Recently, thanks to SB 880 and AB1135 here in California, lawful owners of AR-15 platform rifles (ar-15, ar-10) and other semi-automatic rifles with removable magazines will have to register their firearms as an "assault weapon." While there is currently a movement to get these bills vetoed by having a vote placed on this November's ballot, owners of these firearms, which will have had the "bullet button" installed on them, may still have to register their firearms if the ballot initiative and legal challenges fail.

ARMaglock,( which first surfaced in 2014,) provides a way to potentially allow the owner to avoid registration by installing this replacement for the magazine release into their AR-Pattern rifles. I chose recently to replace the Prince-50 bullet button on my custom AERO Precision LLC. M5 with an ARMaglock device (retail $54.95 not including shipping/tax,) and an extended rear takedown pin from cobra tactical systems, as at the time, the bullet-button update was not yet available.

The design of the device simply prevents removal of the magazine until the rear takedown pin is disengaged, allowing the operator to tilt the upper receiver out of the way in the same manner one would do so to remove the bolt and clean the bore of the barrel. This process is made easier by replacing the stock rear takedown pin with the optional extended rear takedown pin with pull ring.

Once the upper receiver assembly is tilted out of the way, the operator can then remove the magazine from the lower receiver for reloading, effectively making the rifle a fixed magazine rifle, and complying with the new law which defines a fixed magazine as "an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to , a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action."

Aesthetically speaking, this device is a more attractive option that is in line with other add-on gizmos such as Magpul's BAD lever, whereas Bullet-button.com's patriot maglock is virtually identical to the original bullet button's design except for a tab which prevents movement of the release, similar to ARmaglock. ARmaglock offers separate versions of their device depending on the type (ar-15, ar-10.)

it is important to note that there is some ambiguity as to whether or not the new design of the patriot mag release by bullet-button infringes on the copyright of ARMaglock's product, so this issue may or may not cause extended wait times should you go with bullet button's option instead..

The ARmaglock is an entire replacement for the magazine release and the magazine catch, so you no longer will use the mag catch or spring that came with your rifle if you go this route. On my rifle, I did have to file the tab which makes contact with the upper receiver on the Armaglock ever so slightly to allow it to easily lock into place when the upper receiver locks into back into place, which was easily fit with a course diamond file.

Due to it's ease of use and installation, I definitely recommend this product.

If you would like to see this device in action, give me a call, and I would be happy to arrange for you to see how it works.

note: due to backorder times for the ARmaglock, I would definitely recommend ordering as soon as possible so you get your order in the shipping queue.

Stay safe, and happy shooting.

-Ken