New bolt catch from Forward Controls

[Bowser]

Can I buy these yet? lol

[Koshinn]

Can I buy these yet? lol

I know right?

[Shao]

I know right?

There's a hole burning in my pocket. I need at least 4...

[78Staff]

So, essentially what separates this from the Seekins is the angle of the paddles, and the differing texture? Serious question - I already run a Seekins Release/Norgon Ambi combo and have been pleased with it, and was about to order a few more Seekins... Should I wait? What are the benefits of the FC model over the Seekins?

[Shao]

So, essentially what separates this from the Seekins is the angle of the paddles, and the differing texture? Serious question - I already run a Seekins Release/Norgon Ambi combo and have been pleased with it, and was about to order a few more Seekins... Should I wait? What are the benefits of the FC model over the Seekins?

[IMG]

I run Seekins on all of my Norgon equipped guns but I like the the look of these better.

According to Duffy, one major difference (to me):

"The lightening cuts are to ensure the ABC/R's weight is kept as close to the factory bolt catch as possible to avoid over tasking the bolt catch spring."

[officerX]

I'm in for a couple!

[Duffy]

Guys, the difference are numeral. We aimed to create something that made sense, without referencing any particular existing bolt catches as the one to surpass. There's one good reason for this, which is we didn't want it to look like a derivative of an existing product. The AR bolt catch can only take on so many different shapes, it wouldn't help us to be called a copycat. It just has to do a better job at as many things as possible without incurring a penalty somewhere, such as weight and parts count. Addressing one problem by creating another is no problem solving to us. There is a reason behind every angle, cut, and serration.

The design goals are as follow:
Make the bottom paddle easier to use, increase the surface area but without unduly increasing its size. This is done by elongating the bottom paddle, and angling it by 10 degree.

Make the top paddle easier to use, increase the surface area without unduly increasing its size. The top paddle is larger and angled by 5 degree (lower 50%) and 10 degree (upper 50%).

Provide better tactile feedback to the user regarding the finger's location on the ABC/R. This is done by making the notch (above the bottom paddle) more pronounced, the notch's angles are designed so the user knows where on the bolt catch his finger is touching, all without looking at it, which takes time, and not always possible in the dark.

Mitigate the weight gained from larger paddles. This is done by lightening cuts in the ABC/R.

The initial production run units are severely constrained in quantity, we're looking to increase production volume, and I think we're making good progress

Meanwhile, the new website is up. I still need to populate it with more info and product pictures. If you do visit it, please go see the section Design in Focus, where I went into greater detail on why things are shaped they way they are

[Blankwaffe]

Duffy

Quickly read through the thread,so may have been discussed already and I missed it,but the only concern I have is the lower lightening cut.

With the luck I have with Murphy's law I'd get a rock,stick or a dried out lizard turd in the lower paddle lightning hole and it bind up the bolt catch against,or within the receiver when depressed.

Is there anyway to put the lighening cut along the side edges,for lack of a better word a trough, of the top paddle and the upper portion of its stem to remove the same amount of weight?
Would this weaken or add strength to the stem of the paddle?

Or how about putting the lightening cut/hole in the center of the top paddle?

Sorry Im no engineer,just think out loud,which is dangerous for me.

[Duffy]

Blankwaffle, we can delete the lightning cut in the lower paddle, and enlarge the cut elsewhere and probably save more weight there. The possibility of what you described was the first thing on my mind, and was debated while I was at Battle Arms. The consensus was such a cut should make the bolt catch more reliable, not less, as it now has more room to tolerate debris and such than when it was solid, along the same lines of the sand cuts on the bolt of a FAL.

In reality, even that doesn't come into play. As you can see in the picture below, when the mag follower tilts the ABC/R after the last round is fired or manually locked, the lightening cut hardly recesses into the receiver

[bowman57_2]

Got a link to the site? I googled it and your website didnt show up, just pages talking about your products.