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Posted: 3/13/2013 4:32:23 AM EDT
| Is there anything I should avoid or look for? what makes a $90 one better than a $30 one? |
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It has to do with the manual of arms and modern use of the charging handle. The original design was meant for the operator to use the firing hand and grasp the charging between the index and middle finger. The modern way to use it is to keep the firing hand on the pistol grip and run the charging handle with the weak side hand. Typically just the index finger is used. This puts stress on the roll pin and increases lateral pressure on the charging handle.
So the more expensive ones are normally designed for one hand operation with stronger material and design. |
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The more expensive ones are likely to be machined from a billet. The $18 ones are going to be cast or forged. Billet will be stronger and is thus more likely to take the uneven pressure applied to the charging handle as can be taught with current weapon handling ideology. The machining from billet is a more expensive process so the cost goes up.
For something like the PRI gas buster it's the design that costs money. For the BCM/VLTOR it's priced so because they're billet and the latches are larger which make it easier to work with. I have $18 ones and $50 ones. The $50 ones I run on home defense guns and competition rifles. The $18 ones are run on range toys. |
I got this and I love it.Rainier Arms Raptor Ambidextrous Charging Handle - 5.56MM
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Quoted:
I got this and I love it. Rainier Arms Raptor Ambidextrous Charging Handle - 5.56MM
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Quoted:
I got this and I love it. Rainier Arms Raptor Ambidextrous Charging Handle - 5.56MM
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I got this and I love it. Rainier Arms Raptor Ambidextrous Charging Handle - 5.56MM
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The BCM gun fighter is made by Vltor and Vltor makes good sh!t. It's a great design in that it doesn't place nearly as much load on the roll pin that is holding the latch in place.
The latch opens up and the back of the latch then bottoms out against the rear of the handle. Therefore all the rearward force you are applying is being directly applied to the back wall of the handle. This design is great and it is all I will buy. Now if I want the coolest one on the block, I'd get the Raptor. |
Honestly I could probably get by with a mil-spec charging handle. However, I don't even own one anymore. I have a few BCM's which are great but my Raptor is the bestest. If your on a budget get one in your price range, they all do pretty much the same thing. Is the Raptor worth the money? To me yes. I own a lot of overpriced shit that I really don't need. If I was building a cheap/decent/reliable SHTF carbine I would go mil-spec all the way. If I was building a high end custom rifle with all the bells and whistles, $90 bucks is hardly an issue.
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| My AR is just for range use, for now. For me, my $17 charging handle works great. And if it lasts a year or two then breaks, I will buy another $17 one to replace it. I could buy 4 or 5 over 10 years and still be lower than the cost of some of them! If I were to build one later for some sort of competition or more high end purpose, I probably would go with a more expensive/more durable one. |
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