OK, here is your chance to tell everybody which CH you have and why you love it over all the others.

The reason I ask is it was 20 degrees yesterday and I had a malfunction and could not operate the CH with my gloves on and it was still even awkward after taking my glove off.

BCM gunfighter on the carbine.

BCM Gunfighter Medium Latch on all

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PRI Gasbuster. It works. It is very stout, and allows for two finger cycling without any flex.

Poll fail for not being able to choose multiple options.

raptor on all four. I'm a lefty and when I got it the bcm and the raptor were the only options. the raptor was the only one I was able to get hands on in a local shop. easy to use no problems no malfunctions so far.

I run the BCM on all my guns except for a .22.

I just put on the BCM after years of having a standard. Its nice to be able to use any part of your hand to charge it. Also works well with gloves. Looks cooler too.

That's a very expensive charging handle! Let me see, new upper receiver body, new bolt with bolt handle, can only be used on one AR.

Works with gloves, but I'll pass.

There are poll options to allow more then one selection? Can the MOD fix this to allow more then one selection? If yes, please do MFF.

BCM Gunfighter.  I have the "new" version or Gen 2 or whatever.  I thought it was a gimmick until I used one.  I went with the medium latch.

BCM or standard GI.

Well the others are duct tape and bailing wire solutions to a 50 year mistake

I only run suppressed,  so pri gas buster for me.

Standard.  But I'm old school.  

Standard CH on all my ARs. I don't care for any of the extended CH, which are difficult to get your thumb around when charging with your right hand.

Lord knows I don't know everything so help me out. They're hard to get your thumb around? Are you pinching it from behind with thumb and fore finger?  I've never noticed it done that way, maybe I'm fixing to learn a better way than grabbing it over the top with fore and middle finger. I'm not trying to be contrary or anything. Genuinely courious.

 

When I charge with my right and I use my thumb and index finger, with my thumb on the left side of the cheating handle, like a crab lol. I'll upload a pic later so you can see why I mean.

That's what I figured. C lock around the back. I use a "fang" grip over the top. I'll have to practice with the crab grip and see what it does for me. Thanks!  

 

BCM Gunfighter Medium

I "crook" my left index finger and hook the latch on the left side only.

This and this except one of my CHs is a "trainer" model, which is to say it was discounted.

Well I already took the pics, so you get them anyway lol.

Left hand charging, extended charging handle works well:


Right hand charging, extended charging handle no bueno:



I prefer the crab grip as I feel I get a better grip on the CH and I naturally turn the rifle to observe the chamber. I only use my left hand to charge for immediate action.

And since they were out and I don't have pics yet, my HD setup:

A few BCM medium and a few standard.

I like that quilt

After using a Raptor, everything else feels like substandard crap. That's all I buy

Badger with an extended latch

My old M4gery has a standard milspec but my new upper I got two weeks ago to finish a build has the "BCM Gunfighter : Medium" and that's because it was discounted add-on for the BCM upper. I figured I'd keep it all BCM.

BCM gunfighter, medium on both my ARs.  I don't really have a problem with a standard charging handle but when I was building my current rifles I tried a Gunfighter and liked it enough to spend the extra $$$.

BCM Gunfighter on all but 2, i runs medium latch on rifles with Aimpoints, and large on any rifle with a Scope. i wish BCM made one for my Sig716, and my S&W MP 22lr. i feel that the BCM line of products are very well thought through, love the charging handles

Was leaning toward a Raptor or BCM Gunfighter until I saw this CH:

Slide Lock CH from MEGA.

There is no pressure on the roll pin and no latch handle to fail because the shooter never touches or pulls on a latch. The locking device works automatically when the bolt returns and the shooter just pulls on the ambidextrous part of the charging handle that doesn't have a handle on the latch as its automatically pulled out of the way as the Charging Handle is pulled to the rear. This eliminates all pressure on the roll pin as its no longer part of pulling the handle to the rear IE the actual latch is internal to the CH instead of an external part the shooter has to engage.

Thoughts?

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Well didn't hear back from anybody with experience with the Mega Slide Lock CH so I bought one. Taking it to the range the first day its not raining to see how it does. Automatic internal latch so no latch handle to find nor any external moving parts, just pull the T'd Charging Handle to the rear and let it loose which also makes it ambidextrous. Dry practicing Tap/Rack has indicated that this might be the CH for all my AR variants.

Come on Marine!!! If it ain't raining, we ain't training!!!!!  

 

This !!

This is very true and you can ask Shep if I train in the rain! It was raining so hard, that if I didn't have 4 wheel drive, I would not have made it to the training!

Problem is that Inkjet printed targets on paper don't work to well in the rain. Don't mind training in the rain but do mind wasting money in the rain

I think once shooters start seeing the Mega Slide Lock Charging Handles and try one it could get changed to

THIS!!

Its only $12 more then the BCM Gunfighter Medium Latch, is Ambidextrous, is a 7075 Billet Aluminum CH (especially for all you Billet Upper guys), and since it has no latch to operate by hand can be functioned from either side in whatever way is quickest or best to get it back for the shooter (hook, palm, claw, whatever style).

This could get interesting. I think the Mega Patent was filed first so as soon as its approved Sintercore would have to stop production as the concept would be protected and it would not matter that their internal latch is shaped different as the concept is the same.

BCM Medium on all.

Purchased a ton of them when Tier 1 had them for @ $35 each and free shipping.

The Mega and Sintercore look interesting.

I don't like CH's that stick out too far. Without actually using one, I can see a possible issue with extended and "unlocked" CH's; the CH catching on your gear pulling the bolt partially to the rear, possibly causing an out-of-battery failure-to-fire.  With vests covered in pouches, accessories and MOLLE attachment points, seems like a possibility........but maybe I'm thinking too hard.

I would have to run one for a while in order to give an informed opinion.

I have never seen a CH that broke the pivot pin, or broke at the pivot pin. Never talked to anyone that has seen it happen. With 6 years active duty in the Corps as a grunt (last year as a Small Arms Instructor) and another 8 in the Reserves, I think I'd have seen one break if it were truly an issue.

Leitner-Wise on charging handles

Interesting read on the subject

The CH is the thing I dislike most about the AR.

Everytime I shoot one it makes me want to mill all my receivers and put left-side pulls on all my bolts.

Fortunately that doesn't happen very often.    

I don't mind the charging handle on an M4 that I'm using like an M4 was created to be used, but I don't like them on my precision rifles. That's one of many reasons that I bought a JP Enterprises LRP-07 for my semi-auto precision rifle; non-reciprocating left-side charging handle.

Why mill the Upper Receiver and tap your bolt when you can just replace the Upper Body with a non-reciprocating left side charger? Now you also don't have to modify your bolt and can use all standard AR parts! Yes its probably a few dollar less (about $50 if you have it done and much less if you have the tools and equipment to do it), but why chance hosing a perfectly good Upper and bolt when a better design is on the shelf for $250 and is non-reciprocating? Just my opinion.

Great post with link and love reading that history and seeing the original AR10 photos.

LW has solved the issue of broken roll pins and bent or twisted CH handles, but this is ONLY an issue if one is not properly functioning a CH in the first place or has added a huge after-market latch that enables forces to be applied to a roll pin that was never designed for that much force or leverage to be applied to it.

The original Charging Handle was supposed to be pulled directly back using the Index and Middle finger in a claw fashion with one finger on each part of the T handle IE no torque applied, no twist, and no excess force on the roll pin because the latch was being drawn directly back into the T handle. The AR15 is a civilian version of the military M16 which has a manual of arms for its PROPER use.

Now to the present and the AR15s huge popularity along with shooting style for rapid fire and reloading for individuals not squad or platoon tactics. With this came the change in how the CH was being operated as well as the broken roll pins, bent, twisted, snapped Charging Handles. Yes the LW CH solves this problem for those using these new racking techniques but it only solves them if one is going to use an original style CH IE one with a finger latch or extended latch. Now for a better solution, simply remove the item causing the problem: THE FINGER LATCH.

MEGA has eliminated all the issues no matter what method one prefers to use to rack the AR15 by eliminating the finger latch! The roll pin has no pressure on it because the latch is internal to the CH and automatic. No matter how one racks the CH, the operator never touches the latch so the CH is automatically ambidextrous and doesn't care if one uses the Hook, Crab, Palm, Claw, Heel of hand, right side, left side, both sides, single finger, two fingers, or whatever method to rack the weapon!

After shooting Monday and Tuesday as well as practicing malfunction drills while live firing, all my ARs with rear Charging Handles are getting a MEGA Slide Lock Charging Handle!

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