Anyone have any experience with these? Other than having a different operation than the standard charging handle, any cons or pros? I just happen to be looking at a billet from JoeBob, but I've seen some others out there.

I've been intrigued by them, mainly because I think FALs and HKs are so cool. I really think it's just different.

My concerns would be the difficulty in finding any non standard parts, and the different method of operation if it's a defensive gun.

http://www.americanspiritarms....th-modified-carrier/

I have one of these, that I haven't built yet, but the idea is a FAL-AR. Also, as far as a scoped AR goes, a side charging non-reciprocating handle is what it's about.

When I was looking for a side charger, this was the best I found. Chief among its features is the non-reciprocating, then you add a folding handle. Then, a very very nice plug for where the AR charging handle goes. Top notch.

I know that JP also makes a large frame side charger.

Not sure about a small frame.

This is the one I found at JoeBobs. They call it the Spartan like their Spartan lower. The standard Spartan upper has the Spartan helmet on it which is how I found it, trying to match my Spikes Spartan lower. The Spartan Billet does not appear to have the Spartan helmet on it.

https://www.joeboboutfitters.c...-non-recip-upper.htm

It too is non-reciprocating.

The side Charging handle on the one Arc posted looks sleek and seems to have a lower profile. That seems like it would keep from snagging or catching anything but on the other hand it might be more difficult to get purchase and manipulate. How're, I am looking at it on my phone so it's tough to see. Almost twice the price of the JoeBob Spartan.

Am I correct in assuming this would reduce or eliminate gas to the face, especially shooting suppressed?

My uncle had some suppressor-fitted ARs in the past and the air in the face was annoying. I had regular ARs but wanted to give one of these a try. Some people just shrug the escaping air thing off but I was curious about side-charging receivers and built two pre-Trump election just in case, cause ya never know.





This is a reciprocating version made in multi-caliber by Bear Creek Arsenal in NC.

Nice looking rifle. Are you happy you went that direction?

Does the reciprocating bother you, do you wish you'd have gone non recip?

I've been considering a reciprocating version. The FAL style side charging version seems like a step backwards to me because it limits charging to a left handed operation. As a lefty shooter myself that's "no bueno".

NFA side charger

Pimping for my LGS

Theirs is a side charger that uses all standard parts. All you have to change out is the supplied cam pin.

I want one.

Bruce

I knew I should have never come into this thread.

You guys cost me a lot of money. LOL

quote:

Originally posted by RNshooter:
NFA side charger

Pimping for my LGS

Theirs is a side charger that uses all standard parts. All you have to change out is the supplied cam pin.

I want one.

Bruce

I think that is the same as JoeBobs. NFA makes their billet Spartan receiver for them.

I no longer want one. I've changed my status to "I have one on order"

That'll be a little something special for my SBR build.

Today I went to Arnzen Arms (MN) for a Competition Shooting Expo show they had for various shooting sports. I spent a fair amount of time speaking with JP Rifles staff and competition shooter Kate Arnzen.

Ms. Arnzen was extremely informative in regards to her personally owned / used JP rifle. She spoke openly about her personal choices when asked. She specifically said that she like the side-charging rifle in order to minimize gas coming back to the shooters face. She said the 2nd benefit is the easy access to the charging handle without trying to reach under an optic (traditional AR charging handle position.). Finally she mentioned the ease of charging the weapon from the side.

After speaking with her and snooping around in the store, I think I will be going in the same direction as BRL with a future purchase.

I built one using the JP part (https://www.jprifles.com/buy.php?item=PSC-URA2) to see if I could run it faster in competition than a std. AR. Its been reliable and its easy to use. Depending on the optic and mount the charging handle may not be in a place you love.
I can't see any downside other than cost.

quote:

Originally posted by BRL:
Nice looking rifle. Are you happy you went that direction?

Does the reciprocating bother you, do you wish you'd have gone non recip?

Thank you kindly. I'm liking it so far with about 300+ rounds through it. More to come. Bear Creek's version is more economical than some of the SC receivers I researched.

I didn't mention it but this rifle (aside from the Romeo 7) was a budget build. I caught Bear Creek when they had a sale as well as a discount coupon so I only had $150 bucks in the SC receiver. Like the Romeo 7, too.

Not sure I want to wade too heavily into the reciprocating vs. non-reciprocating discussion, but I'll tell you I kinda prefer the reciprocating as you actually have direct action control.

One of the main reasons I rather like the side-charging is that you can charge the firearm, or change it's state without moving the rifle away from your sight position.
Dunno if that will ever be important, but it's appealing.

I've had a few folks give me grief about potential mean time to failure of a moving bolt. All I can say is if it's good enough for a M1 Garand/M1 Carbine/M-14/many more, it's good enough for me...

quote:

Arnzen Arms

Damn Knighthawk, I wish I'd have known about that. That would've been a much better use of my time today over what I did. I also would have loved to speak with somebody with JP rifles about their A2 adjustable gas block front sight.

Gibbz Arms is another company that sells side charging uppers. Hickock45 did a video on their product.
They have uppers in .223 and .308

quote:

Originally posted by BRL:

quote:

Originally posted by RNshooter:
NFA side charger

Pimping for my LGS

Theirs is a side charger that uses all standard parts. All you have to change out is the supplied cam pin.

I want one.

Bruce

I think that is the same as JoeBobs. NFA makes their billet Spartan receiver for them.

Both of those look very similar to the Gibbz Arms side charger. I used a Gibbz on my 300BO build, and have been very pleased with it.

any recommendations for a complete side charging upper? Meaning barreled receiver. I don't have a problem swapping the cam pin on the BCG to make it work but I am not set up to install the barrel to the receiver etc. with any kind of confidence.

I see American Spirit sells one for $699 which looks nice, but I'm not certain I want to go that high budget wise on this build.

Bear Creek has a number of them in 16/18/20 under $500 but not many in stock it looks like.

Do those of you who have them have reciprocating or non reciprocating, and which do you prefer?

quote:

Originally posted by xl_target:
Gibbz Arms is another company that sells side charging uppers. Hickock45 did a video on their product.
They have uppers in .223 and .308

They've just recently announced a new .223 upper with a Forward Assist and Dust Cover. Not cheap but very tempting.

BTW, I used one of the original G4 Uppers for my first build, a 20 inch precision rifle with a 20 inch Shilen barrel. The fit between the upper and barrel extension was just about the closest to zero clearance as is possible and it took some light taps with a rubber hammer to finish driving the barrel in the last 3/8 inch. IMO that is one part of the reason why it's a sub 3/10 MOA rifle. I also believe that Gibbz has the best system for mounting a handguard in existence. So much so that I've used Gibbz handguards on all 3 of my AR's.