GL-Shock PCP AR-15 Buttstock

I’m the first to admit that I’ve become an AR-15 addict. I have multiple ARs in different configurations and there are several uppers gracing the top front edge of my desk as I write this. The AR-15 is the most versatile firearm system designed by man. With that said, I don’t really like their ergonomics. I fail to understand the validity of the charging handle working from the left side. I think the bolt release is probably the least convenient location it could possibly be placed, and I continually have problems getting a proper cheek weld in the prone position.

There are companies who have tried to address this problem and I have tried a couple of their solutions. The one that looks best on paper and works the worst is the Magpul PRS stock. It has a click-adjustable cheek-piece elevation and length of pull but it simply doesn’t work for me. The cheek-piece adjustment is painfully slow and doesn’t go forward enough to really work well in prone position (or at least, in my prone position) and the length of pull adjustment is only one inch and also painfully slow.

I have made foam pads and taped them to A2-style stocks, and this works fairly well. They look a little tacky, but the AR-15 isn’t exactly a work of art anyway. For last year’s National High Power Rifle Championship, I shot the Any Sight/Tactical class and used a homemade pad, Velcro-strapped onto an excellent Rock River Service Rifle with a Bushnell Elite Tactical scope. This worked well because I could shoot standing with the plain stock and add the pad for sitting and prone.

But while tape and Velcro might be marginally effective, there’s got to be better “formal” solutions. I recently got an email from ZFI-Inc about their GL-Shock PCP AR-15 stock. Soon after receiving the email, I had one of my own to test out.

The GL-Shock is a mil-spec reinforced composite polymer stock with a recoil-reducing mechanism with a built-in premium silicon chrome alloy spring. The spring mechanism can absorb excessive recoil, with about 3/4-inch of spring-loaded travel. There are Picatinny rails on both sides of the stock just in front of the adjustment screws for an adjustable elevated cheek-piece. The five-position cheek-piece is short enough to allow use of the charging handle at the middle position.

The buttpad is generous in size and made of ribbed, non-skid rubber and has a watertight battery storage compartment that will hold two CR123A or AA batteries. There are also integrated QD sling swivel connectors on both sides of the stock.

On the range, I really liked it. The GL-Shock works better than the Magpul CTR that came on my Colt CRP-18, and the CTR is my favorite of the M4-type telescoping stocks. With the stock fully extended and the cheekpiece in the middle positon, I could shoot standing and get my head down enough to get a full sight picture on the scope. In a low prone position, where my head normally bobbles around, I could get a firm cheek weld for a truly solid position. This would be a great stock for 3-Gun, a designated marksman event, or for long-range shooting. In short, it works for everything and does a great job. I like the way the CTR locks up better, but the GL-Shock works really well.

Lewis Creek Shooting School

Dick Jones is an award winning outdoor writer and a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Board of Directors. He writes for four North Carolina Newspapers as well as regional and national magazines. He’s hunted and fished most of his life but shooting has been his passion. He’s a former High Master, Distinguished Rifleman, and AAA class pistol shooter. He holds four Dogs of War Medals for Team Marksmanship as shooter, captain and coach. He ran the North Carolina High Power Rifle Team for six years and the junior team two years after that. Within the last year, he’s competed in shotgun, rifle and pistol events including the National Defense Match and the Bianchi Cup. He’ll be shooting the Bianchi, the NDM, the National High Power Rifle Championship, The Rock Castle AR15.com Three Gun Championship and an undetermined sniper match this shooting season.

He lives in High Point, North Carolina with his wife Cherie who’s also an outdoor writer and the 2006 and 2011 Northeast Side by Side Women’s Shotgun Champion. Both Dick and Cherie are NRA pistol, rifle, and shotgun instructors and own Lewis Creek Shooting School.