GT
02-20-2006, 07:24 PM
Be warned, the spelling is going to suck. I am on my gaming rig.
I just got my z grip today from an auction I won on ebay. I bought a whole mag with it so the price wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.
Intro
For those of you not familiar with the Z grip, it is an "ergonomic" grip for the classic railed automag as well as bango bolt driven RTs. AGD owns a patent, trademark, copyright, whosuhwhatsit for the desgin and has leased the design to another company to make a Z like frame for bushys. I can't remember the company's name but the frame wasnt that special. FYI (I think) AGD also owns the rights to any grip frame that passes the "vertical" or 90* frame. Which is probably why you don't see anyone else pimping a frame with anything more than 90* frame, but I digress.
AGD only made approxmatly 400 of the frames and then released a few "blem" frames through one of thier factory direct attic sales. Thus you will find some frames that have the AGD laser engraved logo and the name of the frame and some will be completly blank.
Cosmetics
A Z-grip is one of the few upgrades that can be added to any mag that instantly gives it the WTF? stare from the local n00bs. If you have one at the field, rest assured, your name will be remembered. These are pretty dam unique and attatched to a mag, which is little more than tube, makes a visual statement that is not soon forgotten. By itself it has a very late 80's robocop'ish look. Lots of hard angles and tons of aluminium. All of the Z-grips I have ever seen came from AGD as a dust black. Very simliar in color to AKA's vikings/excal and just about everything benchmark made back in the day (Whenever I see the dust black color all i can think of is a benchmark product, dunno why). If you have a micromag the z grip would match it perfectly and add to the "Freez creep!" 80's style of the micro.
Peformance? Ergonomics?
The z-grip has the exact same trigger feel as any good, read here AGD approved, trigger frames. The angle of the trigger or the frame do not give the user any better trigger feel. What it does do is provide a trigger location that allows the user to hold the 'mag while keeping thier wrist perpindicular to the ground, a more natural position. Essentially it places the wrist in a postion that is more comfortible.
Personal thoughts on the ergo:
I spent about an hour with different tanks, drops, stocks, and rails and I could not find a setup that fit me. I think I have played far to long with 45 style frames that it is diffucult for my body to relearn how a marker should feel. Part of the problem is that mags can sometimes be slightly back heavy. Back heavy is not a bad thing, in fact it allows you to snap shoot more quickly from a resting position. The Z seems to push the center axis foward enough that any unbalanced weight in the rear is projected rearward. This shouldn't be an issue for all ULE owner's, however those of you who have all ULE except an Xvalve will be chasing the back end of your rig all day. Combine that with a large 88ci+ stuby tank and you will be fighting not to shoot yourself in the chin all day long.
The ergo design also causes my wrist to come into contact with the ASA/reg area of a traditional bottomline setup. Usually with a 45 my wrist has just enough of an angle that it fits bewteen the tank and the reg.
Also note that the trigger is slightly longer than the 2x trigger located on the intelli frame. It seemed as if my fingers were searching endlessly for the two trigger beds. This would not be an issue if I had my gloves on.
On classic railed mags, to the best of my knowledge, cannont run a fore grip without cutting off the trigger frame, which is illegal at most fields.
Popularity or lack there of, improvements?
I have shot Z grip'd mags before. The differnce had been that all of them were running warps and tanks mounted to stellihtos or power angles (http://www.fbmfactory.com/) with large tanks, long 88's. This made for an extremely confortible fit combined with the warp as a pseudo-foregrip. I personally hate to carry 900 lbs of crap onto the field, e.g. warp and gaint tank. I think AGD could have sold many more of these if they a. offered thier own foregrip and foregrip extender and b. highly recommned them for users with large tanks and/or warps.
Additionally, an offer of an offset drop or rail combo would do greatly to sell Z-grips. Most compressed air tanks are larger than a c02 asa and require a 90* rotation so the wrist comes clear of the botomline setup.
Comments?
I just got my z grip today from an auction I won on ebay. I bought a whole mag with it so the price wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.
Intro
For those of you not familiar with the Z grip, it is an "ergonomic" grip for the classic railed automag as well as bango bolt driven RTs. AGD owns a patent, trademark, copyright, whosuhwhatsit for the desgin and has leased the design to another company to make a Z like frame for bushys. I can't remember the company's name but the frame wasnt that special. FYI (I think) AGD also owns the rights to any grip frame that passes the "vertical" or 90* frame. Which is probably why you don't see anyone else pimping a frame with anything more than 90* frame, but I digress.
AGD only made approxmatly 400 of the frames and then released a few "blem" frames through one of thier factory direct attic sales. Thus you will find some frames that have the AGD laser engraved logo and the name of the frame and some will be completly blank.
Cosmetics
A Z-grip is one of the few upgrades that can be added to any mag that instantly gives it the WTF? stare from the local n00bs. If you have one at the field, rest assured, your name will be remembered. These are pretty dam unique and attatched to a mag, which is little more than tube, makes a visual statement that is not soon forgotten. By itself it has a very late 80's robocop'ish look. Lots of hard angles and tons of aluminium. All of the Z-grips I have ever seen came from AGD as a dust black. Very simliar in color to AKA's vikings/excal and just about everything benchmark made back in the day (Whenever I see the dust black color all i can think of is a benchmark product, dunno why). If you have a micromag the z grip would match it perfectly and add to the "Freez creep!" 80's style of the micro.
Peformance? Ergonomics?
The z-grip has the exact same trigger feel as any good, read here AGD approved, trigger frames. The angle of the trigger or the frame do not give the user any better trigger feel. What it does do is provide a trigger location that allows the user to hold the 'mag while keeping thier wrist perpindicular to the ground, a more natural position. Essentially it places the wrist in a postion that is more comfortible.
Personal thoughts on the ergo:
I spent about an hour with different tanks, drops, stocks, and rails and I could not find a setup that fit me. I think I have played far to long with 45 style frames that it is diffucult for my body to relearn how a marker should feel. Part of the problem is that mags can sometimes be slightly back heavy. Back heavy is not a bad thing, in fact it allows you to snap shoot more quickly from a resting position. The Z seems to push the center axis foward enough that any unbalanced weight in the rear is projected rearward. This shouldn't be an issue for all ULE owner's, however those of you who have all ULE except an Xvalve will be chasing the back end of your rig all day. Combine that with a large 88ci+ stuby tank and you will be fighting not to shoot yourself in the chin all day long.
The ergo design also causes my wrist to come into contact with the ASA/reg area of a traditional bottomline setup. Usually with a 45 my wrist has just enough of an angle that it fits bewteen the tank and the reg.
Also note that the trigger is slightly longer than the 2x trigger located on the intelli frame. It seemed as if my fingers were searching endlessly for the two trigger beds. This would not be an issue if I had my gloves on.
On classic railed mags, to the best of my knowledge, cannont run a fore grip without cutting off the trigger frame, which is illegal at most fields.
Popularity or lack there of, improvements?
I have shot Z grip'd mags before. The differnce had been that all of them were running warps and tanks mounted to stellihtos or power angles (http://www.fbmfactory.com/) with large tanks, long 88's. This made for an extremely confortible fit combined with the warp as a pseudo-foregrip. I personally hate to carry 900 lbs of crap onto the field, e.g. warp and gaint tank. I think AGD could have sold many more of these if they a. offered thier own foregrip and foregrip extender and b. highly recommned them for users with large tanks and/or warps.
Additionally, an offer of an offset drop or rail combo would do greatly to sell Z-grips. Most compressed air tanks are larger than a c02 asa and require a 90* rotation so the wrist comes clear of the botomline setup.
Comments?