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Posted: 5/23/2009 12:58:57 PM EDT
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Are there really that much difference between the plain ol' charging handles and the ones like the PRI Gas buster or the ARmadynamics ACLM? Or even the new LMT? What's everyones preference?
thanks |
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I have a PRI Gasbuster and an Armadynamics.
The Gasbuster is designed to channel gases forced back through the action forward and down, away from the shooters face. This is much more important if you are shooting a suppressed M16 type rifle as quite a bit of gas is forced back with a suppressor in place. For an unsuppressed semi auto shooter, it will protect you in case of a pierced primer, but so will a bit of silicone gel applied to the top and bottom of a standard latch. The Gasbuster features a larger, easier to grasp latch handle, so much so that I ended up replacing the latch with a more streamlined Badger Ordnance Gen ll Tac-Latch. The Gasbuster is extremely high quality and well made but not really neccessary for an unsuppressed semi auto rifle. The Armadynamics is a whole different bird. It latches the same as a regular latch but uses a camming action to unlatch, which means you do not have to manually depress the latch lock to release the charging handle. Really good for left hand shooters and manipulating the weapon during difficult rapid reaction clearance. I can attest that you can cycle or clear the action using a one finger hold on the right side hook and without touching the latching lever at all. These are just as well made and high quality as the Gasbuster but it serves a different purpose. Since this charging handle does not serve to divert hot gases, a dab of silicone here and there probably wouldn't hurt. I am going to buy a second one of these for another of my rifles, I really like this charging handle and if it holds up like it looks like it will, it may well replace the standard charging handle in time. Both of these charging handles are so well made, I seriously doubt the average shooter would ever have need to replace one during his lifetime. |
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Quoted:
Can you put a PRI Big latch on your ACLM? No. Armadynamics recommends that the user not even try diassembling the latch. You don't really need the latch lever anyway, I think they put one there because people would feel uncomfortable without it. You can grab the sides with thumb and forefinger and pull the handle back. |
My current favorite is my new LMT Tactical CH on my LMT carbine which I just got from Denny's Guns last week The LMT Tac CH is just the right size in my opinion, not too small like a standard latches and not too large like the Badger gen 1 type latches. I've had good luck with Colt CH for a very long time and my newer LMT and CMT CH I'm satisfied with, I prefer to use my Badger gen 1 latch when I'm using my high power scope. I'm not a left handed shooter but I would like to try the ACLM latest model because I prefer to use both sides of the CH handle when firing from the strong and support shoulders. |
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