He was one of a handful of people that made the AR a competitive rifle. For the longest time, his AR trigger was the only game in town.
Not true, the MKII (great) and the CLE trigger (unreliable) were first and own that title of helping to transform the AR into a legitimate Competition Service RIfle. At one point it, the Armalite and the KAC were the only viable triggers readily available to civilian shooters since Charlie was more interested in litigation than production.
I hesitate to smudge his legacy, but the Jewell AR Trigger was not one of his successes. A defective Jewell AR trigger was the reason I came to exchange emails with him and how I learned how earnest and customer centric he was. My trigger had a misground hammer which he was forthright about, but it was also not the best designed trigger for the demands of Highpower Rifle competition. I made a note to myself that I'd loop back and talk to him about bolt gun triggers as he was someone I wanted to support (just not with AR triggers). Never had the opportunity to speak or email with him after.