Battle Arms Development Enhanced Ambidextrous Magazine Catch

The Battle Arms Development Enhanced Ambidextrous Magazine Catch is the steel choice for an ambi AR-15 magazine release. The factory right-side button stays in place, and an enlarged left-side paddle adds the support-side release a left-handed shooter or a right-handed shooter running the rifle support-side needs to drop a magazine without breaking grip.

The material is the story here. It is investment-cast 8620 heat-treated steel with a black phosphate finish, the same process used for mil-spec parts, rather than the aluminum used by most budget ambi catches. That makes it more resistant to wear and deformation on a hard-use rifle at the cost of a little more weight. The two-piece design drops into any lower cut for a mil-spec magazine catch with no receiver modification.

This is the pick for a shooter who wants ambidextrous reloads and specifically wants steel. It sits between the value Strike Industries AMBI and the duty-grade Forward Controls EMR-A: more robust material than the former, a more conventional enlarged-paddle layout than the latter's low-profile lever.