With the launch of its patented Raptor ambidextrous charging handle, Radian Weapons helped bring AR-15 platform weapons into the 21st century.
All Radian Raptor charging handle models (Raptor, LT, SD, SL) have several common features. Each of the Radian Raptor handle models listed has an original, patented, double-sided fingerboard design. Each Raptor lever model features super-durable 7075 Mil-Spec Type 3 hard-anodized aluminium construction and oversized fingerboard pins for added strength.
The Radian Raptor charging handle is the original design with all of Radian's ground-breaking improvements. There are many copies, but only one Radian Raptor.
Designed in the 1950s, the original AR-15 charging handle has a small latch on the left side that must be pressed to disengage the charging handle from the top of the bolt housing. In contrast, on the Raptor charging handle, this latch is unlocked by both fingerboards. And it doesn't matter how you pull the handle, whether for one of the two fingerboards or for both at the same time. The latch always unlocks.
The fingerboards are slightly angled towards the front of the gun with an aggressively knurled face for a more secure finger grip. This makes the Raptor charging handle much easier to work with. Even with gloves or wet hands.
The design of the Radian handle is ambidextrous, so it can be pulled from both sides. This is useful for left-handed shooters, but has a number of advantages for right-handed shooters as well. For AR-15s that have an upper slide housing without a bolt stop button, the Raptor's ambidextrous handle design makes right-handed working with the bolt very easy and convenient.
The Radian Raptor SD/SL ambidextrous charging handle for the AR-15 features narrower fingerboards that do not extend as far to the sides as the original Raptor lever and are ideal for users who require a low profile design. Despite this minimalism, your weapon can be cocked with just your palm or index finger, both left-handed and right-handed. The handle is completely made of 7075 aircraft aluminium and anodized according to the Mil-Spec standard.
By reducing the width of the fingerboards on the SL lever version compared to the classic Radian Raptor handle, the handle is about the same width as with the original AR-15 rifle. However, all the advantages of the original Radian handle design have been retained.
In addition to being less prone to catching on gear, this narrower fingerboard profile is more comfortable, especially when the rifle needs to be carried on the body. The fingerboards of regular charging handles can push you uncomfortably, and extended ones even more so. The SL lever will be more comfortable in this regard than anything else on the market.
The Radian Raptor SL ambidextrous charging handle for the AR-15 successfully shrinks the ambidextrous design of the Raptor into a sleeker and more compact charging handle that is less in the way and more comfortable to carry against the body.
Weight | 34 g |
Material | Aluminium 7075 T6 |