Posted: 2/19/2013 6:11:42 PM EDT
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I've been following the 6900 thread, saw some comments about the lack of a forward assist. I'm an Army vet 72-75, was issued a M16A1 (I think it was an A1) that had a forward assist. Granted I was not Infantry (Artillery; 155mm Howitzer) so I wasn't slogging thru the muck and swamp, but never had a need to use the forward assist. Fast forward to present time. Am now retired, working part time as an RSO at Ben Avery (largest publicly owned range in US... shameless plug), have dealt with a fair amount of FTF and FTE problems over the years on ARs. Still, forward assist has never been a help. BTW, I have a 6920 that I shoot several times every month and have never needed the forward assist. Obviously Colt added it for a reason..
So, am curious about other vets thoughts. How did the forward assist help you out of a jam? -Tom |
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Quoted:
Colt added it (at significant cost) because the Army insisted on it over the objections of the other services and Eugene Stoner. I don't like them. Jack is a little bitter towards the forward assist for reasons I cannot speculate on (rumor is it has to do with an errant forward assist and his then girlfriend  ) however, his description of how it came about is correct. 
The times when I've found it most useful is when, for whatever reason, the charging handle got obstructed during charging, whether it's straps, foliage, radio cords, MOLLE webbing, ect. and didn't fully go in to battery. It happens rarely - but... it can happen. The forward assist can be "popped" to make sure the bolt is in battery without having to try charging it again (in those same close quarters that caused you trouble in the first place) and relying solely on spring tension to go back in to battery - it provides a mechanical manual method to return to battery. It's not a bad habit, IMHO, to just give it a "pop" if you have the chance when you charge the weapon - it's there - why not? Honestly, I'm largely indifferent to its presence or absence - though most of my rifles have them, and I buy uppers with them - a) because they're usually cheaper with than without, and b) after so many years of using uppers with them - they do look kind of odd to me without them. As for using it - again - once or twice in my AR using times, its come in handy - usually for the types of reasons above (try to charge an M16A2 whilst dismounting an M1114 in full PPE enough times, chances are, at least once you'll snag - thank fucking god for the M4 ), as well as silently chambering, press checks, ect. Nothing that I would necessarily consider deathly critical - but once again, if you have it, why not use it? Nowadays, I'll often just press it randomly once in while - what could possibly happen that would magically cause my weapon to go out of battery? Who knows, probably nothing - but again, it's a habit that's developed for me.
If all ARs suddenly didn't come with them anymore - I doubt I would fret too much. I don't feel that my "slickside" uppers are inherently more dangerous than my A1 uppers. But as long as they exist, I see no reason to expend the extra effort to pay more to avoid them. ~Augee |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Colt added it (at significant cost) because the Army insisted on it over the objections of the other services and Eugene Stoner. I don't like them. Jack is a little bitter towards the forward assist for reasons I cannot speculate on (rumor is it has to do with an errant forward assist and his then girlfriend ) however, his description of how it came about is correct.
~Augee Sacred cows are made entirely of filet mignon.
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