It is inevitable that a rifle as popular and modular as the AR will bring all manner of creativity to bear on improving and "improving" it.
One thing that people are spending entirely too much time working on is improving the damn charging handle.
There seems to be a general ignorance about how it works.
Did you know it has been ambidextrous since the R601 days?
You put a finger on both sides of the upper and pull. That automatically hits the latch. Notice I did not say which hand to use? This is because either hand will do.
The next issue people seem to have with the charging handle is a complete misunderstanding of what it's primarily for.
It's for opening the action on the rifle with no magazine in it. You pull the bolt to the rear and lock it open. Insert a magazine then hit the bolt release. Weapon is now loaded.
Assuming you have good magazines; 99 out of 100 stoppages can be cleared with two fingers of pressure on that charging handle, with no more effort than pulling it back on an empty gun.
If it's magazine induced, then your most important control is the magazine catch, not the charging handle. You should also throw that piece of shit misfeed device away that very instant, crushing it so that it doesn't haunt anyone else.
Another truth about the AR system is that once you've got good magazines, you're just not going to see much in the way of stoppages.
Really.
If you're really concerned about that rare stoppage where fingers aren't enough, learn the "pogo" technique. In all honesty, if the pogo can't clear it, your gun be broken. You do have a backup, don't you?
One thing that people are spending entirely too much time working on is improving the damn charging handle.
There seems to be a general ignorance about how it works.
Did you know it has been ambidextrous since the R601 days?
You put a finger on both sides of the upper and pull. That automatically hits the latch. Notice I did not say which hand to use? This is because either hand will do.
The next issue people seem to have with the charging handle is a complete misunderstanding of what it's primarily for.
It's for opening the action on the rifle with no magazine in it. You pull the bolt to the rear and lock it open. Insert a magazine then hit the bolt release. Weapon is now loaded.
Assuming you have good magazines; 99 out of 100 stoppages can be cleared with two fingers of pressure on that charging handle, with no more effort than pulling it back on an empty gun.
If it's magazine induced, then your most important control is the magazine catch, not the charging handle. You should also throw that piece of shit misfeed device away that very instant, crushing it so that it doesn't haunt anyone else.
Another truth about the AR system is that once you've got good magazines, you're just not going to see much in the way of stoppages.
Really.
If you're really concerned about that rare stoppage where fingers aren't enough, learn the "pogo" technique. In all honesty, if the pogo can't clear it, your gun be broken. You do have a backup, don't you?