School me on some carry handles.

If you have an "F" marked front sight you will need something like this.
https://palmettostatearmory.com/palmetto-state-armory-mil-spec-carry-handle.html
F marked are taller and some handles do not work with them.

I was in the same boat as you. I wanted a good carry handle sight for a basic AR carbine. After reading some reviews and doing some research I went with an Aero precision handle. The PSA was out of stock at the time I ordered. I'll cut and paste my comments from the thread I started abot it.

Got the sitgh yesterday and installed it on my rifle. It looks great! dark blackish-grey anodizing, captive attachment screws, positive click adjustment. the larger aperture is marked 0-2. There is a square forge mark whcih I believe is for BAFE ( Brass aluminum forging enterprise). IDk if it is authentic GI but it sure looks and feels like a military sight. I'm pleased, it really complements the rifle.


I have small hands. It works as a carry handle for me, if I am carrying it by the outer-most 2 phalanges, or segments of the 4 fingers on either hand. As well as I can measure with a tape measure, the opening is apprx. 11/16"x4-3/8" and is the same width, (not tapered) the whole length of itself. The capiteve attachment nuts and clamping bar appear to be parkerized. The windage and elevation drums, I am not sure, if they are aluminum or steel. The W&E housing appears to be parkerized steel. The large aperture is marked 0-2, and the smaller is marked C7. I know about 0-2 but what is the C7 stamp for? I haven't found anything online yet about it. The elevation drum is marked 6/3, there is a small lowercase z and further along the drum, the number 4, and 5 after that.

Be careful of removing the bridge between mouting points, most picatinny rails are sharp and I envision you slicing your fingers if you go that route.

I gotta admit - if I have a carry handle on an AR, I don’t want it to be removable.

SamT1 said:

Yea I’m thinking this will be short lived. Still gonna build it and do another on a A2 upper if I like the idea.

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Last I looked a decent handle was within about $20 bucks of a stripped handled upper. If you want versatility I agree with your current route, but if you think you want A handle gun then you should build a handle gun.

I like mine a lot.

SamT1 said:

Fingers are like leather so that’s not an issue for me. Any of you who know me know I’m not above smoothing that rail if I like the removable carry handle, but I think in the end it’s a stepping stone to a more specific build.

yea I think the end goal is a 12” with a welded suppressor. (Probably a thunder beast serviceable.) I’m gonna see if I like the carry handle open sights before I dive in on that build. I’ll have plenty of time to find a A2 while waiting on that.

I’m having issues with how the mismatched parts feel rattly vs the tighter guns like eagle arms, ruger mpr, and everything “better”. I know it’s not supposed to matter, but they feel cheap.

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Try the wedge blocks that go in the lower that push up against the takedown pin block on the upper. That eliminates a lot of the movement I have toyed with the idea of threading the lower to take a piece of allthread and make it really fit right on my 80% but I’m just not too worried about it...a wad of epoxy putty with a piece of ziplock over it did the trick well enough for me. Epoxy got hard, ziplock kept it from gluing stuff together.

Why not just get a stamp?

Welding it on doesn’t make sense to me. You gotta wait for the stamp for the can, and if you ever wanted to put a can on something else, you gotta wait again then... just Form 1 the SBR and skip the weld job.

For the lower, for SBR’s, I prefer to pick something without much text and graphics. Most forged lowers are all the same, and a Form 1 is basically a “for life” commitment to whatever it says on the side. The Anderson lower would be just as good as a hundred other brands, but I don’t really care for their labeling.

I’m a Ruger guy, so I pick AR-556 lowers now for my SBR’s. Doesn’t mean they’re any better than the Anderson, but I do know I’ll be happier looking at the Ruger logo 40yrs from now than I would be most other brands.

Varminterror said:

I gotta admit - if I have a carry handle on an AR, I don’t want it to be removable.

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Same here.

I've tried the detachable critters, ended up selling, trading or giving away every one of them. I have an Armalite M15A2C and a 20" A2 clone (save for LW barrel profile) built on JSE bits which started as a flat top with detachable but quickly went to an integral handle A2 upper. They're not cheap, but worth it.

In the Corps we never carried our weapons by the carry handle.
We carried them in this way. It gives you better control of the weapon.

Also a carry handle is not needed to hold the gun. With or without a carry handle the gun can be gripped in the same manner. This is also one of the best ways to carry when running and not engaging targets.

Also a carry handle is not needed to hold the gun.

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In design we never called a flaw a flaw, it is a “feature”. So you design a rifle where the rear sight needs to be up abnormally high, well it’s a service rifle you can just stick the thing on a little post, it will break right off. You need more contact to make it durable but you don’t want this big dorsal fin looking thing up on top of the rifle not to mention the added weight. How about we put a few holes in it? How about we open it up so it’s big enough we can call it a carry handle? I like it, we’ll go with that.

Is there a decent source for uppers with the integrated carry handle, especially with A2 sights? I did a search a few months ago and the few I found were around $200. Was that a temporary thing or have they all gotten that expensive?

Elkins45 said:

Is there a decent source for uppers with the integrated carry handle, especially with A2 sights? I did a search a few months ago and the few I found were around $200. Was that a temporary thing or have they all gotten that expensive?

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JSE Surplus has two complete A2 uppers in stock for $140 each.
http://www.jsesurplus.com/a2upperreceiver.aspx

Fulton Armory has stripped A2 uppers for $109 and the A2 upper parts kit for $70.
http://www.fulton-armory.com/upperreceivera2usgi.aspx