Trying to understand a little more about the recommended options for fast/reliable operation of the CH, including both manual techniques, plus whatever add-on parts that might improve reliability and speed of charging the rifle.
I’ve read that the old manual of arms for the M16 was for RH shooters to use the shooting hand to charge the rifle. Needless to say, that’s changed and now just about everybody who’s a RH shooter charges the rifle with the support hand. I guess the premise is it gives you faster CH operation and keeps you more on target. And most of the new aftermarket enhancements, like the BCM Gunfighter CH and the B.O. enlarged CH latch, are built on the assumption that you’re a RH shooter and hooking the CH with your support hand, for faster operation.
The challenge for a LH shooter is to similarly optimize CH usage, as RH have. With a standard milspec CH, many lefties do this: cant the rifle 45 degrees or more to the right, and work the CH with the RH. But this causes you to break shooting stance and lose focus on the target just as badly as the old approach in the manual of arms did for RH shooters.
So, in looking to optimize CH operation for myself, I am thinking best solution is probably one of the full ambi CH’s, such as the ones by Badger Ordnance ($65), the Armadynamics ACLM ($85), and RRA ($60), with a slight nod toward the B.O. offering because of the quality of their hardware plus a bit longer track record for this part. Having the full ambi part–though it would take some training learning to operate it well due to the issue of the forward assist interfering with direct access to the latch–would enable a LH shooter to operate the CH pretty much as RH would: using the support hand and no need to roll/cant the rifle.
Any other thoughts on:
Best CH methods for LH shooters?
Best add-on CH parts for LH shooters? Are these ambi CH’s reliable enough?
Should ALL CH’s on issued rifles ideally be set up as ambi parts, as the trend in fighting weapons including the SCAR seems to be moving this direction anyway?
Canting the rifle isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it’s helpful in malfunction clearance.
As a left-handed BCM GF user (large latches on my rifles), I don’t find that I have to cant the weapon to operate the charging handle. I do have to lift my head off the stock, and reach over the top of the weapon with my support hand.
Edit: Just made a quick video and put it up on Flickr. No canting required with a BCM Gunfighter.
Military Morons has a nice write up comparing the Badger to the ACLM ambi.
He much prefered the ACLM ambi, if you decide ambi is in your future; you may want to check that one out. Brownells has them
I am not a left handed shooter primarily, but I train quite a few lefties and train myself bilaterally, so I have an informed opinion on the matter.
1- I wish all ARs had an ambi CH. It would make a lot of things simpler.
2- I charge using a claw technique, regardless of which hand is doing the manipulations.
3- When it comes to left-handed manipulations I subscribe to the “Left hand works the left side of the gun, right hand works the right side of the gun” thought process. I got there after trying various other methods, all of which had fundamental flaws that made their use sub-optimal when applied to the full spectrum of combative application with various optics. I am not saying that other methods are wrong, just what works the best for me and the majority of my shooters.