Before I get into my question let me give some background information. I am a member of the military; I have been to a couple week long shooting courses so I’m not a complete noob at this. Yes, I know SPORTS is immediate action for a malfunction and I teach it to my soldiers because the army tells me to, but I do realize it is out dated.
So I recently purchased a M&P 15 Sport, as most of us know this is a introduction rifle into the AR15 platform and it does not have a forward assist (Please note this is not a buyer’s remorse thread). While doing some research before I made my purchase I found this article http://www.defensereview.com/m4m4a1-...yre-our-fault/ by Mike Pannone. In the article the author states that he found replacing a few basic parts greatly increase the reliability of the M4.
My question is, would make the prescribed upgrades of the heavier buffer, super duty buffer spring, five coil extractor spring, and o-ring mitigate(not necessarily eliminate) the lack of forward assist? Additionally, does the use of a forward assist only address the symptom of a bolt not closing in the case of a malfunction, and not address the root cause? A forward assist seems to only power jam the problem. I do understand the lack of a forward assist would make it more difficult to quietly close the bolt, but this is a non-issue for me. Please do not turn this into a xyz model of AR15 are crap, go spend more money on a expensive gun discussion.