Looking at Three Ambi Magazine Releases

[Duffy]

A friend and customer showed me pictures of several of these clones, as several of us in a FB group were discussing ambi mag releases.

The pics show 5 or 6 units, ostensibly from the same company that sold them but they were obviously made from different shops, as they all have varying degrees of tool marks and other inconsistencies. Tool marks notwithstanding, they all felt different as well, some worked better than others, a few were quite unusable, further proof not a single shop makes them, which isn't a problem in itself, but that none of the shops seem to adhere to tolerances they wouldn't have from the original, is a cause for their erratic and inconsistent levels of performance.

It's easy to reverse engineer something, but the lack of tolerance specs and strict adherence to quality explain the deviations in performance and reliability. We refuse to start a project without TDP as references, all of our products are meant to be improvements over the factory equivalent, but without TDP specs and tolerances, it'd be worse than a gamble, since the results are preordained.

From a manufacturer's perspective, these clones carry MSRPs lower than what it costs us to produce an EMR-A. A $20 item probably costs $7 to produce, where in the US can something like this be produced for $7 or $8? No shops we work with can do that. This cost saving comes from somewhere we all suspected, the pics I saw confirmed it.

If your life depends on it, don't use a clone.

[CCK]

A friend and customer showed me pictures of several of these clones, as several of us in a FB group were discussing ambi mag releases.

The pics show 5 or 6 units, ostensibly from the same company that sold them but they were obviously made from different shops, as they all have varying degrees of tool marks and other inconsistencies. Tool marks notwithstanding, they all felt different as well, some worked better than others, a few were quite unusable, further proof not a single shop makes them, which isn't a problem in itself, but that none of the shops seem to adhere to tolerances they wouldn't have from the original, is a cause for their erratic and inconsistent levels of performance.

It's easy to reverse engineer something, but the lack of tolerance specs and strict adherence to quality explain the deviations in performance and reliability. We refuse to start a project without TDP as references, all of our products are meant to be improvements over the factory equivalent, but without TDP specs and tolerances, it'd be worse than a gamble, since the results are preordained.

From a manufacturer's perspective, these clones carry MSRPs lower than what it costs us to produce an EMR-A. A $20 item probably costs $7 to produce, where in the US can something like this be produced for $7 or $8? No shops we work with can do that. This cost saving comes from somewhere we all suspected, the pics I saw confirmed it.

If your life depends on it, don't use a clone.

have your FA, bolt release, and ambi mag release for these reasons and the fact that your active here. I cant imagine buying anything else.

Chris

[titsonritz]

CDNN is selling the Norgon clone as well for $19.99.

Manufacturer: ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT Kind of funny for a clone

[titsonritz]

Depending on how sanitary I can make the modification, I am going to end up with the Mari-Time Catches on everything that I keep for myself. I learned a long time ago that you modify the least expensive part, so I'll be modifying the catches, not the releases.

Did you ever get around to it? I am curious how your mods turned out and wanted to get your thoughts.

[26 Inf]

Did you ever get around to it? I am curious how your mods turned out and wanted to get your thoughts.

Short annswer, didn't do it.

When I laid it out I would have ended up taking off between 1/2 and 1/2 of the bottom pad of the Mari-Time Catch. When I covered what I was going to take off with white tape, it didn't look aesthetically pleasing - I was pretty sure strength wouldn't be an issue, but not certain, so I passed.

The EMR-A and a Seekins Enhanced Bolt Catch live on a pistol lower that I essentially use as the host for my short uppers when they aren't on my SBR.

[titsonritz]

Short annswer, didn't do it.

When I laid it out I would have ended up taking off between 1/2 and 1/2 of the bottom pad of the Mari-Time Catch. When I covered what I was going to take off with white tape, it didn't look aesthetically pleasing - I was pretty sure strength wouldn't be an issue, but not certain, so I passed.

The EMR-A and a Seekins Enhanced Bolt Catch live on a pistol lower that I essentially use as the host for my short uppers when they aren't on my SBR.

I was thinking that would be the approach to take. Probably a good abort plan. It's rough doing the Bubba thing on quality, not inexpensive parts.

[thegreyman]

Good post/review. I've found that it's definitely personal preference when it comes to ambi mag releases; mostly due to finger length. I'm a lefty and have ambi mag releases on all of my lowers. I have short fingers and the Troy was a bit of a reach for me. The KAC was unusable for me; the pad is much too far to the rear, and having to bend the index finger to position it on the pad was very unnatural feeling. Out of the three, the norgon worked the best for me as it's the same position as the pad on the right side. Having the pad very slightly further back like the AXTS ambi lower works well for me, too.

Amen.

[Duffy]

The real deal and its clones, with varying degree of fit and quality.

[26 Inf]

The second and third ones (from the left) seem to be pretty close copies. Which one is the Sig copy?

[Duffy]

Does SIG have a Norgon Ambi-Catch clone? I know they have their won ambi mag catch that operates the same way as our EMR-A.