A nice ambi charging handle for large frame ARs

[flyer]

I have tried the type of charging handle that has levers on both sides. I don't like them, they feel weak.

As charging handle latches go, I like my BCM/Vltor Gunfighter charging handles and I have two. The way the latch locks in to the charging handle body to take stress off of the roll pin is nice.

Of course the roll pin is the weak spot in an AR charging handle, especially with extended latch levers. Put enough force on it and the latch slot in the handle spreads allowing the latch and pin to fall out, breaking the charging handle.

Because of that, my new favorite AR15 charging handle is the Strike Industries Latchless charging handle. Instead of having a latch with a roll pin, it has a small leaf spring that grabs the upper from the inside. It is strong, ambidextrous and cheap. The only bad thing is they don't make it in LR308/AR10 length.

What I discovered several days ago is that Mega has been making a similar charging handle. Instead of using a leaf spring, it uses a modified spring loaded latch with no lever on it. The charging handle still has a slot and a roll pin but since it's spring loaded it will never get overloaded and fail. To me the feel is great, super solid, I think it should handle abuse as well or better than a BCM/Vltor or any other charging handle.

The possibly bad news is that Mega was sold to ZEV and I have not checked to see if they are continuing to produce the charging handle.

The good news is that JSE has a bunch of the Mega version for sale at a little over $50.

That's the cheapest ambi charging handle for a large frame AR that I've seen. You might find a single lever BCM/Vltor Gunfighter for about the same cost and I have seen an Odinworks for around $38 that seems to have an upgraded latch. The only things cheaper than that are stock style charging handles in the $30 range.

As a $20-25 upgrade, it is a good one and it doesn't feel like I'm going half way, it's top notch in my opinion.

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[flyer]

I just looked, Zev seems to be making the same charging handle for $73. Still a good deal but save $20 while you can.

 

[flyer]

Thinking about the cost of an upgraded LR308 pattern rifle, I went back to look at the budget of my latest build.

I bargain shop so my builds aren't quick and this last is a bit of an odd duck because I'm using a 1/2 price Wilson Combat 338 Federal barrel and three second hand parts but anyone who shops like me could get a similar rifle with new parts for less than $200 more than I spent.

So from Aero precision (direct, Optics Planet and Schuyler Arms), M5E1 enhanced upper, lower, Quantum M-lok handguard and partial LPK.

From Wilson Combat my barrel.

From POF 7 position AR10 length buffer tube and spring.

From Odinworks (through JSE and Optics Planet), my Adjustable (not tuneable) clamp on gas block and gas tube.

From Elftmann (bought "used", looks new), my trigger and anti-rotation trigger pins.

From PWS (through Optics Planet), my ratcheting castle nut set.

From Strike Industries (through Optics Planet), my Viper Modular fixed stock and fin grip (California).

From Toolcraft (through WC Armory), my Nickel Boron BCG.

From Sig (through Optics Planet), my ambi safety and mag release.

From LMT (bought used), a flash hider I might install if I ever can move to a free state.

And from Mega (through JSE), my ambi charging handle.

My total spent so far is $1075 and I still need to figure out which AR15 buffer it likes but I have a spare Aero charging handle that came with the upper, mag release and safety left over from the partial LPK.

I'll call it $1,100.

It might not be the most Gucci AR out there but it's solid and I'm not sure where you could upgrade anything significantly. If there is something to upgrade you'll probably spend quite a bit more.