RUGER PC Charger Setup

This post will cover the accessories we chose to complete the base Ruger PC Charger Jawbone style.

Two Main Reasons To Like The Ruger PC Charger

The Ruger PC Carbine is one of the most affordable and practical pistol caliber carbines (PCC) on the market. If you grew up shooting a 10/22 and an 870 you’ll probably love this gun. Odds are also good that you already have 9mm Glock magazines in your personal inventory. Which is a huge plus.

Flat Shooting

One of the most overlooked features of the full sized variants is how flat shooting the PC Carbine platform is, especially with a compensator installed. Those of you who have built blowback AR9 variants probably know what I’m talking about. The dot tends to bounce on the second shot due to the nature of the blowback action and can slow down followups.

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I think that the PC Carbine’s beefy bolt and the internal weight system has something to do with the flat shooting equation. Whatever they did, it feels good to me. Does it shoot as soft as my tricked out Sig MPX? No. But, it cost about 1/3 the price.

Reliable

The PC Carbine also has a great reliability track record in our testing. Our examples run great dirty (hey MPX, I’m looking at you). They are also not picky eaters with varying ammo brands, reloads and varying bullet grain weights. This is a huge plus for my money. Especially in current Covid-19 2020, when ammo availability is bad.

The two aforementioned qualities of flat shooting and high reliability coupled with an affordable sticker price make me love this gun. When Ruger announced the PC Charger I got excited and decided to pull the trigger on the pistol variant.

This post will cover the accessories we chose to complete the base Ruger PC Charger Jawbone style.

Brace

Brace yourself.

My PC Charger came with an SB Tactical FS1913 side folding brace with the polymer strut.

Honestly, I wanted to like this setup because it added $200 to the sticker price of my PC Charger. But, after about an hour being home and handling my new setup, I could sum up how I feel about this brace in one word.

FLIMSY.

I doubt it would break easily but, it has quite a bit of flex and just doesn’t feel stable to me. Especially not for $200 extra. Your mileage may vary.

While removing the brace to try the ergonomics one slot further down on the rear picatinny rail (testing for optic height), I found it concerning that the entire assembly is held on by a single screw that is not the most robust. This screw later ended up snapping on me after reasonably light pressure being applied upon install.

Is this the end of the world? No. Sometimes screws break, it’s fixable. Did it destroy my confidence in this system in relation to this PC Charger? Yes.

If I can offer one piece of advice on the PC Charger setup, buy the base model and go straight to the Tailhook brace from Gearhead Works. They make both an adjustable polymer variant and a few fixed aluminum variants. I opted for the Tailhook Mod 1 because the Tailhook Mod 1C was out of stock everywhere at the time and I like metal parts.

If you go the Mod 1/Mod 1C route, you’ll need a pistol buffer tube. I chose the Phase 5 Weapon Systems Hex-2. It just looks sexy and it’s made out of 7075 T7 aluminum.

I then mounted this setup to the PC Charger using a Thordsen Customs Picatinny Buffer Adapter and an AR15 castle nut. This system has a very positive lockup on the rail and multiple metal locking points. A large internal set screw, small internal set screw and a standard castle nut. It also follows the STANAG protocol of contact on the pic rail.

To me, this system is much stronger and will survive user provided abuse.

The Tailhook Mod 1 was actually more compact than I was thinking from the product photos and Instagram posts I’d seen prior to purchase. I prefer compact so that was a welcome surprise for me. My heart was set on a Mod 1C, which I later procured. But, the Mod 1 that I bought first was more than adequate and not too bulky. Depending on the size of your frame, you might like the larger Mod 1 better.

Here’s a picture to compare.

This brace setup of three different brands’ components ran a total of $211 delivered (Google coupon codes and join email notifications). Well worth the extra coin IMO.

Optic

One of the biggest appeals of the PC Carbine and the PC Charger to me is the ability to use a low mounted optic.

Personally, I can’t stand seeing AR15 height optics on guns that run well with low mounts. It just looks wrong to me. I wouldn’t put an AR height riser on a shotgun, AK or a 10/22. So it makes me wonder when I see them on guns like the PC Carbine and FightLite SCR that have similar dimensions. Looks like an afterthought or influencers hastily publishing social media reviews.

I also like having a lower profile overall footprint and a lower height over bore, especially in a system that will be zeroed for close range.

At first, I was going to put a low mounted MRO from Trijicon on this thing like I have on my MPX. But, I had a Holosun 407C on hand and decided to mount it to try it. Ended up loving the smaller Holosun and it points naturally for me on this platform. May upgrade to the 507C circle dot later.

Mag Release

*Shameless Plug*

If you have a PC Carbine or PC Charger, pause reading this now and buy the Jawbone PC Carbine Drop-In Mag Release.

With the Jawbone PC Carbine Drop-In Mag Release, shooters can release the magazine with their trigger fingers instead of their support hands. Similar ergonomics to an AR15. This will help speed up those USPSA reload times in PCC Division if you’re running a PC Carbine.

The flared magwell on the PC Charger makes reloading fluid in this configuration. If you are used to the AR15 reload, this will feel much more natural than releasing and stripping the mag with your support hand.

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Muzzle Attachment

I run a comp on my PC Carbine but for the PC Charger, I wanted to go with a flash hider and wanted to keep bulk and cost to a minimum. I opted for the HB Industries 9mm A2 Flash Hider in 1/2×28″. It spun on nice and easy and fulfills its intended purpose adequately.

Grip

You’ll likely want a grip with a more vertical angle for such a small blaster. I went simple with the BCM Mod 0. It points better. I like it.

Flashlight

I haven’t added a light to this setup yet. When I do, it’s going to be a Streamlight TLR-8 on a 5 slot picatinny rail mounted at the 6 o’clock position furthest forward on the handguard doubling as a handstop. We’ll update here when that is tested.

Conclusion

The Ruger PC Charger has been as reliable as its big brother, the PC Carbine, so far in initial testing and it looks like one hell of a space blaster in this configuration. If you want something reliable, low maintenance and easy to shoot, give this thing a chance.