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Why the hate on a forward assist?

Huskydriver

Huskydriver

Not here for a long time but here for a good time
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Apr 17, 2018
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SLC, Utah
I don't really understand why people hate having a forward assist. Is there something I am missing?

Only times I have ever had to use my fa have been because I only shoot supressed and after 500 rounds or so, things start getting caked up.
If a round struggles to chamber all the way, one click on the fa usually keeps things rocking till I can throw more lube in there or strip and wipe everything down.

I guess to me it's kinda nice to know I'm fully in battery with a quick push....

So what's the deal?
 
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I've heard several reasons.
If you have a bad round, it doesn't need to be forced into the chamber.
Also it creates another failure point. There is a video from IV8888 that shows when a forward assist fails it can completely shut down a gun.

I can see both sides, but then again none of my rifles have a forward assist on them at all.
 
alamo5000 said:
I've heard several reasons.
If you have a bad round, it doesn't need to be forced into the chamber.
Also it creates another failure point. There is a video from IV8888 that shows when a forward assist fails it can completely shut down a gun.

I can see both sides, but then again none of my rifles have a forward assist on them at all.
Click to expand...
Got a link to that not finding it on Google?
 
cas6969 said:
People who don't like the forward assist obviously never need to chamber a round without making noise.
Click to expand...

This..

I was pig hunting the other night and stepped in a really deep hole. My rifle was slung on my back and muzzle went straight in the ground.

After checking for obstructions I needed to chamber another round quietly. It comes in handy.
 
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Comes in mighty handy hunting pigs at night with the 6.8. I wish my REPR had one like my lowly LAR8 lol.
 
There's hate on forward assist? wtf.
Having it allows:
1) racking and chambering a round quietly by using forward assist to ensure it is chambered and locked in battery
2) during admin load out, after a full rack, quarter rack to check that the first round is indeed chambered, then use forward assist to ensure it is indeed locked in battery
3) whenever it is about to go time, never hurts to pump the forward assist just to be sure. Never know what may or may not have clipped the charging handle prior to this

When shit hits the fan, trust me when I say you do not want your first round to go "click" followed by silence...
 
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Forward assist and dust covers are so 19th century. Welcome to the future old man.

On a more serious note I only have one on an ar-10 and although I havnt used it I feel like it would be more useful in reverse so I don’t have to mortar the bitch when she fte’s
 
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If the bolt doesn't go into battery, and you can't close it by pushing on the carrier (the scallop cut for the ejection port cover plunger), you probably don't need to force the issue.

It's dead weight. Other than completing the diddy to keep from getting my ass reamed by a drill instructor, I've never used it. You can see when the bolt goes into battery. You can see/hear/feel when it doesn't. Pulling the bolt half way back and letting it try again is the same amount of time and more effective IMO/IME.
 
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Ledzep said:
If the bolt doesn't go into battery, and you can't close it by pushing on the carrier (the scallop cut for the ejection port cover plunger), you probably don't need to force the issue.

It's dead weight.
Click to expand...

I have thought about that scallop before but wondered how hot it would be to touch.

How much does the forward assist assembly weigh?

-Stan
 
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Ledzep said:
You can just.. touch it. It's not going to bite.
Click to expand...
My FA never hurt anyone either.

Going against the grain and then advocating the grain is stupid just appears well….. stupid.

I could see you now giving a block of instruction… oh this thing. Don’t use it it’s stupid. Just use your finger during a firefight to touch your scolding hot bolt and push it forward… that thing they added to do that with the palm of your hand is stupid…… palm to face

It’s been published now in the new course of fire For several years. Any known class you attend demonstrates it. The AMU and MMtC teach it. EIB/ESB. Loading performance steps etc all have it.
 
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HOOFER said:
My FA never hurt anyone either.

Going against the grain and then advocating the grain is stupid just appears well….. stupid.

I could see you now giving a block of instruction… oh this thing. Don’t use it it’s stupid. Just use your finger during a firefight to touch your scolding hot bolt and push it forward… that thing they added to do that with the palm of your hand is stupid…… palm to face

It’s been published now in the new course of fire For several years. Any known class you attend demonstrates it. The AMU and MMtC teach it. EIB/ESB. Loading performance steps etc all have it.
Click to expand...

I'm not advocating anything. The OP asked why certain people don't do FA and I answered. This is certainly a subject that is far from being worth being a dickhead about.

We're talking about an extremely slim set of circumstances where the FA makes a consequential difference. I live in rural Nebraska and avoid steaming hot gunfights these days. I'm willing to accept whatever reliability loss comes from not having a BCG forward-jammer in lieu of pushing a BCG or doing a half-rack.

Do whatever makes you happy bud. If you're really serious about it, I can set aside a few bucks and get with my lawyer next week to arrange for a cookie to be delivered in the event that my death is directly the result of not having a FA on my uppers.
 
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Ledzep said:
I'm not advocating anything. The OP asked why certain people don't do FA and I answered. This is certainly a subject that is far from being worth being a dickhead about.

We're talking about an extremely slim set of circumstances where the FA makes a consequential difference. I live in rural Nebraska and avoid steaming hot gunfights these days. I'm willing to accept whatever reliability loss comes from not having a BCG forward-jammer in lieu of pushing a BCG or doing a half-rack.

Do whatever makes you happy bud. If you're really serious about it, I can set aside a few bucks and get with my lawyer next week to arrange for a cookie to be delivered in the event that my death is directly the result of not having a FA on my uppers.
Click to expand...

I like oatmeal raisin….


Press checks are free. Dead man’s guns aren’t and Murphy is a Motherfucker
 
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nhdeadhead said:
Welcome to the future old man.
Click to expand...
1670782382353.png
 
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I sling my M4 and M16 left handed and the FA bump digs into my body, other than that, I don't mind having it at all.
For personal use, I do like the clean look without FA and with most BCGs, you can close them quietly by just pushing on them from the ejection port with your thumb.
 
I was never issued an m110 but familiarized with one in training and I found it interesting they never had one along with the rest of the sr25 family. Same with lmts mws.

I def can see the where @Ledzep is making his points from and obviously kac and lmt are on that page for some data they have gathered. Was curious if there was something else maybe I wasn't seeing
 
Want a FA to help with press check, dirty rifle, etc... for an additional few oz. Have one.
Don't care? Don't have one.
This is another example of internet circle jerkery.
 
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akg102 said:
Want a FA to help with press check, dirty rifle, etc... for an additional few oz. Have one.
Don't care? Don't have one.
This is another example of internet circle jerkery.
Click to expand...

Do you cross country ski?
 
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diggler1833 said:
I can think of two times it has come into use in my times hunting pigs at night and trying to ease the carrier forward quietly.
Click to expand...

This! I have used it in other instances as well but pig hunting with a suppressed rifle it can and does come in handy from time to time.
 
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Why are you going out hunting without a round already chambered?

Stronger buffer spring and extra mass of a 308 bcg is going to slam it in the hole every time.
 
Numb_Skull said:
Why are you going out hunting without a round already chambered?

Stronger buffer spring and extra mass of a 308 bcg is going to slam it in the hole every time.
Click to expand...
Cross a fence into a field with game already in it, and you will want to load the round as quietly as possible- riding the charging handle. That will almost always lead to needing a bump on the FA to go into battery.
 
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For the recreational range only shooter, I guess having FA does not matter. But for a weapon that you depend on for critical situations, I feel it is necessary. Even till this day, on any critical shots, it remains a habit of mine after a round has been cycled and chambered in my bolt actions, to re-lift the bolt and pull back a quarter and to stick my finger in just to make sure a round is chambered.... Having the FA allows me to execute the same sanity check on my ARs.

For this very same reason, I don't "noob" out and go "click" when I want it to go boom on critical first shots...
 
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LOL. The SR-16 (Stoner Rifle) has one, despite Stoner originally thinking it was stupid when the DoD put one on the M16 without consulting him. Not sure if that means anything or not, but maybe it means it eventually earned his endorsement/approval.

That said, we should all be living by this philosophy: "I can have my rifle the way I want it because 'Merica!"
 
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