Reviewing the SafetyBoyz Super Safety for the AR-15

What we are talking about here today is basically a “Forced Reset Trigger,” or FRT apparatus that automatically resets the trigger on a semi-auto firearm that causes it to act like full auto/select-fire machine gun –

BUT, it is not a machine gun because, by definition, a machine gun allows the continuous firing of a weapon with a single pull of the trigger. The FRT forces the trigger to be reset every time the trigger is pulled. Hence, the trigger is pulled for every shot fired.

While the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF), and gun-control espousing politicians have demonized the FRTs and have tried to arrest people owning them, the supreme court has upheld the decision that firearms with the FRT or a Super Safety device does not meet the definition of a “machine gun” as described in the National Firearms Act of 1934. Commonly known as the NFA, this congressional mandate put limits on the type of firearms the American public was allowed to own.

In addition to other restrictions, the NFA targeted weapons such as “machine guns, short-barreled shotguns (under 18" barrel), short-barreled rifles (under 16" barrel), silencers, and "any other weapon" (AOW).”

There are several different kinds of the forced-reset-trigger groups on the market right now and some have a complete trigger group cassette that just drops into the back of the AR lower receiver and does the same thing the Super Safety does by forcing the trigger to reset after each shot. 

Super Safety installed (Photo coutrtesy of Central OK Armorers)

Most of them retain the fire/safe selector that rotates inside the receiver. However, the Super Safety is more of a “cross-bolt” safety used on a variety of firearm families. The selector is actually “pushed” through instead of being rotated.

The one my son got came with a “cam” and push-through button, and a small, red piece of plastic that fits into the cam to give it that traditional “red=fire” visual. Pushing the button all the way to the left is the “safe” position and the gun will not fire in this location.

Pushing it all the way to the right is the “semi-auto” position and the firearm will function as usual and the trigger is not “forced” to reset. If the button is pushed halfway to the right, this is the “forced reset” mode and the gun will force-fire repeatedly in an action similar to full-auto. However, the trigger is being reset each time and only one shot is fired for every pull of the trigger.

I had become aware of these devices in the past year or so but have shied away from them because I didn’t want to spend the money for one. In the beginning, these FRTs cost more than the tax stamp for a legal machine gun and, for me, really had no purpose other to mag dump and then to spend more money on ammo, which is just now getting back to pre-Obama and Biden circulation.

This is another thing the NFA attempted to do: Make owning a machine gun so expensive that only the wealthy could afford to do so. “Prohibitive Tax & Registration: A $200 tax was required for each transfer or making of these weapons, which was intentionally set to be equal to the cost of a machine gun at the time to discourage transactions.”

So, for now, FRTs are legal to own by anyone who is able to own a firearm and, as the products in common use increase, the prices for these products are coming down.

Recently, my son had bought one from a vendor at a gun show and we dropped it in a Palmetto State Armory AR-15 lower he had also purchased some time back and tried it out on two different uppers of mine.

One is a full-length rifle upper and the other is a pistol-length 5.56 just to determine how it would work on the two platforms. Needless to say, the SafetyBoyz super safety functioned flawlessly in both platforms. However, many users report that a heavier buffer is needed to cycle the action, but we did not have any of those issues.

But – we did experience what seems to be a common issue with these drop-in products and that is having the bolt stick in the open position and not returning to battery under spring pressure. Tapping the muzzle on a non-marring surface got the bolt to return to battery quite easily, and this issue was not repeated while live firing.

I have to admit that shooting the firearm with the Super Safety is a complete game changer and I was very surprised at how well it worked and ran like it should. After our outing to the property and shooting the Super Safety forced reset trigger device, I am planning on purchasing one for myself. I think I can control the urge to just mag dump and treat it as a piece of kit that could be very valuable in a SHTF scenario.