What in hell were they thinking...

[d2wing]

I was trained on it 55 years ago. It has never been an issue to me in 55 years. You charge it when you load it. You use the bolt release after that. I wouldn't load it from a firing position. It was designed for combat use and works just fine for that. I imagine there is a problem when you use something for a purpose it wasn't designed for. It must work for most people because they still make them by the millions.

 

[d2wing]

...with the AR charging handle?
Understand how it came to be; the charging finger inside the carry handle, and it got too hot after some firing.
The CH does keep dirt out of the upper, apparently a concern of Stoner, along with the dust cover over the E-port.
But the charging handle is just a PITA. It can't be operated from the shoulder, like an MP5, or a Scorpion, and those two can be slap charged with their forward op handle.
Yeah, I know, I'm just grousing, and nothing is apt to change at this late date...
Anyway, thots? Outrage? Insults?
Moon

Why would you operate it from the shoulder? Forget to load it? I don't understand your problem. Sounds like operator error to me.

 

[Rule3]

I don't like the AR handle either, but do not shoot and enough to worry about it.

One of the many reasons the AK is the most popular weapon ever.
Much prefer the AK charging handle especially extended.

 

[powermad]

About the only time I use the charging handle is to lock the BCG back.
I rarely load it from a closed bolt.

I like to see an empty chamber and nothing in the way before loading it the first time.
Insert mag and hit the catch with my thumb works every time for me.

 

[mjsdwash]

just about as easy to charge from the shoulder as any bolt rifle, which is something the average person was still taught to do in the 90's.
Because I could work a mauser from a shoulder position, the AR never seemed too hard.
Of course under most circumstances, you only work the charging handle once, and use the bolt hold open until your done shooting.
If you reload, and load to the throat, sometimes things get stuck, and the charging handle really sucks.
The old Wolf ammo that glued the itself to the chamber was probably the big motivator for side chargers. Its very difficult, though possible to kick open the bolt on a standard AR.

 

[David Hoback]

Who needs to operate the charging handle from the shoulder? The weapon is charged before doing anything. And on mag dump & replacement, simply slap the bolt stop and the Bolt chambers. The ONLY time the charging comes into on initial chambering, when a jam/malfunction is being cleared. OP. You mentioned the HK’s being “Slap” charged. The AR is chambered in similar fashion after loading a new mag. So I’m not sure what you are going on about.

Look at this vid. See the Bolt lock back on empty mag, then he reloads & taps the Bolt Release. You think an HK is faster?

 

[hk940]

The charging handle is such a good design that it has been copied by all subsequent firearms designs...... Oh wait, it hasn't.

As a lefty, I HATE the stock handle. Replacement handles fix the problem, but it's a bad design.

Bear Creek Arsenal has uppers with fixed charging handles ( on the right side) for us lefties!

 

[greyling22]

Bear Creek Arsenal has uppers with fixed charging handles ( on the right side) for us lefties!

I've had 4. Still have 1. I was very satisfied until I started shooting suppressed. Now I have 1 stag lefty upper and wish I had more.....

 

[EIB0879]

Another one that has no issues with the AR charging handle. I can operate it with the rifle shouldered just fine. I've been doing so since I was issued my first M16A1 at 17 years old.

Same. I always appreciated things that didn't snag on wait-a-minute vines and such as I was breaking brush.

 

[hawg]

It is problematic when optics are mounted, but I can make it work. But the rifle wasn't originally designed to use optics. If you use iron sights, I don't see it as a problem at all.

I have no problem operating it with a scope.

 

[David Hoback]

I used MilSpec Handles for years & years. But I do like the new Ambi CH’s now. I like building super high AR’s that match any top shelf rifles, look better & cost me half the price. Awesome stuff!

 

[Robert]

While I love the left side non-reciprocating charging handle on my FAL, the charging handle on my AR is no issue for me and I've runt he rifle enough to know how to make it work. I find reciprocating charging handles to be, well, dumb.

 

[herrwalther]

You’ll only get hit with it once.

Only if you are smart. I watched a lot of foreign nationals stick their thumb behind the AK bolt handle and fire. More than once. I only told them not to once and hopefully they figured it out on their own.

 

[David Hoback]

Only if you are smart. I watched a lot of foreign nationals stick their thumb behind the AK bolt handle and fire. More than once. I only told them not to once and hopefully they figured it out on their own.

Reminds me of shooters having their thumb behind a Glock side. LOL! Yeah, only takes once!

 

[12Bravo20]

Only if you are smart. I watched a lot of foreign nationals stick their thumb behind the AK bolt handle and fire. More than once. I only told them not to once and hopefully they figured it out on their own.

Let me guess.

It was the same ones that thought shooting full auto from the hip was how you do things and you couldn't tell them otherwise.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Understand that working the CH shouldn't normally be necessary from the shoulder, but ergonomically it's a clumsy arrangement, arrived at due to the evolving design.
Frankly, didn't give it any real thot' when I met the package in 1970, and I have to admit, never, ever had to clear a jam or misfeed with the AR platform.
Do like the forward charging handle on my Scorp.
Moon

 

[Pat Riot]

Reminds me of shooters having their thumb behind a Glock side. LOL! Yeah, only takes once!

I had a former acquaintance that I took shooting. He claimed he was an ex-Army sniper in Bosnia.
As he went to fire my Glock he placed his left thumb over his right, behind the slide and fired before I could stop him. Luckily I had a first aid kit in my truck. He then has a problem shooting targets at about 20 yards with my AR…after I told him the rifle targets were the ones at 100 yards. He couldn’t figure out why the rounds weren’t hitting where he was aiming.
Anyway, he fessed up to being a cook in the Army and stretching the truth about his sniper experience.

Sorry for the hijack…I just had to bring this up.

 

[The Glockodile]

I had a former acquaintance that I took shooting. He claimed he was an ex-Army sniper in Bosnia.
As he went to fire my Glock he placed his left thumb over his right, behind the slide and fired before I could stop him. Luckily I had a first aid kit in my truck. He then has a problem shooting targets at about 20 yards with my AR…after I told him the rifle targets were the ones at 100 yards. He couldn’t figure out why the rounds weren’t hitting where he was aiming.
Anyway, he fessed up to being a cook in the Army and stretching the truth about his sniper experience.

I'll top that one!

One of my colleagues who's of SEAsian descent (dislikes guns but knows most of what I do through proximity to myself) describes this guy he encountered at work - he described having "used a Dragunov rifle while serving in Vietnam, modified by the armorer to take a 20x scope due to American rifles being junk, and that his rounds were deliberately loaded with 95 grains of powder to give them more velocity to 800m." And for completion, he was "well - acquainted with Carlos Hathcock."

Referred to that guy as the "American Sniper" ever since

This be reeeal, NOT NOT NOT making this up!

 

[Speedo66]

Not a fan of the system on the AR. Always used slide operated pulls, had no problem with them and they worked well.

M-1, Carbine, M-14, and now my Mini-14. Don't need a forward assist, either. Shocking how good the older system was and still is.

 

[mgmorden]

You’ll only get hit with it once.

Very special case scenario, but definitely not the case for my dad. He has a partially paralyzed right hand and can't bend his trigger finger so he shoots with his ring finger and his trigger finger sticks out along the side of the action. He mostly has alwasy shot a pump but whenever he tries an auto loader he inevitably will come in saying "The gun busted my finger open again.".

I haven't convinced him to just stop messing with the autoloaders so its on my to-do list to eventually just buy him a left-handed one so the issue isn't there.

 

[David Hoback]

Not a fan of the system on the AR. Always used slide operated pulls, had no problem with them and they worked well.

M-1, Carbine, M-14, and now my Mini-14. Don't need a forward assist, either. Shocking how good the older system was and still is.

And yet, the AR bests them in every single category. There is a reason it was used exclusively for over 50years & is still used now.

 

[denton]

And here I had always thought that the purpose of the AR charging handle was to make it equally awkward for both lefties and righties.

My main issue with it is that it is long, slender, and easily bent or broken. If that happens, your firearm is disabled.

 

[The Glockodile]

And yet, the AR bests them in every single category. There is a reason it was used exclusively for over 50years & is still used now.

Dunno...

Prolly some geopoliticaleconomic undercurrents at play...

...like how the British EM-2 got sidelined...

 

[rdnktrkr]

I don't mind the milspec CH but I prefer the ambidextrous one better. I've been looking at the side chargers for awhile and have decided I will try one on my next build

 

[citizenconn]

I prefer the BCM medium size Gunfighter for rear charging ARs. For my long range target ARs I build them as side chargers (usually ambi receivers) with adjustable gas blocks so that I can turn off the gas so I don't have to chase my brass.
I've seen a few dual charging receivers but don't know the upside of those.

I would like a side charger with a non-reciprocating charging handle like is available now for the SCAR. As someone above said, get whacked by that side charging handle a couple times and you tend to remember it.