So I went to the range this morning to test some mags with my LMT 10.5 upper and about 20rds into it the roll pin that holds the latch on the PRI charging handle breaks on me.
This ever happened to you guys?
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So I went to the range this morning to test some mags with my LMT 10.5 upper and about 20rds into it the roll pin that holds the latch on the PRI charging handle breaks on me.
This ever happened to you guys?
It broke? Did it fall out or you actually recovered the broken pin?
I'd guess it would bend before outright breakage. :confused:
Either you have a defective one or learn to pull it straight back without putting side to side tension.
The roll pin sheared off,
Leaving a little piece in the latch.
I recovered the latch and spring but not the remnants of the roll pin.
Gun still works without the latch but when you fire it, there is an annoying reciprocating handle whacking you in the nose.
Shearing that roll pin is supposed to be one of the problems with the extended latches...
Yep, happened with my PRI GB. The roll pin sheared off leaving pieces in the latch and the CH itself.
The theory is that the eccentric load of the extended handle, possibly combined with a bad batch of pins, is causing this issue. While I wouldn't say "at an alarming rate", certainly more often than I'd feel comfortable with. Interestingly, and what makes me think it's in conjunction with a bad batch of pins, it only seems to be happening on the factory Gas Buster charging handles, not to those that are swapping out the latch on a standard charging handle.
If you read through some of Pat Rogers' AARs on other forums you can find more than a few instances where this has happened.
Rumor has it that PRI is aware of the issue and is working on a fix, presumably a way to beef up the pin and perhaps use a different connection method.
I agree - it does seem tiny, and there is certainly room to utilize a larger one.
For the price you pay you would expect it to be a high quality high reliability piece. The pin failed after only 3.5k rounds of use. Hopefully it was just a defective pin. If it happens again with a replacement pin Im chucking the PRI GBs into the 'not for serious use' category.
Great... I just ordered a BMC 11.5" upper from Grant with a Gas Buster CH. As soon as I ordered I find this post.
Oh, well... I guess if worse comes to worse I could always bore the hole bigger and use a bigger roll pin.
You can always replace the stock roll pin with a GI roll pin.
My gripe has been the roll pin they provide, the stainless one, tends to be a bit short and does not fully engage the length of the hole.
I use PRI Gas Busters in all my guns because I like the larger, beefier T-Handle/Latch and I do a lot of suppressed shooting. I had not had any issues with mine, but after hearing from Pat Rogers that several of the roll pins had gone down in his classes I immediately replaced all mine and I started replacing them when I do the gun overhaul at 5K rounds. The pin costs $.02 and there's no reason not to replace it regularly.
With the increased leverage placed against the pin I don't doubt they have a shorter useful service life than the same pin in a USGI charging handle. I wonder if a solid pin that is pressed in place would work. That should last pretty much forever.
Stephen
im on my 4th roll pin..it happens. Especially man handing it when clearing malfunctions etc..
hmmm i've started to get a bit of a gritty charging handle and it makes the one sided manipulation difficult sometimes. maybe the problem is only certain parts of the finish have been rubbed off of the charging handle.
i just don't know if i'm supposed to keep powering through it or search for a way to not do this "damage."
is it just normal wear? and i just have to keep exercising it until all the finish is gone?
i ask because in most videos i see people racking, even multiple times with ease. sometimes when i do it, i'll actually get a bit of a seizing. if i claw it, everything works fine.
For $90, I would expect it to be more durable. Centurion Arms sells the MK12 Mod1 upper with PRI CH. I'm assuming all the parts are GTG as it's been proven by SF guys out in theater.
The PRI GB CH is made by man. Anything made by man can fail.
Just so we are all clear, the PRI GB CH did NOT burst into flames or snap in half. What did fail was a little roll pin (that PRI most likely did not make).
C4
have you guys ever thought about reaming the charging handle to press fit a regular stainless dowel pin?
I don't really see how that matters. GM doesn't make the seatbelts in their cars, but it doesn't mean I want them to fail.
While it's true that the failure of the CH latch won't cause the carbine to stop functioning, it's still a product failure all the same, and one that's happened more than once to more than one person, and one that the manufacturer has admitted to more than one of these people is an issue that they are aware of.
Speak to Dave @ PRI. Sure he would get you a new one.
off topic: RON at SEI always standby his stuff. Great guy.
My unit switched to PRI Gas Busters halfway through the deployment. A month later the unit's armory chief said that he had seen more break (break is a relative term, if it stops working, we scrap it and issue a new one) in that month than he had seen regular charging handles break in 12 years.
It sucks when stuff breaks. If mine breaks, I'll replace it with a spare. If it's FUBAR, I'll shitcan it, if not, I'll see what PRI can do. I don't expect anything to last forever, especially when it gets used and abused regularly.
Is there any way that the GB might show wear(on or around the pin itself), or a sign that the pin might break, or is it an out-of-the-blue type of thing?
I think if I have another roll pin breakage Im going to shitcan the gas busters for good. Do you think if I replaced the big latch with something like the LMT latch it would put less stress on that roll pin?