All of my older AR’s have BCM charging handles because of some sight issues I have had to change to shooting left handed and was looking at the plethora of options out there, is there any reason I should go away from the BCM handles? I need two of them?

Any quality maker will work well.

I have a mix of BCM Gunfighter, Aero Breach, Breek Sledgehammer, and Radian Raptor charging handles on all my various ARs. They all work well.

Of these, Breek Sledgehammers tends to be the best value. They're ~$70 retail but if you catch them on sale they're ~$50. (Their Warhammer handles are even cheaper, though not as nice, and the Warhammer handles are fairly thin.)

Aero Breach handles aren't that much more at $80 retail/$60 sale, but Aero is nearly defunct and basically bankrupt so I wouldn't count on them being available.

BCM is a middle ground option at ~$90 retail/~$70 sale. All of my ARs used to have BCM charging handles about 15 years ago, but they are no longer the sole clearly best option these days.

Radian Raptors tends to be the priciest, though potentially the nicest in fit/finish. They're $110+ at full retail, but you can occasionally snag them for ~$90 on sale. I only have a couple because I lucked out and grabbed them for $61 apiece, otherwise I would not have ponied up for Radians. (They do offer a cheaper version - the Raptor LT - that has plastic handles for ~$80 retail.)

I don't understand how AR charging handles have "handedness". The release is on one side, but the "ears" you grasp have equal protrusion on both sides. There are some with wider "ears" that look easier to grasp and I wouldn't mind that feature, but not a C-note's worth.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I don't understand how AR charging handles have "handedness". The release is on one side, but the "ears" you grasp have equal protrusion on both sides. There are some with wider "ears" and I wouldn't mind that feature, but not a C-note's worth.

There are two techniques to utilize the AR charging handle:

A) The old school way of grasping both ears with your index and middle finger in a V, with the thumb on the back of the handle.

B) The newer way of using the edge of your palm or the side of your index finger of your support hand on just the ear closest to your body.


A works with either hand and a latch on only one side, but requires you to either completely unmount the rifle and roll it partway over to work it with your support hand, or to dismount the rifle and take your firing hand off the grip to work it.

B requires a latch on either side in order to be used with either hand, but can be worked from the shoulder or positions closer to your body while your firing hand maintains its master grip, plus it is faster. Hence ambidextrous charging handles. You can pull either ear to release the latch, so it doesn't matter which shoulder/support hand you're using at the time.


And yes, the slightly wider ears of modern charging handles are quite nice, especially with technique B. Though you don't want to go too wide, otherwise it catches on your gear (chest rig/plate carrier/external armor carrier/bodycam/etc.) and/or pokes you in the chest while slung.

All of the handles I described in my earlier post are in the Goldilocks zone of big enough without being too big. (With the BCMs specifically you'll want the Medium/Mod 4... The Large/Mod 3 is too wide and you run into the above issues.)

Overly wide charging handles are only needed if you're using a larger magnified scope and need the extra width to clear the objective lens, in which case you just have to accept the tradeoff of being more pokey/snag-prone. I have the fairly huge POF Tomahawk charging handle on my scoped Revolution .308, but wouldn't want one that wide on any of my other ARs.

The wider, forward-angled ears with serrations do appear to give a better grasp, whichever method you use.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I don't understand how AR charging handles have "handedness". The release is on one side, but the "ears" you grasp have equal protrusion on both sides. There are some with wider "ears" that look easier to grasp and I wouldn't mind that feature, but not a C-note's worth.

The latch is normally only on one side, usually the left. On a normal charging handle, you have to grasp the left side to release the latch. On an ambi charging handle, pulling only on the right side will also release the latch.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I don't understand how AR charging handles have "handedness". The release is on one side, but the "ears" you grasp have equal protrusion on both sides. There are some with wider "ears" that look easier to grasp and I wouldn't mind that feature, but not a C-note's worth.

Yes...
But look at it this way too-
Because it's easy to grab on to, it's easy to grab onto stuff.
The larger the handles, the more tendency they get snagged up on shirts, gear, slings... Not that it's that huge of a problem, it's just something to think about.

Pretty much any ambi will work the same. If you like the Radian stuff, the Raptor LT is nice for the money. I got a few from Primary when they were last on sale. Regularly, they are about $79.

I also have a higher end Radian SL, a few Daniel Defense and I’ve had a Badger in the past. The BCM stuff looks to be equally as nice, but at $89 each, I’d probably just grab another Radian or try a Geissele Airborne.

The older VLTOR/BCM charging handles can pinch if you have meaty hands. Other than that, the top brands are all about the same. You might pick narrower handles if you sling the rifle a lot since they’ll poke less. Larger handles clear scopes or large optics and are faster to manipulate for competition rifles.