There are a lot of safety options out there for the left handed user, usually consisting of ambi controls and a quick swap of the long and short levers. I have had great success with the Radian Talon, and the V7 57° ambi safety selectors have been my favorite. Up until now.
Forward Controls Design has come out with another stellar product that is not only well thought out, but meticulously engineered and probably the most durable selector on the market, the ASF.
Warning: A lot of acronyms to follow
The ASF is a joint project between FCD and SOLGW (Sons of Liberty Gun Works). FCD sells the ASF: Ambidextrous Selector, Forward controls; and SOLGW sells The Quick. Both are the same quality, same design, and come from two companies that truly care about the firearms community.
The ASF comes with three disctinct parts, most of which are customizable to your needs:
- The core has 3 options: 90° throw, 50° throw, or select fire for the NFA crowd.
- The levers are either centered (standard), or offset (the Q)
- Both levers type have long and short version
- Roll pins to attach the levers to the core.
From there you can make almost any combination you need to meet your needs.
First we will start out with the core. You do have 3 options of the 90° 50° and the select fire versions. The ones that I have installed are the 50°, since I prefer the short throw. When installed with the supplied safety detent, you get the most tactile clicks and smooth transition between safe and fire. I though that the V7 and Radian had smooth and positive motion, but the ASF is notably smoother and “clickier”. Another feature on the core is the dimple. While we all agree dimples are better than serration, the dimple does aid in initial installation, as when it is oriented in the safe direction, you will have it lined up correctly for the detent. It also is an additional pointer to present state of selector.
When installing, please install the included one, the quality of this part only makes the fit and feel better. Do not recycle your old detent with this safety.
The levers are another fine piece of precision craftsmanship. When installed on the core, there is absolutely no slop. They are very snug fitting. The standard levers are center aligned, like almost every other selector on the market. The have long and short versions, and you can swap their sides as needed with little problem (more on that later). I chose to try the Q levers. These offset levers are a little strange looking, but they are a game changer. These levers are not swapable. You will need to determine at purchase if you want a short left and a long right (assuming you are a left handed shooter). When in the safe position, they are similar to regular levers. But when you switch from safe to fire, they are quick. Hence the SOLGW name “The Quick”. The new profile gets the levers out of the way while shooting, but are still very easily accessible to put back into safe.
Both lever have ample area to actuate the safety with or without gloves. And even though the short lever are, well, short, they are a little wider to give the user a bit more purchase.
Finally we have the roll pins. These are what give this safety a bombproof installation. Remember how I said you need to make sure you have the levers placed in the correct orientation, and on the proper side? That is because once you’ve installed them, they are more difficult to remove, and this is a good thing. You don’t have to worry about loc-tite, torque, and the screws backing out. Kind of like the Radian Talon, once they are in, they are staying in. FCD is also kind enough to supply you with 2 sets.
School of the American Rifle has a great installation video to help. I’ve read of a few people having problems, and after watching the video, I’ve been successful with two installs. If you’re at the point of roll pin install, you can skip to this section in the video.
So there you have my favorite safety selector. Function and form together, safety in harmony.
But before we go, lets get into the alphabet soup and start naming the different options available:
ASF-50 Version: 5
ASF-50 LLLR (Long Left, Long Right)
ASF-50 SLSR (Short Left, Short Right)
ASF-50 SLLR and ASF-50 LLSR are the same thing
ASF-50 LLCR and ASF-50 CLLR are the same thing (caped ends)
ASF-50 SLCR and ASF-50 CLSR are also the same
ASF-90 Version: 5
ASF-90 LLLR (Long Left, Long Right)
ASF-90 SLSR (Short Left, Short Right)
ASF-90 SLLR and ASF-90 LLSR are the same thing
ASF-90 LLCR and ASF-90 CLLR are the same thing (Capped ends, not ambi, therefore sacrilege)
ASF-90 SLCR and ASF-90 CLSR are also the same
ASF-SF Version: 5
ASF-SF LLLR (Long Left, Long Right)
ASF-SF SLSR (Short Left, Short Right)
ASF-SF SLLR and ASF-SF LLSR are the same thing
ASF-SF LLCR and ASF-SF CLLR are the same thing
ASF-SF SLCR and ASF-SF CLSR are also the same
ASF-50Q Version: 8
ASF-50Q LLLR (Long Left, Long Right)
ASF-50Q SLSR (Short Left, Short Right)
ASF-50Q SLLR
ASF-50Q LLSR
ASF-50Q LLCR
ASF-50Q CLLR
ASF-50Q SLCR
ASF-50Q CLSR
ASF-90Q Version: 8
ASF-90Q LLLR (Long Left, Long Right)
ASF-90Q SLSR (Short Left, Short Right)
ASF-90Q SLLR
ASF-90Q LLSR
ASF-90Q LLCR
ASF-90Q CLLR
ASF-90Q SLCR
ASF-90Q CLSR
ASF-SFQ Version: 8
ASF-SFQ LLLR (Long Left, Long Right)
ASF-SFQ SLSR (Short Left, Short Right)
ASF-SFQ SLLR
ASF-SFQ LLSR
ASF-SFQ LLCR
ASF-SFQ CLLR
ASF-SFQ SLCR
ASF-SFQ CLSR
So it looks like there are 39 different versions available in this safety, and most importantly, all in black. You could add 3 more versions, one for each 50, 90, and SF, with both end caps. But that would be ridiculous.