Strike Industries has introduced new AR-15 takedown and pivot pins called Shift Pins. Besides the nice look of the pinheads, the Shift Pins also feature a special pattern of grooves that allow installing and removing these pins without a need of tools or need to disassemble other parts like the buffer tube, castle nut, and endplate. The best way to have an idea about how these pins work is to watch the video published by Strike Industries.

Here is also an installation instruction chart. For the full resolution open the image in a new tab of your browser or click here to download the .pdf version of the instructions.

Images by Strike Industries

The Strike Industries Shift Pins are made of steel and come with black or shiny chrome color options and with black oxide or chrome plated finishes respectively. The specifications on the manufacturer’s website also list gold plated finish, but it is not available in purchasing options.

The black version costs $20.95 and for the chrome plated one you need to pay a dollar more ($21.95).

Are these pins something revolutionary? No. Can you live without them? Absolutely. Nevertheless, Strike Industries does it again. They have managed to incorporate a small useful feature in an AR-15 part that makes you say  “why didn’t I think of that?”.