CMMG released this product at SHOT (yet somehow forgot to mention it to me when I stopped by their booth), but they’re here and showing off some of their production models at NRA this year. Their aluminium upper receivers are produced with two open rectangular areas on either side, into which screws either a flat closed panel or an ejection port. It allows the shooter to buy a single gun and easily swap it from right hand to left hand.
The panels screw in using standard hex screws, and will be coming in a variety of combinations — with and without forward assists, brass deflectors, etc.
CMMG has just now reached full production on these things, so keep an eye out.
The thing I keep wondering is who would actually buy this thing? I’ve never heard of anyone suddenly and without warning switching from a righty to a southpaw, so I’d imagine that one style of upper would be sufficient for your needs. But I guess if you want to allow yourself the option down the road of cheaply swapping to a slick-side AR this would be the way to go.
You’d probably also need to swap out the bolt carrier and bolt if you switch from right to left or vice versa. My friend has a lefty Stag and the BCG is not the same as a standard right handed one.
Yup, you would need to change the full BCG as well.
Dunno about randomly swapping from side to side as an owner (a lefty at that), but I imagine only having to machine a single receiver design for both north and southpaws might wind up a tad cheaper for the manufacturer.
Helpful if you run a Police dept and want to buy one standard rifle and configure it for rightys and leftys. The Army ought to look into something like this.
Also nice if you are right-handed and your wife or kid(s) is lefty and you want her (them) to have fun going to the range with you.
Other than that, I think it is of limited value. Still a neat idea.
For the average shooter I don’t see the point of this. If you are right handed why purchase an additionally complex weapon when the ar-15 is already perfect for you? And if you’re left handed why not just get a dedicated left handed ar-15? Maybe they will score a hit with a few police departments but I think this will otherwise be a flop.
One size fit all in mass quantity?
Side-by-side mounting candidate?
As a lefty I do see the value in this. I can buy it, shoot it lefty til I decide I saw a shinier gun at the fun store, then sell it to either a north or southpaw. That way I won’t get stuck with a lefty only gun that no one will buy
I’m a southpaw shooter… and use all standard (right handed) long guns without any problem. In many years of shooting right-side-ejecting shotguns and semi-auto rifles, not once have I been hit in the face by brass or gas from the chamber. While I don’t see much to do about left-handed guns in general (even bolt rifles), I really don’t see any big deal about ambidextrous receivers like this.
The only group of weapons I have every had any problem with shooting left handed is the incredibly small category of bullpup rifles/shotguns. Only in one of those would I consider something that’s truly ambidextrous as beneficial.
Agree with some of the posters above, being a left handed shooter I almost prefer right-handed handguns, but rifles, and the AR platform in particular are a pain. While I have never taken brass to the face, I take an awful lot of gas and debris that make it a much less fun experience. And to those that say a bolt gun has no issues, if you are trying to quickly make a follow-up shot you have to (or at least I do) completely come up off the sights to allow the bolt to come back all the way.
I’m looking forward to building an AR platform that throws brass (and gas) off to the other side.
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