UCWRG Grip 23 vs. Magpul MOE+

[csmith]

Disclaimer: I'm not Stickman, Triple Bravo or any of the other amazing photographers/reviewers. My Canon Powershot SD1000 will not make you oooh/aaaah. Just wanted to put that out there.


When I first saw the UCWRG Grip 23 I was intrigued. The military has long abandoned the weaver stance shooting position (across the body) in favor of the more armor-clad appropriate isosceles position (square with the target). One item they never addressed was the A2 pistol grips that forces quite a bit of torque on the wrist when engaging targets as you should. I can't change military doctrine, but I can alter my own weaponry to solve this issue on a personal level. From UCWRG's website:

Development started in 2007 with the idea to create a more vertical grip for the AR-15 platform, reducing wrist fatigue of the Operator while encouraging a more natural “elbows down” shooting posture.

Sounds like a winner to me. Here's a comparison of the Grip 23 to the more standard angled Magpul MOE+ it replaced.







As you can see in the pictures, the angle of the MOE+ (attached to the rifle, then on the left in following pictures) is quite a bit steeper than the Grip 23. In the last picture you can easily see the disparity. I'll also take a moment to touch on one of two gripes I have concerning the Grip 23. If you notice the Grip 23's tang size and width, it is much larger and closed on the end. I'm not sure why this is, but a concern I have with it is should moisture find its way into that cavity I think you could potentially have an issue that would require disassembly.

Installation was fairly straight forward. The second gripe, however, is here. When I initially attempted to attach the Grip 23 I was met with a lot of resistance. As it turns out, the two walls inside of the grip were just too close/tight. A dremel was needed to open it a bit to make it fit. I don't know if this is how they are all made, or perhaps a slip in QC due to high demand of the product. Some would call this a deal breaker, I just call it life.





When/if you do this, ensure you don't take too much out of the wall that holds the safety detent spring in place. You won't have a way to fix the problem because you can't reattach plastic.

Here's a couple pictures to show the difference in grip angle between the two with a solid cheek weld and elbow down. Notice the UCWRG doesn't force the forward portion of your hand downward compared to the MOE+. In both pictures my trigger finger was indexed as high as I could with little effort.





Also, as I said in the beginning here are a few pictures to show the recess left on the rear of the grip once it's installed. The grip is solid to the receiver, however the plastic of the grip isn't flush all the way around the receiver, especially in the rear.







All in all, my complaints are probably pretty minimal in the grand scheme of things. That, and the slick plastic of the standard grip can be fixed by texturing although I won't be doing it. Lack of texture isn't as big a deal for me. If you're in the market for a new grip and shoot elbows in, square to the target the UCWRG Grip 23 has the ability to get the job done more comfortably than others.

[Stickman]

The pics show what people need to see, and do a good job, thanks for sharing your review.

[browcs]

A fine review, sir. Thanks!

[TheBeef]

Excellent and honest review. Does anybody know how it compares to the bcm gunfighter grip?