#TOR

Well, yes, technically it is another AR-15 pistol grip, however, its shape is so unique and interesting that I thought it deserves a separate article to be written about. This new Sharps Bros product is called TOR Vertical Precision Grip with TOR standing for Thumb On Right. Let’s take a closer look.

I was browsing the company directory ahead of SHOT 2019 when this caught my eye:

Along with our visit to Battlefield Las Vegas where we were able to fire ZMT’s UKM 2000 general purpose machine gun, TFB was also able to get close and personal with the companies anti-material rifle entry. The Tor is a .50 BMG manually operated, magazine fed (bullpup configuration), anti-material rifle that was just recently approved by the ATF for entry into the United States for sale to Military/LE entities. The rifle has actually been around for almost two decades with initial development beginning in the early 2000s and eventually seeing adoption by the Polish Armed Forces as the WKW Wilk (Wolf Anti-Material Rifle). A version chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO has also seen much developmental work, known as the BOR.

TOR (means fireball in one of the local languages) is a Venezuelan firearm designed by a gentleman named Fernan Altuve Febres. It was designed in 1995 and initially chambered in 5.6x36mm (a cartridge unknown to me). It was tested by Venezuelan paratroopers, tank and submarine crew members. Later on, there was a need to arm the LEOs with a compact and lightweight firearm that could offer sufficient stopping power and be something intermediate between a traditional SMG in 9mm and an assault rifle. That’s what made the designer to make a version of this firearm chambered in .357 Magnum.