Slop in the safety selector

[kyle04]

New guy here and first time AR builder. I recently ordered a lower and lpk and decided to try and install it myself. Everything went pretty smooth except when the safety selector is in the on safe position it has about a 1/4inch slop till i feel tension on it from the detent.

This doesn't seem to be normal, what type of things could i try to eliminate the play or is this something i should not be concerned with?

[AR-10]

Define "1/4 inch slop".

Also, what grip are you using?

[kyle04]

Define "1/4 inch slop".

Also, what grip are you using?

If you were to look at the end of the lever when it is in full safe then then start pushing down til it started getting tension and measured that distance i would guess it to be able 1/4inch. I can get a picture of it when i get home to help my terrible explination.

Grip is magpul MOE

[Quib]

There have been instances where slop in the safety was reported by those installing Magpul MOE grips. Apparently the safety detent spring pocket in the grip can be too deep in certain cases causing less than adequate spring pressure applied to the safety detent.

I ran into this myself when installing my MOE grip, and resorted to installing a small section of steel rod in the grip spring pocket to take up the slack in the spring. This cured the soft or sloppy safety engagement.

If you have spares on hand you might swap out your current safety detent spring with one slightly larger, or try my corrective action.

[kyle04]

I have a new safety detent, spring as well as two roll pins coming in this week. I'll give those a try if they don't help ill have to something to lessen the depth of the spring pocket.

[Hmac]

Personally, I woudn't even begin to screw around trying to fix a problematic SS with its inconsistent forging and suspect machining...I'd just pitch the thing and go with a BADASS. My experience, and the experiences I've seen reported online, suggests to me that the safety selector portion of many LPK's can be hit-or-miss from a functionality standpoint. OTOH the BADASS has been utterly reliable and completely consistent on the dozen or so I've installed on my own rifles or those of some of my buddies, wide variety of grips but mostly MOE. Even setting aside the ambidextrous component of it, it's a well-made item. IMHO the SS is a key component in the functionality of these rifles and I've found the money spent on these devices to be very worthwhile.

[Quib]

Definitely can’t go wrong with the BADASS, it’s a top notch aftermarket part. But I doubt that would be the complete fix to the OP’s problem.

Even with my BADASS installed, I still had the play in the safety which required the fix I outlined above.

[AR-10]

Grip is magpul MOE

I knew it!

I've had this happen before, do what Quib said cause the hole in the grip is probably too deep.

[kyle04]

Well i did try to pack it and while i notice is much stiffer when i feel the tension kick in on the selector i still have the same amount of slack.

Here is a crappy cell phone picture. From full safe to here there is absolutely no tension on the selector and it moves fairly freely.

[Quib]

I don't think you'll ever get all the slop out of the selector. There will always be some there simply due to tolerances between parts.

[Quib]

My next suggestion would be as Hmac said above, swap out the current OEM standard safety for a good quality aftermarket safety such as the BADASS. But understand, there will still be some play in the safety. It may be significantly less, but to some extent it will still be there.

http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum...ctor-(BAD-ASS)

[kyle04]

I figured a little slop was ok, just wasn't sure if that was excessive or not. I replaced the detent and selector spring yesterday and mad no difference so it must be the selector itself. I'll most likely pick up one of those badass selectors in the near future.

Thanks for the help.