Posted by on 10/15/2021 to
Even though the Forward Assist can be found on more ARs than not these days, it was not something that was part of Eugene Stoner’s original design. It was added at the request of the U.S. Army, due to psychological reasons rather than actual probable need. Having faith in your tools while in a life or death situation is very important, that makes sense. But does the forward assist actually do anything, or is this a kind of placebo tool, something that makes you feel better for having it, even if having it is really all it’s doing for you?
The AR-15 is one of the most beloved gun designs around today. When Eugene Stoner designed it in the late 50’s it was truly cutting edge, space-age even. He used materials that were used to make things fly, materials seen primarily in the aerospace industry, to build a rifle! It was light, durable, better in almost every conceivable way than any other assault rifle that came before it. It did not have a forward assist. According to the inventor, it did not need a forward assist. If a round did not seat correctly into the chamber, then it was probably a round that you did not want to fire in the first place. Specifically, he said, “I never saw an instance where it would have done any good.” That may be due to there being alternatives to using the forward assist, or maybe there are instances where it would do good, and he just didn’t see them.
So what is this function that the forward assist does? It mechanically pushes the Bolt Carrier Group forward, seating the current round into the chamber. So what instances could happen where this could be a good thing? There are a couple. It ensures that your round is where it needs to be, ready to be fired. Sometimes your charging handle or other gear gets caught on something, maybe puts things slightly off, in that case, you can use the forward assist to ensure that everything is as it should be. That your rifle is ready to fire with a round in the chamber. The other thing it can be good for is silently pushing the round into the chamber so that it is ready to fire. In a stealth situation, such as hunting or while in battle, you may need to load a round as silently as possible. In this case, you might pull back the charging handle and slowly allow it forward, so as to make as little noise as possible. Sometimes when you do this, the round is not fully in the chamber, and the forward assist would quietly help it along. Those seem to be the best reasons for having a forward assist.
So there are things the forward assist does, but can it be done another way? Yes, there is another way, though it may not always work. There is an indent on the Bolt Carrier Group, so with the dust cover open, your thumb or finger can push it forward. Doing this pushes the round into place. It may not be as strong and lacks mechanical advantage, but it should get that round seated into the chamber. It is just as quiet pushing forward on the BCG like that, so it is stealthy. The main issue with this is if your hands are compromised: injury, mud, gloves, you get the idea, you may not be able to do this. The forward assist can be pretty handy in these situations.
One thing that is definitely not recommended is using the forward assist to force a malfunctioning round into the chamber. When you’re not in a stealth situation, you should and probably would just cycle that problem round out. Mr. Stoner said this about it, “When you get a cartridge that won’t seat in a rifle and you deliberately drive it in, usually you are buying yourself more trouble.” So if you are having a malfunction do not use the forward assist to force the round into the chamber. Instead, first, do a visual check that the round is in there by pulling back on the charging handle. Second, you’ll want to extract that cartridge and reload it to see if the malfunction happens again. If the round is seated strangely, like a double feed or some other malfunction then you don’t really want to be firing that round anyway. If the round has trouble coming out you may have to get your hands and fingers involved. Since more room is generally more helpful than less room, the forward assist doesn’t usually help in getting these troublesome rounds out.
The forward assist is extra, it technically costs more for it to be there. Yet since it’s so common it may not be more expensive to have an upper receiver with one than without one. It adds complexity, therefore more things to break or go wrong. It also adds more weight. What’s the point of getting that super light barrel or stock and then having a forward assist negating the weight savings? The forward assist is something extra, so if you are going to have one, maybe make the most of it and get a unique plunger. One that is a different color, or has a unique look to it, making the extra something that adds to your AR.
