Defense Package AR Ambi Safety Review

[Il Duce]

First off I want to say thank you to the guys at Defense Package for giving me the opportunity to review a product of theirs.

The package arrived the other day via USPS and when I opened it up there was the safety, 3 Allen wrenches, a small screw, a decal, and a piece of paper telling you where to go for installation directions. The safety is made out of CNC aluminum and appears to be well made.

Close up view of the safety. It is the same on both sides.

Installation of this safety was straightforward and their website offers both a PDF page and a YouTube video if you find yourself in need of help.

Once installed I really got to get a feel of this safety and mess with it. The teeth on the safety add a nice feel over a stock safety and at first I did not like it but after more time messing with it I do like the grip it offers. Having the ability to select safe and fire with either my thumb or trigger finger is nice as for me I find the latter easier.

The safety can be installed as either a RH, LH, or in ambi form. The guys at Defense Package included a small screw that can be used if you do not want to use the safety in ambi form.

Below are pics of the safety installed.

Now for the bad part if you will. My only complaint with this safety in my opinion is on the LH side the bottom of the safety digs into the too of the hand when it is the fire position. This may just be because of my grip or whatnot, but to me I would like to see that shortened maybe a 1/4 of the size smaller. I understand why it is the same size as the RH.

Now for the positives. This safety does as it is intended to do and it does it well. The best part is it sells for $37 plus shipping and for that price you really cannot complain as it is about 40% less than the competition.

If you are in the market for a ambi safety I would give these guys a look.

www.defensepackage.com

Edited August 15, 2011 by Il Duce

[mikegideon]

The third allen wrench was a joke. Normally comes with 2.

BTW... stake your castle nut!

[Il Duce]

Yes I know it was and I know I need to.

[mikegideon]

Need to borrow a center punch? I have one that needs to be staked too.

[Il Duce]

I think I have one somewhere but I'll let you know.

[Guest DefensePackage]

The third allen wrench was a joke. Normally comes with 2.

BTW... stake your castle nut!

lol, yes, our product comes with two allen wrenches.

We're machining a slightly wider lever, and a slightly shorter lever, both of which will be available in a few weeks.

We're also producing a center rod with a shorter-throw, which will produce a 'short throw' safety that still separates the detents.

[Guest DefensePackage]

I think I have one somewhere but I'll let you know.

I prefer an automatic (spring-loaded) punch for the castle nut, just hit it with the automatic punch about a dozen times.

[Il Duce]

lol, yes, our product comes with two allen wrenches.

We're machining a slightly wider lever, and a slightly shorter lever, both of which will be available in a few weeks.

We're also producing a center rod with a shorter-throw, which will produce a 'short throw' safety that still separates the detents.

That just fixed my concern.

[Capbyrd]

Mine looks alot like Il Duce's. I wasn't able to snap any pictures before installation and I don't feel like taking my trigger back out. I might snap some later.

Here are a few pictures of it installed.

I find the safety to be perfectly functional. However, I have similar complaints to Il Duce's. I find the right side lever to be too long and it definitely feels weird under my trigger finger. I also find the safety to be just a little too wide for my liking. Its not a huge deal but you can see the gap in the photos that I took.

Overall, its a pretty nice setup and I'm really interested in additional levers if Defense Package makes them.

[Guest DefensePackage]

Part of this is the nature of ambidextrous selectors; the supplied lever is similar in dimension to the GI selector lever, just slimmer, so like a GI-style ambi-selector, there will be a degree of interference on the strong side, but it's reduced by the lever being slimmer. A shorter lever will not have this interference, but it's not in the standard position for toggling (like a slim lever), so you would need to get used to it's higher position.

Of course, ambidextrous operation is only one benefit of our product, it can also be configured as a standard selector, where it's CNC construction produces snappy detent operation.

This is what we're thinking, in terms of levers:

http://www.defensepackage.com/pictures/levers.jpg

The top lever in this rendering is the current design; it's a 'slim' lever - the 'standard' lever will be 0.075" wider, and the 'short' lever will be the same width, but will end just above the grip.

Next week we're machining some short-throw rod sections for testing, then we're going to make a production run of short-throw selectors. After that, we will start machining the different lever options. We expect to have short-throw selectors available mid-September, and all three lever designs by the end of September. We need to send the levers out twice, first to be sand-blasted, then to be anodized, which is why they take longer.

[Il Duce]

That short one looks spot on.