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German manufacturer HERA Arms, whose parts are imported, distributed, and sold retail in the U.S. by LAN World, is about to release their CQR stock and forward grip for the AR platform, plus what appears to be a V2.0 of their AR-15 magazines.

The CQR stock is certainly a unique design, looking more like a precision bolt-action rifle stock (i.e. sniper-style stock) than a typical AR stock. Beyond the shape of the buttstock portion itself, this look is furthered by the fact that it includes the pistol grip all in one monolithic piece. Going by this photo, it appears to offer a handful of sling attachment points including a QD socket option, spacers to adjust length of pull, maybe a cheek piece riser, and some sort of storage compartment (edit: LAN World informed me that it’s a monopod area) on the bottom rear.

It will be available in black, FDE, and OD Green. Apparently this stock was designed for use by European NATO countries ramping up to deal with terrorist threats, and HERA currently has it in several military/police bids.

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But the unconventional aesthetics of the stock are at least matched by those of the forward grip, which definitely brings to mind the FN P90. No idea at this time if the ATF would consider it a “vertical forward grip” and therefore make it a no-no on a pistol, but we’ll work on running that down. It does appear to integrate a QD socket, clip point on the bottom, hand stop, and angled grip. From the visible bolt heads in the photo, it’s possible or likely that grip panel sections will be swappable.

Also seen in the photo above is a rear-on view of HERA’s new magazines. I like the look of putting the grip texture on the front and rear but not the sides, and the look of the flush-ish baseplate. Note the magazines are prominently marked “5.56 NATO” along the front of both sides and “CAL 5.56” along the bottom of both sides. If they manufacture a 300 BLK and maybe other specific caliber-marked versions in the future, I’ll be very interested.

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Left-side view. Clearly they’re planning on releasing a few colors. On a personal note, my 4-year-old daughter now likes to say “flat dark earth” when people ask her what her favorite color is. Haha, love it.

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Don’t worry, Californians and residents of other “ban states” that prohibit “assault weapons” “features” like a pistol grip. HERA has you covered, too. The simple addition of a solid plate in the triangular area behind the pistol grip makes it, well, no longer a pistol grip. The result is one of the least weird-looking “compliant” stocks I believe I’ve come across. Perhaps the best part is that this aluminum plate is removable should the owner leave that state or if the laws change (insha’allah).

Fancy, feature-rich German parts tend to carry impressively-high price tags. Apparently that isn’t the case here, though. LAN World says the MSRPs are to be as follows:

• CQR Stock: $119 for standard version, $124 for AWB-compliant version

• CQR Forward Grip: $39

Cool. TTAG will be borrowing a CQR set for review (and some new mags when they’re ready). Stay tuned.

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37 COMMENTS

  2. I bought a bunch of the mags to see how they work. I’ll be buying the stock and grip when they are available for my 20″ 5.56 paper puncher build.

    • The V2 mags aren’t for sale yet as far as I know. I believe in 2-3 weeks LAN World intends to start pre-orders for the stocks, but I was under the impression that the magazines won’t be ready for a few weeks more.

      …their original mag offering had some functional glitches, and apparently the V2 makes another step (beyond their V1.5) in solidifying performance…

  4. looks cool. but also looks heavy. I would think the whole point is the CA legal thing. besides that, I don’t see the point. (But I’m kinda old and boring these days, so take that with a grain of salt). with my wrists/tennis elbow, I like both grips being as vertical as possible… also lose my optional magwell hold. and my left hand would be lower on the barrel than I like it. but, again, I’m already set in my ways. It does look cool though.

  5. The mags look nice. The rest not for me. The front grip looks down right huge therefore probably heavy.

  8. Since you can wrap your thumb all the way around it, I am 90% sure they will rule it as a vertical grip.

  11. I’m surprised no one has thought of doing that on a thumb-hole stock before. Or at least I haven’t seen it. Nice to have more state-compliant options, anyway, but after the first round of Hera Arms magazines… I’d like to see the reviews first.

    • Yeah, a review(s) will come. We’ll be testing the mags pretty thoroughly (a lot of the ability to do that is thanks to CapArms providing TTAG with ammo, which greatly eases budget constraints and will let us put a really solid number of rounds through the mags). Apparently most or all of the issues with the first version of HERA mags were resolved with their V1.5 though. I believe those have received roundly positive reviews? These V2 ones are supposed to be even better, but of course the company would say that they’re more than competitive with the best mags on the market. We’ll try to get to the bottom of it 😉

  16. Help me understand this product. So the big selling point here is… it’s a polymer thumbhole stock!???? WUT?

  18. I like. How soon will it be available?
    Now that the witch is done, I’m ready to build me an SBR with this CQR stock. 😀

  21. Looking forward to the review of the stock and front grip. If there are no glaring faults, I plan on adding them to my AR57 which will make it resemble a P90.

    • Ya it looks rather ridiculous and bulky. I would be surprised if we didn’t see this in a bad scifi movie.

    • The front grip is pretty freakin’ huge. Not sure I’ll warm up to it. I like the look of the stock, though, and can definitely see using it on a build. Maybe it’ll go on the match-grade bullseye shooting AR build I’m completing in the next couple weeks. Rear monopod mount point makes it even more appealing for that use.

  24. The lanworldinc website currently lists 2 lbs for the buttstock and 1 lb for the foregrip… so, beefy…

  25. Any update on ATF determination regarding this being considered a VFG?

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