According to most of the statistics available, seven to ten percent of the world’s population is left-handed. Unfortunately for those folks most machines and other devices are engineered with right-handed individuals in mind. Firearms are one of those devices.

During the mid 1960s the U.S. military officially adopted the small caliber 5.56x45mm M16 rifle. The M16 immediately began to replace the M14, which had served for less than 10 years as the primary U.S. infantry weapon. Although the M16 encountered many initial problems during its baptism of fire in Vietnam, the weapon was upgraded into the reliable M16A1 in 1967, the M16A2 during 1982 and the M4 carbine in 1994. The M16 has continued to evolve and has remained the preferred weapon of U.S. forces for over 40 years making it the longest serving “Standard” infantry rifle in continuous U.S. service.

The M16 was a revolutionary design made of aluminum alloys and composite plastics. The ejection port of the M16 and its variants was located on the right-hand side of the upper receiver, primarily designed with the right-handed shooter in mind. For left-handed troops, the position of the ejection port proved to be both distracting and annoying as the weapon ejected spent, hot cartridge cases directly across the front of the shooter’s face. Knowing of the problem left handed troops were facing with the M16, the military made available to recruits a brass deflector made of plastic. The deflector had a spring-loaded ball that secured it to the top of the carry handle of the M16A1. The device deflected the spent brass forward and down away from the shooter’s face. When the M16A2 was designed, a brass deflector was added to the upper receiver. The deflector consisted of an integral triangular shaped block just aft of the ejection port and it was designed to deflect spent cases forward away from the shooter’s face.

In 1964 a semiautomatic version of the M16, designated the AR-15, was introduced by Colt, who was at that time the primary contractor of the select-fire M16 for the military. (AR-15 was the original ArmaLite Company’s and later Colt’s designation of the M16 prior to being adopted by the U.S. Military). Like its counterpart the M16, the semiautomatic AR-15 rifle was primarily designed for right-handed shooters. Since its introduction and subsequent expiration of its patents, the original AR-15 rifle has spawned many clones with numerous companies marketing them. While a few companies have come and gone, new companies continually spring up to cash in on the popularity of the “black rifle.” Because of the rifle’s growing popularity the civilian aftermarket has created an enormous amount of upper receivers, heavy barrels, sights, forearms, buttstocks, optics and other accessories. Making the AR-15, and its many clones, one of the most popular and accessorized firearms since the 1911 pistol, with a following of dedicated enthusiasts.

Unlike the military, the aftermarket manufacturers did not forget the left-handed shooter. Stag Arms was the first to introduce an AR-15 type rifle specifically designed for lefties by relocating the ejection port to the left side of the upper receiver. The left-hand rifle proved to be quite popular, and Stag was soon joined by several other entities offering left-hand AR-15 type rifles and upper receivers.

In the past few years, several economic factors have come into play that has increased the cost of surplus and commercial centerfire ammunition to nearly double that of their former price levels. Many calibers have become difficult to find in any quantity. Making matters worse was the 2008 election of an anti-gun president. This touched off a panic among gun owners the likes of which had not been seen since Bill and Hillary Clinton were running things. The buying spree saw the prices of both firearms and ammunition escalate to unheard levels, due in part to the free enterprise system’s law of supply and demand. Following closely behind was reloading components; powder, bullets and especially primers. During this period there was renewed interest in .22 caliber firearms, and .22 conversion kits for centerfire rifles and handguns.

The .223 AR-15 rifle is a natural for conversion to .22 rimfire caliber due to its bore diameter. However, .22 caliber conversion kits for the AR-15/M16 family are nothing new. The Military Armament Corporation, best known for manufacturing the Ingram/MAC submachine guns, marketed a .22 caliber kit for the M16 rifle back in the 1970s. The kit was designed by MAC engineer Max Atchisson and, proving to be quite successful, the kits are still manufactured and sold today. Currently there are several entities that offer .22 rimfire conversion kits for the AR-15 type firearms, however, as before, the left-handed shooters of the world have been ignored…until now.

Christie and Christie Enterprises, Inc.

The name Christie is probably familiar to most NFA firearm enthusiasts. Ken Christie became well-known during the 1980s when he introduced the 30-round magazines, replacement firing pins and other accessories for the Reising submachine gun. Since those early days, Ken has kept busy creating new products expanding in the accessories for the 10/22 Ruger rifle. Ken has become famous for making quality products and standing behind them. Now there is another Christie, Chance, who is Ken’s son. Like his father, Chance has jumped in the aftermarket accessory business with both feet fulfilling a need with quality products. Being a left-handed AR-15 shooter, Chance Christie saw a need for a left-handed .22 conversion kit for the oft-neglected left-hand AR-15 owners of the world. With this idea, he set out to develop just such a kit. Initially progress was slow, fraught with many unforeseen problems, but Chance kept at it, and when the dust finally settled he had perfected the first .22 caliber conversion kit specifically designed for use with the left-hand AR-15-type upper receivers.

Chance Christie offered to demonstrate one of his conversion kits to SAR magazine. Arrangements were made and a shooting session was scheduled in Pennsylvania, to coincide with Ken and Chance’s trip to the SAR East show in York, PA. Chance brought several brands of .22 caliber ammunition to demonstrate his device’s ability to function with just about any brand on the market.

The kit includes a .22 conversion bolt unit, two 26-round magazines, take-down tool, cleaning brush and an instructional DVD. Most of the unit’s components are made of 316 stainless steel, with the exception of the extractor and firing pin, which are made of titanium. Apart from for the material used for the travel rails of the bolt, which had to be imported from Germany, the kit is made in the U.S.A. The unit is easily installed. First insuring that the rifle is not loaded, remove the rifle’s rear take-down pin to separate the receiver halves, then simply remove the .223 bolt assembly and replace it with the Christie .22 caliber bolt assembly, close the receiver halves and reinsert the rear pin. The polymer magazine used with the kit are made by Black Dog Machine, LLC. No adapter is required as the outside dimension of the magazines are the same as a standard .223 mag and fit perfectly into the magazine well. Also tested was the optional 50-round drum magazine also manufactured by Black Dog Machine, LLC. Like the standard magazine, the drum preformed without a hitch.

During the testing, over 500 rounds of various brands of .22 caliber ammunition were fired without a single stoppage; quite impressive considering how dirty and inconsistent .22 ammunition can be. Chance recommends field-stripping and cleaning the conversion unit at 500 rounds and, at this point, it is highly recommended that the original .223 bolt be reinstalled and three to four rounds of factory .223 ammunition be fired – this practice is to keep the barrel’s relatively small gas port and gas tube free of lead build up. After firing 1,000 to 1,500 rounds, a more detailed cleaning is suggested that includes removing the extractor and firing pin. All of the maintenance procedures are clearly demonstrated in the DVD that comes with the kit. Currently the kit will only function in a semiautomatic mode, however, if there is enough interest, a left-handed full-automatic kit maybe the Christie’s next project.

Christie & Christie Enterprises, Inc.
(440) 413-0031
www.1022central.com
Email: Christieinc@msn.com

If there has ever been a group of people who were truly disadvantaged on the shooting range, it has been the southpaws. From bolt-action rifles to belt-fed machine guns, firearms have historically been designed around the framework of the right-handed end user. Given the typical ejection path of most semiautomatic and fully automatic firearms, many people who shoot left-handed are quite “gun-shy” when handling these guns for the first time with brass ejecting through (or extremely close to) their line of sight. Thanks to Stag Arms of New Britain Connecticut, left-handed fans of the Black Rifle can consider this problem a thing of the past.

Stag Arms, LLC was founded in May of 2003, but their experience in manufacturing AR-15 and M16 type rifles and parts goes back more than 30 years. An offshoot of their sister company, Continental Manufacturing, all the major components of the Stag Arms line of rifles are manufactured “in house.” None of the components utilized in the Stag Arms rifles are imported or manufactured outside the United States.

The original concept of the left-handed AR-15 type rifle actually started even before the formation of the company- in fact there have been some attempts at this in the past. The Stag Arms left handed AR-15 story starts in 1998, when some of the initial manufacturing parts were ordered in anticipation of the project. 5 years later when Stag Arms was founded by Mark Malkowski, the project was restarted and the rest of the necessary development continued. Since the original concept rifle, the STAG-15L has become a completely new upper receiver system, compatible with any original lower receiver.

There is much more work necessary than reversing a few off the shelf parts in order to manufacture and assemble the STAG-15L. The bolt and bolt carrier needed to be completely redesigned and all of the coinciding features of the upper receiver itself had to be redesigned to match these new internal changes. In order to eject from the left side of the rifle the ejection port must be relocated from the right side to the left. This would involve a complete redesign of the upper receiver including the relocation of the dust cover, brass deflector and forward assist assembly. Due to the location of the bolt-hold-open feature on the lower receiver, the dust cover must now open up towards the carry handle instead of opening down towards the magazine well. This way the bolt-hold-open lever operates as intended and is unobstructed.

As soon as the bolt carrier is removed from the rifle many of the internal changes become apparent. The most obvious change is the addition of the notches on the left side of the bolt to be used in conjunction with the newly designed forward assist assembly. The right side of the bolt is smooth and is not notched. At the front of the bolt carrier, the gas relief ports are on the left side to coincide with the location of the new ejection port. In addition, the slot the bolt cam-pin rides in is also reversed and the cam pin must be removed to the right of the carrier key during disassembly. The firing pin retaining pin must also be removed from the right side of the carrier to disassemble the carrier and remove the firing pin and bolt. The carrier key is no different than the key in a standard bolt carrier.

Removing the bolt will reveal a few more major changes. The bolt cam pinhole in an AR-15/M16 bolt is undersized on one side so that the bolt may only be able to be installed in the bolt carrier in one position. On a standard bolt carrier when the bolt is installed and fully extended to the ejection position, looking at the face of the bolt, the extractor is in the 10 o’clock position. On the STAG-15L bolt, during the same function, the extractor is in the 2 o’clock position. The undersized side of the bolt cam pinhole in the STAG-15L is reversed to accommodate this change. The user should be cautioned to be extremely careful not to mix up right handed and left handed bolts during assembly as it is possible for these two parts to be interchanged even though they will not function properly and cause serious problems. A quick check as to the position of the extractor will allow the user to be certain the correct bolt is in place. The bolt carrier is clearly marked “Left-Handed” on the right rear side and a similar marking on these special bolts could be a worthy upgrade in the future to help avoid potential confusion with new AR-15 style rifle owners.

The firing pin, bolt cam pin, firing pin retaining pin, ejector, extractor, and bolt gas rings are standard factory parts.

The STAG-15L sent to SAR for evaluation was their Model 1L. In this configuration the rifle has a 16-inch, M4 contoured barrel and 6-position collapsible stock. The upper receiver, though left handed, was of an A3 configuration employing the use of a detachable carry handle with a fixed front sight. All the STAG-15 guns have a 1/9 twist rate and are chrome lined. Also available are the following models:

• Model 2L – 16-inch, M4 contoured barrel and 6-position collapsible stock. No carry handle and utilized an A.R.M.S. #40 rear flip-up sight along with the A2 front post.

• Model 3L – 16-inch, M4 contoured barrel and 6-position collapsible stock. No sights, only M1913 Picatiny Rail flat top upper receiver and M1913 Picatiny Rail front sight platform.

• Model 4L – 20-inch barrel with A2 buttstock and detachable carry handle and front sight post.

• Models 1, 2, 3 & 4 (no letter “L” suffix) are also available from Stag Arms in the same configuration as those listed above, in a traditional right-hand design.

Stag Arms offers these complete rifles and all have an ambidextrous safety selector on the lower receiver making them even more comfortable to the left-handed user. Another accessory offered through Stag Arms for their STAG-15L series of rifles is the Norgon Ambi-Catch. This accessory replaces the standard magazine release and allows the user to release the magazine on the left side of the receiver by rotating this new latch without changing the function of the magazine release button on the right side of the receiver. Upper receiver assemblies can be purchased separately for those who already have a lower receiver and full-auto compatible bolt carriers can also be purchased for owners of registered receivers and drop-in auto sears.

Shooting the STAG-15L made this right-handed shooter aware of, and appreciate the importance of, the brass deflector. The brass pile was growing to the left rear side of the shooter dropping at approximately the 8 o’clock position. One quick glance at the deflector, suddenly colored with fresh brass strikes, made me realize what a great innovation that was for the left-handed M16 shooters of days past. It was thoughtful of Stag Arms to include this feature for right-handed shooters who want to utilize their left-handed rifle.

To stay with the program, several magazines were fired from the left shoulder and practice using the left eye. With a little concentration it was actually more comfortable than I thought possible. The difference was that it was not instinctual and fast, but a slow process that actually required concentration during every step. Knowing how disadvantaged it is to be forced to fire from the opposite shoulder and eye, I can now fully understand how exciting a project the STAG-15L actually is for many members of our shooting community.

Summary

The quality of the STAG-15L is excellent. The markings on the STAG line of rifles are deep and clean and the logo is distinctive and attractive. The fit and finish is very nice and the rifle submitted for evaluation never malfunctioned under any circumstance. We even tested it in sub freezing temperatures with the new NATEC Polymer Cased Ammunition (see accompanying article in this issue of Small Arms Review) and it never skipped a beat. During most of the shooting time, we were using Wolf 62-grain FMJ and Norinco 55-grain FMJ ammunition. The 1 in 9 inch twist barrel seemed to accommodate both rounds with ease, and at distances of 50 yards and 100 yards, all met their intended marks in a series of B27 Silhouette targets.

Shooters who have had the opportunity to handle the STAG-15L has been very intrigued. Those intimately familiar with the AR-15/M16 family of weapons have especially taken interest in the redesign of the parts necessary to accomplish the proper extraction and ejection. The few southpaws who have seen it have been ecstatic. I would recommend the STAG-15L to any left-handed shooter who wants to feel like they finally have an instrument made for them. I would also recommend it to any collector of the AR-15/M16 family of firearms who is looking for an interesting “gap” to fill in their collection, even if they didn’t realize it previously existed.

Specifications STAG-15L

Model: 1L
Caliber: 5.56×45 NATO
Overall Length: 32 inches (812.8mm) stock collapsed
Barrel Length: 16 inches (406.4mm)
Number of Grooves: 6 – chrome lined
Rifling Twist & Pitch: Right hand, 1/9 inches (1/228mm)
Sights:Rear: Detachable carry handle w/A2 adjustable
Front: Protected post
Weight, Empty: 6.75 pounds (3.06kg)
Weight of full Magazine: 1 pound (.445kg)
Magazine Capacity: 30-round magazine
Selector / Safety: Ambidextrous
Stock: 6-position collapsible
MSRP as tested: $989.00

Stag Arms, LLC
Dept. SAR
515 John Downey Drive
New Britain, CT 06051
Ph: (860) 229-9994
Fax: (860) 229-3738
www.stagarms.com

Wolf Performance Ammunition
Dept. SAR
1125 N. Lance Lane
Anaheim, CA 92806
Ph: (888) 757-WOLF
Fax: (714) 632-9232
www.wolfammo.com