Adjustable stocks. It started there. Length of pull. Comb height. That’s all fine and well. But now user adjustable is going everywhere. Is this a good thing for the average shooter?
It’s bad enough watching someone who should be more squared away, constantly playing with his stock length and his sling… I’ve watched guys play with their adjustments more than actually pulling the trigger. More than drilling the Fundamentals. More than their effort in making an accurate shot.
Now there is this thing: The Effin-A. A user adjustable muzzle brake. Now, the more I think about this… the more I can see the appeal. Think of all the excuses you can use for poor shots. What I’m seeing is a whole lot of ammo used testing and tweaking – and that’s good. That’s a lot of practice going on and I like that. It certainly has it’s place. Maybe. For guns no one else is making a brake for. (Is there such a thing now days?) Being able to tune the brake to what you want. If you are a competitive shooter and know your gun better than you know your spouse’s erogenous zones… Maybe this is for you. Then again, maybe not.
For me… I’ll buy a Battle Comp and have it installed properly and call it good and not have to worry about futzing with the muzzle brake and I can concentrate on my shooting. Of course, I’m the same guy that set his adjustable stock to how he wanted it a long time ago and has never moved it since. I don’t like playing around with my weapon like that. In fact, it annoys me. My Battle Comp was engineered very well to start with. In fact, it was engineered pretty much perfectly. Why would I want to mess with that?
What do you guys think of this?
I would be game for an adjustable comp like found on some hunting rifles. Rotate clockwise for on, counter to close the shield to block the ports. That way you aren’t a dbag at the range for the guy next to you, or your kid with you etc. In 556, i dont see a need anyway.
I like being able to adjust length of pull. In fact, it was one of the things I struggled with most when I was first learning to shoot using a sling. I’m 6’4″ with really long arms, and most rifles are simply too short for me right out of the box.
My shooting improved dramatically once I tried a rifle that was long enough for me. I do agree though, you have to avoid the temptation to constantly mess with things. Find a good adjustment, and then stick to it.
Even relatively large rifles like the M1 Garand and FAL need a little extra length for me. I’ve got an M1A that is just about perfect, but it has one of those heavy thick rubber pads on the back of it to make it long enough.
I only find the need to adjust my stocks (where available of course) is when I go from a thick jacket to a t-shirt as the length of pull is more effected in that situation. I do have body armor, but since I don’t wear it I really can’t use that excuse as a main purpose 😛 As for the adjustable comp…I see that as A LOT of fiddling around for the possibility of little benefit with cheap ammo. With all of the possibilities that must be explored I see a ton of ammo getting expended just to tune it, and then having to do it all over again when not just changing to a different manufacture but also a different weight as well. With ammo being still scarce I would rather be practicing/training with what I got instead of benching my gun just to see if I can get another 1/4″ out of an AK.
That’s pretty ingenious, although probably more useful if you’re a competitive shooter. As for the ability to adjust the weapon to better suit the shooter, I’m not entirely against that. It can however, be a bit annoying watching the guy next to you at the range fiddle with it the whole time. I can’t get out to the range as often as I would like so I just think its a better use of my time there getting the weapon to “fit” beforehand.
louie the lumberjack
Seems like a decent idea. Loctite is your friend. ( grin ) I think it is going to be a lot like your adjustable stock, though – pretty much a set it and forget kind of thing.
Suppressors for me, thank you. Short of the Barrett, never met a gun that really needed a compensator.
Maybe the 1921a1, but even then not so much. Big pistols I could kinda see.
I think it is an ongoing statement of one-upsmanship. In my opinion, it is primarily for those riding the testosterone express. You know, “look at me, look at me, my gun has more adjustments than your does.” Remind you of grade school?
Still in my opinion, how many people will actually be able to utilize the veritable plethora of adjustments? I’ll bet a relatively small percentage. Further, how many of them will actually . . try . . and use them?
We got by for decades without them.
As such I decline to spend any extra money for them.
Hmmm, never used one, but Vuurwapen did some testing and the Battle Comp….not perfect.
And his findings are different than what the Army found. He also was very vague on his testing procedures. His article was basically opinion.