The story of Valkyrie Dynamics starts like many other tales of American ingenuity and manufacturing, a motivated person starts with no skills and a lot of frustration teaches themselves a skill and develops a product to fill a need. In this case the company’s founder Dustin Venegas was frustrated with his inability to find a particular style of Go-Pro mount she he taught himself machining and built them himself and started a business. A short while later, after the theft of his Go-Pro mount design by an off shore company left his market share empty Dustin decided to turn his newly developed machining skills towards his love of firearms and the ball got rolling.
Jumping to 2014 Dustin began to work up the sketches of what would eventually become the company’s flagship product the Cobra Grips for 1911 pattern pistols. The inspirations came from studying different snake-skin patterns and tweaking them a bit, along with a desire to take a risk. Not long after the launch of Valkyrie Dynamics and the release of their direct fit line of compensators also for the 1911 the company quickly outgrew their humble garage business beginnings and moved to a dedicated facility. With the move came new staff, new CNC machines, mills, and a full production capacity. Now that you have heard a little bit about this story of an old-fashioned grass-roots business start-up, lets take a look at what products that Valkyrie Dynamics makes that has them as the center of attention in this story. We will start with the established products and tell you a little of what the future holds for them.
GRIPS
The company is most recognized for their flag-ship product, the previously mentioned Cobra Grips. The grips are made out of aluminum and are available in sizes to fit both the full-sized government and commander sized pistols, as well as the smaller 1911’s like the officer and compact sized versions. They feature both a more conservative and traditional recessed pattern or the more open skeletonized version which allows users to see their magazines in the pistol. The grips Cobra grips also have been available in limited edition color schemes such as Olive Green and Brushed Silver. Once the word of the grips got out and people enjoyed them the company expanded them to the Beretta 92/96 series and the Sig Sauer 238 series of compact pistols. When I spoke to Lauren Marshall, the Shop Manager she said the company is researching possible other platforms to expand into for the Cobra Grip and it’s cousin the Hive pattern grip.
The companies new Aluminum skeletonized AR-15 Grips
A brand new style of grip that the company has had in production and shipping for less than 60 days is their new AR-15 Aluminum Skeltonized Cobra Grip. The grip is made of 6061 Aluminum and tips the scale at only 3.65 Oz. with a retail price of $64.95. It uses a standard AR-15 pistol grip mount screw and installs on any AR-15 lower receiver that would fit a stock plastic grip. In a break from the current trend in the industry the team at Valkyrie decided to include the finger divider in the middle of the grip. This grip is sure to turn some heads and give people the chance to add some flare to their AR-15 builds while not compromising the build quality. I would expect that once the company catches up on backorders they may offer this grip in other color choices, but that is purely my speculation, I wold love to see the company make them for other rifle styles on the market.
1911 COMPENSATORS
The other bread and butter item that the company makes is their very popular 1911 compensators which are designed to fit directly to most 1911’s on the market with no filing or modifications. The compensator is available in two styles, the Punisher and the Predator, the main difference between the two is that the Punisher’s exhaust ports are cut straight and the Predators are cut at a V-Angle. Both of the compensators are made of the same aerospace grade hardened steel material and available in Matte Black, Polished, or Satin finishes. There are some limitations to the compensators as they are not compatible with 1911’s that use bull barrels. Each pattern of the compensators will extend the length of the pistol’s slide approximately 1″ and add 2.2 Oz to the total weight. The compensators would make a nice addition to anyone who wants to customize that old plain stock 1911 or wants to add some bling to their 1911 garage gunsmith project.
Battles Lines Butt Stock
The company has done a lot of work with 1911’s but also has been branching out slowly into the AR-15 market, their first offering was the Falcon Brake followed by the Battle Lines Butt Stock. The stock pictured above shows the fixed tube and minimalist butt plate with textured end cap, this tube is made from Type III hard anodized Aluminum and is available in several lengths. The lengths available are 7″ , 8 3/4″, and 9 1/2″ and will fit any AR-15 receiver that uses a 1 13/16″ -16 pattern thread. While the stocks maybe a bit heavier than some users are used to they are built rock solid and have passed all of the abuse, drop and smash tests that the company has yet to put them through. They retail at a suggested price of $99.99 and are currently in short supply last we spoke to Valkyrie Dynamics. Future plans are to possibly release a Titanium version in the Fall or Spring.
THE FUTURE ?
When we spoke at length with Lauren Marshal she let us in on a few secrets that we are proud to be the first Gun Industry column to know. First the company has been approached by a major AR-15 manufacturer about the possibility of adding the Falcon Brake and Skeletonized Cobra AR-15 grips to their rifles, this could be very big news for the small company. Secondly the goal is to release a new style 1911 compensators in time for the after Thanksgiving Black Friday Sale, again good news and an exclusive that we learned here at the site. Last and certainly not least, the company who is based out of California is planning on releasing 80″ aluminum AR-15 receivers as well as a line of California Compliant complete AR-15’s. Exciting news for gun owners in that state that a small company will battle California Dept of Justice to provide for its residents. That is a huge battle and gains my personal respect.
There are a few things that are still so secret that I promised I would not disclose but I can promise you a few things, First you will see some products from Valkyrie Dynamics being field tested by us including their new AR-15 grip very soon, and our company will continue to work with Dustin & Lauren to release information about their new lines and products as they become available. Supporting and spotlighting American owned and operated businesses is one of the best things about working at the site, the story of Valkyrie Dynamics is as old as America itself, a man gets frustrated that he can’t get what he needs and then makes it for himself, in the meantime he builds a company with time, patience and sweat equity. We hope you enjoyed this look into Valkyrie Dynamics, the company can be found on Instagram, Facebook and at their website, all of which are listed below. Thanks from all of us here at the site.
Website: www.valkyriedynamics.com
Instagram: Valkyrie Dynamics
Facebook: Valkyrie Dynamics Inc.
