*TACTICOOL* JunK! vs. Useful Rifle Accessories

[M4A3]

You have to admit, there is a SEA of accessories for assault type and not so assault rifles, that are suppose to help you shoot better, get on you're target faster fit you're body better and load faster. But witch ones work and witch are a waist of money?

So what have you guys used? How did it work for you?

Muzzle brakes are a real nice if you dont mind the extra noise. I've used the JP break on my DPMS. It did what the company said it would and wasn't too expensive to have installed.

Side-By-Side AR-15 Magazine Holder

I bought one of these and used it just last weekend. It did help me load the next mag. in faster. It's quite nice for only 5.00. The only draw back of it is weight. You can shurly tell you have 60 rounds hanging off the bottom of you're rifle.

If you use one, make shure you put you're first load with the extra mag on the "bolt release" side. That way when you put the fresh mag in the empty one will not be in the way of the bolt release button.

Also, these will not work with thermold mags. Thay do not fit.

Witch leads me to the next thing. Thermold mags. These things are real nice. I recomend to all.

 

[Steve Smith]

Muzzle brake annoys everyone else.

I have a feeling I could do a mag change much faster without that silly mag holder (good fitting mags will drop free when you hit the release).

I have a 1907 style sling and I know how to use it. How's that?

 

[Christopher II]

The 'A' list (stuff that should be mandantory on any AR or similar carbine.)
----------
- Tritium sights (some people like a tritium front/black rear combo. The Trijicon is really the best.)
- Ambidextrous safety.
- Either a Gapper(tm) or an aftermarket pistol grip that doesn't have that damned sharp edge at the rear of the trigger guard.
- A sling of some kind.
- A nice trigger.
- An A1 buttstock. The A2 stock is too long for comfortable shooting. I've heard good things about an A1 buttstock with an A2 buttplate.

The 'B' list (stuff that is useful in some applications, depending.)
----------
- A tactical sling. I haven't found one that I really like yet for the AR. I tried out an improvised single point loop on a friend's Daewoo last week, and was impressed. Not a shooting sling, though.
- A mounted light with a remote switch. The Insight light modules look pretty slick.
- An optical or red-dot sight of some kind.
- A flash suppressor, if legal.

The 'C' list (I don't care for it, but someone might...)
----------
- Foreward handgrips.
- On-gun magazine clips (Redi-Mag, etc.)
- Muzzle breaks.
- Laser sights. (One exception! If you're using NVGs, you need a visible, or ideally an IR laser, otherwise you shall have no way to aim.)
- Bipods.

The 'A++' list (Even more important than the 'A' list.)
----------
- Boatloads of magazines. Good ones.
- Training.
- Practice.
- Ammo.

Note - this list is (duh!) geared towards fighting carbines. A dedicated highpower gun, racegun, or what have you, will require a different setup.

YMMV.

- Chris

 

[kotengu]

Skill and comfort with your setup. However you get that is up to you, but I suggest training with good instructors and lots of practice, in about as many situations as possible.

Personally, some good iron sights, some good ammo, and a thorough knowledge of your weapon will take you further than any of the knick-knacks out there. If there is any accessory that would be valuable I'd say it's a good sling (1907 type) and the know how to use it.

 

[Ceol Mhor]

60 rounds gets heavy? Pooh! Try 100 some time.

The things I have on my carbine are:
Sling
Bayonet
Flash suppressor (as opposed to a muzzle break - I want to reduce flash; the .223 doesn't generate enough recoil for me to want a muzzle break)

At some point, I would like to add a tritium front sight and a flashlight mount. Extra stuff like optical sights, vertical foregrips, bipods and such seem like a waste. They might offer some advantage to a user with a heck of a lot of training under their belt already, but for me they confer no benefit.

Still, that's just for a short-range carbine. My .308 will have simply a Ching sling and a flash suppressor.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

perminently affixed bipods like the harris make no sense on a fighting carbine. a bipod mount for a clothespin type bipod is about ideal, since you get the use of a quickly attachabe bipod and you don't have to worry about moving your POI.

 

[AK103K]

I pretty much agree with kotengu on this one. Spend your money on ammo and practice, practice, practice. Beats gizmos any day.

 

[m14nut]

Muzzle break- I hate muzzle breaks

So Bushy introduces the ultimate "creamer" rifle--> the m4 carbine--> to the civilian population...I gleefully jump on the bandwagon and drive to the next state to purchase the only one around for miles.

Get it home and before even shooting it, order the M4 style green furniture including the "TACTICAL" (there's that word again!!!! ) entry buttstock to forcibly assault my basement:barf: Order the Blackhawk Industries "TACTICAL" sling, the aimpoint Comp M with night vision capacity(never know when you'll need to see your sights even if you don't have NV Goggles), special foward mount (has got to be cool 'cause I saw it in Blackhawk Down) and gussie it all up for the weekend op code name "Busted Eardrum"

Well this CREAMER gets to the range and cerimony-usly de-crates this wonder of modern weaponry....ooohs and aaaahs are hears up and down the line--- The magazine is inserted, the weapon charged, aim taken and...................
BANG!!!!!!! QUICK check my ears, are they bleeding!! My face, I must have schrapnel in my face-- I can feel it....
DON'T BUY THE M4 WITH THE MINI Y!!!!!

Looks cool, too loud, pisses EVERYONE on the line off.

Thank you, I'm done now......

 

[M4A3]

I LOVE IT!! How much does that thing weigh LOADED?

Also keep in mind I'm not just talking about Tactical M4 carbines for entering a bank full of BAD GUYS.

Andrew Wyatt

I have a Harris on my M4. It's great for shooting prone at the range or hunting. You can also set it on a tree stump or log. Also you can fold 1 leg down and use it as a foward grip.

And as for being in the way. The thing weighs 11 ounces and folds up to 6" with the legs pointing forward. When it's folded up I dont even know it's there.

 

[uglygun]

Not very "tactical" but a lot of people have told me that they think it looks cool, for me personally it was done soley for function. Damned aluminum would get hot during the summer and cold during the winter, also wanted improved texture and grip on the handguards of my AR15.

Played with various AR trinkets, some of it stayed and some of it went. I'm amazed at what a do-it-yourselfer can accomplish to improve functionality.


Edited to add, the varmint rifle that has the para-cord wrap job weighs something to the tune of 15 pounds unloaded and is right at 48 inches in length The concept of "recoiless" is a serious understatement, it's a JP Enterprises upper on a DPMS stainless lower along with a Harris sitting bipod and Leupold 6.5-20x Long Range. If your idea of "fun" is sitting out in a field for extended periods of time popping vermin like Ca. ground squirrel, this is the rifle for you


Compared to that lead turkey, most all carbines feel light even after having "tactical fag" or "mall ninja" gear added to them.

 

[kobun]

I would say; stay away from muzzle brakes on a rifle you might need in a hurry. A supressor is a much better alternative, as it will also decrease recoil.
The JP break is great for what it is designed to do. A friend had one on his G3 with a bipod and Aimpoint. 20 rnds full auto into a 5" circle on 200meters, one burst...

-Go for short rifles with THIN barrels. A thick barrel only ads weight, and doesn't give that big increase in accuracy to be worth hauling it around. Only if I'd expect to fire 100's+ rnds quickly, or need extreme accuracy would I choose a heavy barrel.

-A bipod is not necessary to shoot accurate from prone. But, it will decrease the time from going prone to beeing on target by at least a coupple of seconds.

Picture of how my AUG is set up.

-Optics are not essential for shooting at long ranges. I do however prefer to use them, but stay with the low powered, like a 1,5-6x (The one on the AUG is a 2-8x42)

-A rifle should be light. Unfortunatly my AUG has turned into quite a heavy weight as it has a lot of addons made from steel.

Caveat: My opinion, based on my experiences and that of people I know.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

The clothespin bipod mount on my m-1a weighs about four ounces and is two inches by one inch by one inch. It allows me to use a colt type bipod whenever i want to, and I don't have a goddawful humongous bipod hanging off my rifle all the time.

Of course, My rifle doesn't have much in the way of crap hung off of it, just a 1907 sling and the bipod mount.

 

[yorec]

I love the Wilderness style Tac sling.

Don't care for lasers.

Rest of the stuff - send me an example and I'll decide...

 

[ronin308]

I'm old skool- I have a gapper on my AR, sling, and soon I'll have a tritium front.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the bipod is cool on a range gun but useless on a fighting gun.

 

[Steve Smith]

I don't understand the gapper.

 

[yankytrash]

You and me both, Steve. Claims to eliminate "banged-up knuckles", whatever that means. Can't say my AR ever banged up my knuckles, and can't see how it would.

Is that a Bushy, DPMS, Oly thing? The Colts I've shot never banged no knuckles.

 

[uglygun]

Know how the trigger guard on an AR15 can be swung down for use with gloves? Ever shoot for a long period of time only to have the "ears" on either side of the pivot for the trigger guard wear down into your middle finger? The "gapper" is a little piece of black molded rubber that squeezes down in there and makes it so that you don't have to worry about chaffing of the inner finger. Over real long periods of time, it almost feels like it's cutting into your fingers on some guns where it rides just over the top of your nuckle or meaty part of the finger.

Others use a piece of wadded up earplug and then cut it just over flush. I wound up using a nice little folded piece of ParaCord, that was one of my first solutions actually before I ever found out about the earplugs or the gapper.


A2 grips are the worst at causing that finger chaffing, especially for my Chewbacca like hands.


Heck, I'm so anal retentive that I sanded down the 90 degree corners from my trigger guard. Long periods of time at the range spent at the bench or in the prone caused me to become aware of the rather sharp corners of the trigger guard, it was just enough to bug me so I experimented on one of my AR15s to see if a radiused corner on the triggerguard was nicer. I found it to be an improvement in "feel" so did it to the rest of my AR15s.

 

[C.R.Sam]

I'm with Steve Smith and kotengu...
Basic rifle and proper sling;
Learn how to use it.

Sam

 

[yankytrash]

Thanks uglygun. I guess my fingers don't "chafe".

I can slice paper with my caluses. Best Tim Taylor impression, "roouu, roouu...."

 

[uglygun]

Oh, my hands have caluses or cuts all over the place on them(comes from throwing around boxes 4 hours a day and 5 days a week without gloves), but for some reason I just get really annoyed if I have to feel those ears of the triggerguard cutting into my fingers. Most of my shooting is done with my AR10 or my varmint AR15 where all shots are aimed with a focus on precision while viewing through a high magnification scope, I try to avoid feelings of my rifle not being a perfect fit for me if possible. Just trying to eliminate annoyances so I can focus more on the shots.