Griffin Armament’s line of AR-15 furniture is now available for purchase and is shipping. The line includes a Rail Shields, Extreme Condition Stock, and A3 Grip. All items are available in Black, FDE, Grey, and OD Green. I have had hands on all of these items though not for long.
The Rail Shields are M-LOK compatible “rail” covers that come in a set of four panels – 1 bottom panel with integral handstop, 1 alternate flat bottom panel, and 2 contoured side panels. All the panels feature a deep grid texture that enhances grip and looks pretty darn nice. This texture is also used on the A3 Grip.
The A3 Grip is going to be a hit. You can think of it as an improved version of the A2 grip with an overall shape that looks similar to the A2. Griffin Armament has removed the finger groove, made the grip angle more vertical (though not as drastically as some grips), and added their grid pattern texture. This is a very nice grip, especially for the price.
The Extreme Condition Stock (ECS) is competitively priced and offers a few unique features. Griffin Armament uses a massive stainless steel pin to lock the stock in place rather than the more common threaded pin. They also use stainless steel springs.
The adjustment lever design is very clever. If you depress it as you would any other stock of this type, it allows you to adjust it for length of pull. The end of the lever is split and the body of the stock itself prevents you from moving the lever any further than what is necessary to adjust it. In order to install or remove the stock, you have to squeeze the lever closer to the pivot. This allows it to travel further and provide the clearance necessary for the pin to go onto or come off of the back of the receiver extension. It is very easy to use.
The ECS has plenty of holes in the firm rubber butt plate and below the receiver extension channel that allow water to drain out should the rifle end up in the drink. This is designed for use with the Griffin Armament’s Maritime Receiver Extension which has holes that mate with the holes in the stock to allow water to drain freely from the rifle.
The rotation limited sling mounting socket on the ECS is extremely clever and unique as far as I can tell. Picture a washer molded into polymer and you have the idea. The QD sling swivel stud goes into the hole at the center and rotation is prevented by impressions molded in the stock. It doesn’t rotate at all. This set up is extremely lightweight, very simple, and seemingly very robust. I tested it with standard QD swivels, ALG Defense forged swivels, and the Blue Force Gear RED. All worked as intended.
Not only is the cost competitive, but the weight is too. It comes in at around 8.5 ounces.
