The Tac Latch

Rear view of installed Tac Latch

As you may have noticed, we recently attend the 2010 Shot Show. Over the 4 days of wandering the showroom floor, we encountered a few products that really grabbed our attention.  One of those products was Terry Lowinger’s “Tac Latch” which is a drop in replacement for your AR-15 charging handle.  Mr. Lowinger was kind enough to hook me up with a black and silver Tac Latch and even though this was a freebie, the Tac Latch is well worth the asking price.

Installing the Tac Latch literally takes only a few seconds.  Once installed you have an ambidextrous charging handle which works far more efficiently than the stock charging handle and to be honest, it works easier than ANY other charging handle I have ever used.  A single finger from either the right or left hand is all it takes to work it.

When I first put the video up on our YouTube channel, somebody asked:

“is it possible to get one that can be pulled with left hand, instead of right?”

While it is possible, I later thought the person may have been asking if they make one where the latch extends more to the left instead of the right.  The answer to that is no, and for good reason.  Anybody who is familiar with the AR platform knows that when you put one on a tactical sling, anything that protrudes out the left hand side of the rifle tends to snag on either the shooter or the sling.  Switching the handle around would potentially cause more harm than good especially considering how easy the Tac Latch makes it to charge from the left side anyway.

The only downside I found with this product is not the fault of the product itself but is caused by my own rifle.  I have a special upper which includes a right side charging handle.  Installing the Tac Latch made it difficult to reach my side charging handle and you can forget about being able to bang against it should you have need for the forward assist.  The Tac Latch simply blocks access to it.  Truth be told, this part is overkill for the carbine I installed it on so I will be moving it over to another one of my AR’s.

All in all the Tac Latch is a great product that I can comfortably recommend for the average AR shooter as well as those who want to shave a few seconds off their times in competitions.

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