Higher-profile bolt catch for AR-10A needed

[josiahg52]

I'm looking for a higher-profile bolt catch for my AR-10.  The problem I'm trying to solve is the practical inability to lock the bolt back manually with the ArmaLite AR-10A catch while a Norgon Ambi-Catch is installed which has a higher profile than a standard magazine catch.  I installed a Badger Ordnance Enhanced Bolt Catch and the action is improved a little but if I had gloves on it would still be very difficult.

For the bolt catch to work, it would have to have a taller lower-pad.  I've seen ones from Seekins Precision, BAD, Strike Industries and others and while they look good and look like they might work, I'd rather not buy them just to find I have the same problem although I'm sure I could find use for them on other rifles.  There is also the question of compatibility with the AR-10A.  I'm not interested in the ambidextrous catches like the Phase 5, Tactical Link or Magpul offerings.

The other choice I have is to buy one that will function in an AR-10A that also looks good and is made of material that can be readily welded upon, weld up that area, reshape it and then heat treat it and refinish it.  I'm sure I'm overthinking this so I'm asking here because someone must have had a similar issue in the past and I'd like to hear their solution.

 

[survivalshop]

  So what I'm getting is the Bolt Stop is not raising far enough to sufficiently engage the Bolt face to hold the BCG back ?

   Will an empty Mag. work it properly ?

   Things to think about , wrong spring used with BS. , Burr's or Debris in BS. Spring hole in Lower Receiver , keeping BS. from operating correctly . Actual BS. Spring hole not to spec's.

 I have had to Stone down the stop pad on the BS. to get the BS. to raise higher to engage the Bolt Face properly .

[josiahg52]

No, both catches work and function perfectly fine and operate cleanly exactly as they're supposed to.

The problem is I can barely get my finger on the lower pad to manually lock the bolt back because of higher-profile Norgon Ambi-Catch magazine release. The profile of the bolt catch is such that it sits nearly flush with or even below the magazine catch on the left side of the rifle.

If I removed the Norgon magazine release, there would be no problem but I use that more than I would need to manually lock the bolt back so I'll keep the Norgon piece if I have to make a choice. I'm hoping that someone else has observed this and has a solution. I need a catch that has a higher-profile operating surface for the fingers.

I'm a left-handed shooter. Hope this clears it up.

[unforgiven]

I put a Norgon on my first 15 thinking it was going to be the end all be all. It wasn't. I strip the mag with my right hand and wrap it around the front of the mag well to actuated the bolt release. I never use the Norgon. My Rock River Standard Operator is truly ambi with the bolt release in the center behind the mag well and 2 full mag release buttons. I am also a lefty and run the rifle accordingly. Even my Garand which is a right handed rifle. Persevere and over come. Just my 2 mags.

[survivalshop]

 Most of whats out there are for AR 15's & most don't look like they raise the pad much if at all . Not sure how well they will weld , to add height . I think they are castings of some sort or the other , but they are not that expensive , just not sure of out come of welding on it .

[mrmackc]

As cheap as they are get a new one and then try welding on the old one. I recommend using some nickle steel rod from Brownells and Oxy Acc torch or try a Tig wire welder if you do welding, otherwise throw it away.

[unforgiven]

There is this : http://www.battlearmsdevelopment.com/bad-ebc-enhanced-bolt-catch-black

[josiahg52]

The Norgon release is the only left-handed item I use on any of my firearms.  I don't need it; I qualified on and operated the M16, M4 and the AR15 for years before with the standard release just fine.  I tried the Norgon, liked it, found it useful and would like to keep it.  For right now, the Badger bolt catch seems to be good enough.  I may still mess around some other catches and try welding on them if I can confirm the material is suitable.  I'm looking at the Seekins, SI and BAD more closely now.

[unforgiven]

I forgot to add that all my rifle have an ambi-selector. That I use and like.

[beantown]

34 minutes ago, unforgiven said:

I forgot to add that all my rifle have an ambi-selector. That I use and like.

Which ambi are you using unforgiven? I'm a south paw and my stock DPMS selector tears up my left.

[josiahg52]

1 minute ago, beantown said:

Which ambi are you using unforgiven? I'm a south paw and my stock DPMS selector tears up my left.

I use a BAD CASS ambidextrous selector on all my ARs.  On the AR-10, I use two standard levers.  A thin or even a short one on the left might work better but I haven't tried yet.

 

[survivalshop]

5 hours ago, unforgiven said:

There is this : http://www.battlearmsdevelopment.com/bad-ebc-enhanced-bolt-catch-black

 I saw that looking around & It has a wider pad , but wonder if it sits higher then the Std . one .

[98Z5V]

11 hours ago, unforgiven said:

There is this : http://www.battlearmsdevelopment.com/bad-ebc-enhanced-bolt-catch-black

 

6 hours ago, survivalshop said:

 I saw that looking around & It has a wider pad , but wonder if it sits higher then the Std . one .

It's made for the mil-spec machining of the typical AR-15. Not made for a .308AR...

Just thought I'd make that clear, before the OP buys it and it doesn't work in his Armalite AR-10A.

[unforgiven]

^^^ Yea your right brother, that is a 15 bolt release. For selectors its been BAD selectors and Rock River star ambi-selector. Both good Rock River less expensive.

[josiahg52]

I ordered a bunch of bolt catches not really expecting them to work with the AR-10A but because they looked interesting and I can always use them on an AR-15 or two.

[jtallen83]

52 minutes ago, josiahg52 said:

I ordered a bunch of bolt catches not really expecting them to work with the AR-10A but because they looked interesting and I can always use them on an AR-15 or two.

 

Here is a different approach;

https://www.redi-mag.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=61

 

[josiahg52]

I purchased more than a few AR-15 bolt catches and they all fit and operated fine in the AR-10 both during function checking and live fire.  They worked with PMAGs and KAC magazines but they appeared the diminutive of the AR-10 catch.  In the end, I went with the Badger Ordnance Enhanced Bolt Catch.

[98Z5V]

 

7 hours ago, josiahg52 said:

I purchased more than a few AR-15 bolt catches and they all fit and operated fine in the AR-10 both during function checking and live fire. 

With the physical differences between the two, that's gonna be hard to pull off in a .308AR, with that specific AR15 part.  You have pics of the ones that you have, that work just fine?

[josiahg52]

13 hours ago, 98Z5V said:

 

With the physical differences between the two, that's gonna be hard to pull off in a .308AR, with that specific AR15 part.  You have pics of the ones that you have, that work just fine?

Off the top of my head:

Strike Industries Enhanced Bolt Catch
Battle Arms Development Enhanced Bolt Catch - Billet
Seekins Precision Enhanced Bolt Catch
Forward Controls ABC/R
POF Enhanced Universal Bolt Catch
Badger Ordnance Enhanced Bolt Catch

I have some photos of the catches installed in the lower (with a L-wrench instead of a roll pin) with a magazine installed and may have taken pictures with the upper installed and bolt locked open.  I think I took a group photo of all of them as well.  I'll look for them and post them here.

I would agree that they are not suited for long term use and a better statement regarding their operation is simply, "they functioned".  My previous post was too simplistic and didn't provide context.  The Strike Industries EBC was operated for about 100 rounds.  The others were just tested with one to five rounds.  The Badger Ordnance EBC has been installed for some 1000 rounds or so now.  Some of the others have made it into other AR-15 lowers I've assembled and some I just don't prefer.
 

[josiahg52]

I wanted to wait to post this part until I got home and checked the package, but the Badger Ordnance EBC is "for use on any M-16, AR-15, AR-10 or SR-25 style rifle". I remember that was a selling point for me. It is P/N 249-44.

Below are some photos of the Badger Ordnance EBC installed. Besides being one of the few 308AR-compatible bolt catches that does what I need it to do, it also looks good. Simple and functional. Dare I say it's a little bit better than the vaunted ArmaLite bolt catch. 

I will continue working on the photos of the other bolt catches. 

[jtallen83]

18 minutes ago, josiahg52 said:

 

I will continue working on the photos of the other bolt catches. 

 

I have a post with measurements on 4 different catches, your looks like it would be on the short side of the range. Add what you can here, the more the merrier!

 

[98Z5V]

1 hour ago, josiahg52 said:

 

This is exactly what I want to see from AR15 bolt catches in a.308AR.  They don't typically have enough height, or throw, to grab a .308AR bolt face.  Maybe the BCG body  - but that doesn't work.  In addition to that, they're too short, from to back, and don't usually have enough protrusion to even catch the mag follower, and hold the bolt open.

I'd love to see the pics of your other functional AR15 mag catches holding a .308AR bolt open on an empty mag. Please show an overall pic of he gun, as well...  

[josiahg52]

Will do. Here's a photo of the Badger bolt catch package. It seems they designed this one to work across platforms. 

[cantshootafish]

I cannot find one that effectively locks my bolt in place after the last shot in the magazine.  I find it hard to believe that the Badger Ordinance part would take care of that problem.  Has anyone else had that problem and corrected it using the Badger Ordinance part?

[shooterrex]

It's probably not the bolt catch.

Your gas system or recoil system or both.

Can you lock it back manually?

Will it lock back if you pull the charging handle back on an empty magazine?