Pistol braces have been through a lot over the past few years. The Biden ATF’s 2023 stabilizing brace rule has since been vacated or enjoined by federal courts, and the agency is now moving to formally remove the regulatory language added by that rule. That doesn’t mean every legal question surrounding every possible brace and firearm combination has disappeared, and state laws remain another consideration depending on where you live.
All of which means there’s still a place for the pistol brace.
SB Tactical has been at the center of the brace market from the beginning, and its SBA3 has become one of the go-to designs in the industry. You’ll find it sold as an aftermarket accessory and installed on plenty of factory-built large-format pistols. There’s good reason for that. The SBA3 has clean lines, works well, and isn’t particularly bulky.
It’s a solid design, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t room for improvement. SB Tactical took feedback from the SBA3 and its other braces and incorporated it into the SBA6. While the new brace retains some of the familiar lines and basic format of the SBA3, it brings a number of updates and refinements to the design.
A New Brace for an Old 10mm
I recently installed an SBA6 on the Faxon/Foxtrot Mike 10mm build I covered previously here at Shooting News Weekly. I’d considered SBR’ing the 10mm at various points but never got around to it.
Filing a Form 1 isn’t particularly difficult with eForms, but there’s still paperwork involved. You also need to have the required NFA markings added, and interstate travel with an SBR brings additional considerations. I’d never felt enough urgency with this particular gun to bother with all of that.
The SBA6 gave me another option.
I’d been using a thin blade-style brace on the 10mm. It worked, but the SBA6 offered considerably more surface area and looked like it would be a much better match for a fairly substantial 10mm AR pistol. Swapping braces let me improve the gun without turning it into another NFA firearm.
From the SBA3 to the SBA6
If you’re familiar with the SBA3, there’s a lot about the SBA6 that will look familiar. That’s a good thing. Rather than completely reinventing the design, SB Tactical refined a format that was already proven.
The SBA6 fits a standard mil-spec carbine receiver extension and provides five-position adjustment. An ambidextrous QD sling socket is incorporated into the brace as well. I didn’t use the QD socket during my testing, but it’s a nice option to have and one I expect I’ll take advantage of in the future.
The SBA6 weighs about 8.5 ounces compared to roughly 6.75 ounces for the SBA3. That isn’t much of a penalty, especially on something like my 10mm build. In return, the SBA6 has a more substantial, rigid feel while retaining a relatively streamlined profile.
I’ve also used SB Tactical’s SBA5. It’s a good brace and provides more surface area than a thin blade-style design, but I find it a little chunky and don’t care for its aesthetics quite as much. The SBA6 strikes a better balance for my tastes. It has the additional substance I was looking for while retaining more of the streamlined appearance I like about the SBA3.
The SBA6 has an MSRP of $124.99.
Simple Installation
Installing the SBA6 couldn’t be much easier. Pull the adjustment lever all the way down so the detent pin clears the adjustment holes in the receiver extension, slide the brace onto the tube, and release the lever so the pin drops into one of the positions.
Once installed, adjustment is equally straightforward. The lever is easy to operate, and the SBA6 locks firmly into each position.
There is a little side-to-side movement in mine, but it’s about what I’m accustomed to seeing with a typical CAR-style collapsible stock. It wasn’t excessive and wasn’t something I noticed while actually shooting.
The SBA6 is also a good visual match for the 10mm. It’s more substantial than the blade brace it replaced, but it doesn’t look oversized on the gun. The lines work well with an AR-pattern build, and the relatively compact profile keeps it from looking or feeling unnecessarily bulky.
On the Range With the SBA6
I put roughly 100 rounds of 10mm through my Faxon/Foxtrot Mike build with the SBA6 installed. That’s where the difference between it and the old blade brace became readily apparent.
A blowback-operated 10mm isn’t exactly a rimfire. The greater surface area of the SBA6 made the gun considerably more comfortable to shoot than it had been with the thin blade-style brace.
The extra couple of ounces weren’t something I noticed on an AR pistol that was already fairly substantial. The increased comfort, on the other hand, was obvious. For this particular build, I’ll happily make that trade.
I also spent some time using the SBA6 as an actual stabilizing brace. I wrapped it around my forearm, secured it with the Velcro strap, and fired the 10mm one-handed.
My 10mm is a big, heavy pistol, so attaching a brace doesn’t suddenly make one-handed shooting effortless. It does, however, provide useful support. I was able to fire the gun one-handed with the brace secured around my forearm, and the SBA6 worked as intended in that role.
Refining a Proven Design
Having used the SBA3, SBA5, and now the SBA6, I think the SBA6 takes the things I already liked about the SBA3, the styling, function, and basic format, and refines them into an even more functional design.
The SBA5 offers some of the same advantages in terms of additional surface area, but I prefer the more streamlined look and compact feel of the SBA6. For me, it hits a nice middle ground. It provides the additional substance and comfort I wanted without feeling unnecessarily chunky.
More importantly, it proved to be a particularly good match for my 10mm build.
I’d considered filing a Form 1 and turning the gun into an SBR, but never felt compelled enough to actually do it. Dropping the SBA6 onto the existing receiver extension took a matter of seconds and substantially improved the comfort and handling of the gun without going through the Form 1 process.
After roughly 100 rounds with the SBA6 installed, I don’t feel much urgency to change the setup.