Handstops – some love them and some hate them, but as long as people keep buying them companies will make them available. Rainier Arms have some absolutely fresh ones called AIX (Angled Integrated Stop). They remind me of a shark fin. If you’re (overly) concerned about saving weight you can choose the holed version, which will probably save you a millisecond or two in your target transitions.

Rainier Arms AIX (Angled Integrated Stop) M-LOK

Rainier Arms AIX (Angled Integrated Stop) M-LOK

Here’s the description from the manufacturer:

Rainier Arms AIX (Angled Integrated Stop) M-LOK

The Rainier Arms AIX (Angled Integrated Stop) is a reversible M-LOK hand stop and barricade stop designed to be mounted to any standard M-Lok rail. The AIX is manufactured out of 6061-T6 aluminum, with a Type III Class 2 MIL-A-8625 Hard coat anodized finish for long term durability and minimized weight.

Featuring a golf ball dimpled barricade stop for increased traction on whatever you end up braced against, along with a smooth surface to prevent snagging on gloves when used as a hand stop, the AIX is ready for whatever use you put it to.

Specifications:

• Material:  6061-T6 Aircraft grade aluminum
• Screw: 17-4 heat treated stainless steel
• Finish:  Type III Class 2 MIL-A-8625 Hard coat anodizing
• Length: 2.4”
• Height: .975” (from handguard to bottom of stop)
• Weight: 0.4 oz

The price is $35.00 and you can buy them directly at Rainier Arms‘ website. 

What’s your opinion on handstops? I’ve been shooting quite a lot of AR15s and I usually don’t mount them on any of my rifles, just to have my rifle more versatile for where I place my bipod. However, there are quite a lot of situations where I would have liked to have a handstop but most of the time the bipod gets the priority.