The Olympic 9mm uppers have a forward assist..one that actually works and catches the bolt...now I have noticed that Colt and copies ASA RRA don't have this..can someone explain why?

thanks in advance
medcop

I think I can, although I don't own an Olympic upper so if I'm wrong someone please jump in and correct me.  The Olympic uses the standard AR bolt carrier (I think), which is grooved to work with the forward assist.  The Colt 9mm bolt is different, the bolt and carrier being a one piece unit, which is not grooved for the forward assist, so none was supplied.  Now if you're asking why Colt didn't groove the 9mm carrier, I have no idea other than I don't think it's required on a simple blowback design, since the bolt dosen't actually lock up with the barrel extension.  Hope this helps.

The Olympic 9mm uppers have a forward assist..one that actually works and catches the bolt...now I have noticed that Colt and copies ASA RRA don't have this..can someone explain why? thanks in advance medcop

This is not true, or is no longer true.  My new Oly 9mm upper has a forward assist and it is completely useless.  It appears Oly used a standard A2 upper and drilled an extra hole in it for the ejector.  Other than the ejector, the upper receiver is exactly the same as my other A2 receiver.

Edit to add picture of bolt.  There is no carrier, the whole thing is the bolt.

My OLY upper has a forward assist and the bolt is notched for it.  

I find this even more strange now...wonder why they changed.

medcop