Home AR-15 Quick Tip: How To Choose an AR-15 Vertical Grip / Hand Stop

Quick Tip: How To Choose an AR-15 Vertical Grip / Hand Stop

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If you’re looking for some straight-up advice on getting a better hold on your AR-15, this Quick Tip is for you! There’s a bewildering array of handguard-mounted vertical grips and hand stops on the market today. Fortunately, Brownells Gun Tech™ Caleb has a firm grasp on the topic and is here to help! A simple, Old School clamp-on foregrip, like the Knight’s Armament vertical grip, is meant to be grasped by your entire support hand. A variation on the full-length vertical grip is the massive Grip Pod, which has quick-deploy BIPOD legs inside. Magpul and Bravo Company offer short vertical grips that have become extremely popular. They are less bulky, and because most folks use a vertical grip more like a hand stop, not wrapping your full hand around the grip isn’t a handicap. A short vertical grip provides another practical benefit, which Caleb explains for us. A HANDSTOP helps you grasp the handguard and pull the rifle back into your shoulder for a secure hold. Magpul offers two hand stops, the very low-profile XTM and the larger Vertical Fore Grip. The VFG really combines the functions of a hand stop with a short vertical grip. A BARRICADE STOP, like the Noveske K9, lets you steady the rifle by bracing the forend against a wall, fence, or similar structure.

So how do these devices work in real life? Caleb’s got a coupla AR-15s, and he demos several of these products for us. (He tends to like a vertical foregrip on a shorter handguard and a hand stop on a longer ‘guard.) Bottom line: the “best” vertical grip or hand stop is the one the feels best to you.

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32 COMMENTS

  1. Ah to live in America, it must be nice. I will visit soon enough. California without its insane politics and cities is a nice but not as nice as a lil bit of freedom

  2. I got a UTG pistol grip style vertical grip on my 20" AR and besides being comfortable its big enough that I no longer play hot potato after firing a mag or two of ammo given how hot my hand guards tended to get.

  3. "Some people love 'em, some people hate 'em…" Pretty clear where you fall in that, but man, I love the foregrip/bipod combo on my SCAR! Definitely prefer something shorter on my ARs though.

  4. Ok, ready for a spin-off vid? Application of these to different rifles (DMR, carbine, assault rifle, battle rifle, etc.)

    Including barricade stop pls!!

  5. I kept waiting for him to mention how with our stupid laws it is illegal to put one of these on a "pistol". If you put it on something with a less than 16 inch barrel, it can no longer be considered a pistol but needs to be an SBR (or possibly some other designation)

  6. Magpul VFG or Emmisary hand brake all day for me. They position my hand in a more natural and comfortable position with an aggressive grip and provide more surface area to pull back against to counter muzzle rise.

  7. I like my fab defense angled mlok with thier rubberized handstop on left side to hook my thumb into. Run it on my brigade bm9 with rubber mlok inserts cut to different sizes jammed in free spots for little extra texture. Had to cut the inserting part to fit the wierd u-lok bm9 has but it's rubber so ez peezy.

  8. Will there be more barrel lengths for the BRN-180? I’d love to buy an upper, but due to my shoulder disability, the added weight of a 16 inch barrel and handguard is a little much to handle anymore. I think a 13.7 BRN180 pin and weld would sell pretty well, as it’s been the new “hotness” for a couple years now.

  9. Went on an adventure of foregrips, I've tried them all. VFGs, AFGs, Handstops. found I liked them all just fine, but now I'm running none at all as I find it easier to carry around my rifle without a giant obstruction on the end and allows me to shit around my grip easier. So now I'm running plain Magpul mlok rail covers

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