Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Forward Assist

Planning on building an "AR10" and want to keep the weight down. I've seen lots of good comments about the Xanthos receiver set that comes in at an impressive 16ish ounces but they omit the fwd assist to cut weight. Would you guys consider that a deal breaker? I don't think I've ever had to use it although I don't have as high an ammo volume of AR shooting history as I'm sure some here have.

No, I would not consider that a deal breaker.

If you need to ease the bolt forward, use your thumb in the depression on the side of the carrier to seat the bolt.

FA isn't all that useful in my experience for field conditions most of us see. Might be a different story if your in combat with a dirty weapon full of dirt and sand. Lots of commercial uppers are built without it anymore.

All depends on what you plan to do with it. I have them on all my uppers and use them from time to time. (nothing to do with bad ammo or dirty guns).

BY FAR the one I use the most is on my 6.5 Grendel that I use for hunting, having to do with loading and chamber checking quietly. I will use it several times a day.

I much prefer to have one. I could live without FA, but the deflector is a must.

I agree with cas6969: I’d say you need it more often with certain scenarios, but it’s a PITA if you DO need one and don’t have one.....and the bolt scallop ain’t enough when they really stick.

If the round is really stuck, why would I want to jam it on in to the chamber? Wouldn't it be better to eject the out of spec cartridge and clear the gun to chamber a normal in spec cartridge?

This ^^

I always tap mine after a chamber check to assure bolt is fully engaged.

I like having the FA because I may load and unload my gun quite a bit. Sometimes I also want to keep loading most down too

Other than for loading quietly before a hunt, I've never had a reason to use the FA. If a round didn't chamber fully I pull it back out, not jam it in harder.

I do have a few AR rifles set up for hunting though; on most of those I converted to reciprocating side charge handles and deleted the FA. It seems (to me) a bit easier to close the bolt quietly that way. Then again, I don't think it's ever made a difference in hunting either, so it's really just personal preference.

Yes, per proper tac training.,,,,but that’s not always the hunting reason to need one: weather, dirt, quiet, etc....it’s probably more useful on my hunting ARs than my issue M4A1....just because I often can’t slam things around to overcome a piece of grass or tree bark or mud, or just natural friction between some bolts and carriers/gas rings, when I’m hunting and I have to ease a bolt closed. Sometimes you can thumb the scallop. Sometimes you can’t. A FA comes in handy then. JME I’ve just found that HUNTING an AR often requires a different approach than the typical manual of arms from most conventional mil or LE training.

People always say that "Why would you try to jam it in harder?" I've never tried to jam one in harder, but I have had them where all they needed was a little nudge.

Get a side-charge and be done with it.

Back in the Marines in the early 80's when the 16A1's did not have a F.A., they jammed a bunch, especially in a sandy environment. Many bad mouthed it and for good reason. Also many wished for the M14's.
When the A2's came out. They had the FA and for a reason. Never had problems afterwards. Dependability became the norm. Granted, not many will use their rifle in adverse conditions, but if you have a solution that works. Why would you not want it. Find somewhere else to cut the weight.
Safe hunting.

My preferred "forward assist":

Yup. The above is the way to go, whether on the left or the right.

I’d agree....but if you don’t have a side charger, you might want a FA, and I’m talking hunting only. Until we start issuing a side charger, I don’t want the training scars.

I think the current mil spec upper is as good as it gets. FA, use it or ignore it and I don't want a side charger, the current version works just fine and I can close the dust cover to seal it off when I'm on the 4 wheeler.

I'm with you.

Ed

You must have had some old rifles.