Many of us seasoned shooters are aware of the various grips we can put on the front of our modern sporting rifles, but few people understand the differences and their various uses. The three most common types are a handstop, foregrip, and vertical grip. Each one is a slight permutation of the others with distinct advantages and disadvantages.
The most commonly known of the three is a vertical grip. These are seen on rifles our military use, they are deployed by civilians, and are romanticized in movies and video games. Aside from having general appeal to the masses, what are they good for? A vertical grip, or any type of grip forward of the receiver, is meant to aid the shooter in controlling recoil and muzzle rise. With a vertical grip, you get the best dexterity and leverage in keeping your line of sight on target. This is very useful when shooting a rifle that has 3-round burst or full-auto capabilities. It only makes sense why the military has taken a liking to them. An easy accessory to add to any AR-15 that affords the shooter more control of their weapon.
The most popular grip for today's shooter is possibly a simple handstop, or grip stop. A handstop is a modern spin on the older-designed vertical grip. Whereas a vertical grip is meant for mitigating more significant recoil (3-round burst, full-auto, or larger cartridges) the handstop is meant to also control recoil, but allow the shooter to reach out as far as possible along their forearm without endangering their hand with muzzle blast from a flash hider or muzzle brake. By reaching your non-shooting hand out as far as possible along the forearm of your firearm you create more leverage and stability in your favor. So instead of difficultly straining to maintain a supported shooting position you can be more rigid, solid, and steady with a precisely placed handstop.
A final consideration that many shooters choose is a foregrip. A foregrip can be an angled one like the Halo MiniVert Grip or something uniquely in between a handstop and outright vertical grip. A foregrip combines the desirable attributes of a handstop (more leverage and steadiness) with the preferred characteristics of a vertical grip (increased dexterity and rigidity). Foregrips will often have a more stylistic flair to them as well. Some are angled, barely larger than a handstop, be skeletonized or all of the above like the Halo MiniVert Grip from Tyrant Designs.
There are some considerations you should make if you are contemplating a vertical grip, handstop, or foregrip. For one, how large of an accessory are you willing to hang off of the front of your forearm? How much hand contact or dexterity do you believe you need to get by? How little? Are you looking for something minimalistic? Or does the footprint of the grip not matter as much? These various grips come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, colors, and artistic designs (as evident by the groovy grips Tyrant Designsmakes). For all of our loyal patrons and readers, what do you think? Do you use a vertical grip, handstop, or foregrip on your AR-15? Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! Lastly, if you want to know what everyone thinks of our all new MOD v2 Grip click here https://thearmsguide.com/16258/tyrant-mod-pro-v2/ !
