If you are like all of us at Tyrant Designs, you love the modern sporting rifle – AR-15 – because it is such a modular jack-of-all-trades. Whether you want to use it for recreation (shooting with friends, competition, or a friendly league) hunting (varmints and medium-sized game), and even defense, the AR-15 gives us a lot to work with. It is simply our job to modify and change our AR15 to its chosen work it will accomplish. So, once you decide what a given AR-15 carbine or pistol will be doing for you as a tool, then you can set it up to do exactly that. If you are looking to do competitions or sport shooting with it, then you might want to consider what obstacles you might encounter – metaphorical or physical – and how upgrades can assist you in overcoming them. If in a competition you might run into barricades for long-range shooting or doorways for CQB (close-quarters battle) work, then it might be beneficial to get one of our vertical grips or hand stops. This not only gives you something to more assuredly control and direct your firearm, but you can also jam it against structures for a more steady shot. In the realm of hunting, you likewise could use our hand stop or iconic vertical grip to your benefit. You could press your firearm against a tree, barbwire fence, or tailgate of a vehicle to help steady your aim. Hand stops and vertical grips can be a tremendous asset in remaining stable in non-traditional shooting positions. Also, you can rest your AR-15 rifle or pistol in an extended position without fatiguing an outreached arm. The last thing you want is to be wobbly and tired during the moment of truth when you need to make an accurate, humane shot on a game animal. Like the thoughts of competitive shooting, deploying one of our foregrips, hand stops, and/or vertical grips can afford you more dexterity in a stressful self-defense situation. It will stabilize your shot, give you a better command of your weapon, and if need be, you can press these accessories against doorways, dressers, or other furniture within your home. We all own firearms in the hope that we never need to use them for defense so in the one-in-a-million chance we do, these accessories can help us better control those chaotically stressful moments. When it comes to ARs, we all want to aesthetically set ourselves apart from our friends and the beauty of Tyrant products is you get looks and utility with everything we produce. Function and curb appeal. Until next time, continually check out our blog, join our newsletter, and watch the website for new and exciting updates! As always, let us know all of your thoughts in the comments below. We love it when you participate in our articles and keep the conversation going!