Forward Assist - Do you "need" it. Why?

[rugertoter]

I voted Bacon. When I was in the Marines, a long time ago, even with the M-16A1, I really don't remember having to use the forward assist, because I had to. I remember one time, right after we got issued the A2, we were on a FAM fire, and I had fired around 400 or so rounds without a cleaning. There were two times that I remember actually having to use the assist, to seat the bolt...the guns were dirty, and after squirting some CLP in there, they ran just fine that last day.

I would say the fact that the guns were really dry caused the problem, more than the fact that they were dirty. JMHO.

 

[Gabriel]

Necessity depends on what you're doing with it. If it's a toy, nothing is necessary.

For serious work, I would not consider a rifle without a FA. Even if you never have a malfunction, you use it to make sure the bolt is closed after a chamber check.

This. I’ve had many times during training that the bolt didn’t close all the way on a dirty rifle after doing a chamber check.

I wouldn’t buy one without.

 

[bwframe]

So it sounds as if all chamber checks need to end with a smack of the FA?

 

[Win52C]

Burl. You are a night owl.

 

[portercounty]

Being left-handed, I've found it's much more efficient to just cycle the bolt via the charging handle than to mess with the FA on the opposite side (for me). In multiple deployments, I never ran into a malfunction that wasn't solved that way. Lucky? Perhaps, but at this point it's just muscle memory to yank on the charging handle and go back to work. If that doesn't work, just call for CAS and all your problems are solved

 

[HamYankee]

I voted no because I’ve never seen a forward assist used to help an AR function properly. But, I have seen a forward assist close the BCG on a round after a squib, resulting in a destroyed AR-15.

 

[mechmc17]

I voted no because I’ve never seen a forward assist used to help an AR function properly. But, I have seen a forward assist close the BCG on a round after a squib, resulting in a destroyed AR-15.

Seconded. Have attempted to use a forward assist myself, never successfully, but have never seen one used to the designed effect.

Lubrication, on the other hand, is very effective in a dirty AR. Geissele go-juice is one of my favorites, just a little bit and the BCG is good to go.

 

[johntheplinker]

I voted no because I’ve never seen a forward assist used to help an AR function properly. But, I have seen a forward assist close the BCG on a round after a squib, resulting in a destroyed AR-15.

There's other issues there besides the FA. How many handguns have been blown up by the shooter racking the slide then pulling the trigger following a squib? Not checking the bore was a bigger **** up than using the FA.

 

[openwell]

I had to use the forward assist & HD10w-40 motor oil on the very first time to the range.

@1500 gun show I had a rather successful Gunsmith, who many would recognize....
sell me an AR lower from Olympic Arms.........with the offer that he would build my AR in less than 30 minutes....
right there @the 1500.....
All I had to do what buy the upper kit from Any vendor at the show...
Well that was an offer I just had to accept.

BTW... that gunsmith discovered the upper kit was miss the "firing pin"...
so had to take it back & get one.

Gun completed & went to range.

Failed to close bolt after less than 20 rds.

sold that AR cause got bored after a few years.

only replaced after Las Vegas...

got a carbine with MUST HAVE FA...

 

[elkhunter2018]

I agree with those that vote for the FA if you ever think or worry that you'll need it for serious action (and I think every American should be at least a little worried about that). It is a tool that was designed to be included for dealing with unexpected problems, and it seems silly to me to remove it.

 

[cosermann]

It's not a deal-breaker for me one way or the other, but given my druthers I'd rather not have the FA as it eliminates 1) an avenue for the ingress of crap into the action, and 2) unnecessary parts (in my view) which can break and render the rifle inoperable.

I can accomplish what I need to using the dished cutout on the side of the bolt. If you have one on your rifle, know how to use it. If you don't, know how to work it without one.

For me, I work without one as a matter of routine even though my rifles HAVE one as I want to minimize wear to the FA and it's potential for failure (which, if it does, often seems to lock things up the the pawl gets into the works [1]).

I figure the less it gets banged on, the less likely it is to wear and fail IF it's ever needed, which for me so far (shooting ARs for over 20 yrs) has been never.

[1]
https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/_...assist_pawl_pins_to_break_/118-508937/?page=1
A rare failure, the broken AR15 forward assist. ? LooseRounds.com
https://www.shootingillustrated.com...5-inspection-15-wear-failure-points-to-check/