So, I bought two Raptor Radian Ambidextrous charging handles for some builds I'm in the middle of, thinking "What could possibly go wrong?" and found out pretty quick I didn't like the design at all.
The problem is when you go to stow the charging handle (let's say after locking the bolt back) - if you're pushing forward on either "wing" it won't lock in place because the wing needs to pivot back in order for the latch to move out and over the ledge it's supposed to lock beyond.
The solution is to either pull a wing back to allow the latch to move out, or push (hard, make that very hard) precisely on the very small center of the handle so you're not touching either wing to get it to latch in place.
I don't like either option - I want an ambidextrous charging handle that I can push anywhere on the back of and it'll lock in place just like a standard one where the latch can move independently of the "wings".
I'm currently looking at Aero Precision's ambidextrous handle where the unlocking latch is separate from the wings that you'd push against to stow the handle. But I'm not entirely sold on the Aero - I like the Raptor's design, if only the latch was uncoupled from the wings so it'd pivot out independent of the wings. Does such a design exist? Does anyone have any other suggestions?
O2