Phase 5 Tactical Extended Bolt Catch

[sinsterurge]

Do you use the .308 or the AR15 version?

[98Z5V]

Couple questions - why post that in the Mega section?  Are you using it on a Mega build?  Are you building a 5.56 gun or a .308 AR gun? 

Use the appropriate one for what you're building.  There are differences - big differences - in those two bolt catches.

[sinsterurge]

My apologies. It looks like part of my post got cut off. I posted that in the Mega Section because I am using the Mega Arms Ma-Ten upper/lower combo.

[98Z5V]

I'd assume that you're building the .308 Mega - go with the .308 lever for that one.  <thumbsup>

[Guest LLArms]

So I bought a MAGPUL BAD Lever thinking Im a handy guy and $25.00 to possibly modify it to work on my DPMS.

Yea well - after some cutting and some grinding (on the lever, not the receiver!!!) I realized that modifying the lever alone was not gonna work. And I wasn't about to take the dremel and polishing tools to my perfect condition upper receiver.

And thus Phase 5 saved the day. Though I do wish MAGPUL would get off their rear end and do more 308 parts.

[98Z5V]

In reference to the BAD lever, and the .308 AR platforms - the issue is with the cutouts (bolt catch relief) in the upper receivers.  There's just not a big enough "hole" in there for the BAD lever.

The part was designed as an AR-15 part, for use on forged uppers. Plenty of room there for the larger paddle (what it amounts to).  Even many AR-15 billet uppers don't have room for that device.  Some billet makers thought that through in their upper designs and made room for the larger paddle - Spike's, Rainier Arms, and Mega come to mind immediately, for the smaller ARs.

[sinsterurge]

I'd assume that you're building the .308 Mega - go with the .308 lever for that one.  <thumbsup>

That is correct. .308 Mega Monolithic. I was pretty sure of this but wanted it confirmed. It will likely help others when they search for the same information. Thanks! <thumbsup>

[98Z5V]

The Phase 5 5.56 part will physically fit, man, and possibly work, but there's a size difference in the 5.56 bolt catch and the .308 bolt catch.  Definitely better to go with the .308-specific part here, considering what it does.

With the additional power of the .308 spring, and the weight of the .308 carrier, over time the 5.56 part could break.  Hell, the DPMS .308 bolt catch breaks sometimes, in their own .308...  <dontknow>

[Jgun]

The BAD lever will fit in the cutout of the MA Ten upper, if the monolithic has the same cutout configuration, it would fit that as well, so if you use a standard .308 bolt catch you can use the BAD lever on it, as an alternative option to the phase 5.

[sinsterurge]

Any idea how much force is exerted on the .308 bolt catch after emptying a magazine and catching the carrier (or what does the spring exert)?

[98Z5V]

That depends on how much overtravel there is in the setup.  Lock your bolt to the rear.  Then, while looking at the bolt catch, locking the bolt back, pull your charging handle all the way back - try to notice how much more the bolt goes back, beyind where it was with the catch (locked to the rear).  The larger that distance or gap, the more force that bolt stop has to take, every time it locks the BCG to the rear on an empty mag.  If there's alot of overtravel, there's alot of force on the stop.  If there's very little overtravel, the force on the stop is alot less.  It really depends, system to system.

[calegalish]

I happened to be in the area so I stopped by Phase 5 today and got to look around.  Nice group of guys over there who were very helpful.  They manufacture two versions of their BAD lever, one for 5.56 and .308.  Kyle informed me that the actual bolt catch portion are different sizes for the 5.56 and .308.  You can use the 5.56 in a .308 but not recommended.

Hope this helps.

Cal