With a few exceptions, Air Force personnel don't use rifles very much. So they wouldn't normally have any use for a forward assist. But if someone were to find themselves in a protracted fire-fight and not have the opportunity to clean their rifle after firing 8 or 9 hundred rounds, it could come in handy. I regularly run my "fun gun" all day long putting 8 to 12 hundred rounds through it. Eventually I get to the point where I need the FA to seat a round. Then I either stop to clean it or break out another rig. So I can appreciate how a grunt might find it needful.
I'm of mixed feelings about it. It's not that difficult to grab a round, put the tip in the notch on the carrier and push forward, hard if need be. May or may not be quite as much leverage as FA but it works.
And you can load silently with your thumb in the notch as well so not really buying that as the advantage.
I guess it makes sense for a little bump to maybe help clear some grit so it operates properly after that simple action, but if it needs force consistently then obviously there's a real problem going on that needs addressing. AT BEST you have a single shot rifle at that point.
I get the point of the FA addition and POSSIBLY even seen a bit of advantage but the same actions can more or less be accomplished without it.
I carried various versions of the M16 from 1972 to 1975 and 1986 to 2003. Always fired expert, never failed. I shot more blank rounds than I could count. Those were horrible and never worked right so I eliminate that from the problem list for the M16 platform. I never needed a FA with 5.56, ever, in training, at the range or in combat. Period. I rest my case. BTW, I was a Combat Infantryman (L).
With a few exceptions, Air Force personnel don't use rifles very much. So they wouldn't normally have any use for a forward assist. But if someone were to find themselves in a protracted fire-fight and not have the opportunity to clean their rifle after firing 8 or 9 hundred rounds, it could come in handy. I regularly run my "fun gun" all day long putting 8 to 12 hundred rounds through it. Eventually I get to the point where I need the FA to seat a round. Then I either stop to clean it or break out another rig. So I can appreciate how a grunt might find it needful.
ReplyDeleteI'm of mixed feelings about it. It's not that difficult to grab a round, put the tip in the notch on the carrier and push forward, hard if need be. May or may not be quite as much leverage as FA but it works.
ReplyDeleteAnd you can load silently with your thumb in the notch as well so not really buying that as the advantage.
I guess it makes sense for a little bump to maybe help clear some grit so it operates properly after that simple action, but if it needs force consistently then obviously there's a real problem going on that needs addressing. AT BEST you have a single shot rifle at that point.
I get the point of the FA addition and POSSIBLY even seen a bit of advantage but the same actions can more or less be accomplished without it.
I carried various versions of the M16 from 1972 to 1975 and 1986 to 2003. Always fired expert, never failed. I shot more blank rounds than I could count. Those were horrible and never worked right so I eliminate that from the problem list for the M16 platform. I never needed a FA with 5.56, ever, in training, at the range or in combat. Period.
ReplyDeleteI rest my case. BTW, I was a Combat Infantryman (L).
Gringott, same here. M16, A1 and A2, 1966-67, 1978-1990. Only problems were with blanks. Never used the forward assist.
DeleteWould've skipped the FA on my build, but wasn't going to pay significantly more fore leaving the thing off. So I'm stuck with it.
ReplyDelete