James Burton

With counterfeit LAW Tactical Folding Stock Adapters becoming more prevalent online while demand is at an all-time high, we reached out to the guys at LAW Tactical to set the record straight about the knock-offs currently flooding the market. In case you missed it....Please take the time to check out our original article on the LAW Tactical Folding Stock Adapter...we take an exclusive look at the process by which this innovative product came to market. Q: Let's first briefly address why the LAW Tactical Folding Stock Adapter has its reputation. Law Tactical - Years of development and tens of thousands of dollars in testing, research, and refinement were involved in getting us to where we are today with our LAW Tactical Gen 3 M version. Both in-house, third-party, and practical field experience got us to the part that we have now. There is no substitute for using products and refining them, and we've done both. We've had the internal testing, the external testing, and with the NSN number that we spoke about in our first conversation, military testing. The result of all this is a reliable and useful piece of equipment that you can count on. Now, I can't say that we're perfect, but we take care of it immediately if we ever do have an issue. That's the way we do things. Q: So, can you talk about what's been occurring on some corners of the internet regarding knock-offs? Law Tactical - For years now, there has been a copy of our LAW Tactical Gen 1, which was never even commercially available. That is an airsoft counterfeit knock-off of our adapter. There are a few different versions of it now, but they are all generally the same. Some have our exact old markings, saying "Patent Pending," "Close Before Firing," and "LAW Tactical." They are illegal counterfeits because they say they're made in the USA when they are made in China. They also say "Patent Pending" and "LAW Tactical," both of which are untrue. There is now a new counterfeit LAW Tactical Folding Stock Adapter where it is the same design but with laser engraving. The counterfeiters use a facsimile of our logo, our patent number, and again saying, "Made in the USA." None of that is true. The big thing with these is, not only are these Chinese counterfeits, so you know what you are dealing with in regards to quality, but they are designed for airsoft toy guns. They were never even created by the counterfeiter to work on a real firearm. Unfortunately, we now have people selling them and marketing them for use on actual guns…for a part that your face is fitting directly against. There have been several failures of these parts. There have been catastrophic failures with injuries reported. Many parts don't always fit right, so people modify them, which is even more dangerous. So, all the legal stuff aside if you buy a Chinese knock off you are not only hurting U.S. companies and jobs, you are also putting a toy on your firearm and are putting your gun and yourself in danger. "They were never even created by the counterfeiter to work on a real firearm. Unfortunately, we now have people selling them and marketing them for use on actual guns…for a part that your face is fitting directly against...you are now dealing with a part that has moving components that interact with your recoil system directly next to your face" LAW Tactical Q: In posting your warning about counterfeit LAW Tactical Folding Stock Adapters, I had a few commenters fail to see the big deal in using airsoft parts. I'd like to think they were joking, but I'm not so sure… Law Tactical - That is the problem. Let's say you use an airsoft rail cover… I'm not endorsing this, and you shouldn't, but what's the worst that can happen? It can fall off or break in your hand. Maybe it cuts you if it shatters in your hand. Not good, but not as bad as it could be. With a LAW Tactical Adapter though, you are now dealing with a part that has moving components that interact with your recoil system directly next to your face. It's like putting bicycle brakes on your car. Yes, they will work for a bit, but then they will burn out, and you are going to crash. That's what happens with these systems. They are a pot metal aluminum design. They will strip out. It's not a matter of "if" but when. We've seen the buffer retaining pins on the knock-offs break almost immediately because they are a half-sized pin that is not Mil-spec. Photo via shortbarrelshepard.com Also, The bolt carrier extension can turn during operation, which will catch and jam the firearm. The Q.D. on the bottom can also strip out. I mention these, but these are all minor things. Your weapon has failed, but you're OK as long as you are not using it in a life-or-death situation. The biggest problem with counterfeit LAW Tactical Folding Stock Adaptersis the locking lug. The locking lug or locking latch will strip out. It happens to all of these counterfeits because they are crappy aluminum. Even if it was a good quality aluminum, it would still occur. Aluminum is just not suited for that function. When it does strip out, the firearm will break open while you are firing it. This is an issue when you have your face right next to it. If you are left-handed, it can be even more disastrous. Photo via Presscheck Consulting Q: So, to someone out there on the internet who asks, "what's the big deal with a counterfeit LAW Tactical Folding Stock adapter?" …what do you say to that? Law Tactical - The big deal is that you are going to damage your firearm and possibly yourself. It also hurts our company and the people that work for us and the industry as a whole. If someone is out at a range and it inevitably breaks, people look at that broken counterfeit and think that LAW Tactical is junk when we are far from that. The effort that goes into our quality control and customer service gets undone by somebody that wants to cheap out and buy a piece of junk because they think "what's the big deal?" Q: What's the best way to avoid a knock-off? Law Tactical - It's really very simple…if it's too good to be true, then it is. If someone is selling something for under 100 bucks, it's not a real adapter. It's that simple. People balk at the price of our adapter, but people pay 100 dollars for a muzzle brake if you think about it. That muzzle brake is a single piece that is affixed to your barrel that has no moving parts. The LAW Tactical Folding Stock Adapter has seven moving pieces, two springs, additional hardware and must interact with your recoil system. That's where the expense comes into play. So, the biggest thing I can point out is the price point. If it is too good to be true, it's not true. It's counterfeit. LAW Tactical Folding Stock Adapter. $269.99 at Brownells Prices accurate at time of writing View Details Buy from a reputable dealer. If it's a dealer you know, then it's good-to-go. It's going to be a real part. With this latest knock-off, it takes you to a site that you've never heard of, and everything they sell does not show any brand names, that's a tip-off. For example, if you go to the website that they have up now if you go to their RMR section of the site, they blur out "Trijicon." That's a clue that this place is shady. As a consumer, you've got to use your head. If it's a 59 dollar knock-off that's somehow less expensive than a muzzle brake that's a single piece, you know something is wrong. If it's cheaper than your arm brace, there's something wrong. People spend more than that on their grip, yet they think they got a "great deal" on a LAW Tactical product. Q: A guy on our Facebook page just commented that he bought a knock-off for $30, and it worked just fine. What do you say to someone like that? Law Tactical - It probably does work fine for that one range trip where you shot one magazine. But what about the next trip to the range, or when your child is shooting it? What about the time when you need to depend on your firearm, and it fails on you? A counterfeit LAW Tactical Folding Stock Adapter will fail. It's not if, but when. It will fail. LAW + JP Silent Capture Q: I know that the LAW Tactical Folder has been hard to come by lately… It's a very hot item. Can you talk about how things have been going production-wise? Law Tactical - Across the industry, there has been unprecedented demand. Between COVID and civil unrest, it has been non-stop over the past several months. We do give priority to our government sales, which have increased as well, but we have not stopped or decreased production at all during this time. Almost daily, we get people asking if our products have been discontinued and when we will start making them again. I can assure you there has been no stop. We are at the highest production level we have ever been to, yet we still cannot meet the current demand. Our recommendation is to place a backorder. We have many dealers that tell us that when they do get them in, they are gone in a day. Customers say they've been waiting three months and cannot get one. If they had placed a backorder at their favorite dealer, they would have gotten one three times over by now. So, place the backorder. If you wait until they are in stock, you are competing with a thousand other people who got the same "notify me" email simultaneously. ###