forward assist

[liqrdrms]

i ve been pricing ARs. i like the S&W M&P 15. the only thing i dont like is the lack of a forward assist. 99% of my experience is with m16a2 that had been issued to probably hundreds or thousands of others before me. i had to use it on the FA on several occasions but im not sure if it was due to the beat up rifle or beat up mags. im not planing on using it in a combat scenario but im atill iffy on having an AR without 1. am i just being paranoid or what?

 

[OcelotZ3]

I've got a Colt SP1 without it and never missed it.

The S&W has a dished area on the bolt for using as a forward assist if you really want to help push the bolt forward. My feeling is that this is a bit safer because I've seen people push/beat on their FA's, which is a bad idea given that there is a REASON that the round isn't seating...

 

[savanahsdad]

I have never need to use my forward assist , on my 25 wssm , maybe because it has a bigger (heaver) bolt slaming forward , so I see no need for it (so far)

 

[cyclopsshooter]

Never really needed mine either

 

[leadcounsel]

Only needed mine occassionally... and mainly only with steel shells or a filthy rifle.

Suppose you could just extract the round and ensure the bolt has enough momentum going forward to chamber the next round...

 

[Quentin]

M&P-15s other than the Sport do have a forward assist and ejection port cover. You might want to keep looking if that bothers you. Definitely look at PSA as mentioned before for a good low cost AR.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Only used ine 2x.. and in the first 100 rounds or so at that.

 

[10-96]

I guess I'm kinda funny that way. I've never used mine out here in the civilian world (I don't think), but to me, it just looks like something ought to be there. I mean, I don't think I'd ever use it as was said above- there's not much point in compounding a problem if a ctg wont feed when I have all the time in the world to try to figger out what happened that it wouldn't chamber. But I still perfer for my AR's to have a forward assist as long as I have the option.

 

[meanmrmustard]

Never needed it, never wanted it. Just something else that could break. Most folks that have them don't know how to use them properly, beating the damned thing like they were mad at it (mall ninja at the range). No thank you.

On another note, you'll enjoy the Sport, no FA and all.

 

[jmr40]

Not needed often, not much more expensive to buy a gun with the feature. I believe in being ready for "worst case" situations so I'd pay a bit more for it.

The only time I've ever needed it was when loading the 1st round from a fully loaded magazine. That 1st round can be hard to load. Never had a problem with mags downloaded by 1 or 2 rounds.

 

[Sky]

No dust cover would bother me more as a hunter; but that is just me.

 

[mdauben]

None of my other guns have either feature, so I don't miss them on my Sport.

 

[adelbridge]

I have one on my hunting AR and it is nice because I prefer not to slam the bolt shut. I ride the charging handle to keep field reloads quiet. I finish the reload with the forward assist. I have heard of guys using their thumbs to push bolt the last half inch as well.