When was the last time you used the forward assist on your SHTF/HD carbine?
The reason I ask is, I noticed on the Noveske Thunder Ranch rifle there is no FA.
Thank you
I find the F/A useless on any rifle. If a round doesn’t wanna feed, who am I to try and force it in? Get rid of it, feed the next and move on. While they served a purpose in the past, the rifle and training procedures have evolved to make the addition a pointless feature.
Have and not need. I won’t have a SHTF rifle without a F/A, because if you actually need it, you will be pounding on that fucker to get it into battery.
I have never used the FA on any of my rifles yet, I do like the option though especially on my SHTF rifle just in case I would ever need it
On this historical side…as far as I recall, Eugene Stoner did not include a FA on the original design. It was something the military wanted added. I believe part of the reasoning was to do “silent loading.” Although that sounds a bit silly to me.
If you can’t get a round fully into battery, better to get it out of there and get another one in. Jamming it in with the FA can cause problems.
But, there is some merit to having a FA, like doing an admin load. Dropping the mag to ensure a round was stripped from the mag and chambered is an alternate technique.
In extreme cold weather, frozen condensation and / or lubricant can create conditions where having a FA is helpful in getting a round into battery.
In summary, the FA is probably not an absolute necessity for most applications. But I’m of the persuasion that I’d rather have and not need than need and not have.
I’ve seen it used after walking the bolt carrier in. Pretty much you do it to keep the noise down. In my case a friend was doing it while we were hunting coyotes. Pretty much just trying to keep the noise down.
It has use but in very limited situations. I’d rather have it then not.
If ya gotta pound on it to get it in, you’re gonna have to pound on it to get it back out.
In all the years of shooting, I have only forced one round into a chamber. That was when I was a kid and it was in a bolt action with a soldered handle. I broke the handle off trying to get the action open again.
With the exception of quietly chambering a round, I’ve never used the “forward assist” on any self loading rifle with the exception of My Garand. When charging My Garand with a fresh clip, for some reason the bolt does not strip the first round on it’s own, so the routine is to lightly bump the charging handle to get it going. My FAL and PTR do not have an FA and I haven’t noticed the lack.
I did pay the extra coin to get the forward assist on the VLTOR MUR upper used to build my precision AR, but if I had it to do over, I’d skip it to get a cleaner profile and save money
I’ve seen 3 guys with uppers without FA not able to get the BCG to seat. Was it a round issue? No. They racked the charging handle only to find the next round wouldn’t go in. Extracted that one and guess what, the next round wouldn’t go in. Changed mags and the same thing. Sometimes one would go and it would fire, but it wasn’t reliable. This was only at a 3 gun match and action rifle match and they ended up zeroing the stage because they couldn’t continue. If this had been a life or death situation, they would have been dead meat. Laugh if you want. Their rifles were a little dirty, maybe 200 since last thorough cleaning, and their ammo was brass, not wolf. Simply racking the round out and hoping the next round seats doesn’t always work.
I did a test of my Spike’s NiB BCG when I first got it and did close to 800 without lube or any kind of cleaning or maintenance. From about 600 on, the gas key was heavily crudded with carbon and the gas tube wouldn’t go inside it, hence it wouldn’t go into battery. A good hard tap on the FA and I was back to normal. During the course of fire I didn’t have to worry about it. But when I did a mag change, a FA tap was necessary.
I will ALWAYS have a FA on my rifles. Always better to have and not need than to need and not have. Same with a spare bolt, firing pin, back up iron sights, spare mag on my belt during a stage, ect ect ect. What REALLY is gained by not having a FA? A few ounces in weight? A few dollars?
Ditto.
in all honesty, I’ve never HAD to use the FA. but without one, there is no mechanism to chamber a round other than spring pressure and momentum.
I can’t guarantee that every round from every mag is going to seat fully every time and I have made it a habit of tapping the FA after loading a new mag if I have the time.
I find no adverse affects from having one on there and it makes me happy to know I have the capability if I ever need it…
Thank you for being the first person evaaar to use “CLIP” in a sentence correctly.
Like others have said, if you have to jam it in, you’re gonna have to rip it out. It didn’t go in for a reason.
This ^^
I use it every time I load the gun during the press check.
[ol]
[li]Retract bolt slightly to verify chamber is loaded
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[li]Use palm of hand to push forward assist to verify bolt is fully in battery.
[/li]
[li]Use finger tips to close dust cover.
[/li][/ol]
I think the fa is very important on a fighting rifle. I think sometimes proper use of the fa is not understood. It I not meant to jam a round in but to ensure the bolt is fully forward. When can the bolt end up not fully forward? Two cases are common:
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Rifle is dirty or gunked up. It’s easy to say that you should never let your rifle be in such a condition and it is easy enough to prevent, fir the most part over here. Overseas, it’s not always possible to keep your rifle perfectly clean at all times. You’re not even going to want to speed oil your bolt much less clean your rifle on a two way range.
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Charging handle press check. If you pull the charging handle back slightly o press check when you are loading, hit the fa to ensure the bolt is fully forward since we have not allowed the full force of the buffer spring to push the bolt forward. This is the equivalent of presschecking your glock (really any pistol) and forcibly pushing the slide forward to ensure slide is in battery.
I guess it depends on your usage but I will never buy a rifle without a fa. But the idea that the fa us there to jam a round in is false.
Im assuming that pushing depression on the BCG wouldnt work as well as pushing the forward assist?
My rule of thumb on the Forward Assist is anything more than simple thumb pressure is more apt to induce more problems than it solves.
‘Palm-Smacking’ it ia a huge no-go. It can break and stick the pawl or force an oversized round enough into battery to make it almost impossible to extract by hand but not enought to go fully into battery and shoot it out.
Tap, Rack Bang should be the order of the day. The Forward Assist plays no part in that.
It is a device useful for strictly administrative functions only IMO.
The advantage here is you can get enough leverage to close it if nothing is seriously amiss,I.E. like a press check, but not enough leverage to royally fuck yourself.
Agreed. In my post, I said “hit” the fa. I should have said push the fa. Wacking the hell out of it could definitely cause more harm than good. And the fa has no place in malfunction clearing. The two scenarios I mention in my post are the only time I engage the fa.
Good point brother.
I have to admit to being guilty of hyperbole, not intentionally, however. Giving it a bit more thought, I do have to admit to using the FA on other rifles when a round didn’t quite seat because of a press check, fouling or started getting a bit dry. But it was a gentle shove, something I did automatically. If it took more than that, I cleared the round from the weapon. Other than a press check or a quiet load, I don’t recall ever using the FA on an AR. Maybe once.
I will not tell anyone to ditch their FA, nor would I spend the time or money to delete the FA from my existing AR. Matter of fact, the rifle kit I’m waiting delivery on has an FA and I didn’t stop to think whether it had one or not when I ordered it.
Upon reflection, an FA may be something rarely, if ever, needed, but when needed, it’s needed now. Much like carrying a spare tire
I hear you brother. I would just say that as an admin procedure, you should push the fa everytime you press check using the charging handle for reasons mentioned in previous posts. Note that I am only talking about admin procedures. The fa has no place following any immediate action (IMO) as the point of ia is to get you back in the fight pronto! I know it may not seem like a big deal but it takes only a second, it’s preformed in safety, and just adds a little bit of insurance. Just my opinion.