James Burton

Photo via @jfcomfort In an industry obsessed with innovation, one company delivering one of the most ground-breaking products in the past decade has been Law Tactical. Their Law Tactical AR Folding Stock Adapter has changed the form factor of the AR, allowing it to go places and do things that were previously impossible. To learn more about Law Tactical, their adapter and what’s next , we reached out to the company and its founder... Q: For starters, can you tell us a bit about your background and where this idea came from? Law Tactical: My background is with the Secret Service. About half of my time there was spent at the counter-sniper team, and that’s where the concept for the Law Tactical Folder came from. It’s where I originally had the idea. At the time, we were issued the Knight’s Armament Mk11 Mod 0, a variant of the Knight’s Armament SR-25…and for whatever reason, we were issued M4 bags with them. "At the time, we were issued the Knight’s Armament Mk11" So, I would find myself climbing up ladders, going up cages, or whatever it may be, getting into position, and I’ve got a gun where the entire stock of the rifle doesn’t fit in the bag. The bag would instead zip up around it. So, I had a bolt gun strapped to my back and the SR-25 on my front, in a bag that was unzipping as I’m trying to climb ladders. So, the original idea came from necessity, as most ideas do. "I would find myself climbing up ladders, going up cages, or whatever it may be..." Q: How did it go from an idea to something tangible? Law Tactical: That original idea was simply “this rifle could use a folding stock” and me realizing that there was no such option. The reality was, for an AR-based recoil system, there was simply no folder available. The only things that had been done all had to do with changing the recoil system completely… whether that was moving it above the barrel like an AK, or doing some completely different system. There was no simple accessory that could be added that would address my needs. The truth is, we’re not looking to be “game changers” but we are looking to give you more capability. How much capability you can get from it, it’s really up to you. What can you now do that you have a folding stock weapon that you couldn’t do before? Law Tactical "Well, Why Can't We?" It was around this same time that I actually had a friend casually mention “I want to get a folding stock for my AR.” Well, I laughed and said “you can’t.” He came back and asked “why can’t you?” And that really got me thinking “well…why can’t we?” At that point I started thinking a lot about “how could we do this, if we wanted to do this?” And as it turned out, he had a family friend who had a machine shop. And so, getting in touch with them is what started the development process of what would become the Law Tactical AR Folding Stock Adapter. We converted my initial drawings into a schematic- type drawing which I then had a professional draftsman come in and refine a bit further. Then we started breaking down each component of that drawing. It was like “ok, so we have this part, how can it be better? We have this other part…how can it be better?” From Prototype to Gen 1 And we did that over and over and over again. And, after a lot of refinements, we looked at what we had, and I said, “I think we have enough here…let’s run some prototypes.” And those prototypes we created were the Gen 1’s…Our original, all-aluminum prototypes that came from those original drawings…drawings I had done on just a whiteboard originally. Prototype Gen 1 Q: Were there any challenges that you ran into during the prototype phase? Law Tactical: I would say that while it all sounds like smooth sailing, looking back there were some major hurdles along the development process. There were several times where I felt like we were stuck, asking just how are we going to make this part work? How are we going to make that work? The other big concern I had was just how do I keep it as simple as possible? As it turns out, making something complex is easy. Making it simple is what’s difficult. And with the Law Tactical AR Folding Stock Adapter, having it automatically lock into place, not having any latches, buttons or switches to bring it into operation…that simplicity was the first key piece of having a viable product…with the second thing having it be an actual decent piece of equipment. Production prototype Gen 1 installed on an SBR... Q: So, it had to be simple and it had to be ultra-reliable. Clearly you succeeded, but I can just imagine how many different tweaks it would take to get something like this just right. Law Tactical: We had plenty of things that didn’t work. I could show you plenty of different versions of the product that failed along the way before we got it right, it’s very easy to get it wrong. Q: What kinds of things did you change with the early models? Law Tactical: The Gen 2 Law Tactical AR Folding Stock Adapter, which was really the first commercial version…well, with that one, we learned very quickly that we could not just use aluminum. We had to use a combination of aluminum and steel for load-bearing surfaces. So, right there, in our own testing, we were finding where quality needed to be improved before we actually ever released it. To test, we had thousands and thousands of rounds fired on a dozen weapons systems internally, but then we were also handing out samples to key people we could call “beta testers”. We had them run it as well and tell us their feedback. Q: What was that initial feedback like? Law Tactical: There was a lot of “why didn’t I think of that”, or “I had thought of something like this but I could never figure out how to make it practical” That was a lot of the response. Other responses we received helped us form what would eventually become the Law Tactical AR Folding Stock Adapter Gen 3. These responses were the things that people didn’t like about it. Q: So, in regards to the Gen 2...what kinds of things needed improvement according to that early feedback? Law Tactical: A big example was the hinge position. People would rack the system and scrape their knuckles on the high hinge. The bolt carrier extension was also a major issue for people. The Gen 2 they were testing had a screw you had to tighten, so it required a tool for maintenance. "People would rack the system and scrape their knuckles on the high hinge." Photo via Jerking the Trigger And then the last big thing was people wanted to be able to fire it while it was folded. Well obviously, the AR system was not designed to do that and with an aluminum housing, we had an intentional weak point where it could deform and lock itself out so you couldn’t use it if you tried to repeatedly fire it folded. This was done to avoid a catastrophic failure of the system. But from direct feedback, people were like “if I do this intentionally or unintentionally, I simply cannot have it lock me out of using the weapon.” So that’s where the Gen 3 concept came from. Now, I will say that we knew most of these feedback points, but having them repeated back to us by others helped us go towards the Gen 3, which was really the product that blew up for us. Q: So, walk us through the Law Tactical AR Folding Stock Adapter Gen 3… Law Tactical: The Law Tactical AR Folding Stock Adapter Gen 3 was an all-steel construction. And with the Gen 3, we listened to feedback and we lowered the hinge position. We also redesigned the geometry of the blocking finger which is the piece that holds the carrier and the extension in place while it is folded. This allowed the use of a symmetrical bolt carrier extension…one that could be twisted in and twisted out without any tools. Information sheet on the older Gen 3 Law Tactical AR Folding Stock Adapter...The current model is the Gen 3-M. And then with the all-steel construction and a sacrificial piece on the bolt carrier extension, it allowed us to be able to sustain fire while folded. We never show it being fired while folded because the weapon system itself was never intended to do that, even though all of our components have been built to sustain it. Now, there have been others who do it. There’s one particular video where a guy goes through an entire magazine, firing one at a time, folding it, firing it, unfolding it, racking it, folding it, firing it. He actually did it one hundred times. So, we did all the internal testing…the same process of beta testing where we sent it out to others for feedback before releasing the Gen 3, with the idea of taking care of all of those people who said “I like it...but” with the Gen 2. Q: So, the Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter Gen 3 is released…what was that initial wave of feedback like at that point? Was it well-received or was there skepticism at first? Law Tactical: I think the biggest concern of people with the Law Tactical AR Folding Stock Adapter is “Why do I want this?” It was very interesting how many people didn’t think they wanted it or needed it until we showed them different applications of how they could use it. Then, all of a sudden, it became a “must have.” Just the fact that you can fit it into a smaller bag for transport and storage. Motorcycle units were also very interested, which is something we never even thought about. They could now have a rifle type weapon system locked in the hard case of their motorcycle. "They could now have a rifle type weapon system locked in the hard case of their motorcycle. " Photo used with permission of S.W.A.T. Magazine. Also, with the advent and popularity of the AR pistol, now people could transport in their vehicle or depending on the laws of their state, they could now potentially carry an AR under their concealed carry permit and adding our folder gave that portability that they didn’t have before. It’s really “what application can you come up with?” "It’s really “what...