Thoughts on charging handles and the NLX223

[Prometheus]

I live in the midwest and it gets cold here... as in crazy cold, at least for me it's crazy cold. I spent most of the first 23 years of my life in Florida / S. Florida, but even still we have stretches of days, if not a full week where the temps never rise out of the teens. I have a hard time going without shooting for that long and I believe in training in the elements from time to time.

Standard charging handles suck for heavy gloves and some extended or ambi handles have pinch points that not only can rip skin off if you are running them hard but can shred winter gloves as well.

I found the NLX223 ambi handle from Next Level Arms does a pretty good job of taking care of those issues.

Anyone else run their AR's in single digit temperatures and have a charging handle that works well for them?

 

[David4516]

I like the look of this one might have to buy one:

http://armageddontactical.com/products/charging-handle

It doesn't get that cold here so I probably don't NEED to upgrade my charging handle, but for some reason I just don't care for the standard handle.

My wife's AR has the BCM "gunfighter" handle and it's really nice too.

 

[Prometheus]

I just don't care for the standard handle.

I'm the same way, they just seem cheap and flimsy. That said, I've never had one fail on me.

 

[Baron_Null]

Haven't had any experience with the NLX223, but I have the Raptor charging handle, which is a highly regarded amibi charging handle with a similar construction to the NLX, where the handle itself is the lever, as opposed to having a separate lever within the handle such as the mil-spec or BCM Gunfighter.

I love the feel and ease of use of the Raptor. It's very solidly constructed, and is extremely smooth. I have not, however, put it through any hard use, nor have I used it in cold weather, so I can offer no direct experience with either, however, the reviews I've seen never mention any issues with either factor.

I found one YouTube review directly comparing the Raptor to the NLX223, to which the reviewer had a slight preference for the Raptor, but would recommend either. Please note that the Raptor is sold through several vendors, which the reviewer does not mention. I bought mine through Rainier Arms.

https://youtu.be/dt1gAS2Vfhs

 

[Jackal]

BCM Gunfighter is pretty hard to beat...

 

[Murcielago]

BCM Gunfighter is pretty hard to beat...

Agreed.

 

[primalmu]

I'm a HUGE fan of the BCM Gunfighter. I don't have experience with their ambi version, but I personally don't see how the NLX223 could be worth $20 more (though it certainly looks nice!).