Ambidextrous Safety

[whitebear620]

What are everyone's thoughts on ambidextrous safeties on ARs?

I'm a lefty but I've always gripped the grip with my fingers wrapping around the grip and thumb on the safety; time to fire, thumbs flips safety down and wraps the grip like normal, flip safety back on when needed and resume first grip.
But this doesn't seem like the best for actual training because it's not very streamlined compared to how righties operate an AR.
I'm seeing ambidextrous safeties for around $30, and it seems like an easy switch, should I just go ahead and do it?

[ncregularguy]

I'll throw in my two cents, well, three cents since it is now 2016 and inflation has gone up 50%.

Recently in the last couple of years all of our Army M4s have been converted over to M4A1s, meaning full auto (never used), a heavier barrel (to support the full auto that is never used and now makes the weapon heavier) and low and behold an ambi selector (more than just a safety).

For those of you who have ambi selectors, try this...

This is where 'reality' and 'what works on the range' sometime conflict and bite you in the rear end.

I'm not sure how many of you have been in gunfights, but your body does some interesting things. If you don't know about these, read up on the works of Bruce Siddle and Dave Grossman. I'm not going to recount them all there. I'll go into only one.

Your grip is going to tighten up. I'll say this again since it is important. Your grip (fist clenched) is going to tighten up.

So those of you with an ambi selector, grip your AR pistol grip, tighten your grip to simulate what will happen when you react to the stress and chemicals now flowing through your blood steam.

Now, try to take off your safety, via the ambi selector lever.

It won't work.

Why?

Because your trigger finger is off the trigger and extended straight. When you clench your fist, your trigger finger is also trying to clench, but can't since it is along side of the lower receiver right where it usually is. The ambi portion of the selector lever, the opposite side of where your thumb is trying to disengage it cannot move due to your trigger finger being seized up.

Interesting huh?

It always amazes me when some silly paper pusher who rides a desk tries to implement changes they are not qualified to make. The system worked fine since prior to Vietnam and now some clown has to put their 'three' cents in and change it for the worst.

I had our armorer switch out our selectors back to the original and wrote a quick white paper that got pushed up through my chain of command and now other units are switching theirs out as well.

The person who decided to implement these in the military should be fired.

OK, rant over, but now you know why ambi selectors are not a great idea.

One caveat, there were full size selectors on both sides 'so they would works equally well for right handed people and left handed people'...go figure.

If you have the slimmed down ones by Battle Arms Developments and other similar ambi controls, this is not as big of an issue, but for the military, it definitely is.

Take care,
K

[whitebear620]

Interesting points, but wouldn't this mean I should be switching to a left sided safety since I may lose the fine motor skills to switch my thumb over to flick over the safety?

[ncregularguy]

Jul 21, 2016 16:48:24 GMT -5 whitebear620 said:

Interesting points, but wouldn't this mean I should be switching to a left sided safety since I may lose the fine motor skills to switch my thumb over to flick over the safety?

IMO, and from talking to people who use their left thumb the way you do on the selector lever on the right side, no.

Since your thumb is already bent, you can still use it during the clench..

It is not straight and extended like the right handed trigger finger I mentioned above. Nothing is blocking it from doing what it needs to.

You are doing what most lefties I know do and it seems to work well for all of them.

If it isn't broken, no need to fix it.

Now, if you want only a left side selector with no ambi on the other side and are willing to reprogram all of your highly valued repetitions (I don't know how many you have) of removing the safety with your thumb, then it is an option.

Again....If it isn't broken, no need to fix it.

Take care,
K

[whitebear620]

True. It's about 7 years of repetitions doing it the way I'm doing it now, including basic, AIT, and thousands upon thousands of dryfire sessions on the civilian side.

My other concern was training my muscle memory to be used to an ambidextrous safety, but then on the off chance of having something happen to wear I pick up someone else's rifle and I completely fail with the safety because it has the standard safety.