I own 2. A version 1 bought from Botach.com and a Version 2 purchased from DSGarms.com. The V2 is on my 10.3 SBR and the other is on a 16". The problem has been the handle coming loose on the last round and tapping my nose. No pain, but it comes loose and is annoying. This happens when shooting 5.56 every time with the SBR and a few times with my 16". When shooting 223 the problem occurs much less frequently on the SBR, and I don’t think it’s ever happened with the 16" when shooting 223.
At first I thought it could have been my BCG bumping the handle some how when it locked back. I checked the carrier and there was no wear marks in places that ride within or close to the handle. I figured maybe the milled areas for the latch on my uppers may have been out of spec or wearing prematurely but that isn’t the case either. I’ve replaced the Raptors with the handles that originally came with them from Daniel Defense and the problem couldn’t be replicated. Used a BCM handle my friend owns, that’s fairly new, an other USGI handles. When using these I couldn’t get the handles to come back after the last round. At that point I figured the problem wasn’t with the upper receiver latch area or the BCG.
Has anyone else experienced or heard of this problem?
In my limited experience, I’ve never seen this happen with a Raptor or any other charging handle that uses a latch, but I’ve heard of this happening with Mega Arms’ Slide Lock charging handle (it doesn’t use a latch, just friction).
I only have one Raptor so far, but I prefer it to the others I’ve tried, and I’ve never had an issue with mine.
I think it’s the handles. Using other types on my rifles were no problem at all. I’ve had these in my rifles since they were new, well, pretty much new for the 16". Installed it a couple weeks after getting the rifle. The SBR Handle was installed when it got out of jail. I’ve put more rounds through my MK18, but it can’t be more than 2000.
Sounds like a weak spring or a worn latch on the charging handle. My guess is that with the inertia of the bolt being held open on the last round, the weak spring or worn latch is not holding the charging handle in place.
Other than my Raptors popping back on the last round, they are smoother and easier to use than any of the others that I’ve tried. I’ve tried a few the last few days.
I contacted AXTS on the 9th, 15th, 16th, and today by phone and my latest instructions from them were to call everyday this week so that they wouldn’t forget to continue to ask the person that handles these types of problems to contact me. No BS. I’m giving them till the end of the week to talk to me about the problem before I say another word on the matter here in this thread.
Thanks Ryno. I compared my Raptors with my friends handles and the wear looked consistent with his. I didn’t think to take close up photos of his when we were at the range though.
Here’s some pictures of mine.
This is the Version 2 Raptor that was mounted in my MK18.
I’m not able to see the photos but how does the spring tension feel? Also, double check the recess in the upper that engages the latch; make sure that nothing looks funky there. Possibly a slight issue compounded by both.
A while back I remember some guy bagging on the springs in the raptor CH. Said after about 5K rounds they went a bit floppy, as it were. It seems this isn’t necessarily an isolated problem…
Have you done a visual inspection of a standard CH vs one or both of your Raptors to see if there are any dimensional differences on the shaft, the latch, or the clearance hole for the gas key/gas tube? It’s odd that your Raptors are only bouncing back on last round BHO…
I’ve compared the Raptors to my standard CH’s and my friends BCM CH and the length is the same and the latches line up with one another.
I just got off of the phone with the guy that handles warranty issues and was told that he had never heard of this happening before on Daniel Defense rifles but told me that DD has loose tolerances in there rifles and that’s why he believes that the problem is happening. He quickly followed up with DD makes good rifles and he owns them but they, like BCM, are rifles with looser tolerances. He then said that I should think about using a different type of charging handle since Daniel Defense isn’t as tight as other manufacturers like Knights Armament which might be true, I don’t know for a fact. He also said, and I found this confusing, that he had seen the problem with an LWRC and I thought to myself, you just said that you hadn’t heard of the problem happening.
He said he’d send me a replacement. I reminded him that I was having problems with both and figured he’d replace both. I then told him that I would send both so that he could research the problem for himself. He let me know that if he found that there was a problem he’d replace both and refund the shipping.
MAN, I was thinking the same thing but maybe he was talking about the MK18 being over gassed or something. I said that the Raptor on the V5 has failed before and it has a mid length gas system. He said that being built to mil spec wasn’t the best also.
I’ve shopped for other AR15’s and the fit/finish of Daniel Defense rifles are pretty darn nice compared to the really expensive AR’s, maybe he’s talking about an internal fitment deal. He didn’t say they sucked, he just said that they were built to looser tolerances.