I'm not going to be making a lot of modifications to my Stag Model 4 right away, but two things it did need were a little better grip and a sling. I bought a Magpul MOE+ grip with the rubber overmolding and storage compartment, and the STI "Best Rifle Slings - Shotgun Slings - 2 Point Sling With FAST-LOOP Length Adjuster - "IMPROVED" (no joke!) and here are my initial impressions:
Magpul MOE+
It's a nice grip. It's more comfortable than the stock grip, it has more meat along the long axis of the gun and it definitely fills and fits my hand better. I have a stronger and more steady purchase on the rifle and the construction is rock solid. The rubber overmolding is not super-thick, it's more a coating than anything thick or cushy. The ribs on the front and backstrap are a little thicker and feel a lot better than the hard plastic that came on my rifle. You are not going to lose your "grip" with this grip. There are some people I've read who don't like rubber overmolding because it tends to rub against other parts of their gear; I don't consider myself to be that much of an Operator, however, and I like the feel. It's made in the USA and hey, it's Magpul. You know they'll take care of you if something goes wrong.
Installation isn't hard but you should use good tools with magnetized tips, some extension, some kind of light (a head-mounted flashlight would work great) and the right blade width/breadth for the job. You want to take the grip off with the rifle inverted and the ejection port facing you so that you don't lose the fire selector switch spring. It's not that hard, just stick a thumb on it while you're backing off the last couple turns and use some caution when you start to fit the new grip. Degree of Difficulty: 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. 2 if you have some kind of rest to hang the rifle in. The MOE+ comes with a replacement screw that has no star washer and instead appears to have some kind of thread locking compound on the first 10 threads or so. I tightened it down to what seemed adequate without going Gorilla on it, and it's very very steady. I really like the beavertail and it's a worthwhile addition for $20 or so.
Dislikes: The storage compartment is a nice idea and I plan to use it, but I almost couldn't believe that the darn thing *rattles* because it is not o-ring sealed, nor is there any other kind of material between the bottom of the grip and the compartment cover when you snap it closed. If you shake the gun, the bottom of the grip has a little bit of rattle to it. I intend to fix it with a little piece of Tactical Electrical Tape and a small piece of rubber band. I'll let you know how that goes.
I would give the MOE+ a 9 out of 10 if it wasn't for the compartment cover rattle. It gets a 7 out of 10, but then I kick back another point because of the color options, which are nice. So 8 out of 10. Overall it's a solid improvement, but how much could it have cost to engineer the compartment so that it didn't click a little when you shake the gun? I'd have paid $2.50 extra to have it be silent all the time.
STI "Best" Sling
The STI sling, after you get past all the over-the-top hype they give it on the Amazon.com page I bought it from, is - surprise! - a great product. Maybe Santa Claus really does exist, because after all the ballyhoo, my thought was: "It had better be good." It does exactly what they say and mine came with two extra clips (lockable!) that make it super simple to clip right on to the sling mounts on my rifle (which are almost exactly like the product photo's). I do not have durability info. yet, but I can't see anything in the construction that causes me to worry. OK, if I was pressed I would say they should make the mounting clips (which are NOT shown on the Amazon page, but came as a free accessory with mine) out of steel, and it would be nice if they swiveled 360 degrees, but for the price this is an *excellent* sling. Seriously. You grab the loop, pull it in either direction and go from a really good prone or offhand support sling to a much longer length, over-the-shoulder affair and back again in literally 2 seconds. It gets a 10 out of 10 from me, particularly because of the value.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JK1XW4G?psc=1
I include the link to the STI sling not because I love Amazon.com but because it's got some good reviews of the sling and you can find the MOE+ everywhere in the known guniverse.
Magpul MOE+
It's a nice grip. It's more comfortable than the stock grip, it has more meat along the long axis of the gun and it definitely fills and fits my hand better. I have a stronger and more steady purchase on the rifle and the construction is rock solid. The rubber overmolding is not super-thick, it's more a coating than anything thick or cushy. The ribs on the front and backstrap are a little thicker and feel a lot better than the hard plastic that came on my rifle. You are not going to lose your "grip" with this grip. There are some people I've read who don't like rubber overmolding because it tends to rub against other parts of their gear; I don't consider myself to be that much of an Operator, however, and I like the feel. It's made in the USA and hey, it's Magpul. You know they'll take care of you if something goes wrong.
Installation isn't hard but you should use good tools with magnetized tips, some extension, some kind of light (a head-mounted flashlight would work great) and the right blade width/breadth for the job. You want to take the grip off with the rifle inverted and the ejection port facing you so that you don't lose the fire selector switch spring. It's not that hard, just stick a thumb on it while you're backing off the last couple turns and use some caution when you start to fit the new grip. Degree of Difficulty: 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. 2 if you have some kind of rest to hang the rifle in. The MOE+ comes with a replacement screw that has no star washer and instead appears to have some kind of thread locking compound on the first 10 threads or so. I tightened it down to what seemed adequate without going Gorilla on it, and it's very very steady. I really like the beavertail and it's a worthwhile addition for $20 or so.
Dislikes: The storage compartment is a nice idea and I plan to use it, but I almost couldn't believe that the darn thing *rattles* because it is not o-ring sealed, nor is there any other kind of material between the bottom of the grip and the compartment cover when you snap it closed. If you shake the gun, the bottom of the grip has a little bit of rattle to it. I intend to fix it with a little piece of Tactical Electrical Tape and a small piece of rubber band. I'll let you know how that goes.
I would give the MOE+ a 9 out of 10 if it wasn't for the compartment cover rattle. It gets a 7 out of 10, but then I kick back another point because of the color options, which are nice. So 8 out of 10. Overall it's a solid improvement, but how much could it have cost to engineer the compartment so that it didn't click a little when you shake the gun? I'd have paid $2.50 extra to have it be silent all the time.
STI "Best" Sling
The STI sling, after you get past all the over-the-top hype they give it on the Amazon.com page I bought it from, is - surprise! - a great product. Maybe Santa Claus really does exist, because after all the ballyhoo, my thought was: "It had better be good." It does exactly what they say and mine came with two extra clips (lockable!) that make it super simple to clip right on to the sling mounts on my rifle (which are almost exactly like the product photo's). I do not have durability info. yet, but I can't see anything in the construction that causes me to worry. OK, if I was pressed I would say they should make the mounting clips (which are NOT shown on the Amazon page, but came as a free accessory with mine) out of steel, and it would be nice if they swiveled 360 degrees, but for the price this is an *excellent* sling. Seriously. You grab the loop, pull it in either direction and go from a really good prone or offhand support sling to a much longer length, over-the-shoulder affair and back again in literally 2 seconds. It gets a 10 out of 10 from me, particularly because of the value.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JK1XW4G?psc=1
I include the link to the STI sling not because I love Amazon.com but because it's got some good reviews of the sling and you can find the MOE+ everywhere in the known guniverse.
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