AR Sponsor
Posted: 5/7/2007 2:56:32 PM EDT
| I have asked friends and dealsers about the purpose of the forward assist, but have never received a straight answer - i'm sure you all could enlighten me. |
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If the bolt does not close fully, push the forward assist to help it. Ordinarily you would never use it, and hopefully you will never need it. Its only there in case of a malfunction. The bolt carrier has a series of slots down the side, the forward assist engages them and pushes the bolt forward a little to help it close. There are a couple schools of thought about its use. Some say its bad to jam a round in to the chamber that doesn't go in on its own. Others think the forward assist can break and jam up the whole works, rendering the gun useless. I think the forward assist was originally not on the M16, but was added at the request of the Army. I believe it could help you get through a bad situation until you had time to clean your rifle. A dirty chamber could keep a round from seating, and you could send it home with the forward assist. My bushmaster manual says if you ever need it, its probably time to clean the rifle. I have never needed mine, and a poll taken showed that the majority of people on this board have never needed them either. Regardless, most people like to have the option available to them should they need it. |
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Has others have said, it's used to ensure or help the bolt seat fully. Since the AR15/M16 has very tight tolerances, it sometimes can become jammed with small debris (like sand or dirt). I've used it in the land of Bad Things to seat a round when I needed to. Here in the land of milk & honey I'd avoid using it whn possible. |
AR Sponsor