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Posted: 12/26/2012 8:35:00 AM EDT
| I have a S&W MP15T, I had issues out of the box and the gun has behaved well now for a good long time. My question involves the forward assist and how hard should it be to use it. If I drop a round into the chamber and ease the bolt forward riding the charging handle until it hits the round in the chamber at that point how hard should it be to silently finish closing the bolt using the forward assist? It is taking alot of pressure for me to close it for some reason. |
| Mine does have the O-ring. I have beat the forward assist to get it to push all the way forward and it did not work. Finally, I just put the barrel to the floor and took both thumbs on the FA and pressed as hard as I could to get it to finally "snap" yes, "snap" onto the cartridge case. Everything in the extractor is well lubed and wet. Gun shoots fine though. I had just heard of people silently closing the bolt using the FA. |
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I chamber rounds that way on a regular basis.
It is very unlikely you need the o-ring on that weapon. As I already said take off the extractor, if it works easy the o-ring is your problem. Your weapon has to work just as hard as you did to get the extractor over the rim. |
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Quoted:
Don't ride the charging handle, let the buffer spring do it's job! Have fun This. Slam fires are a very rare but they do happen. Always observe all 4 rules of gun safety and have fun. I have had precisely one slam fire on an AR that has probably seen 25k+ rounds (with barrel and BCG replacement) and it was in the prone position with my rifle pointing down range. In fact, I dropped the torso target sitting at 200yards. 
For the 1 out of 40k+ rounds I've shot through an AR-15/M-4, this isn't exactly common. Rack that charging handle back and listen for that wonderful chunk of the bolt slamming home, while keeping the muzzle pointed at something that you want to shoot obviously. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Don't ride the charging handle, let the buffer spring do it's job! Have fun This. Slam fires are a very rare but they do happen. Always observe all 4 rules of gun safety and have fun. I have had precisely one slam fire on an AR that has probably seen 25k+ rounds (with barrel and BCG replacement) and it was in the prone position with my rifle pointing down range. In fact, I dropped the torso target sitting at 200yards.
For the 1 out of 40k+ rounds I've shot through an AR-15/M-4, this isn't exactly common. Rack that charging handle back and listen for that wonderful chunk of the bolt slamming home, while keeping the muzzle pointed at something that you want to shoot obviously. I know, I know, they don't teach reading comprehension. He wants to ride the charging handle so he can close the bolt quietly. This is a real application for the FA. Our fellow knows about how it's supposed to work, and seems he was wondering how hard it should be, as he had a tight extractor. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Don't ride the charging handle, let the buffer spring do it's job! Have fun This. Slam fires are a very rare but they do happen. Always observe all 4 rules of gun safety and have fun. I have had precisely one slam fire on an AR that has probably seen 25k+ rounds (with barrel and BCG replacement) and it was in the prone position with my rifle pointing down range. In fact, I dropped the torso target sitting at 200yards.
For the 1 out of 40k+ rounds I've shot through an AR-15/M-4, this isn't exactly common. Rack that charging handle back and listen for that wonderful chunk of the bolt slamming home, while keeping the muzzle pointed at something that you want to shoot obviously. I know, I know, they don't teach reading comprehension. He wants to ride the charging handle so he can close the bolt quietly. This is a real application for the FA. Our fellow knows about how it's supposed to work, and seems he was wondering how hard it should be, as he had a tight extractor. That's OK. A lack of reading comprehension is only surpassed by a lack for understanding a key point being hinted at...  Allow me to elaborate.
Being able to seat a round from riding the bolt forward is not the intention of the forward assist. It was for properly seating a round when the rifle could not be cleaned according to its normal maintenance schedule. Using a function on a tool for an unintentional purpose often results in unintentional consequences... If you find yourself in a situation where you need to ride the bolt forward, perhaps you should store your weapon with a round in the chamber. This is not only quieter, but it is safer and faster. That being said: Don't ride the charging handle, allow the buffer spring to do its job. As originally engineered and intended. This ensures that the round will be properly chambered. If you are in a combat situation where you must use the FA for the reason it was added, then do so. Actually, I have been taught by several people that it is a good idea to just get in the habit of tapping it. If you find that tapping it isn't enough, then you likely have a problem. Is that more clear? Hopefully there is something more educational this time around. Thanks for pointing out that I wasn't verbose enough...
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| I swear I gotcha on riding the charging handle, I'll be the first to let the buffer spring do it's job. Perhaps I need to better explain my predicament. Though I go to the range I also hunt with my rifle. My hunting area is a whopping 150 yards from the area I park at. My local ordinance and law states that I may not carry a loaded LONG gun in the vehicle at anytime. My last hunt I took all the precious time of quietly parking and getting out of my car at 5:30AM. I closed the door of the car super quiet, even proud of myself for doing so. I stopped a listened, everything was so quiet, then I do the stupidist FUC!#4G thing known to all man and hit the bolt release and WHAM! The buffer spring did it's job and sent the bolt forward with the power of Thor, and in the process made enough noise to scare away every animal on the planet. I literally heard the deer run. So, naturally I want to find a way to silently close the bolt by either hand dropping a round in the chamber or stripping one from the magazine. To do this, using the FA would be necessary. When I tried to do this, that is when I found the issue and half wondered if it might not have been part of a way earlier chambering/feeding issue. I have to literally use both thumbs on the FA and press as hard as I can to get it to finally close all of the way. I removed the O-ring from the extractor and it cured the issue. So, I guess my question is now is why in the world is the O-ring even there? Surely it serves some purpose? |
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With the M1 Garand and M14 the op rod can be used to encourage the bolt to close or charge the weapon with a reduced noise signature.
The forward assist in effect gives the same functions to the M16 family. I learned both methods in the military. Riding the charging handle is very handy in a number of situations. The o-ring fix was developed to fix extractor reliability issues that HD extractor springs could not fix. AFAIK these issues are rare or non-existent on regular semi-auto carbines with 16” barrels. Who knows why S&W put it on a regular carbine, however an o-ring is a hell of a lot cheaper than a good extractor spring. |
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