Andrew Mangold from United States, IN Public Profile

I have had experience with many different AR grips and some have been much better than others. I wanted a desert-colored reduced angle grip for my PDX project and many of the Hogue grips I've used were very comfortable. This one, however, was less comfortable than expected. The angle of the grip is fine and the texture was too. However, I seriously underestimated just how narrow the grip was. I have fairly long fingers and the Daniel Defense grips are about as thin as I prefer. This model is thinner than the DD grip by quite a bit. Now I will admit that I am being not picky as I inteded to get a very reduced angle compact grip for my PDX but there was a lot of unused space at the bottom if I grip the gun high. My fingers can wrap around the grip and be tucked against my palm which is not my preferred position. However, I cut some length off the bottom of the grip and decided to try it out for a few months to see if I could get used to it. It definitely fits the role as being compact, but I will likely swap it out for something a little wider to fit my hand soon. The plus side is that the grip is perfect for my son. So this will be going on the rifle he gets for his next birthday. I think it is a very well-made piece, it is just not as comfortable for my relatively large hands as others I have used. Overall, I would recommend it to anyone with small(er) hands who is looking for a reduced angle polymer grip.

I initially ordered a Strike Industries viper brace for a Maxim PDX based 300 blackout PDW project but the viper was backordered for several months. After doing a little more research, I found the Deadfoot Arms brace with the modified cycle system and was immediately intrigued. When I got the brace, I was blown away with how well-built it was. Adding only 4 inches to the receiver, this thing is exactly what I was wanting and was perfect for the PDX. It deploys just like the Rip Brace and is very secure. It includes springs for various calibers so it is easily tunable for your application (9mm guns don't work with this specific model.) I get a lot of questions and comments when I take it out at the range. As with any item, there are some attributes that aren't perfect. The brace is entirely metal and the extension bar (being only on the left side) does have a bit of wobble to it when fully deployed, but is not poorly fit. It simply needs a little play to ensure it doesn't bind during operation. I opted to use an oversized maritime bolt release that does touch the bar when collapsed. This hasn't caused an issue, but I may replace/modify the bolt catch to have some peace of mind. I've had this brace on the gun for a couple of months and I regularly drill by drawing from my concealment bag, deploying the gun, maneuvering indoors, and so forth. This has given me time to familiarize myself with the system but has shown higher-than-expected surface wear on the extension bar itself.