Charging handle

1. A charging handle for a firearm, the charging handle comprising:

a hand pull at a proximal portion of said charging handle;

an elongate body that extends distally away from said hand pull toward a distal portion of said charging handle;

a latch configured to selectively latch said charging handle in a forward position on the firearm;

a latch release configured to actuate said latch to release said charging handle from the forward position on the firearm enabling said charging handle to be pulled rearward in relation to the firearm from the forward position;

a first abutment positioned on a distal portion of said elongate body and that faces proximally toward said hand pull when said charging handle is assembled to the firearm with said latch release on a left-hand side of the firearm, defining a first position of the charging handle; and

a second abutment positioned on said distal portion of said elongate body and that faces proximally toward said hand pull when said charging handle is assembled to the firearm with said latch release positioned on a right-hand side of the firearm, defining a second position of the charging handle,

wherein the first position of the charging handle and the second position of the charging handle are separated by a 180° rotation of the charging handle and the first abutment and the second abutment are each configured to interact with a feature of a bolt group of the firearm.

2. The charging handle of claim 1 , wherein said elongate body exhibits symmetry about a plane that lies through said elongate body, said hand pull, and said latch release.

3. The charging handle of claim 1 , wherein said latch includes a pair of latches that are operatively connected to one another.

4. The charging handle of claim 3 , wherein said latch release is integrally formed with one of said pair of latches.

5. The charging handle of claim 1 , wherein said latch release includes a paddle shaped surface that is pulled proximally, toward said hand pull, to actuate said latch release.

6. The charging handle of claim 5 , wherein said hand pull includes a lateral hand pull portion configured to be pulled by a hand of an operator and wherein said paddle shaped surface of said latch release extends laterally beyond said lateral hand pull portion.

7. The charging handle of claim 1 , further comprising one or more first abutment supports that extend proximally toward said hand pull from said first abutment.

8. The charging handle of claim 7 , further comprising one or more second abutment supports that extend proximally toward said hand pull from said second abutment.

9. The charging handle of claim 8 , wherein said one or more first abutment supports and said first abutment define at least a portion of a first recess in said elongate body.

10. The charging handle of claim 9 , wherein said one or more second abutment supports and said second abutment define at least a portion of a second recess in said elongate body.

11. The charging handle of claim 1 , in combination with said firearm.

12. The charging handle of claim 11 , wherein said firearm is one of an AR-10, AR-15, M4, and M16 firearm.

13. A method of reconfiguring a charging handle of a firearm, the method comprising:

providing a firearm having a bolt group and a charging handle comprising an elongate body having a first abutment and a second abutment, the charging handle oriented in a first position with a latch release extending from a first lateral side of the firearm with the first abutment configured to interact with a feature of the bolt grain;

disassembling the charging handle from the firearm;

reassembling the charging handle to the firearm in a second position with the latch release extending from a second lateral side of the firearm, the second lateral side of the firearm opposite to the first lateral side of the firearm with the second abutment configured to interact with a feature of the bolt group; and

rotating the charging handle 180° between the first position and the second position.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein disassembling and reassembling the charging handle from and to the firearm occurs as part of an act of field stripping the firearm.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein reassembling the charging handle to the firearm includes flipping the charging handle without tools about a horizontal plane in relation to the firearm such that the latch release extends from the second lateral side of the firearm.