Thanks Grant.
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Note to self ...
Take the Ambi Safeties off my 1911s because not every 1911 has one.
agreed. i'm a lefty and don't have to roll the weapon over to check the ejection port. i've never been bothered by brass either.
grant and i have agreed to disagree on the ambi controls vs standard issue. :)
i'm a lefty, and have ambi controls on mine (but not a left-handed upper receiver). any complaints with the current ambi safety can be solved with a better design. it works for me.
if you're not a soldier or LE officer on a team, battlefield pickup is a non-issue IMHO, and i believe that a person should do whatever works best for them on their personal weapon. what 'battlefield' would a civilian in and who's to say that the battlefield pickup weapon won't be an AK, mini-14 or marlin lever action? my personal opinion for lefty civilians - set up your own weapons in the way that's most efficient for you, learn to shoot standard ARs, and familiarize yourself as many other weapons as you can.
i don't think the 'muscle memory' argument holds water either. so, what happens when you pick up an AK and all your muscle memory is geared towards and AR? it's no different than a lefty picking up a 'standard' AR. you adapt. just like you do if you shoot a glock or 1911 or sig. i think you can develop multiple 'muscle memories' and can recall that familiarity with different weapon platforms. an ambi AR can standard can be viewed as two different platforms that you can adapt to, same as an AR vs AK.
rather than left handers leaving off ambi controls in the fear that they won't know how to operate someone else's weapon, i think that all ARs should be updated to ambi, and bring that design into this century, like Knight's has done with their SR-15 E3 IWS. that, i think, is going in the right direction.
My friend, I think your idea of a "battlefield pickup" is a bit narrow. You need expand this to "active killer" scenarios where you come onto the scene (by accident) kill one of the bad guys and take his weapons (which is most likely superior to your handgun).
C4
OK....Let me postulate here for a moment. I arrive "on scene". I deploy my sidearm and dispatch said BG. I know have the opportunity to take command of "his/hers superior" weapon (for sake of argument, we'll assume it is a rifle). I'm now armed with a rifle to continue to defend myself (and others)....
What if the "rifle" is of a platform that I'm not familiar with at all (*FAL, Daewoo, HKG36, FS2000, CETME)? Does this mean that my lefty configured AR is going to hinder me??
Don't you think that someone with even minimal training would be able to pickup said firearm and make it run?
Thoughts?
*I realize that most BG's would use something more mainstream. I merely mentioned the rifles above for conversation...
There are exceptions to every rule. Besides you're far more likely to encounter ambi 1911s than ambi ARs.
If you can't operate the firearm safely without ambi/lefty mods, then by all means keep your ambi safety. I have them on my 1911s but they're about the only thing I configure for lefty, and the mag release remains configured for a right hander.
A lefty can operate an AR safely and efficiently without changing a thing.
Kind of a false premise. The problems with picking up a rifle with which your unfamiliar overwhelms the problems with being a lefty, but since safeties on most of those weapons operate in generally the same way as an AR, I think it would be a hindrance even assuming you can find/operate mag/bolt release. Your thumb is going to be looking for a switch that's not there.
I think you'd probably figure it out quickly. But the problem with "minimal" training is that you also have "minimal" odds of succeeding in time to employ it.Quote:
Don't you think that someone with even minimal training would be able to pickup said firearm and make it run?