AR-15 RETRO FURNITURE SETS Reviews & Ratings

Purchased for M16A1 retro build. Decent/affordable OEM/surplus handguards were too expensive, but these handguards worked well, not the real thing, but looked and felt ok. Pistol grip felt cheap and flimsy compared to OEM/surplus, but was useable. Butt stock was thin plastic-squirt gun feeling poor excuse for anything gun related. Ended up using handguards and pistol grip, and ordered surplus butt stock to finish my build. I gave an overall score of 3...handguards were a 4, pistol grip was a 3, and butt stock was a 1.

First off, the shipping from Brownells, is always on point; Secondly, the products were nice, but putting them on, is a struggle. For instance, the handguards was a hassle, especially trying to lined them up ( I recommend, that you have a handguard remover & a small rubber mallet), to ease it in; The Buttstock was easy to install, but the adapter that goes inside, to create the tension, was to loose between the buffer tube. I had to macguyver a plastic shim, in order to keep it tight, and create point of contact. And the rear door, when tighten, wouldn't close all the way. Was leaving a gap. Don't know, if it's poor quality control or they don't check for fitness before boxing it. And the rear swivel attachment is tight & has rough edge's, that literally scratched myself, to it (which I buffed out with some sand paper) Other than that, it's an ok product. That's why I only gave them, a 3 out 5 stars...

Ordered this for my a1 build. Packaging and shipping were great but my buttstick has some somewhat deep scratches in it and the handguard is cheaper feeling than I expected. All and all it looks good. I just dont think Id want to take it to war anytime soon

Pictures sum up what I have to say. Bought the set, stock and grip were perfect. No problems at all. Handguard was tolerable, but hand lines on the sides that if you ran your fingers over you could actually feel.(Maybe the mold's designed that way? Maybe flow lines in the plastic? Maybe ghosts?) The lines actually didn't bother me at all. What did bother me was the gap. The pieces left an opening big enough to fit a half doller through. On top of that they sqeezed together when you grip it and it feels like a big toy. They are NOT made of week plastic but it definitely feels like they are. I'm gonna keep the grip and stock. They're perfect. They're stellar. They're the bees knees. The handguard on the other hand will probably stay on for now but I'll be looking for a better one. My rifle isn't a true M16A1 clone so I'm not very concerned.

I feel almost forced to give this a 3 star rating as its the only repro m16a1 stock kit made anymore. However, I have to say it is very cheaply made and hastily assembled. The plastic is very thin and no where near as dense as original mil spec A1 furniture. The molding lines are unfinished and sharp. The stock rattles without buffer and spring installed, and the handguards vents look like they were cut out by a monkey with a chainsaw. Brownells could do much better.

I bought a set in black as soon as it came out, and overall am pleased with it. For 80 dollars I feel that I'm getting a decent product. I find they fit well and over all look decent, too. I bought a second set on Black Friday for another rifle. However, I feel there's a couple things that need to be looked at. First off, the material these are made of appear to be at least as strong as traditional a2 furniture, but it feels a little cheap to me. It doesn't help that the stock rattles around during assembly. I'm not sure why that is, but once it's installed the rattling stops. Second, the molds they use for these need some tuning, still. The edges for the vent holes on the handguards have a very noticeable raised edge, which I eventually broke down and sanded off with 2000 grit sandpaper and water. The finish in it of itself on the handguards also isn't consistent. You can see lines throughout the plastic, and these do not go away. I tried polishing a set with every product I could think of to no effect at all. Btw, if you want to buy these to shine up for that retro look, don't bother with these. The zytel they used to make these for some reason does not want to gloss up at all. Speaking of molds, I noticed that in the pistol grip, the grip screw hole was blocked off, still. It came out easy enough, but that's just further evidence that the molds need to be tweaked. Bottom line. A heavier material, to get rid of the cheap feeling, would be a good idea and the edges of the hand guard mold really need to be worked down.

For starters, this product for the price is a good deal. It is rare to find hand guards and type D butt stocks in excellent condition (and you will pay for it if you do). The pistol grip is a perfect reproduction in terms of shape. The plastic feels a lot different (lighter with a slight roughness as opposed to the smooth plastic of my old stock set). That being said, I am disappointed in the following: -The molds for the hand guards aren't the best. Vertical lines are clearly visible that aren't present on the originals (The product photos even show these) as well as there being oval shaped divots (first picture) The stock is constructed differently then originals. it appears to be made up of 4 main parts: The main body, an interior spacer, the butt pad, and swivel. The originals didn't have a loose interior spacer as far as i am aware. I will note that after putting on the stock and tightening the stock, there is no wiggle. (Second picture shows this odd "spacer", it was loose and needed to be pushed out of the way before installing onto the buffer tube.) The stock also feels a lot more plastic-y feeling and has a little more flex than the original plastic compound (which by comparison feels SOLID) If Brownell's could smooth out the mold for the hand guards and eliminate the lines and divots this would be a 4 out of 5 product. If the stock's interior wasn't flopping around as was a solid piece it'd be 5 out of 5 However, as I received it, it'd rate it around 2 to 3 star mark for the fact that it is a cheap, over all decent quality product that has room for improvement in later iterations of said product. I would recommend if you do not have or have a poor quality original A1 stock set.