The Bumpfire Stock Wars

For the last year I've been following the development of two bumpfire stocks made by Slide Fire Solutions.  In 2011 they introduced the SSAR15 stock for the AR15 rifle, and I reviewed the stock on the Military Arms Channel soon after the introduction.

I found that the SSAR15 stock worked as advertised and I have actually been quite impressed with its performance.  I eagerly awaited the then rumored AK version to be released.  Just before Christmas on 2011, Slide Fire Solutions released their SSAK-47 XRS stock for the AK rifle.

I completed my review of the new SSAK-47 stock immediately after its announced release and once again found the device to work exactly as advertised.

 

Imagine my surprise when I learned just after New Years 2012 that another company named Fostech announced their own bumpfire stock.  The new stock is called the Bumpski and Fostech published a video on YouTube demonstrating the new device.

Of course this piqued my interest, so I started to dig around to find more information about this new stock.  There is one key difference between the two stocks, the Bumpski is made from aluminum vs. the plastic used in the construction of the Slide Fire Solutions devices.

Not much is known about the Bumpski just yet.  The stock isn't currently shipping but I've been told the first shipment should be heading out the doors at Fostech to dealers and customers by the end of January.

I was able to speak with Judd from Fostech who gave me a few details over the phone about the stock.  The body is in fact made from aluminum that is anodized black.  It is a drop in replacement for your existing fixed stock on your AK rifle.  It works using the same principals employed by the SSAR15 and SSAK-47 stocks.  The rifle is free to move forwards and back on the stock while the shooter keeps their firing finger fixed on a rest.  The recoil coupled with the forward pressure of your non-shooting hand causes the rifle to bumpfire controllably.  This process is demonstrated in the SSAK-47 review video above.

The SSAK-47 stock retails for $289.95 and the new Bumpski stock retails for $449.

Then I noticed that Bill Akins, the inventor of the Akins Accelerator, was posting on the Firing Line Forums about the new Bumpski stock.  Further investigation uncovered that Mr. Akins actually holds a patent on the key principals of the bump fire stock being used by both companies.  Mr. Akins has since transferred his patent to Fostech, the creators of the Bumpski stock.

Here is a post made by Mr. Akins on the YouTube video posted by Fostech of their new Bumpski stock.

kkibler1, Look up U.S. patent 6,101,918 that I invented and was granted a U.S. patent for on Aug 15, 2000. Pay particular attention to the claims in my patent most especially claim #19 regarding the finger stabilization stops. My patent is now an asset of FosTech Outdoors while Slide Fire Solutions does NOT have a patent of any kind. So you might want to rethink your above statement. It pays to research & know what you are talking about before posting.

BillAkinsProduction 11 hours ago

A quick search of the US Patent database does in fact return a hit on Bill's patent which was granted on Aug 15th, 2000. 

What does this mean?  In the short term it means we have two products to choose from.  In the long term does this mean Slide Fire Solutions and Fostech will become embroiled in an ugly legal dispute over the patent?  I certainly hope not.  I hope that both companies can enjoy success in the marketplace with their products.

I plan to do a complete review of the new Bumpski stock at the end of January.  Stay tuned!