Strike Industries Extended Charging Latch & Cookie Cutter Brake

Strike Industries Extended Charging Latch & Cookie Cutter Brake

Generally I am not a huge fan of brand new companies offering "me too" products, which are sold as "performance upgrade" parts and Strike Industries "stuck" me as one of those companies. That said, I have been a constant AR15 builder for quite some time and am always looking for some inexpensive alternative to the typical high grade (read that as expensive) parts I would typically use. In many... many builds which readers never see, I am cobbling together various AR15s usually based on budget or blemished parts. On a recent parts bin raid based build with blemished and used parts I wanted a cool muzzle brake and tactical charging handle latch. Plain and simple I bought these Strike Industries parts because they were very very inexpensive and looked cool, however I have been extremely impressed with their quality.

Strike Extended Charging Handle Latch - I will start out by noting that the marketing of Strike Industries scream ninja warrior, however the quality has proven to be durable. They make some flat out blatantly false claims such as that their Tactical Charging Handle Latch "is the first extended latch constructed of aluminum." Ahh, no, you are only about 5-10 years behind on that claim. "ads (note the spelling) functionality and an aggressive look to your AR.." I am not sure my AR needs an "aggressive look", but it does need and extended charging handle. 

The quality of the Strike latch speaks for itself so the added claims of "we were the first" or "aggressive" just cheapen the perception of the product itself. Ninja warrior marketing aside, the Strike Extended Charging Handle Latch is easy to install, looks great, and functions from my perspective just as well as any other $30+ competing versions and it does it for under $10. Actually I bought a half dozen on Amazon for $8.95 each with free shipping. Drive out the stock latch pin on your Mil-Spec or other compatible charging handle and reinstall the Strike latch with the included latch spring and enlarged latch pin. If you have some wear on your stock latch pin, the oversized and stepped Strike latch pin will tighten things up, however I just reinstalled the stock pin and have had no issues. For under $9, you get the functionality of the high dollar charging handles and it looks the part as well. I have bought a dozen of these things at this point and love them for the price.

Strike Cookie Cutter Brake - The design of the Strike Cookie Cutter brake is without question pretty freaking cool, however I am not sure the groundbreaking capabilities are any better than a Miculek, JP or other large volume compensator. Again, Strike's Ninja marketing abounds with claims that it is the "best ever comp..." It is a well made, detailed and highly styled all steel comp available in either .223 or .308.

The Cookie Cutter is extremely effective but it does have a couple attributes which are unique such as a wicked cool design, $59.99 price and a legth which adds very little length to the overall firearm. For SBR or AR15 pistols, added length can be a design concern for builders, so the Strike Cookie Cutter brake offers a solution which is a little shorter than many other solutions on the market.  If you are going to add a loud as hell open chamber brake to a shorter barreled firearm, the super extra wide design can provide a final margin of safety as a hand stop to avoid hands slipping in front of the muzzle or into the blast zone of the brake. 

Functionally, the Strike Cookie Cutter is stupid freaking loud.. actually deafening loud and probably one of the single loudest brakes I have used. It does however work very well.  One concern is that from a safety perspective I would not do another SBR/AR15 short barreled pistol with any brake such as this with high 90 degree exhaust gasses. 

The gases do have enough force to sever dangling fingers. Well at least the carrot I hung out in from of the left side of the brake. This brake topped off and interesting 7.62x39 AR15 build, however the brake's final home will be on a custom Remington 700 .308 rifle build. Although effective the sound pressure is just far too loud to be enjoyable on an AR15 pistol when other "blast shield" or Krink style brakes offer shooters a much more comfortable shooting experience. For $59.99 it is a hell of a brake.

FINAL THOUGHTS

At least these two Strike Industries products are very good quality, however they are not in the same league as PWS, Bravo, or other $100 comps, or $40 extended latches. There is a level of finish on most of those top tier products which Strike's products don't quite bring to the table. That noted, these Strike products are half to a third the price of competition so I don't think any quality variances should be a consideration for those on a budget. For the price, the Strike Cookie Cutter Comp and Extended Latch are products offer a lot of value that is if you can get past the Ninja warrior marketing.

SPECS

Strike Industries Extended Latch - $9.99
-Enlarged extended grasping surface for smooth operation under extreme conditions
-AR Latch co-existed with the SI ARCH for enhanced operation
-Aluminum construction for minimized weight
-Fits all Standard Mil Spec Charging Handles including the Strike Industry ARCH

Cookie Cutter Comp - $59.99

Product Spec .223/5.56
Product Spec 300BLK / .308
- O.D.: 2.14”
- Weight: 8.11oz
- Thread: ½” x 28 or ⅝” x 24
- Materials: Steel
- Color: Matte Black

-Large Single Gas Port expels gas on both right and left sides.
-Heavy-duty parkerized finished steel construction
-Unique functional design.

SOURCES

Check BROWNELLS for the best deals on firearms and accessories

Strike Industries - http://www.strikeindustries.com/