AR15 Lightning Link
Material: Stainless steel
this only drops into a Colt SP-1 and a handful of other, early civilian-made AR-15s such as Bushmaster, Sendra, Essential Arms, and most PWA pre-ban lower receivers. After 1989, Colt added what’s known as a “High Shelf” in their lower receivers to prevent installation of this. These lowers can work if the shelf is milled away.
Many modern lowers have a “Low Shelf,” but they may not be rounded in the rear properly to accommodate this. Again, milling will be required to make it fit.
this only works with Colt SP-1 bolt carriers. If you have a commercial bolt carrier, or even an M-16 carrier, these will need to be milled to work with this.
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How it Works
In semi-auto mode, the hammer is cocked as the bolt carrier moves rearward. When the carrier returns to the forward position, the hammer is held in this position by the sear located on the forward part of the trigger catching in the sear notch, on the hammer.
If you hold the trigger after a shot is fired, the sear will not catch in the hammer’s sear notch when the hammer cocks because the sear is depressed below the arc of the hammer notch.
Because the trigger is being held back, the disconnector hook is pushed forward and in position to catch the hammer, preventing it from following the carrier forward. When the trigger is released, the hammer moves from under the disconnector hook and is caught by the trigger sear in the hammer sear notch, making it necessary to pull the trigger for each shot.
When the trigger is held rearward, the sear is below the arc of the hammer notch. The only thing holding the hammer in the cocked position is the disconnector. The Lightning Link works by pulling the disconnector to the rear and releasing the hammer. The Lightning Link lays flat in the lower receiver, with the forward opening fitting over the disconnector’s hook. The upright portion sits between the rear takedown pin post of the upper and the bolt carrier.
When the bolt carrier strikes the top of the link, the bottom portion swivels to the rear, moving the body of the link rearward and releases the hammer from the disconnector hook. As the trigger is held rearward, the movement of the bolt carrier continuously cocks the hammer and forward movement of the carrier strikes the upright of the link as the bolt locks in battery, releasing the hammer, and firing the rifle. The sear stops the hammer in the cocked position when the trigger is released.
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