As the OP I'd have to say that my mind is made up for the HBI duckbill after reading these posts. My friend has a pistol and I just can't get used to quickly dropping mags with the standard release.
My carbine should hit the FFL tomorrow. I already have the AK safety and I'm going to order the mag release right now. I'm really looking forward to ringing some steel with it over the weekend.
Thanks for all your help guys.