jblomenberg16
Grandmaster
I've been an AK owner for a couple months now, and one of the first things I noticed of my new toy was that the original black plastic grip left a lot to be desired. I have large hands, but nothing overly huge, and they absolutely swallowed the standard grip.
Combine that with a terminal case of tinker-itis and I decided to search for improvements. My baseline was something that felt similar in my hand to the Magpul MIAD/MOE grip, as that is what I'm running on both of my AR's. One option was to buy an adapter for AR15 grips and just put a MIAD or MOE on the gun. Another option was some of the finger molded "Ergonomic" style grips on the market, but to me those looked a lot more "Tacti-cool" than practical. The US Palm AK grip did catch my eye when I was recently shopping for goodies at aimsurplus.com. (US Palm AK-BG AK Grip Black)
I decided to take a chance on it and see if it looked and felt as good in person as it did in the promotional materials. I ordered one on Dec 30th, and the UPS man delivered it this evening, basically 2 working days after my order was placed if you discount New Years Eve / Day + the weekend.
Initial impressions were positive, and the grip was clearly larger than the standard AK grip.
Installation was very simple, which is by nature due to the AK design. After removing the original grip screw and grip, the US Palm grip installed right onto the grip nut in the receiver using the included hardware. A 5mm allen wrench was the only tool needed, and was not included. If you've ever installed an AR15 grip, this goes on virtually the same way. It is a little tricky lining up the screw, since the "water tight" grip plug does push on the allen wrench a bit, but nothing worth calling a major issue.
I regripped the rifle, and it immediately felt much better in my hand.
Before with standard Grip:
After with US Palm Grip:
The grip does compare nicely with Magpul MIAD with large back strap, or a standard MOE grip. This pictures shows my grip on the MIAD.
Grip angle is not quite as extreme as the MIAD, but is natural and comfortable, and overall size is equivalent.
My only dissapointment in the grip is that the internal compartment will be just about useless for anything other than a few pair of foam earplugs. The rubber cover does't really have a molded in retention spot for a battery, extra round, etc. like an insert for a MIAD would. Also, I was hoping that perhaps a standard AK cleaning kit would fit in the grip. Overall length was promising, but alas the diameter of the kit was just a smidge to big to fit into the grip. Oh well, AK's don't need cleaning anyway, right?
I also compared the grip to that of a Glock 19. The overal size and shape of the US Plam grip is similar, with the exception being the finger grooves on the Glock grip, as well as the glock grip being wider to account for a double stack 9mm mag.
I haven't had the gun to the range yet to shoot with the grip, so will update the thread if anything changes after shooting the gun. I'm expecting it to be more comfortable and give a bit better control of the gun when holding one handed for mag changes, etc.
I would recommend this grip based on my initial review and installation, and give it 4 of 5 stars. The lack of a 5th star is based on two recommendations I would make to US Palm for a "Gen 2" grip:
*Enlarge the grip just a bit to match a double stack handgun grip widith.
*Add a bit more length so as to accomodate the cleaning kit in the grip, just in case someone would ever need to use it.
Combine that with a terminal case of tinker-itis and I decided to search for improvements. My baseline was something that felt similar in my hand to the Magpul MIAD/MOE grip, as that is what I'm running on both of my AR's. One option was to buy an adapter for AR15 grips and just put a MIAD or MOE on the gun. Another option was some of the finger molded "Ergonomic" style grips on the market, but to me those looked a lot more "Tacti-cool" than practical. The US Palm AK grip did catch my eye when I was recently shopping for goodies at aimsurplus.com. (US Palm AK-BG AK Grip Black)
I decided to take a chance on it and see if it looked and felt as good in person as it did in the promotional materials. I ordered one on Dec 30th, and the UPS man delivered it this evening, basically 2 working days after my order was placed if you discount New Years Eve / Day + the weekend.
Initial impressions were positive, and the grip was clearly larger than the standard AK grip.
Installation was very simple, which is by nature due to the AK design. After removing the original grip screw and grip, the US Palm grip installed right onto the grip nut in the receiver using the included hardware. A 5mm allen wrench was the only tool needed, and was not included. If you've ever installed an AR15 grip, this goes on virtually the same way. It is a little tricky lining up the screw, since the "water tight" grip plug does push on the allen wrench a bit, but nothing worth calling a major issue.
I regripped the rifle, and it immediately felt much better in my hand.
Before with standard Grip:
After with US Palm Grip:
The grip does compare nicely with Magpul MIAD with large back strap, or a standard MOE grip. This pictures shows my grip on the MIAD.
Grip angle is not quite as extreme as the MIAD, but is natural and comfortable, and overall size is equivalent.
My only dissapointment in the grip is that the internal compartment will be just about useless for anything other than a few pair of foam earplugs. The rubber cover does't really have a molded in retention spot for a battery, extra round, etc. like an insert for a MIAD would. Also, I was hoping that perhaps a standard AK cleaning kit would fit in the grip. Overall length was promising, but alas the diameter of the kit was just a smidge to big to fit into the grip. Oh well, AK's don't need cleaning anyway, right?
I also compared the grip to that of a Glock 19. The overal size and shape of the US Plam grip is similar, with the exception being the finger grooves on the Glock grip, as well as the glock grip being wider to account for a double stack 9mm mag.
I haven't had the gun to the range yet to shoot with the grip, so will update the thread if anything changes after shooting the gun. I'm expecting it to be more comfortable and give a bit better control of the gun when holding one handed for mag changes, etc.
I would recommend this grip based on my initial review and installation, and give it 4 of 5 stars. The lack of a 5th star is based on two recommendations I would make to US Palm for a "Gen 2" grip:
*Enlarge the grip just a bit to match a double stack handgun grip widith.
*Add a bit more length so as to accomodate the cleaning kit in the grip, just in case someone would ever need to use it.
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Original thread here: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...26800-review_us_palm_ak_replacement_grip.html
Original thread here: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...26800-review_us_palm_ak_replacement_grip.html
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