The B5 Systems Type 23 Grip snuck up on me. See, I’ve always been a diehard Magpul K2 pistol-grip user. However, as I began reviewing and handling a wider variety of firearms over the past few years, I started noticing the B5 Type 23 Grip industry-wide, especially as OEM options.
Off the top of my head, I have noticed that IWI adds these to virtually every Zion-15 or Zion-25 that leaves its production facility. I have also seen them standard on several Sons Of Liberty Gunworks carbines. My first direct experience with it was after reviewing a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 that shipped with a B5 Systems Bravo stock and a Type 23 Grip.
The B5 Systems Type 23 Grip
I liked how the Type 23 felt in the hand, especially with the carbine mounted to my shoulder. In fact, I liked it so much that during the time I borrowed that little .22 rifle from Smith & Wesson, I took the grip off and put it on other carbines in a pinch. (I have since bought more Type 23 Grips, and I put the one I borrowed back on the M&P 15-22, don’t worry.) Besides, being on a first-name basis with the Smith & Wesson media team, that would have been an awkward phone call.
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The Type 23 In A Nutshell
The reason the B5 Systems Type 23 is quickly becoming another favorite is due to the elegance in its simplicity. This AR-15 pistol grip is quite comfortable. There are two reasons for that.
First, the Type 23’s fairly neutral 13-degree grip angle. It’s straighter than most and doesn’t “twist the wrist” the way the angle on a standard A2 pistol grip does. Second, I [subjectively] think that its circumference fills the hand just right. It’s not too thin nor too wide.
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The grip’s fronstrap, right, and left sides have a medium-coarse texturing that bites into the skin of the palm and fingers without sanding them down. I find that the specific texturing on the fronstrap does actually help with better grip and better control of the carbine, too.
Unlike grips from Magpul or other brands, the Type 23’s bottom has an open design. B5 Systems does offer an aftermarket grip plug, however. They also offer them in all standard tactical colors along with Multicam, black Multicam and US Woodland.
Last but not least, B5 Systems also offers a version that fits most Kalashnikov variants. In that case, it’s a major upgrade over the thin, small and flimsy communist-desiged plastic AK grip.
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At the aggregate level, the B5 Systems Type 23 Grips is a nice AR-15 pattern grip that works well across virtually all AR-related use-cases, from general purpose shooting, competition, CQB, and precision gas gun shooting. And it’s not expensive.
