Left side Charging Handle

[towerofpower93 22]

Didn't want ot hijack -Shooter-'s thread so I'll ask it here....for those of you who own/owned or have fired a S12 with a left side charging handle, what are the pors and cons? Glad you did it? Never go back to a right side one? Or is it a terrible idea? Who did it for you, and by that I mean a business I could send my carrier and dust cover to.

 

Thanks

 

Eric

[Gunfixr 76]

Well, I sure like mine, but it's an FAL style handle, and doesn't reciprocate. I don't think I'd personally want a handle flying back and forth right in front of my face.

I did it myself.

No, it requires the receiver and bolt carrier with bolt.

[John_pro2a 3]

Well, I sure like mine, but it's an FAL style handle, and doesn't reciprocate. I don't think I'd personally want a handle flying back and forth right in front of my face.

I did it myself.

No, it requires the receiver and bolt carrier with bolt.

Did you get all the little bugs worked out on your FAL style conversion?

How great is the risk of the weld snapping, and a handle hitting your face (on the regular conversions)

[jmacken37 4]

Well, I sure like mine, but it's an FAL style handle, and doesn't reciprocate. I don't think I'd personally want a handle flying back and forth right in front of my face.

I did it myself.

No, it requires the receiver and bolt carrier with bolt.

Did you get all the little bugs worked out on your FAL style conversion?

How great is the risk of the weld snapping, and a handle hitting your face (on the regular conversions)

 

I don't always have the best reading comprehension, either! Gunfixr's FAL CH is very cool in that it doesn't reciprocate with the bolt. No worries about the handle whacking you in the face.

 

Jake

[VanKiller 322]

I mill a slot in the bolt and mount a Remington 1100 style handle.

 

When I'm shooting it I don't notice the handle. But I really like maintaining my grip on the pistolgrip and charging the weapon. But I'm "old school" and some of my favorite weapons over the years have been left side chagers.

[jmacken37 4]

I mill a slot in the bolt and mount a Remington 1100 style handle.

 

When I'm shooting it I don't notice the handle. But I really like maintaining my grip on the pistolgrip and charging the weapon. But I'm "old school" and some of my favorite weapons over the years have been left side chagers.

 

I'm with you; I don't think it would bother me to have a reciprocating CH, but I'd prefer one that didn't.

 

Link to thread with pictures of Gunfixr's FAL CH:

 

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showtopic=40695

 

Jake

[Racer 27 37]

I love mine.

[John_pro2a 3]

Well, I sure like mine, but it's an FAL style handle, and doesn't reciprocate. I don't think I'd personally want a handle flying back and forth right in front of my face.

I did it myself.

No, it requires the receiver and bolt carrier with bolt.

Did you get all the little bugs worked out on your FAL style conversion?

How great is the risk of the weld snapping, and a handle hitting your face (on the regular conversions)

 

I don't always have the best reading comprehension, either! Gunfixr's FAL CH is very cool in that it doesn't reciprocate with the bolt. No worries about the handle whacking you in the face.

 

Jake

 

Let me make it more clear.

 

If you cut the charging handle off the right side, and weld it on the left so it flys back and forth with each cycle of the bolt... what's the risk of the weld breaking? (assuming it was done by a competent gunsmith)

 

I'm actually thinking of this for a VZ58, it would be an extreamly easy modification since it has a fully exposed bolt.

[thehopping1 105]

Mine is solid as a rock. Just make sure it is a competent welder, not smith. The only thing I don't like about mine it if I need to throw my AK on my back and switch to my pistol to kill the milk jugs coming over the hill, it might poke me. I'm not too worried about it, but if I did it again, I would probably go with a Galil style.

[Etek 32]

Something to think about. http://dublinaksystems.com/home.html

[jimdigriz 580]

There's nothing wrong with a right-side charging handle. (If I'm not mistaken, most semi-auto rifles have them). If it's not broke, don't fix it.

[Slug-O 6]

Do it yourself.............. thats what I did and never looked back...think I have around 50.00 into the work....Have a dremel........get to work........

 

 

Slug-O

[John_pro2a 3]

Something to think about. http://dublinaksystems.com/home.html

 

That design just screams "Hey, please put misc. crap into my gas tube! Grass, dirt, leaves, sand, anything you got I'll take it!"

[Gunfixr 76]

Whether or not the welded on handle is coming off or not will depend entirely on the ability of the welder. I put on Galil handles all the time, and haven't had one come off yet, at least that I know of, and they're much larger and heavier than the standard handle. Because of the shape of the Galil handle, it puts a lot of twisting torque on the weld, as opposed to a standard handle just trying to bend it back and forth.

I undercut the joining surface edges all the way around almost to the center before welding, and fuse the center together first, so it's pretty much solid metal all the way through when finished. If someone is just sticking it together and then grinding half of it off, it may fly off at some point.

The Remington handle is a pretty neat idea.

My FAL handle is still working just fine. The next ones will have a small extension on the tail so that the slot can be extended a bit for more travel, so that it will more positively eject a round if necessary.

[thehopping1 105]

The FAL charging handle would be the optimum way to go, but it looks way to intricate for me. You did an excellent job Gunfixr.

[Ruffian72 548]

See the '"dublinaksystem" has the HK/Cetme fix to the charging.