Saga of the AR15 Forward Assist: A Solution Searching for a Problem

Worked for kyle.

One of my favorite quotes about the army: "if it ain't broke, we'll fix it until it is."

For the longest time, I had no idea it was called a “forward assist”. All of my dad’s army buddies just called it a “jam enhancer”.

Forward assist: "Is your rifle slightly jammed? Use forward assist to take that jam to the next level"!

Army: You need to do this this this and this before we can even consider adopting it Air Force: *flips through latest firearms catalog* Oh, AR15, looks nice! *fills in the mail order card*

If you enjoyed this video, smash that forward assist button...

That AR15 adoption story at the beginning reminds me of "Nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution"

As a kid I always wondered what that odd looking button was on the AR-15/M-16. Now, as an adult having qualified countless times on the M-16 in the military and owning a couple of AR-15s, I still wonder what that odd looking button is good for.

Lol I love Stoner's response. "I dunno, I choose neither. There's no point." "Okay but you have to choose one." "Fine, the Springfield one since it'll be easier to undo." Haha I love that.

Clearly that is the sniper button, for when you want to make extra-precise shots.

10:05 I love Stoner's answer. "I'd choose the Springfield solution, I guess." "Its because it's the best, mr. Stoner?" "No, it's terrible. All of them are terrible. But this one is the easiest to fix once you realise how terrible it is."

We're all talking about the forward assist. Let's all take a moment to appreciate that the Army stopped there, and didn't want the charging handle to reciprocate

And by Counter-Strike logic, pulling on it chambers a round...

Ian is one of those rare persons who has actually read all the books behind him.

When I was in basic training and doing rifle qualifications, we were told by our drill sergeant that if we got a bolt-override condition, to slam the forward assist and jam it in there good and hard, so it couldn't be cleared. That way, we didn't lose time on the qualifications trying to clear it; since we could report it as an unrecoverable malfunction and restart the test with a different rifle; which helped guarantee we would get a higher score. Yeah, our DS was... interesting.

I just came across this video about the bolt assist on the M-16. I'll speculate that anyone who says it "isn't/wasn't necessary" never spent any time in the field in Vietnam. I did two combat tours there, and used both the version without the bolt assist and subsequently the newer version with the assist. I'll bet anyone who experienced both versions in field conditions would surely opt for the assist. Without going into long details there were also problems with the earlier, non-assisted versions concerning the metallurgy and tolerances on the chambers. After these rifles were dunked in a muddy stream or rice paddy, there was often enough grit in the chamber to prevent the next round from seating with only the pressure of the recoil spring. That's where the later bolt assist came in handy. Regarding the comment that once the bolt was forced closed, the spent case occasionally wouldn't eject. That was true. The grunt's solution was to tape a cleaning rod to the forestock with 100 mph tape. When the failure to extract occurred the soldier pulled off the cleaning rod and jammed it down the muzzle to force the shell casing and the bolt by brute force to the rear (Like ram rods for old muzzle-loaders). It might also be worth noting that a difference between the Air Force and the Army was that the Air Force were using the rifles for security police guards at SAC Bases where no crawling through mud and swamps was required. It's not hard to imagine why, in those circumstances, the Air Force didn't find the bolt assist useful.

USAF: don’t need it USN: sure why not USMC: sure why not US army: REEEEEE NEED BUTTON TO PUSH BOLT

I was Air Force trained on this weapon. My instructor basically said "You have to know that thing is called a forward assist for purposes of training. If you have to use it, you are now considered to be in evade and survive mode."

Army - "one time purchase..." decades later

In the Marines in combat with the M16-A2, a couple light taps on the forward assist after loading a new magazine gave me extra confidence. Knowing that when my life was on the line, and I needed to pull the trigger, the weapon would go bang. Whether or not this was based in reality, or strictly psychological really doesn't matter. That extra dose of confidence is huge in combat, and I personally think the Army made the correct decision. Believe me, I do not utter those words very often.