MetalworkingFun Forum

A friend of mine has a very nice Winchester 290 semi auto .22 that he is very attached to, a relic from his youth. The charging handle has a plastic grip that does not stand up well and keeps breaking. He has bought up all the used and NOS ones he can find and they only last a couple of hundred rounds before the plastic breaks. The gun has been out of production for about 40 years so I guess the plastic on all those old parts is brittle. He asked if I would make him an improved handle, this is what I came up with. The part is very tiny so I made it from a 3/8" X 4" grade 5 cap screw.









He's been using it for a few months now and it is still holding up well.

John

Nice job John.

It's fun to make parts that actually get used.

Tom

(11-26-2013, 05:38 PM)TomG Wrote: [ -> ]Nice job John.

It's fun to make parts that actually get used.

Tom

.... in this case just so long as you're the right end of the rifle

Andrew

Nice job on the replacement John. That should definitely last longer than the plastic version.

Ed

Looks good John, any chance of a pic of it in the rifle?

Thanks guys, he sent me a few pics after he installed it.

Thanks John, now I know what a "charging handle" is. BTW, nice job.

I didn't know what one was either Steve. I had imagined it was something that you reached for after running out of bullets but prior to attaching the bayonet and attempting to engage the enemy with cold steel.

Nice job John.

It's a .22 caliber rifle Darren, the enemy would likely be a squirrel.

I didn't want to risk offending anyone by calling it a "cocking handle".


John