The Gear Head Works Tailhook line of pistol braces (reviewed here) has proven extremely popular, showing up on factory non-NFA handguns from dozens of manufacturers. What’s more, the aftermarket has responded by creating adapters for mounting a Tailhook to all sorts of different firearms. One common option involves connecting a Tailhook MOD 1 to a collapsible wire stock, but this has always involved a custom adapter. The MOD 3 seeks to solve that…

In effect, the Gear Head Works Tailhook MOD 3 is a MOD 1 with a bit more meat on the front. This allows a wire stock to be inserted directly into it and clamped down. No more middleman brace adapter.

Instead of clamping to the receiver extension (buffer tube), it’s now drilled to slide over the top of the tube. This allows the stock LOP to be collapsed down without concern of the receiver extension getting in the way.

Otherwise, it’s the same USA-made Gear Head Works Tailhook MOD 1 brace you know and love.

No official ETA or price yet — still in late prototype phase as seen here, but it’s close. Time to put it on your wishlist. 

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20 COMMENTS

  3. Is that whole PDW buffer assembly made by Gear Head Works? I just dropped way too much on the Maxim Defense/SB Tactical version because I wanted the JP Silent Capture Spring for a really short 300BLK pistol. If this Tailhook is compatible with the Maxim Defense assembly then I may drop even more money to use the Tailhook instead of the SB Tactical brace that came with the Maxim Defense.

  4. An arm brace on a CZ Scorpion is legal as a pistol, and can be shouldered, but a Glock with a brace requires an SBR stamp?

      • “There is no understanding; there is only acceptance.”

        Pardon my (admittedly vast) ignorance, but what’s the logic with OK on a CZ, but not on a Glock?

        • Technically a pistol brace on a Glock would be fine too, I suspect. Though that’s just a guess, a pistol is a pistol, regardless if it’s a big heavy AR-15 platform pistol (or CZ), or a “normal” pistol like a Glock. The issue is simply that it can’t have a feature that is designed to be used to shoulder the firearm (brace it against your body). But a brace that is designed to be used to brace it on your forearm is fine, and should be for any pistol unless I’m missing something. However, lots of folks seem to worry that unless your specific brace has been officially reviewed and approved by the ATF, you risk being charged if you use a “wildcat” brace, as it may be construed as a shoulder stock by the ATF.

        • Given that the “jackbooted thugs” at ATF can “unapproved” things faster than a menopausal woman can change her mind, does it matter what they say today?

    • You can buy carbine conversion kits for Glock pistols like the RONI that are fitted with a brace that are legal.

  5. Legit, for a long second I thought that was Jeremy Renner creeping at that AR.

  6. I have been really happy with my S&W M&P 15. (Repeat a dozen times)

    Mark today as the day I said to myself oh boy I think I want to build an AR with a collapsible wire stock.

  7. That guy looks like Randy Rowdy Piper getting hit in the head with a crutch

  8. To piggyback onto what Brandon stated above: If that was compatible with the Maxim, to be able to just change the brace part out, I’d pay extra $$$ just for that part.

  9. With their older mods costing $200, I’m not holding out for a reasonable price here. Also not sure why i’m paying $200 or more for a workaround to an SBR. I’m not fond letting the gov in on my business either, but I’m just as ambivalent at getting gouged for a piece of plastic taking advantage of said regulation.

    • I think the point is to keep it a pistol (vs. SBR) so you can legally conceal it (backpack or whatever) and you don’t have to worry over loaded rifle in vehicle laws (where applicable) – that’s my thinking, anyway. If SBRs could legally be considered pistols, it would be worth the stamp – otherwise, I just don’t see the point. Sixteen inches just isn’t very long, and for .300 blackout you could always pin a silencer or get an integrated barrel making it a one-stamp gun if you just had to have a stock on it. I’d rather have a .300bo pistol with a tailhook brace on a buffer tube with a law folding adapter and a removable silencer so the whole package packed is sub-20″ and still legally a pistol and is still ready to fire out of a backpack in a couple of seconds.

    • The point is not so much the price of the tax stamp. A good brace will easily cost you as much as that. It’s that you get around all of the restrictive NFA rules that come with an SBR. You don’t have to notify the ATF when you travel with it, you can carry and conceal it just like any other pistol, and you can transfer it to someone else without any of the NFA hassles. Not having to deal with NFA rules is easily worth the price of the brace.

  10. Here’s a little more background from the Gear Head Works site:

    The Gear Head Works Tailhook MOD 3 pistol brace is a patented stabilizer pistol brace design that uses a rigid foldout support arm to counterbalance muzzle weight. The Tailhook pistol stabilizing braces are operable with only one hand, being deployable with the touch of a button and do not require your arm to be affixed to it to function. The Tailhook is ATF approved.

    The Gear Head Works Tailhook MOD 1 features a billet machined design maximizes strength and rigidity while still being the most compact AR-15 pistol brace in the world at less than 1″ thick. The small footprint and light weight allows it to be adapted to countless host pistols. You are no longer required to use a buffer tube to mount a brace. Weighs 4.5 oz. and was the first AR pistol brace to incorporate a QD sling swivel.

    The Gear Head Works Tailhook Mod 2 was actually designed along side the Mod 1 arm brace at the same time to offer a different set of features, such as telescoping to 5 different positions. This allows a greater flexibility going from shooter to shooter to adjust on the fly to different arms. Made from high impact reinforced polymer, it remains light weight and rigid. Included with the brace is the proprietary buffer tube that accepts any carbine-length spring and buffer. Available in black (blk), flat dark earth (FDE), and OD green.

  11. I banged around on the gearheadworks.com website and saw GHW isn’t only a gun and Tailhook brace manufacturer. They make accessories for popular guns like the Tavor, AUG, cz scorpion evo, kriss vector, glock, mossberg shockwave, remington Tac shotguns and more. Plenty of magpul accessories, such as buttstocks with cheek rests and telescoping latch mechanisms. Makes turning a pistol into a pdw with a lot of brace functionality. Would need to compare it installed on a pistol buffer tube to an sb tactical sba3, sba4, maxim defense, or kak brace with different ammo.

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