Closing AR-15 bolt _without_ using forward assist?

[sully]

Does anyone know why the dust cover door doesn't close after every shot?

The dust cover is designed to be manually closed. Once bolt carrier assembly movement starts rearward or forward the milled out concave area of the bolt carrier pushes against the dust cover detent base and forces it open. The dust cover is spring loaded to push itself open and keep the dust cover out of the way during firing. If it were spring loaded to keep closed then there would be ejection port issues as the dust cover would be in the way and probably not able to open itself up under the speed of the firing cycle.

Stay Safe & CY6,
Greg Sullivan "Sully"
Chief Instructor
http://www.SLR15.com
http://www.TheDefensiveEdge.com

 

[lcarr]

Chamber Checking an AR

The one convenience of the fwd.ast. is when you want to crack the action to check for brass. The ast. makes it easy to lock up the bolt without ejecting the round you verified and sending the bolt home again.

The procedure taught by Louis Awerbuck for the AR is, before loading, check which side the top round of the magazine is on, preferably by touch. Attempt to chamber a round. Pull the magazine and ensure that the round now on top is on the opposite side. If so, you know a round was chambered.

Lincoln R. Carr
[email protected]