Magpul BAD Lever - Old-Busted?

[rob_s]

It appears that the BAD lever fell out of favor about as fast as it came in. I still have them on a bunch of guns, and am looking to add one to one gun that doesn't have it (I really missed not having one when shooting my PCC at a local action steel match a couple weeks ago). That got me wondering why they went away. Is it due to wider availability of ambi lowers and other devices? Is there a knockoff version that's "better"? is there something people found inherently wrong with them?

I think I was one of the first people to have a pre-productiong, pre-Magpul BAD direct from Travis (maybe not, I dunno) having gotten mine from him in March 2008 and maybe that makes me biased towards them? I think just about every AR I've spent any significant time with since then has had one on it.


pictures from the Magpul link above

[theJanitor]

Oddly enough, I thought about getting another one because I re-acquired a redi-mod to see if it meets my current needs. The BAD lever works well for that application. I got an early one, as Travis was living near me back in 2008, and one of the other Magpul instructors gave me a couple pre-prototype MS1 slings.

I think the current ambi-lowers that don't have your trigger finger headed to the trigger guard are "safer", but the BAD lever can help with serious speed, if that's the goal

[SecondsCount]

So you're "that guy"

I saw them starting to pop up in carbine clinics and classes, along with the AFG, but I really never saw a good reason to add another thing to my AR. The way that thing attaches and hangs off the gun just seems like a recipe for disaster.

Now I have an LMT and a Knights ambi setup, I like the ambi mag release but still don't use the bolt release, probably out of habit.

[Bergeron]

I tried one out, back several years ago. It felt to me that I had to fish my finger into the trigger guard to use it, particularly when locking the bolt open.

Perhaps there are better ways of using the lever, but I really disliked having to get a finger into the trigger guard, and went with a PDQ lever to gain a more ergonomic setup.

InRange TV B.A.D Lever/P.D.Q. Lever

The thoughts from InRange TV on the video above (timestamp: 1:30 - 4:00) mirror my thoughts.

[rob_s]

I tried one out, back several years ago. It felt to me that I had to fish my finger into the trigger guard to use it, particularly when locking the bolt open.

Perhaps there are better ways of using the lever, but I really disliked having to get a finger into the trigger guard, and went with a PDQ lever to gain a more ergonomic setup.

InRange TV B.A.D Lever/P.D.Q. Lever

The thoughts from InRange TV on the video above (timestamp: 1:30 - 4:00) mirror my thoughts.

Every time I see those guys I’m less impressed.

So they used it wrong, had themselves an ND, and it’s the levers fault?

[Default.mp3]

IIRC, the point of the BAD was primarily to lock the bolt back, not to drop the bolt, thus making malfunctions faster to clear. However, due to tolerance stacking and the like, folks were having bolts that locked back intermittently even while not on empty, and also supposedly stressing the bolt catch pins.

[HCountyGuy]

Maybe because the design is stupid, or in this case bad.

Why have something that runs in to the trigger guard that then is meant to be actuated by the trigger finger? Seems like a problem of the same premise of what promoted NDs with Serpas. I thought the trigger finger was ideally meant to have one job: manipulating the trigger. I’m not terribly experienced with the AR platform but I’ve had no problems with hitting the bolt release with my suppprt thumb.

[ASH556]

I always avoided them because I heard from both LAV and Will Larson that they were know to induce malfunctions. IIRC something about the extra weight and premature lockback. Could just as well be an issue of out of spec lowers, springs, and bolt catches though. YMMV.

[Bergeron]

I was really hoping to be able to use, from a full right hand grip, a "straight-down-to-release" and "straight-up-to-lock" motion with the trigger finger.

I found that the release was a "down-and-in" motion towards the trigger guard, and the lock was an "in-and-up". It was that "in" part of the motion that I didn't like.

[LOKNLOD]

Still have one on my redimod equipped gun. Partly because I couldn’t find the right bit to take it off...
They make more sense in That role, but aren’t necessary.
Used right my finger is no more “in the trigger guard” than if I’m using the mag release.