From Mike Westra
I am more of a pistol guy than a rifle guy so when I decided to build an AR pistol I was debating how I should set it up. I knew there were features on my regular rifle that I wanted to incorporate into it like my angled fore grip and back-up iron sights but how to put that all that onto the smaller platform wasn’t quite clear.
While building my 300BLK pistol I thought I would install my angled fore grip from my rifle and quickly found it was too big and bulky for my compact lightweight gun, hogging nearly the entire bottom of the handguard. Disappointed by the AFG and with a myriad of options I was unsure where to look for a viable replacement. Luckily for me I have friends in the gun industry that turned me onto the Tyrant CNC HALO AR Handstop.
The HALO appeared to be exactly what I was looking for, small, lightweight (only 0.9oz), and it allows me to get an improved grip on my gun. The HALO has not been out for long, only a week or two so there were not a lot of reviews on it.
Unboxing upon arrival I noticed a few things. The HALO is very light, adding virtually no weight to the gun which combined with its small profile makes it ergonomic and unobtrusive in a backpack, on, or near me as it usually is. The finish was smooth and sleek black. I love the skeletonized look, very minimalist yet sharp looking. The HALO does not care if I am a KeyMod guy or an MLOK guy (unless you specify). When you open the box you will see the hand stop, a wrench, and a couple fasteners. The fasteners included allow it to be mounted to either the MLOK or KeyMod foregrip. The HALO is truly a one piece fits any gun type of part which takes the hesitation out of ordering or the need to order two just for different handguards.
NOTE: You want to make sure you don’t lose the supplied wrench. Instead of using a standard Allen wrench they use a ball driver wrench for proper installation. Why does this matter? Well the HALO cannot be installed with your normal Allen wrench, I tried and it just won’t engage the screw due to the angles. I’d suggest adding a small hole in the bottom of the hand stop to insert a regular allen wrench but I understand that the more you add to the manufacturing process the more the cost goes up and can’t speak to the structural viability of that change. In the future I may drill my own access hole to make installation and removal easier. The handstop installed just fine with the supplied wrench, about 5 minutes of setting it up for KeyMod and I was off and running.
I worked on some dry fire drills in my house to test the position and feel of the hand stop and only made one adjustment. Right away it gave me the capabilities of an angled fore grip that I was looking for without the bulk. The concern of its small size metal construction biting into my hand during live fire was quickly put to rest too. The HALO allowed me to get a quick repeatable grip on my firearm even while drawing it from the backpack. Its positioning kept my hand away from the hot muzzle while giving me the control to advance around corners and to the targets. Running a few CQB drills I used it as a barricade stop for bracing my shots to great effect.
The HALO is a very versatile accessory that could be put to good use on any platform that utilizes MLOK or KeyMod rail systems. Next time I take it out I am going to get out the shot timer, I feel the HALO gave me better control allowing me to shoot quicker and more accurately. The shot timer will allow me to see just how much more efficient I am with my new accessory. The HALO’s lightweight, great styling ergoonomics, its ability to fit multiple platforms, and a very reasonable price make it a win in my book. A quick search online does not show many retailers, but again they were just released. You can order them from Tyrant, MSRP is 44.95. I will soon be replacing my AFG on my rifle with the Tyrant CNC HALO. If you can find one I highly recommend giving it a try.
