing the
exercise until it doesn’t. This could take years (kidding) but I guarantee that it’ll take years to master
and to make subconscious.
The pistol is going to move – accept that fact. By making sure you don’t ADD to that movement by
inconsistent sight alignment and poor trigger control you’re going to start shooting with precision,
regardless of discipline. In our next article we will start talking about conscious versus sub-conscious
shooting – when shots should break and why.
I’m going to start off by saying that without a doubt, I am an AR15 guy. I am a firm believer that Eugene Stoner must have been touched by a beam of light through a thunderstorm, sent by none other than whatever deity in the sky, and blessed him with the design for the AR platform. The ergonomics can be changed indefinitely, the caliber can be infinitely changed, and best of all they can be assembled with basic tools and items owned by any self respecting person with nothing more than a little practice and a working YouTube account. However, there is a time in every rifle lovers life where an AR15 becomes just another AR15. The love is there, but the mind starts to wander to life outside the safe, what strange and foreign alternatives may be available. For me the fascination turned to, “What can I find that nobody else has? What have I never seen at the range?” After scouring the inter-webs and lurking my favorite haunts also known as the gun shop, I was finally intrigued in…..Bullpups.
If I still have you here by this point in the article, I am going to assume that you are past the phase of laughing so hard you spilled your bourbon, and on to being just a bit interested in why my curiosity strayed the way it did. Long story short it boiled down to a few reasons for me. The first and most prominent one is the dilemma of overall length to projectile velocity. In most cases, when the barrel length decreases, so does the velocity. This effectively neuters the effectiveness of most rifle calibers, and it is extremely noticeable in the 556 loading. Bullpups solve this problem in its entirety. As the action is in the rear of the rifle, it lends itself to maintain a full length barrel, thus retaining all of that precious velocity while attaining overall lengths usually reserved only for SBR or pistol alternatives. This was extremely appealing to me.
Off to the races I went, and my newfound infatuation became a full on affair. For me there were two rifles that captured my attention. The venerable Tavor, and the Kel-tec RDB. While both are bullpups, they are both very different in operation, features, and also in the determining factor of price. While the Tavor was definitely the more proven of the two rifles, the RDB was straight unobtanium, and I liked the ability to have a more versatile adjustable gas system. I also liked the fact that by all accounts, the RDB has a better trigger from the manufacturer, and the idea of spending $1600 on a Tavor and then being forced to spend $250 on a Geiselle trigger was rough on the palate. By this point I can assume that you know which way I went. After making countless offers on gun broker, I was to be the proud owner of a shiny new RDB.
Upon retrieval of my new rifle, there were several things that I noticed right off the bat. Firstly this thing was light. I mean really light. It’s not that the rifle itself was amazingly light when put on the scale, but it was more about the feel of the rifle when it was shouldered. All of the weight was to the rear, that’s where the action, bolt, steel safety plate, and the majority of the barrel reside. This also happens to be where the rifle contacts the shoulder, leaving a polymer hand guard, and half the barrel and piston system out front. This makes the rifle feel much lighter in the hand, and it is very quick to stop when transitioning the rifle from target to target.
The second thing that I noticed quickly was the versatility of the adjustable gas piston system. Being honest, tuning the system was a little bit of a pain. Do yourself a huge favor and read the manual. When completed successfully, I was very pleased. The recoil is very mild, and the recoil impulse is different in a very good way. Its almost a two stage affair, and after a brief transition from the AR15 it is very pleasant and easy to manage recoil. The addition of a SilencerCo muzzle brake makes recoil virtually non existent. This set up when tuned properly is very smooth shooting, with extremely low recoil, and very easy to shoot very quickly. I was able to deposit large quantities of brass in neat piles due to the downward ejecting pattern of the rifle, and I found myself ringing steel with near reckless abandon.
I have been nothing short of extremely satisfied with my venture into the bullpup world. I have heard the occasional disparaging comment in regards to Kel-tec as a company or their customer service, but I have not found this to be the case in my sample size of one RDB. What I have found is a very sweet shooting rifle that draws both attention, and complements when I take it to the range. It may not be a Steyr Aug, nor is it an IWI Tavor, but it is in my opinion and experience competitive in every way to either. Also of note is that it is half or better the price of both, and for approximately $700 it should at the very least be given a shot at impressing you the way that it has impressed me.
Something I always run into at public ranges is the lack of weapons safety. I could be like a lot of other people and have the common opinion that these individuals are unsafe because they are “new to the rules of the range”. More times than not however, I find out this is not the case. I was out shooting at a public range the other day. After witnessing several dangerous functions the shooters were doing, I found myself having a conversation with them to try to find out what their history with weapons were. After several minutes I found that 95 % of the people I spoke with, stated they have been handling weapons for years and quit a few had according to them “ been thru classes” to help them learn gun safety. After I politely made a few suggestions, I found the common response was that they felt they knew enough and didn’t need any guidance. Due to the nature of their unsafe acts and the fact there was no assigned staff to this facility, I moved to a different location. Safety should always be first and foremost in operating a firearm. This will make for a more enjoyable outing for you and those that might be around you.
There was a time in the not so distant past where AR15 platform pistols were looked on with nothing short of disdain. They were the subject of ridicule and relegated to nothing more than a range toy. They were said to ineffective, useless, and complete nonsense. Those days are over now. Gentlemen the age of the braced AR15 platform pistol is upon us, and it’s here in a major way.
So what changed? Why has the trend began to swing to the complete opposite side of the pendulum? People could make a strong argument for the renewed interest of pistol pattern platforms being due to new chamberings in cool guy calibers; .50 Beowulf, .458 SOCOM, .450 bushmaster, and 300 blackout ring the immediate obvious bells. Others could make a case for the myriad of new stabilizing braces that are available to the market. I align with the latter and for good reason. Simply put a pistol brace on an AR15 platform makes it a completely different animal, and I have two contenders for the best braces available as of the time of this writing.
The two braces that I am going to outline for consideration today are going to be the Sig brace SBA3 and the Gearhead Works Tailhook Mod 2. As we move forward with the article, lets assume that everyone is aware of the white letter the BATFE published outlining their opinion on the definitions of use in regard to the occasional shouldering of the braces “from time to time, as necessary.” and look at both the intended use of the pistol braces and the “time to time” use. Up first in the Tailhook Mod 2.
The Tailhook Mod 2 is, in my personal opinion, the more sturdy of the two. I’m going to spare you the details of weight, positions available, and total extended length, as I am a firm believer in everyone’s ability to complete a google search, but I will tell you about the feel of the brace. When used strictly as a stabilizer, there is an arm that releases via a button on the side of the brace next to the length adjustment which bottoms out making a contoured 90 degree angle. This arm is then placed under the forearm of the person operating the pistol and used as a means to counterbalance the weight of the pistol. I have found this method of operation to be extremely stable and serviceable. When shouldered, the brace is extremely stable and very easy to adjust. I was easily able to find a length of pull that accommodated both a correct cheek weld and eye relief. I found the brace to be a smidgen on the heavy side, and with a shorter barrel and rail length up front the brace lent itself to a little rear heavy on the balance. When that weight placed on the shoulder however, it had the pleasant effect of making the pistol easy to swing and more importantly easy to stop when on target.
The SBA3 is different in some aspects and similar in others. The big differences are in the composition of the brace material, and the weight. The SBA3 is made of a sturdy rubber composition as opposed to the Tailhooks solid polymer. When used strictly as a brace, there is a strap that is intended to tighten around the forearm of the operator when the hand is placed in the brace. Being lighter weight, this brace has the opposite effect in regards to the balance point of the pistol. It tends to lend itself towards a forward balance point and without it shouldered, all the weight feels like its on the end of the barrel. On the other hand, when shouldered it feels strikingly similar to a traditional carbine stock. The biggest differences with the SBA3 and the Tailhook Mod2 is in the attachment of the brace to the actual pistol itself. The SBA3 uses a standard carbine buffer tube, and has another position of adjustment. I found this to be advantageous when finding the perfect fine adjustments to my eye relief and cheek weld. Another advantage comes if and when the owner of the pistol chooses to pony up the bacon to Uncle Sam and register their pistol as an SBR. This simply requires $200 and a wait of up to 9 months, and when your stamp is safely in place, affixing your choice of carbine stock. I find this to be an interesting capability, and something that I may consider doing in the future.
So which one is better? Quite simply put, I am going to take the easy answer and say, “Depends on what you want to use it for.” For me as it sits today, I have the Tailhook Mod 2 on a 300 blackout pistol with an 8.5” heavy contour barrel. I find it to be very capable at balancing the weight of the stocky barrel up front, and it makes for a very compact and well balanced pistol. Conversely, I have an SBA3 on an 11.5” 556 pistol. I find that paired with the thinner contour of the barrel, and the skeletonized forend the SBA3 is sufficiently heavy to balance the pistol while refraining from adding to the overall weight. In summary, both braces are different in their characteristics, but you’d be hard pressed to find a better alternative to complete your AR15 Pistol.
On my off time I teach kids how to competition shoot. Parents always ask what kind of firearm they should purchase to help their child be a better competition shooter. It’s not the firearm that makes a person a good or great competition shooter. It’s the person and the training. I am and always will be a huge advocate of talking parents into letting their kids try different models and brands so we can figure out what works best for them. Then once we figure out what they are comfortable with, we build on that. Everyone is different and handles firearms in different ways. The same is said for adults. There is not a “one type fits all”. There are several rental ranges out there that are in place for this purpose. In the long run you will be glad you tried a rental before you spend all that money on something you hate.
I went shooting with a friend the other day. When we got into some training drills I was reminded that old drills still need to be used once in awhile. He set up a drill I have not used in almost 20 years. Once he set this course up and we were shooting it, I realized the value in using drills I used to consider obsolete. There is always room for improvement. A fatal move is thinking you know everything and can’t learn anything new. There is always a way to do something better. If your open minded enough to accept that, then you will gain something from every school you go to. I constantly look for new schools to go to. A few months ago I went to another NRA school. A lot of the stuff they were teaching was years behind the times but I still managed to get something out of the class. Never stop training .
I was in traffic the other day and passed by a police officer on a roadside traffic stop. I happened to glimpse his gun belt and couldn’t believe how much equipment was on there. It made me think of the past when most officers were only equipped with their duty weapon, spare ammunition, handcuffs, baton, and their common sense, good judgment, and communication skills. The equipment available to the street officer today is astounding. I’m not anti-technology and some tools have made the job safer and easier, however, I also believe that it has profoundly affected the interaction between police and the public. Take for example the stun gun. It was originally designed as a less-than-lethal tool but seems to have transmuted to a compliance tool. I believe that in some cases it became overused and replaced sound tactics and good communication skills. That of course led to the increased scrutiny of the device by the public and the media. All you have to do is access “You Tube” and you’ll find it replete with videos of alleged stun gun misuse and abuse. Again, I think technology has increased efficiency and safety in policing, but it has also created apathy and communication issues among officers in regard to public relations and community trust. Look, I get it. Everybody is busy, but at some point we have to look at what we’re doing and take more time to relate to each other. The payoff is big. The guy you spent a few extra minutes with talking into the back seat of your patrol vehicle versus increased time doing paperwork, supervisory scrutiny, and civil litigation because of a use-of-force incident. The scenarios are endless and obviously everything is situational. I’m certainly not implying that all police officers use poor judgment, have poor communication skills, or are apathetic. I do believe that many police departments need to increase training in communication skills and professional conduct, and hold their people accountable when there is a gross deviation from those standards. We need to bridge the gap between technology and human interaction if we are to foster respect and trust within our communities.
Let me sound off first by saying I have never been a tactical wizard with pistols. Hell, we
barely even trained with them in the Marines until you were an NCO or above, or in MARSOC.
My first professional training with a pistol was the Beretta M9 on an impromptu range in the
middle of the artist formerly known as Khorasan. It was weird because Marines train and qualify
with the M9 and MSOB (Marine Special Operations Battalion) were running 1911’s in the field. I
guess that’s what happens when you are the brand new bastard child of the Special Operations
Community… Adapt and overcome. Anyway let’s get back to the point: I originally had minimal
pistol training or pistol systems exposure until later on in life, and I still consider myself a student
in pistol work. However, I do have enough experience now to bring you a stellar pistol
recommendation that I’ve seen dropped into a novice shooters hands that made them shoot on
the next level.
My first pistol purchase out of the Marines was what I was familiar with, so I picked up a
1911 chambered in .45. I later swapped the 1911 for a Glock 21, keeping that old mindset that
you need .45 for stopping power. I began to really enjoy the reliability and magazine capacity of
the Glock, and was glad I made the swap. Around this time I started to look into different
calibers more, as a by-product of training with more serious shooters. I began to grow
accustomed to the idea of the 9mm, having more rounds in the mag, similar ballistic capabilities
of .45 (with proper rounds), and ultimately less recoil, allowing for quicker follow-up shots.
So I picked up a Glock 43 for concealed carry initially and began to train draws from concealed, as
well as multi-target drills. At that point, I was ready to make the swap to 9mm on all my pistols
because nothing the .45 offered outweighed the bonuses of running 9mm in my opinion.
Once I had made my decision on caliber, the next step was to look for a full size carry
weapon to go with my kit. My Ole Lady was a police officer at the time and we got her a Glock
34 to run on duty, so naturally I used it to train drills in the off time with her as well. Although I
was becoming a better shot, I still wasn’t great. Then one day while training pistols I was offered
to try out a buddy’s H&K VP9, so we swapped holsters and weapons and got to work. I drew
from holster and fired a perfectly centered up head-shot at 25 meters on the first shot. Not a feat
by any means, but what I’m getting at is this gun is so natural to fire, that on the first shot I hit
exactly where I wanted, without ever touching the gun prior. I surprised myself, and knew in that
same moment, that this was the pistol for me.
First off, the VP9 is an H&K so toss your worries aside about its quality because it has all
the qualities. I have short thumbs so I always had to rotate to the side of any pistol to release
the mag, which almost always un-seats a good deep, high grip for firing. This weapon rectifies
that problem and then improves upon it with an ambidextrous mag release lever that you push
down. That means you can release the mag with your pointer or middle finger without
compromising your grip at all. It also feels more natural pointing a lever downward, where you
want the mag to go. The grip is absolutely the most ergo grip of any pistol I have ever held,
period. Not only does it feel great with the default grips installed, but there are six side panels
and three back straps you can interchange out in ANY combination in order to fit your personal
grip better.
It is a striker-fired pistol, which most people complain about the trigger pull on striker
fired pistols but let me tell you, H&K has done wonders on this one. The pre-travel is a flat,
consistent pull and the break and reset are crisp and pronounced. The slide has front and rear,
aggressive milling for grip, as well as what they call charging supports near the rear. These are
great for when you have a weak grip or were unable to obtain a positive grip while charging the
weapon. They will stop your hand from slipping back off the slide, allowing for charging in less
than desirable conditions. The factory night sights are ridiculously bright, surpassing many of
the aftermarket sights I’ve used on other pistols, which makes for one more thing you don’t have
to worry about after your purchase. It comes with quality, P30 steel 10 or 15 round magazines
from the manufacturer and finally, a picatinny rail for accessory mounting.
In my opinion no other pistol I have tried on the market has the VP9 beat on overall
quality, ergonomics, or function. I cannot give this pistol enough praise. However, I have found
that pistols -more so than rifles- are not a one-size-fits-all. I had to go through shooting multiple
pistols from multiple manufacturers before I found something that felt natural for me to shoot. So
while I suggest the VP9 as a great place to start your hunt for the perfect pistol, it may not be
what you end up using when it’s all said and done. Please do yourself a service and try as many
different pistols as you need, to find the one that fits your style of shooting and tactics. Do not
under any circumstances let yourself be chained to a platform or manufacturer by blind loyalty
when there may be another option out there that takes your shooting to the next level.
By One Shot D and Erik Wenzel
There was a time in the not so distant past where AR15 platform pistols were looked on with nothing short of disdain. They were the subject of ridicule and relegated to nothing more than a range toy. They were said to ineffective, useless, and complete nonsense. Those days are over now. Gentlemen the age of the braced AR15 platform pistol is upon us, and it’s here in a major way.So what changed? Why has the trend began to swing to the complete opposite side of the pendulum? People could make a strong argument for the renewed interest of pistol pattern platforms being due to new chamberings in cool guy calibers; .50 Beowulf, .458 SOCOM, .450 bushmaster, and 300 blackout ring the immediate obvious bells. Others could make a case for the myriad of new stabilizing braces that are available to the market. I align with the latter and for good reason. Simply put a pistol brace on an AR15 platform makes it a completely different animal, and I have two contenders for the best braces available as of the time of this writing.The two braces that I am going to outline for consideration today are going to be the Sig brace SBA3 and the Gearhead Works Tailhook Mod 2. As we move forward with the article, lets assume that everyone is aware of the white letter the BATFE published outlining their opinion on the definitions of use in regard to the occasional shouldering of the braces “from time to time, as necessary.” and look at both the intended use of the pistol braces and the “time to time” use. Up first in the Tailhook Mod 2.The Tailhook Mod 2 is, in my personal opinion, the more sturdy of the two. I’m going to spare you the details of weight, positions available, and total extended length, as I am a firm believer in everyone’s ability to complete a google search, but I will tell you about the feel of the brace. When used strictly as a stabilizer, there is an arm that releases via a button on the side of the brace next to the length adjustment which bottoms out making a contoured 90 degree angle. This arm is then placed under the forearm of the person operating the pistol and used as a means to counterbalance the weight of the pistol. I have found this method of operation to be extremely stable and serviceable. When shouldered, the brace is extremely stable and very easy to adjust. I was easily able to find a length of pull that accommodated both a correct cheek weld and eye relief. I found the brace to be a smidgen on the heavy side, and with a shorter barrel and rail length up front the brace lent itself to a little rear heavy on the balance. When that weight placed on the shoulder however, it had the pleasant effect of making the pistol easy to swing and more importantly easy to stop when on target.The SBA3 is different in some aspects and similar in others. The big differences are in the composition of the brace material, and the weight. The SBA3 is made of a sturdy rubber composition as opposed to the Tailhooks solid polymer. When used strictly as a brace, there is a strap that is intended to tighten around the forearm of the operator when the hand is placed in the brace. Being lighter weight, this brace has the opposite effect in regards to the balance point of the pistol. It tends to lend itself towards a forward balance point and without it shouldered, all the weight feels like its on the end of the barrel. On the other hand, when shouldered it feels strikingly similar to a traditional carbine stock. The biggest differences with the SBA3 and the Tailhook Mod2 is in the attachment of the brace to the actual pistol itself. The SBA3 uses a standard carbine buffer tube, and has another position of adjustment. I found this to be advantageous when finding the perfect fine adjustments to my eye relief and cheek weld. Another advantage comes if and when the owner of the pistol chooses to pony up the bacon to Uncle Sam and register their pistol as an SBR. This simply requires $200 and a wait of up to 9 months, and when your stamp is safely in place, affixing your choice of carbine stock. I find this to be an interesting capability, and something that I may consider doing in the future.So which one is better? Quite simply put, I am going to take the easy answer and say, “Depends on what you want to use it for.” For me as it sits today, I have the Tailhook Mod 2 on a 300 blackout pistol with an 8.5” heavy contour barrel. I find it to be very capable at balancing the weight of the stocky barrel up front, and it makes for a very compact and well balanced pistol. Conversely, I have an SBA3 on an 11.5” 556 pistol. I find that paired with the thinner contour of the barrel, and the skeletonized forend the SBA3 is sufficiently heavy to balance the pistol while refraining from adding to the overall weight. In summary, both braces are different in their characteristics, but you’d be hard pressed to find a better alternative to complete your AR15 Pistol.
