Have any of you done this to your A3 carry handle?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Have any of you done this to your A3 carry handle?

Posted: 7/9/2003 8:22:25 AM EDT

I want to get the carry handle portion cut away along with most of the mounting area leaving only the rear sight and one thumbscrew left to attach it to my flattop upper. That way I have the factory sight mounted at all times and can still mount my Aimpoint on the now exposed rail. Have any of you ever done this? I saw a picture of someone who had this done somewhere but now of course I can't find it. I have an ARMS #40 and the truth of the matter is I can't stand that friggin sight. No elevation adjustment pisses me off. I was thing about the Bushmaster sight but I don't like the way it sits so far forward of the charging handle. Shorter sight radius equals poorer accuracy in my book. I'd love to hear your opinions on whether or not this is a good idea and if it will work. Thanks.

Posted: 7/9/2003 8:52:31 AM EDT

[#1]

I've done two, and its easy, once you get over cutting up a $100. part. This is not mine,

Posted: 7/9/2003 8:55:02 AM EDT

[#2]

ike ssk?

Posted: 7/9/2003 5:53:10 PM EDT

[#3]

Wouldn't that hinder a good clear sight picture using an optic? I mean, I understand that with a flip-up rear sight unit it is up only if/when you need it, therefore not interfering with a quick, clear field of view. Thanks.

Posted: 7/9/2003 6:01:25 PM EDT

[#4]

No, actually it co-witness's correctly with most red-dot optics; OKO,Aimpoint,EOTEC,ect.

Posted: 7/9/2003 6:11:11 PM EDT

[#5]

-Troy

Posted: 7/9/2003 7:13:50 PM EDT

[#6]

I put my handle in the spare parts box and mounted a Bushmaster Modular Accessories System
flat top rear sight.

Posted: 7/9/2003 7:14:11 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
[url]photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/Attachments/DownloadAttach.asp?iImageUnq=13969[/url]
[url]photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/Attachments/DownloadAttach.asp?iImageUnq=13970[/url]
-Troy

View Quote

So what's the difference in those bottom 2 pics ??

Just the angle position of your camera ??

Posted: 7/9/2003 7:29:10 PM EDT

[#8]

Troy, may I take a stab at that? I believe the middle photo is a sight picture simulating hard cheek weld and nose to charging handle. The bottom photo would be with your head ever so slightly raised up.
Notack. Thanks for the pic, that is exactly what I am shooting for on a Bushy flattop. Q- Does it co-witness dead on the dot or in the lower half of the EOTech window?
Thanks to all you AR15'ers for your freely shared knowledge and nice pictures. I just haven't decided whether it has saved me money or cost me money...
Tom Bergman

Posted: 7/9/2003 7:43:46 PM EDT

[#9]

You can buy this ready-made from DPMS for ~$70...

[url]http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=5556[/url]

I have one and it works great, except that it was slightly mis-machined and thus had to be Dremelled a bit to get the full range of elevation adjustment.

Posted: 7/9/2003 7:45:36 PM EDT

[#10]

Wouldn't something like this be a bit cheaper and save you from having to cut a complete carry handle?

168.215.71.67/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=FT-RS

Posted: 7/9/2003 8:42:29 PM EDT

[#11]

I admit not owning one of the rear sights pictured above, but a shooting friend does and his screws come loose. KevinB whose opinion and posts I believeto be quite credible has also had problems with his.

If you want to do it yourself, go on and cut the handle. If you'd rather not do it, I do believe Wes and Paul over at www.mstn.biz sell a milspec back up iron made from an already cut handle. There were extremely limited nymbers of these, but I do believe I saw they are available agian. They're tough stuff and made my LMT.

Here's the for sale thread

Posted: 7/9/2003 8:58:59 PM EDT

[#12]

What about this Bushmaster rear sight ?

to vulnerable ??

[url]http://www.bushmaster.com/shopping/bmas/yhm-643k.asp[/url]

Posted: 7/10/2003 11:22:35 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
So what's the difference in those bottom 2 pics ??

Just the angle position of your camera ??

tberg has it right. You normally use the AimPoint by keeping both eyes open, and looking OVER your iron sights, as in the bottom picture.

If your battery dies (unlikely) or the optic is otherwise broken or inoperable, you can instantly lower your head and use the irons, which are already there and good to go, as the middle pic demonstrates. It also shows that the irons and the dot "co-witness", meaning that they are both zeroed to the same point of aim.

-Troy

Posted: 7/10/2003 11:48:45 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
What about this Bushmaster rear sight ?
to vulnerable ??

No, just poorly engineered. Yankee Hill's sight products are all somewhat crude and unelegant. For example, this sight sits about an inch and a half too far forward. This reduces the sight radius and makes the small aperture virtually worthless. Many folks will find it totally unusable. And the sad part is, it's only $10 less than an ARMS #40 or a carry handle.

The LMT sight is good, but it's overly heavy (note all the extra material in the rear, compared to a carryhandle).

-Troy

Posted: 7/10/2003 1:40:36 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Wouldn't something like this be a bit cheaper and save you from having to cut a complete carry handle?

I have had one of the DPMS sights, and I found two problems. It uses two mounting screws, instead of one like a CCH or the LMT, and takes up too much real estate on the receiver. And the thumb screw pins have a reputation for being too weak, and breaking. It is a nice piece, and would work well on a bench gun, but I no longer trust it in the field.

Posted: 7/10/2003 1:48:05 PM EDT

[#16]

Thanks a lot for all your help guys. I never thought I would get this many responses. Operation "Restore Sight" has officially got underway. I made the initial cuts lastnight and all that's left to do now is fine tune it with a file and then refinish. I put it on my rifle to see how well it sits with my Comp ML2 and right now the irons sit a little high in the scopes sight picture. I'm using the Rail Grabber as my mount so I ordered the spacer for it in order to get a proper co-witness. Once again I thank all of you for the help.

Posted: 7/10/2003 4:10:07 PM EDT

[#17]

Thanks for the info. Troy-san

Posted: 7/10/2003 6:58:36 PM EDT

[#18]

Any tips on the actual cutting of the carry handle?

Posted: 7/10/2003 8:21:54 PM EDT

[#19]

I just used a hacksaw on mine, then dremeled the edges, and hit it with some Alumahyde II. The cut's not as straight as the one in the picture, but it's okay...it certainly does the job. The bigger problem was me having so much stuff on my workbench when I did it that I managed to lose both the elevation spring and detent lol.

Posted: 7/11/2003 4:50:57 AM EDT

[#20]

Maryland AR15 "How To" Projects

The link above will take you to wealth of cool how-to projects, including cutting the carry handle (it's towards the bottom).

--Otter

Posted: 7/11/2003 5:18:06 AM EDT

[#21]

AR clean, bench messy. Heh. Thanks all. Nice thread 00, didn't intend to hi-jack it.
Tom

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Have any of you done this to your A3 carry handle?

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