{"id":100168,"date":"2019-03-15T15:08:26","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T19:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=100168"},"modified":"2019-03-15T15:08:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T13:53:02","slug":"ag-composites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/ag-composites\/","title":{"rendered":"AG Composites: The Best Carbon Fiber Stocks You’ve Never Heard Of"},"content":{"rendered":"

While many companies launch huge marketing campaigns and tout the greatness of their products long before the first one ever comes off a manufacturing line, AG Composites is not one of these companies.<\/p>\n

AG Composites is a veteran-owned small business located just outside of Huntsville, AL, one of the US\u2019s fastest-growing tech centers and a city that at one time had the highest engineer per capita in the country.\u00a0<\/span>As a NASA, defense, and aerospace-centric city, it\u2019s no surprise to find a large number of high tech manufacturers here.<\/p>\n

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Barrett Fieldcraft with the AG Composites stock.<\/p><\/div>\n

However, AG Composites has quietly spent 5 years making and delivering hundreds of lightweight carbon fiber stocks a month to custom gun builders and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). The stealth at which they have done this surprised me greatly, as I have a friend who lives within a mile of AG and I live within 15 miles of them and neither of us was aware of their existence.<\/p>\n

I only discovered them while searching the internet for a carbon fiber stock to lighten up one of my hunting rifles. As someone who has been in or around the industry for years, I was a bit shocked to find them in my hometown right under my nose.<\/p>\n

I unknowingly had inspected and admired one of AG’s stocks last year when I evaluated and reviewed the very popular Barrett Fieldcraft rifle. I thought highly of the design, fit and finish, and though I didn\u2019t write it or ask, I did wonder where the stock came from as I would have liked one for my lightweight western hunting rifle.<\/p>\n

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Lots of knowledge and labor are required to make this carbon fiber material into a rifle stock.<\/p><\/div>\n

Yep, you heard that right. AG Composites makes all the stocks for the award-winning Barrett Fieldcraft rifles. Barrett a major force in the military, hunting and modern sporting rifle markets chose AG\u2019s stocks for their debut hunting rifle. Barrett isn\u2019t the only name you\u2019ll recognize that uses AG stocks in the production of top of the line rifles.<\/p>\n

Proof Research, a dominating force in the lightweight carbon fiber wrapped barrel market chose an AG manufactured Stocky\u2019s VG2 stock for their top of the line Switch rifle. Now that\u2019s a pretty solid endorsement of your quality and deliver when the country\u2019s top carbon fiber barrel manufacturer uses your carbon fiber stocks.<\/p>\n

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Texturing\u00a0added to stock grip and forend for added traction.<\/p><\/div>\n

Kimber is another name I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard of that uses AG Composite stocks for one of their models. They use an AG stock on their lightweight Open Country Rifle. Bergara also uses AG stocks on several models of its rifles. So it\u2019s quite possible you too have seen an admired an AG stock and just never knew it before.<\/p>\n

AG has been there in the shadows, silently filling a need in the market, answering the call for quality carbon fiber stocks, hiding in plain sight. Years of hard work, thousands of stocks, plenty of lessons learned and process improvements have made them a stock maker of choice by industry leaders.<\/p>\n

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One of the camo pattern colors available.<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to providing hundreds of stocks to manufacturers, AG provides stocks to custom builders. Unlike some larger manufacturers that are victims to their own success, AG still has delivery times in weeks rather than months\u2019, making for much faster builds for the gunsmiths and shooters.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately AG doesn\u2019t offer all the options and models that some stock makers do, but this is in part how they maintain their fast delivery times in addition to all the OEM stocks produced.\u00a0 <\/span>Rather than offering as many options and models and working on one-off designs, they focus on building quality products that meet the needs of the many rather than the few, but they are expanding their line.<\/p>\n

So if they offer what you are needing it\u2019s you that are fortunate. They currently offer 3 styles of carbon fiber stocks available for the custom builder: the Carbon All Terrain (CAT), the Alpine Hunter and the Prairie Hunter.<\/p>\n

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Polishing one of the many molds used in the stock making process.<\/p><\/div>\n

The CAT is a traditionally styled hunting stock with a Monte Carlo cheek piece and a shorter forend to keep down weight. The Alpine Hunter has a more pronounced vertical pistol grip and a bit less drop on the rear of the stock, making for a straighter recoil impulse and easier scope alignment. The Prairie Hunter is similar to the Alpine but has a wider flatter forend.<\/p>\n

The inletting is primarily focused on the ever-popular Remington 700 style and similar OEM actions. However, they are working on accommodating additional manufacturer\u2019s actions and have seven additional stock designs in process.<\/p>\n

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CNC milling machine at work indicating in a stock prior to inletting.<\/p><\/div>\n

State of the art CNC machines are used for in-house mold making and stock inletting. A rigid quality assurance program provides checks along the manufacturing process and ensures only high-quality products are leaving the facility.<\/p>\n

Stocks can be had in a variety of camo patterns, colors or in solid colors. All the processes from initial cutting of the carbon fiber fabric through paint and final QA checks are performed in-house by the dedicated team.<\/p>\n

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QA fit testing a stock before final release.<\/p><\/div>\n

The good news is that AG Composites will soon be expanding its operations to include consumer direct sales. They will be beefing up the website to allow everyone to purchase their high-quality carbon fiber stocks with no middleman in late 2018. Retail pricing information isn\u2019t available at this time but it is planned to be competitive within the carbon fiber market.<\/p>\n

If AG Composite stocks are good enough for Barrett, Proof, and Kimber, I think they are worth checking out when you are looking to lighten up your current rifle or have a place in your next custom build. Check out AG Composites products on their website here and stop by booth 1816 at the SHOT show.<\/p>\n

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Carbon All Terrain stocked rifle (photo by AG Composites).<\/p><\/div>\n

Visit AG Composites to learn more by clicking HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Check out the AG stocked rifles for sale on GunsAmerica at these links:<\/p>\n