Gun Writer Mike Searson reviews the Slide Fire SSAR-15 Bump Fire Stock and burns up some ammo for fun.
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- Our favorite way to shoot has always been full-auto.
We didn’t grow up hunting rabbits or quail or using firearms of any type until the day we joined the USMC. So while we were a little behind the curve at 17, we made up for it by being trained by some of the best shooters on the face of the earth and in using full automatic weapons.
Sadly, we were 16 years old the day that new machinegun ownership was banned for civilian shooters by the 1986 “Firearm Owner Protection Act” (FOPA).
As a resident of NYC, we were old enough to know we were screwed, but too young to do anything about it.
FOPA was supposed to be a good thing in allowing firearm owners safe passage through states with draconian gun laws and eliminating having to show ID to purchase ammunition.
The pro-gun side saw this as a win and vowed to fight to repeal the “Hughes Amendment” that was passed in the dead of the night by charlatan hucksters like Charles Rangel and his ilk.
As states like California slime their way around FOPA by making people register to purchase ammunition and other northeastern states look to imprison travelers for having legally owned pistols in their cars, nothing has been done to strike Hughes in the 30 years since its questionable passage into law.
While a pre-86 transferable M16 approaches $25,000 in value (considering Colt was selling them for $650 back then), hundreds of thousands of shooters who never served in the military or know someone who owns a machinegun will never get to enjoy one of life’s simplest pleasures. https://youtu.be/x0f7OCnrrpk
Slide Fire SSAR-15 Bump Fire Stock
Slidefire Solutions has come up with a way to closely replicate this without the need to buy a rifle that costs more than your car or deal with the NFA (National Firearms Act) with their Slide Fire SSAR-15 Mod Bump Fire Stock.
This is not a bump fire gimmick that forces you to shoot from the hip. The SSAR-15 allows the shooter to fire accurately from the shoulder, use your sights to maintain control of the rifle. Best of all, it has ATF approval, as it does not make any changes to the trigger or fire control group, and has all the fun and feel of a pricey automatic weapon.
Slide Fire SSAR-15 Bump Fire Stock ~ The Good
Installation is simple and requires replacing your existing rifle’s pistol grip with an Interface Block. This resembles the top half-inch of your existing grip and retains the selector detent and spring.
We advise measuring before installation as we ended up having to shorten our selector detent spring by 2 coils in order to get our selector to work.
The Slidefire stock simply slides over your buffer tube and is secured by a locking pin attached to the stock.
Once installed it is a rather good looking arrangement and can be used in a locked position where you fire it like a regular rifle or unlocked where you keep your finger against a rest and let the rifle move back and forth under recoil.
Granted, it is not as fast as full auto fire, but it is close enough to nave a little fun with it.
Slide Fire SSAR-15 Bump Fire Stock ~ The Bad
It took us some time (and a lot of ammo) to be able to get the hang of it. We kept trying to work the trigger like we normally do and at one point almost gave up in frustration as our own ability to rapid fire seemed better than trying to bump fire the rifle.
A friend pointed us in the right direction, by demonstrating how the shooter needs to hold his finger straight and rigid against the rest and let the trigger hit it under recoil…doh.
Once we got this down, we were happy with the results.
We put this personal learning curve issue under the “Bad” section because it was the only flaw we saw in this setup and it had everything to do with us and not Slidefire. So if you are used to bump firing and mag dumping, you should have no issues, if you are more of a disciplined rifle shooter, note the slight learning curve.
Slide Fire SSAR-15 Bump Fire Stock ~ The Reality
While you won’t see Navy SEALs using these anytime soon or see them taking the three-gun scene by storm, the Slidefire SFAR-15 Stock performs as advertised and really works well. We mounted ours on a spare Anderson lower that was collecting dust and we tried a number of upper receivers on it. Once we figured out how to let it do its thing we were completely happy with it.
Not everything needs to be tactical or serve the demands of a sport. Sometimes you just need to try something for the sheer fun of it.
About Mike Searson
Mike Searson’s career as a shooter began as a Marine Rifleman at age 17. He has worked in the firearms industry his entire adult life as a Gunsmith, Ballistician, Consultant, Salesman, Author and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1989.
Mike has written over 2000 articles for a number of magazines, websites, and newsletters including Blade, RECOIL, OFF-GRID, Tactical Officer, SWAT, Tactical World, Gun Digest, Examiner.com and the US Concealed Carry Association as well as AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.
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