ucrt
09-20-10, 22:56
When I got my latest AR, I just had to try the Magpul BAD Lever. It just felt goofy having to regrip my hands to work the Bolt Catch. I'm kind of an anti-gadget guy with my tools and I put a lot of thought into the decision of going with a BAD Lever. I thought the advantages out weighed the disadvantages. So, I went with it.
After I installed the BAD Lever, I had a hard time getting the dexterity in my 55-yo index finger to reliably work the device. I had a hard time raising my index finger straight up trying to get the bolt to catch open. Either my finger would go up at an angle to the right and slide off of the Lever or I was hit or miss whether I had the Lever lifted high enough catch the bolt.
I felt I needed some type of resistance to keep my finger from sliding off the end of the Lever. After some experimenting, I came up with using hot melt glue to build up a little “nub” on the underneath of the Lever. I decided to try the hot melt glue first and if it worked, I’d peel the hot melt glue off and make the “nub” out of epoxy.
I’ve been using the “nubbed” BAD Lever for about 6-months now and it is second nature. The “nub” makes it easy, it gives a little non-slip surface and offers resistance to my uncoordinated finger. So, overall I’m happy with the hot melt glue “nub”. At this point, if it wears out, I’ll just redo it with hot melt glue.
Not that this mod is complicated or anything but here’s how I did it. Note that if you do mess up…it’s just hot melt glue…peel it off and start over.
You’ll need the following: torch or soldering iron, hot melt glue gun with some glue, and tweezers, needle nose, or forceps to hold the BAD Lever. I used a piece of cloth between the needle nose and the BAD.
First, heat the BAD Lever up but not too hot. I had a propane torch and made a couple of quick passes through the flame and touched it up against the torch barrel until the hot melt glue (HMG) would melt when I touched it to the Lever. Use the HMG stick as your gauge, if the HMG won’t melt add more heat. Using the HMG stick, you want a thin layer of HMG and you want it to be very runny, so the Lever needs to be pretty warm.
http://i51.tinypic.com/10hv90w.jpg
Rub HMG all over the end of the BAD Lever. You need to build a good “contact” area and work it into the grooves on the bottom of the Lever. If the HMG doesn’t melt, try to heat the BAD Lever up some more and try rubbing the HMG again. I tried not heating the Lever and not rubbing a HMG stick on it by just using the HMG Gun but the HMG seemed to stick better (and the "nub" was neater)when the Lever was heated. Rubbing the HMG stick onto the warm Lever seemed to "work" the HMG into the Lever better and give it more adhesion.
http://i53.tinypic.com/103brz7.jpg
Then, use the Hot Glue Gun to put a drop of HMG on the end of the Lever. Hold the Lever at an angle that causes the drop to hang and form on the bottom of the Lever to build up the “nub”. When you get the "nub" hanging like you want, just lightly blow on it to cool the HMG.
http://i55.tinypic.com/nxur6b.jpg
It should look something like this from the end and from the side when you are complete. You don't want too big of a "nub" because I think it will break off too easy.
http://i52.tinypic.com/2e2fixc.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/23st1fs.jpg
This is how mine looks after 6-months. It is a little worn from use but it still works fine. I’ll probably just let it about fall off before I redo it just to see how long it lasts.
http://i53.tinypic.com/2d2dfkw.jpg
What’s really good about all of this…if you don’t like it or you mess up, just peel it off and start over or just say…Man! that's a dumb idea… :p.
Hope this was useful…
After I installed the BAD Lever, I had a hard time getting the dexterity in my 55-yo index finger to reliably work the device. I had a hard time raising my index finger straight up trying to get the bolt to catch open. Either my finger would go up at an angle to the right and slide off of the Lever or I was hit or miss whether I had the Lever lifted high enough catch the bolt.
I felt I needed some type of resistance to keep my finger from sliding off the end of the Lever. After some experimenting, I came up with using hot melt glue to build up a little “nub” on the underneath of the Lever. I decided to try the hot melt glue first and if it worked, I’d peel the hot melt glue off and make the “nub” out of epoxy.
I’ve been using the “nubbed” BAD Lever for about 6-months now and it is second nature. The “nub” makes it easy, it gives a little non-slip surface and offers resistance to my uncoordinated finger. So, overall I’m happy with the hot melt glue “nub”. At this point, if it wears out, I’ll just redo it with hot melt glue.
Not that this mod is complicated or anything but here’s how I did it. Note that if you do mess up…it’s just hot melt glue…peel it off and start over.
You’ll need the following: torch or soldering iron, hot melt glue gun with some glue, and tweezers, needle nose, or forceps to hold the BAD Lever. I used a piece of cloth between the needle nose and the BAD.
First, heat the BAD Lever up but not too hot. I had a propane torch and made a couple of quick passes through the flame and touched it up against the torch barrel until the hot melt glue (HMG) would melt when I touched it to the Lever. Use the HMG stick as your gauge, if the HMG won’t melt add more heat. Using the HMG stick, you want a thin layer of HMG and you want it to be very runny, so the Lever needs to be pretty warm.
http://i51.tinypic.com/10hv90w.jpg
Rub HMG all over the end of the BAD Lever. You need to build a good “contact” area and work it into the grooves on the bottom of the Lever. If the HMG doesn’t melt, try to heat the BAD Lever up some more and try rubbing the HMG again. I tried not heating the Lever and not rubbing a HMG stick on it by just using the HMG Gun but the HMG seemed to stick better (and the "nub" was neater)when the Lever was heated. Rubbing the HMG stick onto the warm Lever seemed to "work" the HMG into the Lever better and give it more adhesion.
http://i53.tinypic.com/103brz7.jpg
Then, use the Hot Glue Gun to put a drop of HMG on the end of the Lever. Hold the Lever at an angle that causes the drop to hang and form on the bottom of the Lever to build up the “nub”. When you get the "nub" hanging like you want, just lightly blow on it to cool the HMG.
http://i55.tinypic.com/nxur6b.jpg
It should look something like this from the end and from the side when you are complete. You don't want too big of a "nub" because I think it will break off too easy.
http://i52.tinypic.com/2e2fixc.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/23st1fs.jpg
This is how mine looks after 6-months. It is a little worn from use but it still works fine. I’ll probably just let it about fall off before I redo it just to see how long it lasts.
http://i53.tinypic.com/2d2dfkw.jpg
What’s really good about all of this…if you don’t like it or you mess up, just peel it off and start over or just say…Man! that's a dumb idea… :p.
Hope this was useful…