Forward Assist ???

calibrator · May 13, 2016

Of course I understand the concept of it. Do you regularly use it? When do you use it? Have you ever used it? USN3

lefty o · May 13, 2016

i use it varmint hunting to close the bolt quietly, but thats it. other than that, smacking the forward assist is a good way to make a cartridge stuck worse than it was.

USN14 · May 13, 2016

Never used it in the Mil or civilian life nor has anyone I've known.

wxl · May 13, 2016

Yes when hunting and trying a quiet lock and load. Do I need ? No.

One of my uppers do not have an assist.

polygunner · May 13, 2016

wxl said:
Yes when hunting and trying a quiet lock and load. Do I need ? No.

One of my lowers do not have an assist.

None of my lowers have a forward assist.

Please post a pic of a lower with a forward assist. Thant would be interesting.

PG
USA2

Couldn't help myself...

mb3 · May 13, 2016

Locking the bolt back in after a press check. Not sure why people would think its a good idea to use it when the bolt is obstructed by debris? If I had to handle a malfunction due to debris I think it would be better to drop the mag, clear the obstruction, put in a new mag, get in the game or transition to a working weapon.

M1A's r BEST · May 13, 2016

I've only used it on one rifle. And it made the stuck round worse, not better. No amount of smacking got the round to chamber and it was a real pain to get the round back out of the chamber.

I guess I've never shot one enough to get it dirty enough to have it fail to chamber.

calibrator · May 13, 2016

Yeah, I believe in the quiet lock and load idea, but, ... ??? I think I'll be plugging a few of my uppers.

Thanks !!
JoeUSNA

sac troop · May 13, 2016

The Army wanted it, so the XM16E1 was fielded and eventually adopted and became the M16A1. The Air Force never wanted it and insisted on the slick sided uppers. The Marine Corps. didn't care.

dsdmmat · May 13, 2016

I use them quite often. I won't build a rifle without some way to manually force the bolt closed.

commostud · May 13, 2016

Used it as a feel good button when overseas. Just to make sure all was well when leaving the gate for the day. Other than that I did not use it. but I want it there just in case. It's called sports.
S- slap the magazine
P- pull the charging handle
O- observe the chamber
R- release the charging handle
T- tap the forward assist
S- shoot the bad guy or spray your lane depends who your telling it too.

Guest · May 13, 2016

I use it each and every time.

Girth · May 14, 2016

commostud said:
Used it as a feel good button when overseas. Just to make sure all was well when leaving the gate for the day. Other than that I did not use it. but I want it there just in case. It's called sports.
S- slap the magazine
P- pull the charging handle
O- observe the chamber
R- release the charging handle
T- tap the forward assist
S- shoot the bad guy or spray your lane depends who your telling it too.

Yup. Used it a LOT, every time I was clearing a malfunction. Part of the process. Something that gets ingrained in you/muscle memory, so you just do it. Have I ever used it where I NEEDED it? No.

cmshoot · May 14, 2016

Yep, use it quite often, mostly when doing a press check.

Just about every good semi-/fully automatic combat rifle/carbine I can think of has a forward assist. Not every single one, but the vast majority do.

KurtC · May 14, 2016

My experience goes back to the M193 cartridge and the M16. When dirty, the bolt did not always close, making disassembly impossible without a forward assist.

Gearjammer · May 14, 2016

If a round did not feed reliably enough to let the bolt carrier close properly.............WHY WOULD I CRAM THE JAM INSTEAD OF JUST CLEARING IT OUT OF THERE?

If its just a case of a slightly dirty chamber, you can close the carrier the rest of the way using the indent on the carrier and your thumb for something that simple.

Shooter4570 · May 14, 2016

I've ran AR's for years both at home and abroad and only use the forward assist when doing a brass check to ensure I'm loaded. When shooting, if a round doesn't chamber, just do your immediate action

Tap- the magazine ensure it is seated
Rack- the charging handle kicking out the current round and chambering a new one
Bang- attempt to fire again

The problem with the forward assist is that you may jam a round in that will be a nightmare to attempt to get out. If a round doesn't chamber, kick it out and try another one.

nf1e · May 14, 2016

The " 1 " M-16 I was issued in the late 60s in Viet Nam did not have a forward assist. In fact they were enough trouble without one.

Semper Fi
Art

NATOBTHP · May 14, 2016

It should be called Bolt-a-Jam.
I had a round not fully chamber during a rapid fire part of the match and in my hurry I crammed the round in banging on the bolt assist. Fired and then the bolt couldn't retract the round. Ended up losing the match and used a cleaning rod to get the round out.
I wondered how many lives were lost in combat because of the Bolt-a-Jam ?

nf1e · May 14, 2016

NATOBTHP said:
It should be called Bolt-a-Jam.
I had a round not fully chamber during a rapid fire part of the match and in my hurry I crammed the round in banging on the bolt assist. Fired and then the bolt couldn't retract the round. Ended up losing the match and used a cleaning rod to get the round out.
I wondered how many lives were lost in combat because of the Bolt-a-Jam ?

Plenty.

Forward Assist ???

Guest

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