M4 Tactical Charging Handle

[Jackalope33B]

Which M4 Tactical Charging Handle are you guys using? What are your likes and dislikes?

[Super33]

I'm still using the original. Until Kip releases his.

[KB Fab]

I have the GG&G and while it's fine, I'll be getting Kip's when it comes out as well.

[BigHat]

I use the Freedom Fighter Tactical. I like it because it's well made and was the added surface area most of us seek and prefer over the OEM handle.

[TacticalKoala]

GG&G, no problem, I like it.

[saym14]

I have been debating this. there appears to be two styles. the fully round large GG&G type or the oversize style that still has the stock shape. anyone tried both styles and can compare and contrast ?

[Hookster]

I'm still using the original. Until Kip releases his.

 

Me too.........

[saym14]

what style will kips be? is there any pics?

[Flascot007]

I've used DMW, and now GG&G and the last one is nice. But again, when Kip comes out with his, he'll get more of my money.... I just can't stop spending, I feel like a politician!

[Hookster]

what style will kips be? is there any pics?

 

Look on this page:

 

http://photos.carriercomp.com/AlbumHomeView.aspx

 

[KB Fab]

Look on this page:

 

http://photos.carriercomp.com/AlbumHomeView.aspx

 

 

A thing of beauty.

[saym14]

Look on this page:

 

http://photos.carriercomp.com/AlbumHomeView.aspx

 

 

looks like the GGand G style but a bit smaller? what is the advantage over the stock style?

 

also what about their compensators? are they out yet? thier website is not too informative.

[AggiePhil]

I'm a huge fan of the CarrierComp products. I own all two of them. But to put it bluntly, can anyone tell what his bolt handle offers over the Freedom Fighter? I've read bad things about the GG&G handle but I haven't read anything bad about the FF handle.

[Jackalope33B]

I know KIP is a busy man, and Im not sure how long before he gets the handle done. This is something that I need now lol, and not 4-6 months down the road. I was thinking the FF Tactical handle, but the $$ is holding me back now. I wonder how much KIP is going to charge for his?

[Grizzman]

I'm still using the original. Until Kip releases his.

 

I'm doing the same.

 

Grizz

[Super33]

I'm a huge fan of the CarrierComp products. I own all two of them. But to put it bluntly, can anyone tell what his bolt handle offers over the Freedom Fighter? I've read bad things about the GG&G handle but I haven't read anything bad about the FF handle.

 

The FFT provided to us is the larger diameter. Ours is 1/2". That part of the difference is purely a matter of user preference.

The tool steel tang decision however, was based on the observation we made that no titanium alloy, in spite of its superiority in other aspects, can rival tool steel in abrasion resistance. The three fillets that aid in retention tend to get boogered up asthetically from repeated insertion/removal. While this is a purely asthetic drawback that has little if any bearing on long-term functionality, I decided to build ALL of them the way I built mine. You may have noticed on close examination that the OEM tang is utterly unscathed by the its encounter with the bolt carrier and detent. This is because it is heat treated and tempered to just above 48C on the Rockwell scale... sufficiently above what any ti-alloy can attain, that it (the OEM or tool steel tang) is never dis-figured at all. Keep in mind the blemishes to the titanium type tang are superficial, and inconsequential on any mechanical level... I just wanted the component (replacement knob) to be virtually indestructable on ALL levels, hence my penchant towards over-engineering. I will stop just short of saying it is "superior", favoring the term "More refined" in complete fairness and respect for any competitor.

 

The weight is similar. My postal scale woks in 1/10th increments, and does little but show which is lighter/heavier etc. I need to get one that does grams soon.

 

The design concepts diameter is 1/2" too (like ours) and works very well with gloves, does not interfere with hot-reloads into the port like the 5/8" and 3/4" tend to. By the way ALL the photos are of our early proto-type, and we will never plagerize a revered competitor's product in any way. We may do limitted runs of what we call the "gargantuan" knobs that at least a few shooters favor. If we enclose the open end it could double as a floatation device.... hmmmmm.... KIDDING.

 

Near as we can tell with the postal scale the all ti version is a hair less weight, while the hybrid appears to be essentially identical in weight to the OEM knob. Our rejected (all ti) knobs are with DOD for training guns (not for deployment) and I suspect many of those 94 knobs will grow legs but they are good friends/people hence the consideration, not to mention the contracts they furnish so win/win.

 

We are producing several hundred of the hybrid version that better suits our standard, and won't list it until they are complete in order to avoid any back-order status. We have a newer knurling head that is awaiting custom angled arms direct from Dorian. As soon as Fastenal gives us the call we pick them (arms) up and resume the production on the revised version. Hated the delays but it was preferable to EVER selling an item I considered less than optimal.

 

My mistake ! Not a hot reload, but the "elevator-round" introduction. It has been about 7 years since the encounter, but as I recall, we noticed the dexterity required to get the extra round onto the elevator (with a notched bolt carrier gun) while employing an an excessively oversized knob made it more tedious. Also the larger diameters were more likely to wind up on the deck during remedial action. It seems the OEM diameter never EVER "auto-ejected". When the knurling on the larger diameter tries to stay engaged to an un-curling finger during release, it can index the detent on the tang... now if the operator is pulling his hand (especially grip enhanced gloved hand) in an outwardly direction while "roll" releasing the knob, the combined index and outward pull puts the bolt knob into removal trajectory. Nearly unheard of with the OEM knob, an increasing probability as the diameter and efficiency of the knurling increase. Variants that fell to this scenario were all properly equipped with OEM compliant non-rotating tang tips. This is why an un-named manufacturer of 3/4" knobs reverse engineered their 3/4" knobs to have no detents, while working with Syscom. Many folks here thought they were cutting corners, yet complained when their knobs had retaining issues. I'm not condeming or applauding any design. I do believe that the OEM curvature is the equal to knurling to keep the finger on the knob laterally, and the spartan OEM diameter minimizes the odds of inadvertant indexing during bolt release. I have tried them all, and this may sound absurd from a business stand-point, but I swear by the OEM knob. Larger diameter does nothing for a gloved hand. Only a longer one can overcome the bulk of a glove's tendency to distance the finger away from the receiver... and no one makes a meaningfully longer one.

 

Having said this I assure you there is no hand-writing on the wall (knobs will be made). We are still waiting for the Dorian Tooling Corporation to furnish us with a special order item in order to complete our hybrid bolt knobs. If I thought they were a liability, I would not sell them. But they will never be in excess of 1/2" diameter. Ford/Chevy sort of deal.

 

They will be nitrided black. Like uno said, as close as can be done to make ti match parked steel, while still defering to the properties only nitriding can bring to the table. Some of the original ones may go out silver for those who don't have a preference.

 

This post was brought to you from the search engine and some copying and pasting. No animals were harmed during the making of this post. The information posted here was donated from this thread: http://www.benelliusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21926&highlight=carriercomp+bolt+handle Thank you for your time.

[KB Fab]

Good onya Super33. I was about to quote the stuff you did but you beat me to it. It will be worth the wait.

[AggiePhil]

Thanks for quoting all of that but I'm usually only able to understand about 1/4 of what Kip posts. lol. I know that Kip would probably never badmouth another company's product, but can someone tell me what the Freedom Fighter handle lacks?

[KB Fab]

Thanks for quoting all of that but I'm usually only able to understand about 1/4 of what Kip posts. lol. I know that Kip would probably never badmouth another company's product, but can someone tell me what the Freedom Fighter handle lacks?

 

Super33 quoted it in the above post and I'll do it again. It isn't that it's any "better" but it was Kip's personal preference in terms of the beating that the charging handle takes. Please read what I have quoted below and you should understand what Kip is trying to accomplish. By all means, if you want to get a different handle, he's not saying don't do it. He is, however, giving you the reasons that he decided to produce his the way he is.

 

The FFT provided to us is the larger diameter. Ours is 1/2". That part of the difference is purely a matter of user preference.

The tool steel tang decision however, was based on the observation we made that no titanium alloy, in spite of its superiority in other aspects, can rival tool steel in abrasion resistance. The three fillets that aid in retention tend to get boogered up asthetically from repeated insertion/removal. While this is a purely asthetic drawback that has little if any bearing on long-term functionality, I decided to build ALL of them the way I built mine. You may have noticed on close examination that the OEM tang is utterly unscathed by the its encounter with the bolt carrier and detent. This is because it is heat treated and tempered to just above 48C on the Rockwell scale... sufficiently above what any ti-alloy can attain, that it (the OEM or tool steel tang) is never dis-figured at all. Keep in mind the blemishes to the titanium type tang are superficial, and inconsequential on any mechanical level... I just wanted the component (replacement knob) to be virtually indestructable on ALL levels, hence my penchant towards over-engineering. I will stop just short of saying it is "superior", favoring the term "More refined" in complete fairness and respect for any competitor.

[AggiePhil]

OK, so what I *think* I'm understanding Kip to be saying there is that his handles will be made of steel instead of titanium and they will be smaller in diameter than the FFT handles. Makes sense. Although looking at the FFT website, they offer a steel handle and a titanium handle. Maybe I'll pick up their steel handle to hold me over until Kip comes out with his.

[KB Fab]

OK, so what I *think* I'm understanding Kip to be saying there is that his handles will be made of steel instead of titanium and they will be smaller in diameter than the FFT handles. Makes sense. Although looking at the FFT website, they offer a steel handle and a titanium handle. Maybe I'll pick up their steel handle to hold me over until Kip comes out with his.

 

Actually, only the tang on Kip's is steel. The Handle is actually Ti and is bonded to the steel tang with some sort of aerospace adhesive. It's talked about in the thread that Super33 linked to IIRC.

[Hookster]

OK, so what I *think* I'm understanding Kip to be saying there is that his handles will be made of steel instead of titanium and they will be smaller in diameter than the FFT handles. Makes sense. Although looking at the FFT website, they offer a steel handle and a titanium handle. Maybe I'll pick up their steel handle to hold me over until Kip comes out with his.

 

Hi Phil

 

You might also look at the weight of the FFT steel handle vs stock OEM handle. Benelli made the system to cycle the action with the stock handle, as you add weight, I imagine that to some degree you will be slowing down the action.

 

I believe someone posted observations of action slowing with an aftermarket handle. It might have been StrangerDanger but I'm not sure.

 

Whether slowing the action would translate to reliability issues or not I don't know. (perhaps when combined with a dirty action etc?) Anyway Phil I just thought I'd throw this stuff out there for your consideration

 

Later,

 

Hookster

[Duggan]

I have the elusive Design Concepts charging handle. It's superb.

 

If Kip's handle offers something my current one doesn't, I'll get his.

 

[Hookster]

I have the elusive Design Concepts charging handle. It's superb.

 

If Kip's handle offers something my current one doesn't, I'll get his.

 

 

If those could still be had, I'd have one too...

[saym14]

If those could still be had, I'd have one too...

looks like a GG&G ?