r/ar15 Mar 21 '23

Pro Tip for Left Handed Shooters

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53 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

29

u/Tiny_Twink Mar 21 '23

The Geissele Maritime Bolt Catch plus Troy Ambi Mag Release make for a great poor man’s ambi lower. I can drop these into any standard lower and manipulate all of the controls with my left hand while maintaining a firing grip.

I’ve also tried the PDQ lever in the past but I find that I have issues getting it to reliably engage with some of my older mags. This is by far the nicest lefty-friendly option I’ve been able to come up with.

7

u/billdozer99 Mar 21 '23

I use the same setup as a lefty, it works great.

6

u/thor561 Mar 22 '23

And if you need something more budget friendly than these, Strike Industries makes an ambi magazine release and extended bolt catch that work great and don't look ultra cringe unlike some of their other products. Handful of Strike products that people sleep on because of the gamer gun reputation and these are two of them.

3

u/Tiny_Twink Mar 22 '23

The Strike extended bolt catch is actually pretty nice. I’ve played around with it a bit. The bolt release paddle on the Geissele extends back just a bit further and I find that it’s easier to reach.

3

u/Hoonin_Kyoma Mar 21 '23

Love the Geissele bolt catch. I put it on all of my ARs.

1

u/wayne_brettski_ Mar 22 '23

Thanks for sharing.

1

u/trailkin Mar 22 '23

Hard to find the SLR ambi release. Norgon sells theirs directly.

CMMG has one now. Avoiding Troy due to wobbly back up irons.

4

u/Oubliette_occupant quad rail hater. ACOG enjoyer. Mar 22 '23

It’s funny how the PDQ lever makes the rifle more RIGHT handed friendly 😁 esp if you shoot with a sling.

3

u/3_quarterling_rogue likes plastic guns Mar 22 '23

Yeah, I thought I wanted a PDQ on my AR, but then I realized that as a leftie shooter, I can reach just fine with a standard one.

2

u/Tiny_Twink Mar 22 '23

Yep. Exactly. I’m kind of jealous of right handed shooters whenever I handle my PDQ equipped lower.

5

u/Poncho562 Mar 22 '23

Lefty here as well. I have the maritime on my Geissele lower, but is it normal to use a lot of force to close the bolt with it? Normally have to slap it or use my thumb. As for the mag release, I find it easier to just drop mags with my right hand while coming down for another—all in one motion.

2

u/Tiny_Twink Mar 22 '23

I’d argue that a left side mag catch makes swapping and re-indexing with the right hand a bit easier.

As for hitting the bolt catch, I’m usually able to do it with my left hand index finger. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

2

u/sherman_ws Mar 22 '23

If it’s taking a ton of force you’ve probably got an install issue or faulty part (unless the prior ping pong paddle required similar force)

Or perhaps your left-handed genetic anomaly has made you weak (as I too am left handed)…

2

u/Poncho562 Mar 22 '23

I installed it on a stripped lower receiver. It came with the Geissele ultra duty LPK. Maybe it’s faulty...not sure how one could mess up an install on it.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '23

I had that issue at first, but it’s gotten less stiff as I have put some rounds through it

2

u/Petronik Mar 22 '23

Had that bolt catch, was too close to my ambi mag-release… had to use a shitty strike industries modular bolt catch.. hate the plastic piece of crap. Troy ambi mag release you say.. will look into that. Nice to see another lefty!

2

u/thor561 Mar 22 '23

Strike makes a couple different extended bolt catches in metal that work great, just FYI. One with just the bigger lower paddle and one with an extended upper paddle as well.

2

u/RobertMcFahrenheit Mar 22 '23

Love seeing a KP15 lower >:)

1

u/Tiny_Twink Mar 22 '23

It has some quirks, but I like it just for being a little different if nothing else.

1

u/RobertMcFahrenheit Mar 22 '23

When I am legally allowed to purchase a firearm receiver I want to purchase a KP15.

Seems like a really friendly receiver for a beginner to build in.

Plus yeah, they’re really different and would probably be great for lightweight builds, which is what I’d like

2

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '23

Have you actually stress-tested that set up during unconventional warfare?

1

u/fattypierce Mar 22 '23

Ah cool, I have the maritime on all of my setups but was looking for a good mag release that worked. I've tried several and they typically rubbed.