Reviews & Ratings for Fortis Manufacturing Hammer 5.56mm Charging Handle — 7 reviews — Page 1

This charging handle works perfect. the large size of the "T" allows a good purchase for your fingers,for all those who say that it's too sharp? not the case with mine.the latch has a beefy feel and seems to be more rigid than most other handles I have used. I recommend this for anyone who needs a replacement or just wants a nice upgrade for their rifle.

I would give it 4.5 if I could. Really nice coating on this handle. Very quiet and smooth when operating. I would give it a full 5 stars if it was just a little more ergonomic. It functions very well and is much easier to grab under a scope than a mil spec handle, but it's straight design makes it a little harder to reach than some of the ambidextrous handles I have. Overall, an excellent charging handle that I would buy again.

***Purpose / Usage: M4 carbine (tactical setup. CQB to Medium range)

PRO'S
-large front surface: provides greater efficacy with regard to "nose to charging handle" style shooting. This one's kind of a double edged sword. The hammer does present a large surface with distinct texturing making both charging the weapon and developing consistent muscle/touch memory for fast target acquisition and aids in the development of natural point of aim.

-Material & Finish: Craftsmanship and finish seem to both be first-rate! Charging the weapon is like BUTTER; (especially the paired with a NiB BCG) making one-handed charging from either left or right sides a breeze! Zero imperfections in the finish, on the edges, roll marks (logo on the side) etc.

PRO/CON
-Color: The "HAMMER" IS NOT BLACK!!!!!!!!! its not even remotely close to anything resembling black. That being said, I didn't want black, so I'm happy. The color is ALMOST the same as a standard mil spec castle nut in direct sunlight.
****Note: Aside from the color, the finish its self picks up light. It looks very dark under indirect warm light, and looks MUCH brighter under direct cool light. At its brightest, I can still live with it as it is still dark enough to pass on a tactical weapon system (just barely IMO)

CON:
-Sharp edges on face and finger surfaces. I did read other reviews that said the same thing. I thought "How bad can it be?" and "Don't these people wear gloves?". Well, its s...
Read More...

Updated review from first since I polished this and it operates more freely. Specifically I sanded the handle portion to smoothen the rough edges, and thus I mostly lost the gun-metal grey finish. I did not sand deep into the crevices, just the rough edges. However I like the chrome, and knew based on the first review that it might end up this way. Now it operates freely (closes all the way without snag), and it feels great (smooth). No more finger-grating, and it only took an hour of sanding with a cheap Home Depot 4-sided hand-sander. It looks great with this unique finish, and works like butter now. I love it, although not ambi- for the price. If you have a Varminter or AR that doesn't necessarily need an ambi handle, this works fine. It is a solid handle, and rounded off it feels and works great. Wish they would have done this at the factory, then added the black-teflon finish. Or, maybe they should try this chromed-out and part-teflon coating as it looks sweet. I sanded the release latch too btw, which works well, solid construction. I lubed it after the sand which probably helped, but it was fine before I did. I also CLP'd the chromed handle with a little heat so it would be coated and resist rusting. One of my favorite handles now, amongst a Phase5 ambi and Raptor ambi - I like variety for mixing things up on my builds

Like the first review "great if wearing gloves", the handle is indeed very sharp to the touch. I really like the styling, but for the price I could have had an ambi charging handle for a little more. You apparently pay for this styling.

I could not operate this one-handed at first but after a few work-in charges, I was able to start to get it loose enough. This piece does look nice and is as "rugged" as it looks which works with my build, but I will polish to round the rough edges. That includes whatever is causing the heavy initial friction, making single-hand charging tough. I think the neck is a tad oversized, preventing the handle from closing the last bit. The rough edges will break my hand in before my hand wears down the metal. It seems like Fortis needs to hit the belt sander with this product to make it way more friendly out of the box, as smooth would be way more pleasant. That friction needs to be removed also for the sake of functionality which is primary in my opinion. Cool styling is a 2nd cool, but now I have to work to get that primary functionality myself. Gave an overall positive review since it was what I expected based on the 1st review. I don't mind minor machining, I do it anyway to fine-tune my stuff. If you don't, buy something else or beg Fortis to sand one :)