Forward Controls ASF-50Q Semi-Auto Safety - Minuteman Review

AmbGun Ambi AR Page

https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/ar15/ambiar

The ambidextrous safety is the most heavily used control for the ambidextral gunfighter. Quite possible to engage and disengage multiple times per magazine…especially if you go to safe when making ambi transitions.

The ambidextral gunfighter requires identical, perfectly mirrored levers so bilateral transfer of skill can be achieved for “unconscious” ambi operation of the rifle. No shorty or tapered lever on the weak side ...there is no weak side for the ambidextral gunfighter.

The Desert Tech MDR, KelTec RDB, and Springfield Hellion all have perfectly mirrored safeties. Perfectly mirrored and short throw became my ambi safety standard.

Since then, I’ve gone through many ambi safeties on my AR’s and can’t say that I’ve been terribly disappointed with any. I started with BCM’s ambi safety with a 90 degree throw. I liked the budget Strike Industries Hex Selector with mirrored levers and the 45 degree throw option, but found the lever screws a bit mushy. I run the Radian Talon 45/90 on my BCM RECCE, an elegant choice, but you’ll have to buy a second kit or a matching lever separately for perfect mirroring. I was hopeful that the MagPul ESK kit included matching long levers, but it turned out that one was tapered, meaning I’d have to buy another kit for perfect mirroring…the polymer mounting pins weren’t terribly inspiring so I did not pursue a matching lever. The UTG levers were adequate, but did require the purchase of two kits to get matching levers, and are manufactured in Taiwan…hoping we’ll see a UTG Pro kit at some point. The Battle Arms Bad Ass Lite kit required purchasing a mirrored lever separately and had an awful lot of side to side slop on the receiver so it never saw service.

Most kits sell you a long lever paired with a short lever, Forward Controls gives you the option of choosing two identical levers when you order directly from them. Here we’re looking at the ASF 50 Q semi-auto safety. When ordering you will be choosing 50 degree throw or 90. The center shaft is not 50/90, but your choice…50 OR 90.

Forward Controls demonstrated careful design considerations in their levers. They studied user interaction with AR safeties to optimize ergonomics. Notably, they developed the "Q" lever, which shifts the lever above the center of axis, resulting in improved manipulation and easier engagement of the safety. “Q” doesn’t mean “queer” or “trust the plan”, but it is simply the shape of the lever when in the fire position.

Furthermore, the lever serrations run lengthwise rather than perpendicular. This design facilitates thumb placement and allows for smooth sliding along the lever's length. The lever is also angled to align with the natural angle of the thumb.

The Forward Controls levers are attached to the center shaft with stainless steel roll pins. A counter bored roll pin punch to seat them makes installation a bit easier, but I found it easy enough to get pins inserted with a flat tipped punch. The roll pins only retain the levers in place and are not load bearing. The keyed mating surfaces between the levers and center shaft is a snug, precision fit. I thought I might prefer allen head set screws, like those used on my UTG Pro Ambi receiver set, for ease of disassembly and reassembly, but the complete lack of slop and smooth operation sold me on the stainless steel roll pins. Plus they do include two spare roll pins with the kit. And with roll pins you don’t have to worry about extracting a set screw with a stripped head.

Forward Controls do offer thicker “winter” levers…maybe it’d be nice to have the ability to easily swap between summer and winter levers without driving out roll pins. Swapping out levers is not something I’d do, but I can see how some might.

Why did they go with the 50 degree throw rather than the common 45? Turns out there have been some reports of popular 45 degree safeties being overcome by a hard pull on the trigger causing the safety to “cam” into the firing position. Forward Controls finds that 50 degrees makes this “camming” impossible.

I’m no metallurgist, but the Forward Controls ASF Q selector oozes quality throughout….design and build. Precise machining so there is no wobble between the lever and center shaft. Expensive, but for those who desire perfect mirroring of their controls it's no more expensive than buying two kits of the other offerings just to get identical levers. Better to have two perfect levers than a pile of the others.

These ASF 50 Q’s will remain on my ambi AR. Going into this I did not think I'd ever REPLACE the Radian Talon safety on my BCM RECCE, but that is what I intend to do…ASF 50 Q for the RECCE, too. Look for a pile of lesser safeties dumped on MeWe classifieds.

https://www.forwardcontrolsdesign.com/ASF-Design-in-focus_ep_86-1.html

Not something that can be fixed with a lever kit, but I wish engaging an AR’s safety not only prevented trigger movement, but also captured the hammer…like Ruger does with the Mini 14.