Combat shooting and rifle setup has changed quite a bit in the last decade, as the firearms industry has evolved. If you look back on a cutting edge rifle setup just a few years ago you might laugh at some of the gimmicks people regularly put on their rifles. Most folks swear by their setup, but relatively few can point to actual data or research demonstrating why they need a certain piece of gear. This article is going to examine the scientific differences between shooting an AR15 style rifle, with a vertical grip, and without.
Fans of this website will know that I prefer to form my opinions based on data and research. Sure, my personal opinion might lead me one direction, but I think it’s foolish to ignore science when solid research exists on a topic. I can tell you that I prefer to shoot with a vertical fore grip, and I think it is beneficial for a variety of reasons. The research that we will cover in this article indicates it may not be as useful as I think.
Vertical Grip Research
Six years ago the Army Research Laboratory conducted an experiment. They wanted to determine what effects mounting a vertical grip to the fore end of an M4 rifle would have. They published a research article entitled, “Quantifying Soldier Shooting Performance of the M4 Carbine with and without a Vertical Grip.” In this article they recruited soldiers, and a local police special reaction team to help them determine what effects this piece of equipment actually had. Here are the key points of the study.
Key Points
- All subject fired two courses of fire: CQB and Distance Firing
- Researchers found no increase in accuracy or shooting speed with a vertical grip
- Most subjects preferred the feel of the vertical grip, but shot no better with it.
- Shooting with the vertical grip had no effect on shot speed, or recoil control
Personally I was surprised by some of these findings. I would have thought that there would have been some benefit to shooting with a vertical grip, especially at close distances. I would have also thought that a vertical grip would allow for quicker follow up shots, but that turns out not to be the case. Without further ado, let’s get into the full paper.
The Research Design
The Army initially wanted to do this research with 18 soldiers, however, they were only allotted 6 soldiers. They then requested the local Special Reaction Team (SRT) for the base to fill the rest of the vacancies. These subjects were prior military folks, who as a condition of their duties, regularly shot m4 style rifles.
They were then taken to a range where they would be shooting E type silhouette targets. Accuracy was measured by a precise shockwave device that measured bullet strikes to 5mm. They were then provided with M4 rifles equipped with the standard army M68 red dot sight. They had several test runs at the cqb course of fire, as well as the longer range course of fire.
Each test subject shot the reflexive fire CQB distance test. This test required them to shoot at 10, 25, and 50m distances. These targets were only exposed for 3.5 seconds. This mimicked a close range engagement. Test subjects then moved to the longer range course of fire. Here they shot targets exposed for 6 seconds at distances of 50,100, and 150m.
Researchers measured the time it took to engage the targets with a controlled pair of shots. They also measured overall accuracy. After all course of fire were completed, the participants filled out a questionnaire designed to determine their subjective thoughts on shooting with and without a vertical grip.
Research Results
The researchers analyzed the short course of fire and the long range course of fire separately. For the short range course of fire they found that with a vertical grip they managed to hit the target 97% percent of the time. Without the vertical grip, they hit the target 98% of the time. This one percent difference is not statistically significant.
In the close range course of fire, shooters with the vertical grip averaged a deviation from the center of the target of 7.24 inches. Without the vertical grip the average deviation from the center was 7.21 inches. Again, this was not statistically significant.
On average, vertical grip shots were made in 2.39 seconds. Where as it took 2.42 seconds to hit the target when shooting the rifle without a vertical grip.
Long Range Course of Fire Analysis
When researchers examined the differences at extended ranges they found no significant differences. Targets shot with a vertical grip were hit 70% of the time, and targets shot without it were struck 71% of the time. Again this is not statistically significant.
On average, targets shot with a vertical grip showed a 7.15 inch deviation from center, and targets shot without it showed a 6.97in deviation. This was not statistically significant. Similarly, it took a vertical grip shooter 3.31 sec to hit their target at distance, and it took a slick rifle 3.32 sec.
If you like this kind of article, and want to get more sent right to your inbox, click here to join the Tier Three email list. It’s totally free, and thousands have already. If you don’t, John Wick will be very angry with you.
Shooter’s Opinions on the Vertical Grip
When surveyed, researchers found that participants rated shooting with the vertical grip better in nearly all categories. They felt it was better balanced, easier to aim, and easier to handle in general. This is interesting because even though the shooters felt better they performed exactly the same.
This is interesting because most of the time if you feel better shooting, you will actually perform better. So much for the placebo effect!
Vertical Grip Utility and Research Discussion
While this research was well conducted there are a few issues that were not addressed. Many of the shooters were actually grabbing the magwell when shooting the rifle with no vertical fore grip. This effectively becomes a vertical fore grip.
Secondarily, many of the shooters were grabbing very low, wrapping their whole hand around the grip. This is a mark of an inexperienced shooter. No matter what platform you are shooting, you want to grab as close to the bore axis as possible, to better aim, and control recoil.
Lastly, the rifles that were used were completely sick. They had a red dot sight, but no lasers, grenade launchers, or flashlights mounted to the fore end. In my experience an actual combat rifle will have these items and that will limit areas to grab. It will also make the front end of the rifle weigh more. I would think that as you added the devices a vertical grip would become more beneficial and provided a more measurable improvement in shooting.
Why You Might Want to Use a Vertical Grip
There really are several reasons you could use a vertical fore grip effectively. First, it does allow a more ergonomic way to pull the rifle into your shoulder pocket. Secondly, it does move your hand away from the barrel when it heats up, which can become dangerous in long strings of fire.
A vertical grip can also be used to barricade the rifle, and assist you in other positions. I’ve found that it can be very useful in the turret of a vehicle or when pulling security for long periods of time. You can easily push the fore grip against an object to achieve a stable shooting platform.
However, just because there are some legitimate reasons to use this device doesn’t mean that it is actually helping you most of the time. Most professional three gun shooters don’t use any fore grips, or at most, a very small grip. Don’t believe me check this out.
Popular Vertical Fore Grips
There are several popular vertical fore grips. To be honest, there isn’t much of a difference between any of them. I would recommend that you pick up something like this Magpul Vertical Fore Grip, as it is pretty cheap, and its just long enough to be useful, but not so long as to get in your way.
If you can’t use a vertical fore grip due to the vagaries of the ATF, then I recommend something like this Arisaka Finger Stop. It allows you pull the weapon in tighter, and is very small and lightweight. I use it on my personal home defense gun, and I really like it. Check this video to see how it looks on the gun.
Final Thoughts
Whatever grip you choose I recommend that you use a modified C clamp grip on the fore end. Shooting with your thumb over the bore or along the bore, can be of tremendous value when shooting. A vertical grip can help you achieve reward pressure, and it can help you in certain tactical situations.
Remember that it definitely isn’t a must have. Researchers found that in the most common types of shooting engagements there was no difference between shooters. Crucially they found that for those that preferred a vertical grip they actually shot no better with it. As always, gear can’t make up for shooting ability! Now get out there and get training.
Any links to Primary Arms are affiliate links. This means we receive a small referral fee if you purchase gear from them. It costs you nothing and we appreciate the support!
There is so much more to the v grip discussion than just what is represented by a 3 gun video, and a bunch of amateur shooters data.
This article doesn’t really do anything other than just exist.
There’s so much more to a good comment than just disparaging others work without providing anything of real value in rebuttal.
This comment doesn’t do anything other than just exist.
It boils down to what style a shooter is comfortable with, and what style a shooter trains with. Comfortable is more precise, and repetitive than uncomfortable. Training, in what ever style you prefer, vastly beats not training- hear that LE?! Training beats not training. And 8-15 minutes a year at the range, counts as wasting time, and money. Train like your life, and the lives of your loved ones, depends on it. Your average hobby shooter logs several HOURS of trigger time a year. Only perfect practice makes perfect. Complaining, and not practicing, or training, only qualifies you for a management position.