Sylvan Arms AR Folding Adapter

 Political and economic pressure is encouraging many in the self-protection community to address the basic limitations of the handgun.  At the same time, prudence urges us to emulate the perfect gray man.  Blending so well into the background they are not seen or observed as they simply slip out of the danger area.  This perfection may not be attainable, but represents an idea we attempt to approach.

SA AR Folding Stock Adaptor installed

How does one increase their preparedness and still keep a low profile?  Numerous articles have suggested transporting long guns in a manner that doesn’t scream “Gun!” to even the most clueless in society.

One option for the AR platform is a folding stock.  I recently installed a Sylvan Arms third-generation folding stock adaptor on my AR.  This option allows me to reduce the length of my AR with a collapsing stock from 34 inches to 27 inches.

Before

There are several videos including Sylvan Arms video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIMNUAUBmd0.  You may need to sign in with a Google e-mail password to prove you are 18 or older.  That’s a topic for another day.

If you are not familiar with building or adapting the AR platform, take a few extra minutes to study some of the other videos as well.  The kit consists of the basic components: the assembled hinge, a bolt extender, receiver extension end plate, and castle nut.

After with upper in place

You’ll find it useful to have a small punch for depressing retaining pins and a castle nut wrench.  An AR lower block for a vice is useful here and for future cleaning.  As I chose not to stake my castle nut, a drop of removable Loctite isn’t a bad idea either.

In use, the rifle stock is swung in line with the upper.  The stock locks in line with the upper and the rifle are now fully functional.  For storage you first clear the weapon, drop the hammer on the empty chamber or dummy round, depress the button on the hinge, and now the stock can be folded alongside the receiver/upper.  The bolt extension extends out of the upper.

Stock folded for storage and transportation

The hinge is relatively robust, requiring an occasional drop of oil.  When the stock is folded, the stock can act as a lever arm and multiply any force applied and potentially damage the hinge.  This isn’t the problem you might think it is.  The rifle is nonfunctional in the folded position.  That makes folded a transportation mode.  In a case, the entire mechanism is protected.  If you somehow imagine carrying the weapon by a sling with the stock folded, I strongly suggest you replace the receiver extension end plate with one modified to attach a sling.

What are the advantages?  The hinge makes storage and transportation easier by making the rifle shorter.  With an SBR the entire length could be shortened to 22 inches or less at the price of increasing the thickness of the weapon from a nominal 1.5 inches to 4 inches.  However, nothing screams long-gun like the length.

Removing the bolt extension, which is held in place by two oiled O-rings, renders the gun useless.  Storing the gun in one location and the bolt extension in a second gives you a high level of care some states and the media demand.  The bolt extension is relatively small and can be easily hidden and transported separately.  The bolt extension isn’t anything you can simply buy at a gun or sporting store.  The theft of the non-functional rifle or access by unauthorized people provides you with an additional firewall. 

The extra weight is insignificant, considering all the dots, light, and other features we hang on our rifle.

Simply slip the bolt extension in place and close the hinge and the rifle is fully functional.  Additional tools are not required.

I didn’t have any problem with the hinge.  It didn’t affect my cheek weld or hand placement.  In the slung position, it did ‘grab’ at tactical bras, shooting vest, and clothing, but no more than the rest of the rifle.  In none of my activities: transitioning to sidearm, going prone, shooting from barricade or bench, did the hinge get in my way?

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it.  There are a few bumps to be considered.  The upper can’t be pivoted on the front receiver pivot pin until the hinge is opened and the bolt extension removed.  There is an additional step if you typically pull the bolt carrier for a quick clean and lube in the field.  Lose the bolt extension in mud, deep snow, or overboard and your rifle is converted to a single shot, hard to load, manual action gun.

If you normally transport your rifle with an empty chamber indicator, you will not be able to do that with the stock folded.  An internal catch prevents the charging handle from cycling the bolt carrier or locking the bolt carrier back.  It is possible to override the catch, but it could result in you losing both the bolt carrier and bolt extension.  That changes your rifle into an expensive tomato stake.  Inserting the ECI and then attempting to fold the stock is prevented because the bolt extension and possibly the carrier are spanning the hinge point.  This prevents the hinge from folding.

Is this a modification that is defensible in court? 

Look, I write a blog on guns and tactics, not law, so this is my opinion.  Anything that makes a gun safer is generally defensible in court.  The proprietary nature of the hinge requires you to know that the bolt extension must be present and the hinge closed to function the gun.  This may seem obvious to you, but this information is not obvious to the gun thief or unauthorized person. 

  

This modification does not make the gun easier or faster to fire, it simply makes transportation easier.  Frankly. the argument that ‘more concealable’ is somehow linked to facilitating criminal intent is sheer mendacity.  I would remind you that simply pulling two pins in the lower allows you to separate upper and lower into a 24-inch package.

I like the Sylvan Arms AR Folding adapter.  It is a solution to specific questions.  “What can I do, without involving BATF, to make my rifle less conspicuous and easier to store?  The second and possibly unintended question is “What can I do to render my rifle harmless and safe but quickly usable?”

The answer to both is the SA AR Folding Stock Adaptor.