The Strike Industries FSA STAB Brace

With some of the positive court rulings recently, we may not need pistol braces forever. Until then, though, they remain a viable option for folks who don’t want to SBR their pistols or can’t due to onerous state laws. One of the better ones I’ve worked with recently is the Strike Industries Polymer FSA STAB.

Strike Industries Polymer FSA STAB

The Strike Industries Polymer FSA STAB, or Folding Stabilizer Assembly, is a lightweight, side-folding pistol brace that mounts to a standard 1913 Picatinny rail. The brace has three length positions, so you have some adjustment rather than being stuck with a fixed setup. A push button releases the hinge, allowing the brace to fold to the side, while a separate lever handles the length adjustment.

Strike makes the Polymer FSA from its fiber reinforced Polymer Extreme material, with a metal mounting interface where it attaches to the gun. The polymer construction keeps the weight down to just under 12 ounces, which is a nice fit for the compact guns you’re most likely to use a brace like this on. The overall length is 8.67 inches when extended.

MSRP on the Polymer FSA is $99.95, which is pretty reasonable for a folding, adjustable Picatinny mounted brace. It comes with the brace assembly, a T25 wrench for installation, and thread locker.

Practical Application

I’ve used Strike Industries’ Dual Fold FSA brace as well as their Single Fold FSA brace on a few different pistols over the past year or so. I like both, and they’ve worked well, but the Polymer FSA hits a little different. Whereas the Dual and Single Fold braces are pretty streamlined and only take up two rear Picatinny slots, the Polymer FSA is more substantial and uses three slots to attach.

It’s not that the other stabilizers aren’t well-made or don’t work well, but the STAB has a different look and feel. It has more of a rifle stock profile, although it is most certainly still a brace with the typical narrow profile and hooked arm support.

I used the brace on two very different firearms during testing. The first was my Solo 300 build. The Solo 300 is a straight-pull .300 Blackout pistol with a 6-inch barrel. I actually used the Strike Dual Fold brace on my Solo earlier, but decided to give the Polymer FSA a try too.

The STAB gives the Solo a more substantial feel, although it doesn’t add much weight. At 11.98 ounces, it’s only 2.38 ounces heavier than the 9.60-ounce Dual Fold brace.

The brace folds to the side, stays out of the way, and locks open securely when deployed. When folded, it doesn’t extend past the magwell, keeping things tight and compact. It folds to the right side, but at enough of an angle that it falls below the ejection port and doesn’t interfere with case ejection if you fire the pistol with the brace folded.

The three-position adjustable length lets you fit the brace to your arm. While not a stock, the narrow rear of the brace worked fine for occasional and incidental shoulder firing with the relatively mild .300 Blackout cartridge.

My Solo 300 weighs only 3.5 pounds without the brace installed, so it’s easy to hold. Once you add a suppressor, though, you add some weight and certainly some length to the whole package. The Polymer FSA definitely helps balance things out with the suppressor installed.

SBR to Pistol and Back Again

The other gun I tried the Polymer FSA on was my Foxtrot Mike .223 Wylde SBR on a KE Arms lower. I actually have this rifle SBR’d, but it originally started life as a pistol. By swapping the stock for a brace, I can return it to a non-NFA pistol configuration for interstate travel.

The FM is a big pistol, so the brace is definitely welcome. Again, it’s not a stock, and I do keep the stock on it when I’m in state. But the Polymer FSA worked well with this setup and is a viable option for out-of-state camping trips or other places where I might want to take my .223 blaster. It locks open solidly and provides a good cheek weld, giving me another point of contact with the pistol. That makes shooting more stable and allows me to properly line up my Gideon Advocate prism sight.

Like with the Solo 300, the Polymer FSA folds under the ejection port of the Foxtrot Mike. One thing I did note, though, is that if you want to shoot with the brace folded, you have to make sure your ejection port cover is already open when you fold the brace. If it’s closed, the brace will interfere with it opening fully and won’t allow a clear path for ejected cases. So you can fire this and other bufferless AR pistols with the brace folded, as long as you make sure your ejection port cover is open first.

Since this is a simple attachment via the Picatinny rail, I can easily swap back to a stock and NFA configuration whenever I’m back home.

Overall Impressions and Druthers

For pistol-caliber builds, I like the trimmer brace arms, like the ones you have on the Strike Industries Dual and Single Fold FSAs. But for rifle builds, I’m liking the more substantial look and feel of the Polymer FSA. I think the “heavier” look balances out a rifle-caliber, large-format pistol better. I know that’s personal preference, but I thought it worked especially well with my Foxtrot Mike build and its 12.5-inch barrel.

There is one thing I do miss on the Polymer FSA, though: a sling mounting point. A QD socket would be nice, but even a simple sling slot would be fine.

For a hundred bucks, the Polymer FSA STAB is a solid, adjustable folding brace that doesn’t add much weight. It locks up securely, folds into a compact package, and gives you three positions to work with. After using it on two very different pistols, I think Strike has another good option here, especially for folks who want something a little more substantial than the company’s slimmer folding braces.