#Ambidextrous

Firearms designed by Florian Kohli of the Swiss company KUGS are always fascinating with many unique and unusual design solutions. A couple of KUGS guns we saw earlier are the FATBOY single-shot rifle that has a very simple design with a cannon-like sliding breech and the HD410 18-shot 410 bore pepperbox. In this article, we’ll take a look at Florian’s latest design, the KUGS LR90 ambidextrous bolt action rifle.

It seems that 2022 is bringing back the heat regarding AR10 rifles. Type-A Rifle Co/BG Defense joins the fray with their new Ambi Billet AR10 line of rifles. The new line of Type-A rifles will come with the same high-end components and construction that Type-A is well known for. Type-A is also proud to announce that most of the components in the new Ambi Billet AR10 rifle lineup will be made in-house from their facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

JP Rifles introduced their ASF-20 Ambidextrous AR-15 Billet Lower Receiver in 2020, and it somehow slipped past the lidless eye of TFB. Ambidextrous, or ambi AR-15 lower receivers have been cropping up in recent years, which give shooters more flexibility in manipulating their rifle controls without having to shift the rifle to one side or another, or awkwardly reposition one’s hand regardless of which shoulder the rifle is up against. The primary benefits of ambi controls on an AR-15 would be for users that need to maneuver tight spaces, and thus change which shoulder they fire from, or to have a shared defensive rifle being used by left and right handed people. The following quote is from JP Rifles’ website regarding their ASF-20 Ambidextrous AR-15 Lower.

I had a chance to play with the prototype of this gadget at SHOT Show 2019 and was really impressed with its simplicity and functionality. And it’s great to learn that it is now available for purchase. The Strike Industries AMBI Mag Release is exactly what its name implies – an ambidextrous magazine release. It is a drop-in part designed for AR-15 pattern rifles that use mil-spec magazine catch mechanism.

Battle Arms Development has first introduced the prototype of RACK ambidextrous AR-15 charging handle at SHOT Show 2018. Recently, they released more information about this charging handle and announced that it is now available for preorder.

Hipefire has released a new ambidextrous AR-15 safety selector called HIPERSWITCH (High Performance Switch). The key feature of this safety selector is that it has a 60-degree throw (as opposed to conventional 90-degree) which is designed to allow faster selection between the safe and fire modes. Let’s watch the introduction video then go through the specs of this new product.

In today’s episode, we follow Miles to Shot Show 2018 Media Day at the Range and visit Desert Tech.

Several days ago we wrote about the TM-9 pistol of a Montenegrin company called TARA. In this article, we’ll take a brief look at an AR-15 style rifle made by the same company. The rifle is called TARA TM-4. Although being based on the AR-15, it has some differences and improvements. Let’s take a look.

Vendetta Precision has introduced a new extended and ambidextrous AR-15  charging handle called VP-25. You can tell it is really extended because the overall width of the latches (tip to tip) is 4″! Why would anyone need such a huge charging handle? Vendetta Precision has some reasons for making it.

Hartford gunmaker Colt’s Manufacturing has introduced a new carbine model at the 2017 Bahrain International Defence Exhibition & Conference (BIDEC). The weapon, called the M5 Enhanced Carbine, is an AR-15-style rifle fitted with Geissele Super Modular Rail handguards sporting low profile screw mounting points, an ambidextrous lower receiver, and a short-stroke gas piston and operating rod gas system. The website Army Recognition has posted an article on the new carbine, as well as what appears to be a segment of a press release from Colt:

It absolutely kills me every time I opt to pick up a Norgon Ambidextrous Magazine Catch. While a fantastic design, the price relative to the manufacturing cost is arguably absurd from a moral standpoint, though I fully respect one’s right to earn money on a patent.

Ah, the Desert Tech MDR: The rifle many (based on my comments and emails) believe will be the savior of bullpups, and the best rifle ever made, sweeping aside all others. Well, that’s a pretty high bar for it to clear, but Desert Tech was at the 2017 SHOT Show, and had brought some of their pre-production MDR rifles with them for display.

After testing a couple of ambi safeties that didn’t quite stack up to my expectations, I had come to the conclusion that flipping the lever on the right side of the receiver was the best option for me. Not long ago AXTS reached out to TFB and offered up their Talon ambidextrous 45/90 safety selector for review. Seeing as I have almost always been disappointed with ever ambi selector lever, I didn’t have high hopes; boy was I wrong.

The race to the bottom has been running in earnest for the last few years. Various manufacturers have been vying to produce the lightest weight parts for Modern Sporting Rifles as the market has moved from heavy picatinny rail systems and barrels to the modular attachment systems and pencil barrels. There are reports of AR-15s being consistently below 4.5 lbs, unloaded using commercially available parts.

The first photos of the new Ruger American pistol have been released, and now the first review and shooting videos are coming out on YouTube, as well.