Rear charging vs. Side charging AR?

[Hunteraudit]

I have a couple of left hand side charge uppers from gibbz arms. They’re flawless.

[geezer56]

I'm in a minority here, but I have a bunch of the BCA uppers. I've never had a problem with any of them. I much prefer the side charge option. They are not high end guns, but they don't claim to be. Don't beat on them and they just keep working. I currently run a 350 legend upper on the pig rifle with the thermal. It's easy to access the charge handle, and I have never had a jam or fail to feed or fire. Off the bags it will do an inch and a half at a hundred yards. About 3 inches with the thermal. I haul it in the bed of the mule (in a case) and drag it through the swamps of Georgia regularly. No complaints.

[chrisk]

That’s good to know

[chrisk]

I got it cause it was cheaper than an SKS, cheapest AK, and I think even a bolt action.
When you are making cheap guns from cheap parts the guns are fun guns not guns you necessarily trust them to save your life with.

[imyomama]

side charge is 99% of what i've always used , from back when LAR were the only game in town making them ... if you don't like gas in the face on a suppressor host , it's the way to go. i've only built about a dozen of them , but i've never had any reliability issue with any of them aside from the charging handle unscrewing some times .

the bcg's are the exact same as a regular ar aside from a hole on the right side for the handle ...

and for all the haters saying you need a left side charge , you got 2 hands don't you ? i can get on target , look through my scope , pull the gun tight with my left hand on the hand guard and take my right hand off the grip and charge it without ever getting off sight picture... let me ask though if you're right handed and it bothers you so much , do you only buy left handed bolt action rifles ??? well???

[bullets13]

Really wanted one for my current build, but couldn't find one I liked that went with what I was doing, and ended up just going with a rear. My buddy has a side charging handle on his .223 Wylde and I really liked it.

[Davclidav]

Have a Bear creek in 300 blk. No issues.

[dustoffer]

I have a couple of the BCA units. I use them with the bulky thermal scope or the night vision. Just for clearance. Initial charge, I use the last round bolt hold open. Manually lock bolt open, insert mag, and drop the bolt. No trouble so far with them.

This is my way too—that charging handle/thermal clearance isn’t very big.

[okrattler]

I've got two side charging AR's now and don't have any complaints. Personally I like them more than the rear charging because of the fact that I grew up shooting semi automatics that were the same. For example the 10/22. I shot thousands upon thousands of rounds out of one growing up. Side charging feels more natural to me. Muscle memory has a lot to do with it. For me side charging is the way to go.

[Bard]

Side chargers are good for me for 2 reasons, I carry a lot and in wooded thick river bottoms where the gun is always on a sling riding on my chest. Anything on the left side of the gun including a big ambi-charging handle digs into my chest and is extremely annoying.

[Txarrowhunter]

I found good benefit to running a side charging is when you run it suppressed. You don’t get that direct hit of gas to the face.

[coop2564]

Side charging 100% better for me. Getting grip under scope on rear just is pain for me. My fingers slide off and its just awkward.

[Davclidav]

My preference is right side charging.

[imyomama]

The one I ordered has both side charger and standard

yeah , the misinformation gurus are at it again , lol... the bcg's in all my BCA side charge are literally identical to my rear charge aside from a threaded hole on the right side of the carrier... the bolt , key , firing pin and carrier itself is literally identical ... the only part that is different is the side charge screw which can be bought at any hardware store in a pinch.

[okrattler]

yeah , the misinformation gurus are at it again , lol... the bcg's in all my BCA side charge are literally identical to my rear charge aside from a threaded hole on the right side of the carrier... the bolt , key , firing pin and carrier itself is literally identical ... the only part that is different is the side charge screw which can be bought at any hardware store in a pinch.

He means he literally bought the upper with a rear and side charging handle. I bought one identical to his except mine is strictly side charging. It doesn't have a forward assist on it or anything. It's just a side charging upper. I opted to get the one I did because the one like he got was just a little more expensive.