i shoot lefty and am wondering if the Norgon ambi-catch is the way to go or is there something else out there? Kinda sucks to be paying $90 bucks for this thing, but I guess I gotta do it. Thanks
Just curious why do you gotta do it? I’m a lefty also and been shooting ARs for well over 20 years and never seen a need for ambi controls on an AR.
I’ve always thought ambidextrous controls introduce additional points of failure.
For instance with ambidextrous controls there are now two different places you can press to accidently drop a mag, accidently bump a safety or unintentionally send the bolt home. :eek:
And remember, if you for some reason ever use someone else’s gun you might find that you’ve conditioned yourself to ambidextrous controls which are now no longer there. Could be bad news. 
I recommend the Norgon Ambidextrous Magazine Release. I’m a friend of the inventor’s, and have them on a few of my rifles. It’s a good piece of kit that I have been testing out for a while now. It works, it’s rugged, easily maintained in the field (only part that CAN get lost is a spring that is also a standard extractor spring), and it’s backed by a great gunsmithing family at Northern Virginia Gun Works. I’m a rightie, but shoot ambidextrous and find myself using this mag catch more when I’m shooting right handed than left, as I like taking the old magazine manually.
Can’t find the pic of the KAC ambi mag release, bit it sure looks similar. Is that just because that is pretty much what it has to look like, or is KAC rebranding them?
The KAC is different. I have both the Norgon and KAC version.
Here is a link to the KAC version.
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=127586&page=5
This LH controls issue has been bandied-about more times that I can count – here and elsewhere – and I suppose it comes to this: are you a member of a tactical team, or otherwise in a situation where weapon standardization and commonality is a concern, or are you trying to optimize your own rifle for your own purposes?
I like to recall the old adage about “beware the man with one gun, as he will know how to use it.” If your intention here is to equip yourself with a carbine that is configured to your tastes, that you will train with exclusively, and that you will use as your “go to” gun should that ever be required, then why not invest in high-quality components that simplify your task?
I’m a LH rifleman that has conventionally-configured ARs, but that is largely just because I am still on active duty, and I don’t want to shift my habit-transfer baseline while I have an obligation to operate as part of a much larger team. Will I hang a Norgon or an ambi-safety once I have retired? Perhaps so, but I see little cause for concern here: whatever I choose to do, I am willing to put in the training time to make its employment second-nature.
Now that there are proven, well-designed and competently-built ambi parts on the market, it’s truly a win-win situation for those who elect to go that route.
Chief