I am sure we are all familiar with the PRI Gas Buster Charging Handle. It is a charging handle with a radius cut in the bottom that diverts excess gas out the right side to prevent gases from reaching the shooters face. They work well, but truth be told they run just under 100 bucks which is a lot of coin to spend on a charging handle.
To build my own I locked up a standard charging handle in my vice and marked a point of reference for where I wanted to drill the hole. I intended to drill two holes that intersect as seen in the following picture, but I lucked out and only needed one hole. The charging handle creates a natural radius at my hole so I think this worked out really well.
Planned holes.
Here my charging handle is in the vice.
Because the charging handle is aluminum the drilling was VERY easy. I used a 5/32″ drill. Go slow to prevent yourself from drilling too far through the charging handle. Here the hole I drilled is with the drill still inside for reference.
Next I cleaned up the hole with a chainsaw file just to make it look original and hit it with a shot of Brownells Aluma Black. I wiped the excess paint off with a shop rag immediately so the only place the paint remained was inside the hole I drilled.
Here the charging handle is on the gun.
Now excess gas will be diverted out the right side of the charging handle instead of into the shooters face. This is really important on SBRs, Pistols, or shooting suppressed.
You can also fill the gap on the top back of the charging handle with RTV sealant and allow to dry overnight as seen in the following picture. This will prevent any stray gas from getting out the back of the charging handle.
Full instructions on the RTV sealant can be found at the following URL. I would have completed this step today but I don’t have any RTV and honestly I believe the drilled hole with achieve better results.
http://www.03designgroup.com/technotes/do-it-yourself-gas-buster-charging-handle
Honestly I am so happy with the results of the drilled hole, I am contemplating drilling all my charging handles in the same fashion.
To build my own I locked up a standard charging handle in my vice and marked a point of reference for where I wanted to drill the hole. I intended to drill two holes that intersect as seen in the following picture, but I lucked out and only needed one hole. The charging handle creates a natural radius at my hole so I think this worked out really well.
Planned holes.
Here my charging handle is in the vice.
Because the charging handle is aluminum the drilling was VERY easy. I used a 5/32″ drill. Go slow to prevent yourself from drilling too far through the charging handle. Here the hole I drilled is with the drill still inside for reference.
Next I cleaned up the hole with a chainsaw file just to make it look original and hit it with a shot of Brownells Aluma Black. I wiped the excess paint off with a shop rag immediately so the only place the paint remained was inside the hole I drilled.
Here the charging handle is on the gun.
Now excess gas will be diverted out the right side of the charging handle instead of into the shooters face. This is really important on SBRs, Pistols, or shooting suppressed.
You can also fill the gap on the top back of the charging handle with RTV sealant and allow to dry overnight as seen in the following picture. This will prevent any stray gas from getting out the back of the charging handle.
Full instructions on the RTV sealant can be found at the following URL. I would have completed this step today but I don’t have any RTV and honestly I believe the drilled hole with achieve better results.
http://www.03designgroup.com/technotes/do-it-yourself-gas-buster-charging-handle
Honestly I am so happy with the results of the drilled hole, I am contemplating drilling all my charging handles in the same fashion.
