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Thread: Comparison of Safety Levers

  1. #1
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    Comparison of Safety Levers

    I am not a gunsmith. I don't sell anything, and I don't claim to be an SME when it comes to ARs. I am retired military and currently work in the data world for a government agency in an office that conducts strategic analytics. Where I work data is everything.

    In my past military and civilian life I worked as a machinery repair technician.

    In my opinion, when it comes to parts, it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. For what it's worth, when it comes to small parts, looks can at times be deceiving. Fit and function also don't tell the entire story. I have seen the best finished and machined parts fail, under conditions where a rough cast part with the flashing barely knocked off the edges last for decades.
    .
    I am putting together a new lower, and decided to compare three different safeties. They all look about the same, function about the same, and look to be about the same quality. One is a generic of unknown provenance that came from my parts bin. One was pulled from my Colt 6920 (replaced with an ambidextrous), and the third is from a SOLGW LPK.

    I'm not going to make any conclusions at this point, but data is data, and there are no data points that are not worth considering. everyone can come to their own conclusions.

    The pictures below show each of the safety levers weighed on a scale that was calibrated with a 100 gram certified weight. Obviously one of the three is not made of the same materials as the others. for the sake of argument we can assume the Colt is MILSPEC base line.

    Safety1.jpg
    Safety_SOLGW.jpg
    Safety_Colt.jpg
    Safety_Generic.jpg

    Data is not good or bad, it's just data.

  2. #2
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    Not surprised the Colt and SOLGW weigh the same. They are both quality milspec parts from Schmid.

    Also not surprised the generic one weighs less. Not necessarily a given for an inferior part depending on material but guessing lower quality.

    It's little things like this that the " just as good as" people don't get

    Thanks for the data. The more the better

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    Quote Originally Posted by bfayer View Post
    stuff
    Attention to detail.

    They are made from the same material as far as it is a "steel". What alloy require a bit more investigation, but you would not be able to discern that by weight, as the density difference between alloys id so small that scale will never detect it.

    1) the weight difference is due to the different thumb rest. Note the heavier ones are longer (extend closer to the center).

    2) the light "generic" one is the only one that actually looks like the official ARDEC drawing.



    So, you probably need to ask yourself, "Are there any physical reasons for this peculiarity?" before you start accusing people about "low quality".
    Last edited by lysander; 02-24-20 at 21:22.

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    A new Schimd vs one from 15 years ago:


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    I like the Colt/Schmid thumb lever extends to the center of the drum. Stronger.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by lysander View Post
    Attention to detail.

    "....So, you probably need to ask yourself, "Are there any physical reasons for this peculiarity?" before you start accusing people about "low quality".
    And where exactly in my post did I do that?

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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    Quote Originally Posted by lysander View Post
    Attention to detail.

    They are made from the same material as far as it is a "steel". What alloy require a bit more investigation, but you would not be able to discern that by weight, as the density difference between alloys id so small that scale will never detect it.

    1) the weight difference is due to the different thumb rest. Note the heavier ones are longer (extend closer to the center).

    2) the light "generic" one is the only one that actually looks like the official ARDEC drawing.



    So, you probably need to ask yourself, "Are there any physical reasons for this peculiarity?" before you start accusing people about "low quality".
    He is comparing 2 apples to an orange.

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    Just for a bonus round - Magazine Catch from the same kits as the safety.

    One more data point.

    Magazine catch from SOLGW and the same bag the generic selector came from. Quality looks similar. Coating is slightly different color between the two. Wish I knew the origins of the generic kit, but the bag is unmarked.

    Again I make no judgments, as I have a sample of one. One data point is better than none.

    SOLGW_Mag.jpg

    Generic_Mag.jpg

    Data is not good or bad, it's just data.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bfayer View Post
    One more data point.

    Magazine catch from SOLGW and the same bag the generic selector came from. Quality looks similar. Coating is slightly different color between the two. Wish I knew the origins of the generic kit, but the bag is unmarked.

    Again I make no judgments, as I have a sample of one. One data point is better than none.

    SOLGW_Mag.jpg

    Generic_Mag.jpg

    Data is not good or bad, it's just data.
    Once again the heavier one is thicker, you can see that even with these pictures but still probably within the broad tolerances given those dimensions. About .005 to .010 thousandths thickness would account for that weight variation.

    What exactly is the point of this data collection? To prove that more metal weighs more?

    I think we all know this.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bfayer View Post
    One more data point.

    Magazine catch from SOLGW and the same bag the generic selector came from. Quality looks similar. Coating is slightly different color between the two. Wish I knew the origins of the generic kit, but the bag is unmarked.

    Again I make no judgments, as I have a sample of one. One data point is better than none.

    SOLGW_Mag.jpg

    Generic_Mag.jpg

    Data is not good or bad, it's just data.
    Data in the case presented by you means nothing if the parts you are comparing are NOT the same size and shape. Open your eyes. I am assuming you are not blind but I could be wrong.

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