Video Transcript
Introduction (00:01):
Let's talk about the Radian Charging Handle. So we are now offering the Raptor charging handle in both standard and the SD configuration. Now, the question is why upgraded charging handle? Why should I buy this when my MIL-SPEC works just fine? Well, the answer is you're right. A MIL-SPEC can work just fine. You use the charging handle to chamber your rifle, make it hot and ready. You can also use it to clear your various malfunctions, your tap racks, your bolt overrides, locking to the rear, all that good stuff. Now, the reality is the problem with mill spec or standard, you know, charging handles is there's not a lot of nubbin. There's not a lot of catch for your finger or your gloved hand to actually get in and articulate. So when it comes to, you know, clearing a malfunction on your rifle, whether it's a tap rack or you know, a bolt override, where you are actually having to force the bolt to the rear, locking it.
Benefits of Radian Charging Handle (00:50):
So you can Karate chop. Having more of something on the charging handle to grab, to manipulate the rifle can make clearing those malfunctions a lot easier. I've been using the, personally using the Radian charging handle since the company was AXTS— So the original Raptor charging handle—and it's been great. That was probably five years ago. So we have spent quite a lot of time with these, and it's really my favorite. And here's why it gives you a lot of surface area to, again, articulate that charging handle, whether it's with one hand, with gloves on, you know, doing your tap rack or whatever, which I'm about to do some of or clearing your bolt override and getting both hands on it, or if you've swapped shoulders or you're a lefty, you have a nice size catch on this side as you're manipulating the weapon.
Suppressed Option (01:35):
Now, obviously if you're running a suppressor, you can also get the SD version that has a bunch of little holes for venting gasses and carbon and all that good stuff. But we'll get into that later. So let's go ahead and I wanna demo a couple very simple tap racks just to demo the benefit of having a charging handle with a larger latch. The other thing that's important about this charging handle in particular is the latch is facing opposite from where your hand is moving. So the issue I've had with some other charging handles that I've used that have a flat face is when I go to, you know, index that charging handle with my hand, on some charging handles out there, I was actually slipping and missing that charging handle in some cases or I'm moving fast or doing my tap rack, getting on there.
Further Benefits (02:17):
But having a opposite angle that I'm having to dig my finger into before it actually, you know, sort of unlocks the latch that allows me to then reciprocate the charging handle that helps just make sure that my finger's in there and that I have a good hold on it before I start, you know, running the charging handle itself. So having that reverse angle kind of like we do with our BCM grips, where we face them away so we can dig our hands into it. It just gives us more control. So this is gonna be super simple. This is a drill that you guys should also do with your MIL-SPEC charging handles. Like it doesn't matter what you got. You should do this with your rifle. It's a great way to practice your speed at tap racking your gun, your consistency, seeing if your gear is working out. So from here, I have a target at like 15 meters. I'm just gonna go off of this buzzer. My chamber is empty. I have a full magazine. The magazine is actually already clicked into the gun. The only way to really train this without having the mag just fall to the ground would be wrapping tape around it, shoving it in there, not clicking it, and then actually tapping it into the gun. But for the sake of this drill, I don't need to do that. I just have an empty chamber on the buzzer.
Working with the Charging Handle (03:21):
All I do is get my click, come back, tap the magazine rack the charging handle back on, and then take my shot when I'm done all I do. I'll load the gun, insert the magazine again, ensure that I'm empty. Yes, I am. And let's do it again. Get my second side picture. Good follow through. And I'm done. And as you can see the Radian Raptor charging handle super fast, super consistent and positive to get into. Work the bolt, get back on the gun and take your shot. So if I have a standard charging handle, like this one right here, so I don't have all the vent holes and everything, I can still run a suppressor just fine. This is a SureFire RC2 5.56. Goes right onto this CQBR flush with this RIS II rail which is super fun. So I'm just gonna fire a few rounds. So this is standard charging handle, no vents, no nothing. So I've got a little bit of gas coming back and a little bit of debris and some stuff it's not too bad cause this gun is gassed well it's not an actual, you know, Daniel Defense with some oversized, you know, gas ports but we can, you know, tame a little bit of that
Assembly (04:40):
Charging handle comes right out. This is standard. And then… Doesn't matter, they're both the same. One is spray painted, one is not. Spray paint and speed. We get that locked into place. Quite a bit less. I don't know exactly what the percent is or what the scientific amount of reduction this charging handle is doing. But in my experience using SDs versus standard or even just standard charging handles like this MIL-SPEC one, there is a bit of a difference, you know, 10, 15%. I don't know. I don't know of anyone who's actually measured exactly. You know what these, you know, suppressor charging handles, you know, how much they're reducing as far as gas and blow back and all that good stuff. But if you are running a dedicated, suppressed gun, I highly recommend getting one of these. And then the question is, well, if I'm not running suppressed, why not just run this all the time? And the answer is you can that's something I have in a lot of my guns. I'll just throw one of these SDs in there.
Reasons for Purchasing the SD option (06:11):
If I'm not shooting with a can: cool. If I am shooting with a can: awesome. The only major difference between, you know, running an SD versus the standard is really going to be your price point. So if you're looking into getting a suppressor in the future, I highly recommend just going ahead, buying one of these, running it without the can. If you wanna, you know, get a charging handle that is easy to manipulate, easy to clear malfunctions with, it's a little more consistent than like your standard, you know, charging handle that came with your rifle. Definitely considered just picking up the standard Raptor and you'll be good to go, but we're really happy to be able to bring these to our site and be able to support them because this is a product that I've been using for about four, four to five years.
Conclusion (06:50):
They worked great. Haven't had any fail, haven't had any break. Haven't had any issues with them, with the, you know, the charging handles coming off or coming loose or the roll pins falling out, nothing like that. And I've got probably 20 or so of these in different rifles, shooting, suppressed, full auto you know, unsuppressed, all sorts of different guns. No problems so far, everything's breakable to a point. I just haven't gotten there yet with one of these. So if you're running suppressed, definitely check these out. If you're not, you wanna save some money, but you want some good manipulation, ergonomics, consistency, definitely check out the standard.