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Posted: 5/29/2005 11:27:32 AM EDT
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I competed in my first carbine match yesterday. It was a load of fun except for the part where I bent my charging handle on the second to last stage and had to finish with a friends gun. Does anyone know of a really sturdy charging handle? I've seen a steel one on brownells, anyone have any experience with it? Wish I had a digital camera to take pictures of it. I'm new to competative shooting. We had to lock the bolt back after shooting. I'd never done that much before so it was a bit awkward. I placed the buttstock against my gut, pulled the charging handle back with my right hand while trying to hold down the bolt catch with my left hand. I wasn't pulling the bolt back far enough so it kept going all the way forward with out catching. Finally I really pulled back and let it go, but still didn't pull back far enough. When I tried to pull the bolt open again, it wouldn't budge. Some of the guys assumed that I had a stuck round in the chamber, but I had no mag in the gun while I was trying to lock it open. Anyways, they yanked on the charging handle, slammed the stock and so on for a bit before they heard me saying that I had already cleared it. The Charging handle had about 1/2 inch of play before stopping completely. It also wouldn't go completely forward and lock. I smacked it and it closed forward allowing the bolt carrier to come out of the buffer tube. Then I was able to open the upper and lower. Somehow that released tension on the bolt carrier and I was able to slide it all out. I thought perhaps the bolt carrier wasn't registering properly with the buffer tube. But then I was able to jam it up without putting the upper and lower together. The bolt carrier moved freely without the charging handle in there. When I put the charging handle in with the bolt carrier, it immediately seized up, or was extremely difficult to pull. I checked the lug, bolt face, gas key, and cam bolt as well as the breach. No noticable marks, scratches, or damage. Though there is a bit of aluminum shavings from the charging handle on the bolt carrier below the gas key. The Gas tube looks fine too. And I saw no marks on the inside of the upper reciever. The charging handle looked normal to me, I couldn't see any bends or warps, however, I didn't have a good one to compare it to. I figured if I had bent it, I had bent it upwards, so I bent it gently accoss my leg in the opposite direction. It allowed me to move the bolt, but it was still so sticky that the buffer spring couldn't push it closed, when I pushed the charging handle forward the buffer spring had no trouble closing the bolt. Finally, I talked a friend into letting me put his charging handle into my gun. It all worked fine. Somehow the charging handle is wedging itself against the receiver and the bolt carrier seizing it up. I talked with my gun smith and he agrees that somehow that handle's been torqued. All the guys at the match agreed that they'd never seen a malfunction like this before. So, I figure, I have to replace the handle, it always felt flimsy anyways, and I'm going to send my rifle in afterwards to my gunsmith just to make sure I didn't break anything else In summary, when I put my charging handle in, the bolt carrier and handle sieze up, completely and I have to separate the upper and lower reciever to get it out. With out it, the bolt carrier moves as it's supposed to, and it works fine with another charging handle. I can't tell by looking at the handle what's wrong with it. And again, I don't have a digital camera to post picks. I'm stuck between ordering another aluminum handle or getting this one Steel Charging Handle The gassbuster looks nice but it's a little out of my price range. |
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Ok, I've solved the mystery. There is a lip on the end of the Charging Handle that is supposed to hook on a lip on the front of the bolt carrier. My charging handle's lip has been worn/mashed away and so it doesn't hook on the bolt carrier, instead it goes over the gas key and pulls back on the Cam Bolt. That would explain why the bolt wouldn't open, the charging handle was pulling on the cambolt instead of the bolt carrier keeping the locking lug from disengaging from the chamber. Also, when the Charging handle jumps the lip on the bolt carrier it gets mashed against the roof of the upper reciever, causing it to seize even if the bolt wasn't engaged. Well, at least I know why it malfunctioned. Now the big question.... A new sturdier Aluminum handle? or a Steel one. I'm worried that the steel one would wear more on the bolt carrier than the aluminum one, plus it's several times as expensive. I've been told that billeted aluminum charging handles are good. Where can I buy them? Thanks |
Dude, order a milspec charging handle....you MUST have gotten some kid of aftermarket deal. I have seen charging handle STOMPED ON and KICKED to the open position to clear a jam and the gun worked prefectly afterwards. Try ordeing one from Colt. You'll KNOW that what you are getting is quality. |
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yeah, I measured the end of my charging handle at .530 inches. Everyone else measured at .590 Definetly out of spec. I ordered a new one yesterday from bushmaster. My friend has a bushy and the handle on his gun looks pretty sturdy. I would go with Colt but I didn't see any ordering info on their web page. |
Yep, there was a bad batch of charging handles floating around a few months ago. I would try returning the handle to the company where purchased. I know you already ordered another one but any company with a backbone should swap it out. This way you have an extra. |
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