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Posted: 9/29/2009 3:33:23 PM EDT
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Poll inboud.
How many of you actually have had the need for a forward assist? I mean, have you ever HAD to use it? This question is for non-military applications. |
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Ive seen a quite few occasions when people were not shooting and the bolt did not close all the way and the FA was pushed to fully close it. Of course it would not have been needed it if they did not baby the bolt when releasing it.
I guess its a moot point. Better to have than not have, but it is not needed. When used most of the time it was because of user error in first place. |
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Quoted: Ive seen a quite few occasions when people were not shooting and the bolt did not close all the way and the FA was pushed to fully close it. Of course it would not have been needed it if they did not baby the bolt when releasing it. I guess its a moot point. Better to have than not have, but it is not needed. When used most of the time it was because of user error in first place. The first time a friend shot my AR he babied the charging handle and I showed him how to use the FA to seat the bolt. Same thing happened to me when I first started shooting ARs. My guns are usually very clean, so I have never had to use it in normal shooting. I could see where having a very dirty gun could warrant the use of the forward assist. |
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I have an Colt SP-1, think A1 rifle without FA knob.
When the bolt fails to close the whole way, since my rifle doesn't have a FA button....... Thumb of shooting hand into firing port into the recess on the side of the bolt carrier, push it the rest of the way with thumb using said indent. then back to firing. |
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Quoted:
What other rifles have a forward assist? I cant think of any, besides AR variants. I'm sure the specs on some other rifles are tight like the AR and may get dirty and need "assistance". The biggest reason for the FA on an AR (and why other rifles don't have/need one) is for when you are doing a press check. Because the charging handle is not connected to the BCG, you can't use the charging handle to reseat the bolt during a press check. Think of an AK47: the bolt is effectively connected to the charging handle: you pull it back to check, push charging handle forward, and the bolt is in battery. Not so with an AR. Yes, people will raise the argument that you can physically press the bolt carrier itself (the indent for the dust cover release), but I'm not going to do that with a hot bolt carrier. |
| I have had to use it a couple of times when I was at Camp Lejeune for BTOC. Our MK18's were getting filled with sand and bolts were not always riding all the way forward. Like the other posters have said, it is better to have and not need than to need and not have. |
| I was always under the notion that you should never force a rifle into battery if it doesn't want to go. Could be an ammo problem and you are now jamming something into the chamber that's not intended to be forced. Best to extract the round, check it out and decide whether to discard it. |
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Quoted:
What other rifles have a forward assist? I cant think of any, besides AR variants. I'm sure the specs on some other rifles are tight like the AR and may get dirty and need "assistance". Garands/M14s and AKs both have a "forward assist," they're called cocking handles. Not sure about the FAL's cocking handle, I've only (briefly) owned one FAL and it had a folding handle. As has been stated before, the design of the AR precludes the use of the charging handle to forcibly chamber a round. I checked "Never" in the poll, but now that I think about it I have used it for chamber checks on occasion. If a round fails to chamber while firing, I'll eject it. I suppose I can see it's use in some combat situations. |
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Quoted:
Ive seen a quite few occasions when people were not shooting and the bolt did not close all the way and the FA was pushed to fully close it. Of course it would not have been needed it if they did not baby the bolt when releasing it. I guess its a moot point. Better to have than not have, but it is not needed. When used most of the time it was because of user error in first place. True. |
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Quoted:
habit from the Marine Corps... i ALWAYS use it though you do have "non-mil" in it... so pie :) +1 There were maybe 6-8 times when my bolt didn't close fully on it's own and I used the forward assist. It wasn't on the original M-16 design, but when they upgraded they put it on. They did that for a reason. Semper Fi |
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Quoted:
I have an Colt SP-1, think A1 rifle without FA knob. When the bolt fails to close the whole way, since my rifle doesn't have a FA button....... Thumb of shooting hand into firing port into the recess on the side of the bolt carrier, push it the rest of the way with thumb using said indent. then back to firing. This. |
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Quoted:
There were maybe 6-8 times when my bolt didn't close fully on it's own and I used the forward assist. It wasn't on the original M-16 design, but when they upgraded they put it on. They did that for a reason. Armalite admitted that it was wrong to not chrome line the barrel and other high wear parts, they said he should have down it and just got lazy. The Army wanted the FA added, the Army by the way where the same people who were using the wrong powders to save money which created the problems on the M16A1 in the first place (and they got worse quicker because of the lack of chrome lining). Some people are under the impression the Army wanted it because of the problems in Vietnam, that would be incorrect. The problems in Vietnam were directly related to the wrong powder and the lack of chroming which generally caused FTE. Those issues were fixed and the Army continued to demand it. The same Army in their infinite wisdom used powder that created fouling to save money was the same Army that demanded forward assists. You trust 'em if you want to, but Stoner's original design was genius and even today the AR10 doesn't utilize a forward assist. As for the "rather have and not need it, then need it and not have it" crowd. I am sure you won't feel that way if you use and you end up sticking a horrible deformed case into your rifle (good luck prying the BCG out) or if the forward assist breaks in the forward position and your upper needs a gunsmith. I just don't understand why people want to gamble turning a simple malfunction of the bolt not wanting to close into a catastrophic one. I suppose it doesn't happen often and they like playing the odds, but Murphy's Law will strike and when it does I hope it isn't when your life is in danger because the FA can seriously FUBAR your rifle. And for the "burning your finger on a hot carrier" guy. If I am in a situation where my life is in danger, I need that bolt to close, I cannot simply eject the problem round and insert a new one in the same amount of time it takes to push the forward assist then do you think I really give a flying fuck about a minor burn on the tip of my finger? |
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