Gas Defeating Charging Handle - Say goodbye to blow back gasses from your AR-15 pelting you in the face

From Silencerco GDCH product page:

"The GDCH has a proprietary design feature that incorporates an O-ring seal to prevent gas from escaping from the most prominent point of egress. This seal mitigates the amount of gas that is blown back into the shooter’s face, creating a more comfortable and enjoyable shooting experience.

In addition to significantly redirecting blow back, the GDCH offers ambidextrous and oversized levers for a smooth process when charging or clearing a rifle. It is completely manufactured in-house and is machined from aircraft-grade 7075 aluminum. Shooters can utilize the GDCH with all common chamberings for the AR-15 platform."

https://silencerco.com/silence...ing-charging-handle/



What are your thoughts? What is you experience with other 'Gas Mitigating' designs out there, such as the Raptor-SD, PRI Gas Buster, Geissele Airborne, etc? Lefties, what's your experience? Anyone using RTV?

I've got BCM Gunfighter medium charging handles on both my ARs and haven't noticed any gas hitting me in the face. No RTV on either one. I do see gas blowing out the ejection port if I pay attention to it, but nothing backward. AFAIK this charging handle isn't billed as a gas mitigating design. I have an Odin Works adjustable gas block on one rifle, but the other is just a standard low-profile fixed gas block. The can is a YHM Resonator R2.

I haven't used the Radian handle they compared it to, but I have examined one, and could find literally nothing about it that seemed as though it would do anything to mitigate emissions. I use Gas Busters, and they do work. I hope the SiCo one works great; I am not interested though, because of the oversized latches, and no apparent compatibility with regular latches. In just looking at images the Geissele Airborne, it doesn't seem like it would be super effective. I don't use RTV. A charging handle is potentially only one piece of a silencer-tuned gun. There are a lot of other discussions on here about it, and most of them come to the conclusion that proper gassing is the most correct and effective effort. A BRT gas tube is worth a look; that, perhaps combined with a charging handle, could yield a nice gun. Gas affects everyone differently; I am seemingly more affected than most other folks.

I’ve used both the mil spec and Radian on the same silencer equipped AR pattern carbine, with two different silencers and to tell the truth, I was not bothered in any configuration. I would wager it has more to do with the volume of the silencer, the size of the gas port, and maybe the bolt and buffer.

If I were bothered by gas coming out under the charging handle, I most certainly would try this product, or the RTV approach.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
What are your thoughts? What is you experience with other 'Gas Mitigating' designs out there, such as the Raptor-SD, PRI Gas Buster, Geissele Airborne, etc? Lefties, what's your experience? Anyone using RTV?

A high rear "fence" on the charging handle does most of the work in disrupting anything coming down the CH slot in the upper in my experience. Geissele is a good example, I prefer them greatly over a Radian for suppressed guns. Since the GasBuster vents to the right of the gun where my face is as a lefty I don't really like those. The newer FCD ACF does a bit better job than Geissele, but the rear-swept design and small latch are a bit less consistent for me to grab and use quickly.

I'd prefer the BCG vents be angled slightly forward to help mitigate gas-cloud-in-face for lefties, but as-is with a good charging handle and a moderately gassed rifle, with a suppressor, gas is not much of an issue for standard cadence of fire for training/competition scenarios - basically anything short of dumping rounds as fast as possible while standing in place. I'm using Vltor/BCM, Geissele, FCD, and Badger charging handles in my suppressed guns.

As to this SiCo offering - I like what they're doing, but I don't think I'll be buying one in the short term at least. I do find it curious they put the gasket on the bottom, most everything on the market I'm aware of, and the DIY RTV gasket jobs, attack the problem from the top and leave the bottom alone to prevent drag on the handle and interference with stocks. I'd be curious to see how long the gasket on the SiCo lasts after hitting the top of a stock a few dozen times. I'd hate to have the gun lock up when the charging handle is stuck slightly to the rear and prevents the BCG from seating, all because your gas seal popped out and wedged itself between the CH and receiver.

^^^Great post 'Rustpot'...Excellent feedback. As a lefty, I've pretty much standardized on the Raptor for the ambi features, but I've not found the ideal charging handle to use on a suppressed rifle. I do have one Raptor-SD, but it's definitely not perfect. As a shooter whose face is adjacent to the ejection port, I've typically favored piston guns, but recently picked up a Geissele Super-Duty Rifle that came with the Airborne CH. I'm eager to see how it compares, especially since it's a DI gun. Of course, it's winter, so I'm generally skiing/snowboarding in my spare time, and range day opportunities are few and far between.