Slide Fire Stock for the AR-15
Major Pandemic 12.21.13
Did you ever want to fire full auto with your AR, buy didn’t have the $12K in cash for a pre-ban full auto M16? Or maybe you did not have the time for the pesky BATF/NFA paperwork which can take six or seven months? Slide Fire is a legal, BATF-approved option for law abiding citizens that enhances your ability to fire very fast. So fast in fact it sounds and feels a lot like full auto gunfire. Yes, I am here to assure the skeptics that the much touted Slide Fire AR Stock works as advertised.
Functions
How does the Slide Fire stock solve a complex and legal problem which is heavily government regulated? Simply put, the Slide Fire enables you to “bump fire” the gun from the shoulder, and bump firing is not illegal.
Traditionally, bump firing is done by placing the side of the rifle on your hip and hooking your thumb inside your belt loop and then pushing the gun forward with your support hand on the stock. This pushes the trigger forward into your finger, and after the first shot the gun recoils. As it returns forward from the support hand forward pressure, your stationary finger pulls the trigger again and again very quickly, generally around 300-350 rounds per minute. It is not a new concept.
An original, pre-ban, and very expensive tax stamped M16 has a rate of fire around 650 rounds per minute depending on the weight of buffer used, so 300-350 rounds is still a mighty fast rate of fire. Slide Fire has taken exactly that same concept and developed a grip and stock that will provide that bump fire functionality at the shoulder. Why is this legal? Well simply put, it is really tough for the government to outlaw things like gravity and inertia, and according to the ATF, if your finger pulls the trigger each and every shot, then it is just technically “shooting really fast”. The result of over two years of development is a reliable select fire AR-15 stock which can deliver around 400 rounds a minute while making no modifications to the gun, and they even have a letter from BATF approving the stock.
The Slide Fire SSR15-SBS is Slide Fire’s AR-15 version of their stock, which is basically two stunningly simple components: an integral stock/grip and grip slide block. Included with the Slide Fire is the grip interface block, hex key, and instructions to get you up and running in about four minutes. Your standard AR grip and standard five or six position buttstock are removed, and the Slide Fire grip block is screwed on. The Slide Fire buttstock/grip then slide onto the buffer tube and keys into the grip block. Once in place, the buttstock’s semi-auto only lock is disengaged so that the entire buffer tube to muzzle unit can slide back and forth inside the Slide Fire buttstock/grip assembly. Place your finger on the grip’s finger perch, and press the support hand forward until the gun starts firing rapidly from you finger’s continuous hitting of the trigger.
It’s a simple concept, it works great, and it fires really fast. After seeing a few rounds fly and you are through feeling like Jerry Miculek, simply pull back with the support hand to stop firing. With this push and pull support hand control, you can provide single semi-auto fire, controlled bursts of two or more rounds, or let it rip until the magazine is empty. This I will tell you will put a huge smile on your face and a giant impact in your wallet quickly… and generally send the rangemaster running in your direction.
Sadly, I have yet to get the Slide Fire stock to work with either my S&W M&P 15-22 or any AR with a drop in .22LR conversion. With 5.56 ammo you can easily crack through $120/per minute of ammo, and if it worked on a .22 AR, those same bursts would only cost about $12. There are some people with videos showing .22 ARs working with the Slide Fire Stock and very light match triggers, but I get really unreliable results even with CCI-Mini Mags and Stingers, so perhaps the key is the ultra-light match trigger upgrade.
Fit, Feel, and Features
The Slide Fire SSAR15-SBS (Standard Battle Stock) is made from the same high quality firearms polymer we see used on other stock designs throughout the firearms industry. This fun inducing stock is available in right or left handed models with the finger perch on the right or left hand sides, and it is winter trigger guard compatible.
The whole point of the Slide Fire stock is its ability to slide easily back and forth, so it is a little loosey goosey fit. If it was a super tight fit, the stock would not work and would also have fitment issues with mil-spec vs commercial buffer tubes. The result of that sliding design requirement and the unique grip required by the design is that when shooting semi-auto, the stock does not feel very solid or particularly comfortable. It feels rather uncomfortable and rattly. Honestly, who cares? This stock is a blast for quickly getting rid of extra cash at a rate of $200 a minute ($.50 per round x 400 rounds a minute) and could be quite handy if facing an epic zombie hord. Either for fun or for defense from an angry zombie hord, the stock has its purpose.
Personally, I would take four minutes and swap out the Slide Fire stock parts back to a tight fitting standard stock for benchrest or semi-auto shooting, but this is a fun accessory which is simple and easy to take on and off, or a great option to dedicate to one AR in your stable of guns.
Shooting
Like many, I was expecting the operation of this stock to feel a little goofy and not work perfectly as advertised, however the Slide Fire stock proved it lives up to the hype. There is a lockout on the stock so you can use the stock in semi-auto mode only, but for some reason, I seemed to only use that feature rarely. Surprisingly single shots, two, three, and four round bursts were quite easy to do after you get the idea of pushing your support hand to fire and pulling to stop firing. Muzzle rise was expected and present, but even with full mag dumps it was easily controllable.
The Slide Fire stock and grip are secure and comfortable to shoot for the durations that most will use the stock. It should be noted that you are probably not going to run the stock in “hell bent for leather” mode for a hour at a time or you’ll burn out your barrel. For those that have shot an M4 on full auto, they get toasty warm, and you need to clear the action and lock the bolt back between a couple mag dumps to increase cooling. Without allowing your AR to cool a bit, you will definitely have problems with overheating your barrel.
Final Thoughts
The question I get often at the range is whether the Slide Fire is practical beyond the fun factor. Only in video games do warriors and shooters run around shooting everything in full auto. The Slide Fire is without a doubt one of the more interesting and fun ways to put a smile on your face with all your clothes on, and you can do it without a 12 month wait for an NFA stamp. However, I would not consider it “the stock” for your AR. The stock can certainly serve as your only stock, but from my perspective it is a mission specific stock designed for high rate shooting fun. Let’s face it, you are not buying this stock for ergonomics, but it is so insanely fun, everyone should have one.
The Slide Fire stock may have limited scope of use, but oh what a blast it is. I am pretty sure my gun range antics have sold about three dozen of these, including the rangemaster who was initially pissed, but left my range bunker muttering “that certainly does not qualify according to the rules as full auto and was fun to shoot.” The Slide Fire will either make you best friends with the range master or get you kicked out for the day. For $369 this is a great accessory for any AR owner. It works as advertised and satiates your desire for a full auto select-fire AR for about $12,000 less than an ATF tax stamped M16.
Specs
- Slide Fire AR-15 Stock
- Fits all versions of AR-15 rifles with Mil-Spec or Commercial Carbine length buffer tubes
- No weapon modifications required – Install of grip and stock only
- Made from firearm Polymers
- Made in USA
- MSRP: $369
