BK02 Posted September 26, 2021 Share Posted September 26, 2021 I didn’t really like the factory charging handle due to how skinny it was and the amount of play it had rotating and slop the “buttstock to muzzle direction”. I decided I could try to make my own on my mini lathe. First, I took measurements of all of the critical areas, or areas I thought were most important. On the first prototype, I discovered the most important measurement was the distance from the ball detent notch to the area where it tapered from .199” to .258”. On the 1st prototype, I made the notch too far down the shaft, causing the handle to be easily pulled out and or twisted since the ball was barley in the notch. The 1st prototype was also made from 4340. Didn’t like the idea of having to blue it and keep it oiled to keep it from rusting. The 2nd prototype and my final product were both machined out of 1/2” bar h900 17-4. Machined surprisingly well on my mini lathe using micrograin carbine tooling and medium speeds. The 4340 was almost too gummy and soft, and was chipping edges of my tools, which is probably due to lack of machining experience. Had zero tools break or chip while using the 17-4. Since I was making my own, my main goal was to eliminate play, and make the handle between .400” and .500” in diameter. The 2nd prototype was .500” in diameter and had zero play. Was machined from 17-4 as previously mentioned. My goal was to get a close match with the titanium cerakote by stone washing. (I literally used stones off of a dirt road and put them in a water bottle. Wrapped water bottle in socks, and had it go through the dryer’s tumble/no heat mode for about 8 hours. Came out looking really good, but didn’t match.) The handle was also heavier than I wanted it to be. I figured if the handle was too heavy it would cause feeding issues when using lighter loads. The main reason it was too heavy was because I only used a 5/16” drill, meaning there was about .094” of wall thickness. Way thicker than needed, especially while using such a strong steel. While this handle was heavier than the stock one by a decent margin, had no issues cycling what I’d consider medium target loads through my benelli m4, which only had around 50 rounds of buckshot through it at that point. With the 2nd prototype installed, I shot 50 fiochhi target loads, 30 Federal LE slugs, and 50 rounds of Winchester SuperX buckshot with 0 malfunctions which surprised me due to how heavy it was. My final product weighed a good amount less due to the handle being around .450” in diameter and me using an 11/32” bit. This made wall thickness somewhere around .055”. Still more thick than necessary for what this is being used for. Since the stonewash didn’t have the effect I was looking for, I figured I’d give it a decent polish to match the TT lifter I have on my gun. I really like the look, and the polishing didn’t make it any more slick than the stonewash finish. I also rounded the end of the handle making insertion easier than previous designs. Also makes marring the finish on the barrel less likely when using the handle to disassemble the piston assembly. As you can see by the pictures, I only put one notch on the charging handle. I don’t know why the factory one has three notches, but that is one of the things that causes the handle to have slop. Using only one notch made the handle really tight and have zero slop in any direction, while also still being easy enough to remove by twisting and pulling. I also made the smallest diameter part of the shaft +.002” compared to the factory .199”. This eliminated the “front to back slop” I mentioned. If anyone is interested in the measurements I used, send me a DM and I’ll send you a picture of my drawing I made of the factory handle and it’s measurements and my handle and it’s measurements. Thanks for reading, Bryce 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigoo7e Posted September 26, 2021 Share Posted September 26, 2021 Do you plan on making anymore of these? If so how much and then... LOL! ? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK02 Posted September 26, 2021 Author Share Posted September 26, 2021 8 hours ago, bigoo7e said: Do you plan on making anymore of these? If so how much and then... LOL! ? I’m not sure what I would charge, but I could make another one. I’d have to order some more 17-4 off McMaster carr first. What would you pay? Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0331FF Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 Following. I am looking for a decent new bolt handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK02 Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 27 minutes ago, 0331FF said: Following. I am looking for a decent new bolt handle. I just got some more 17-4 in, planning on making 5 to sell if anyone does want one. I’ll post here once I get them done. Will have them all done by the middle of next week I imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilyung Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 This thread makes me want to buy a mill! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StreetSweeper56 Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 I call dibs on 1 BK, those are super sharp looking! I don't care about the finish color,I'll Cerakote it anyway. Not sure how I'd get you my contact info but I've bookmarked this thread and I will keep an eye on it till they're done. I love uber-custom work! Paypal ok? Let me know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK02 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 10 minutes ago, StreetSweeper56 said: I call dibs on 1 BK, those are super sharp looking! I don't care about the finish color,I'll Cerakote it anyway. Not sure how I'd get you my contact info but I've bookmarked this thread and I will keep an eye on it till they're done. I love uber-custom work! Paypal ok? Let me know! I sent you a DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK02 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 Here are a couple pictures of the handle on my “h2o” m4. There is plenty of gap between the handle and the receiver to prevent scratching of the receiver like with some FFT examples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milspec Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 13 hours ago, kilyung said: This thread makes me want to buy a mill! Where to start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31b Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 The charging handle is cool but what about your dog. He is a good looking boy. Is he a Dogo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK02 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, 31b said: The charging handle is cool but what about your dog. He is a good looking boy. Is he a Dogo? Her name is chips. We rescued her about 6 months ago from the Kansas humane society. She’s about a year old now and is a spaz, but a good dog. We think she is a pit bull/lab mix. I try to always have her in the background of my gun pictures to add something special to the picture. She does like to run off after deer that sometimes come into our backyard though, hence the cable we have to use now. Lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31b Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 2 hours ago, BK02 said: Her name is chips. We rescued her about 6 months ago from the Kansas humane society. She’s about a year old now and is a spaz, but a good dog. We think she is a pit bull/lab mix. I try to always have her in the background of my gun pictures to add something special to the picture. She does like to run off after deer that sometimes come into our backyard though, hence the cable we have to use now. Lol She looks good and definitely looks like she has some bully breed in her. Good on you for adopting her. A lot of people won’t touch a dog w/ any pit bull breeding in them, which is too bad. They are wonderful dogs when properly bred, raised, trained and owned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK02 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 1 hour ago, ruger said: I’m sure he’ll be fun to deal with. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangerDanger Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Nice lathe work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK02 Posted October 8, 2021 Author Share Posted October 8, 2021 48 minutes ago, StrangerDanger said: Nice lathe work! Thanks! Just sent one to Ben elLes and Streetsweeper56. If they fit and work well in their examples, I’ll probably be making some more for others who are interested. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Lisitano Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 On 10/1/2021 at 1:04 AM, kilyung said: This thread makes me want to buy a mill! Can you please let me know what the price is including shipping? I may be slow in responding I just got home from having my neck fused this week and hopefully I’ll be able to shoot once the healing finishes. is PayPal okay? Thank you in advance, Alan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK02 Posted October 8, 2021 Author Share Posted October 8, 2021 2 hours ago, AJ Lisitano said: Can you please let me know what the price is including shipping? I may be slow in responding I just got home from having my neck fused this week and hopefully I’ll be able to shoot once the healing finishes. is PayPal okay? Thank you in advance, Alan I charged $65 shipped for the first two I made. I barely get any days off where I work, so might be a couple of weeks before I make any more. Managed to get some 8 hour shifts this last week so had a few more hours at home to actually do something besides sleep and eat. I’ll post here when I make some more to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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