ARP shooters know one thing very well: while you can get rifle-sized firepower from an AR pistol, you don’t just get rifle-sized recoil. You get worse. ARPs are lighter and smaller than their full-sized cousins, and that loss of mass comes at a price.
For some shooters, AR pistols are downright difficult to control.
That being said, one thing you may be able to do is install an AR pistol brace to help control recoil. This short guide is designed to help with that very question.
What Is a Pistol Brace?
An AR pistol brace, at its most basic, is a stabilizing fin that attaches to the buffer tube of an ARP.
It is designed to brace against the inner forearm of a shooter when the ARP is being fired one-handed, hence the name. Some may have straps that wrap around the forearm.
It is important to note that a pistol brace is not a stock, and it is neither large enough to reach to the shoulder, nor intended to do so.
Therefore a pistol brace is effectively just a tool to help stabilize the ARP when the shooter is firing with one hand. It is not intended to convert the ARP into a shoulder-mounted arm.
Many shooters find that AR pistol braces can considerably impact their ability to control recoil, and in a positive way. For this reason, some who build or buy ARPs find pistol braces to be quite valuable and practical shooting accessories.
Of course, that brings up the question of whether or not you need one in your specific case.
Do You Need One?
If you struggle to control recoil when you fire your ARP one-handed, then you might find a pistol brace valuable.
If you don’t, you don’t need it. Not all shooters struggle with recoil from small intermediate cartridges like 5.56, even with an ARP. If you don’t have an issue with recoil just skip it as a brace can make an ARP a little more cumbersome to handle.
Where to Get a Pistol Brace?
If you’re in the market for an AR pistol brace, consider visiting MCS Gearup. They sell a wide variety of pistol braces (in various colors and configurations) in addition to many other AR and AR parts, including assembled uppers, build kits, and shooting attachments of all sorts.
