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Yes. There will be a day when your bolt looks like it is covered in some nasty grimy sludge and you won't be at the range. The weapon will fire normally until you reload and try as you might the bolt will not go home, 9 rounds later it happens again, tap, rack, ef, rack, ef, forward assist, bang. Problem never returns and never determined.
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I don't have the downrange round counts of many on this site, but I have shot thousands. The only time I've even touched the F/A was when a less than properly resized handload, by me, that would not go into the chamber. Hitting the F/A didn't solve the problem. I do lick my lips before firing a string of shots however.
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RO'ing 3-gun matches has made a forward assist believer out of me.
I wish I had $1 for every slick-sided AR that had problems chambering a round that a quick forward-assist bump would have fixed.
But instead of a 2 second f-a bump, the shooter ends up racking 1 or 2 rounds out on the ground or having to remove the magazine and start over. It just gets worse the hotter and dirtier the guns get.
I'll take a forward-assist everytime.
The dust cover is mandatory where I live. My "truck gun" AR rides on the seat next to me in and by the end of the day is covered in fine silt.
It's even worse when it rides on the rack in the Rhino. Southeast New Mexico, far west Texas desert silt is some ugly stuff that will coat the BCG in a heartbeat and cause cycling issues, no matter how well lubed you are.
It's no big deal to do a magazine tug, press check, forward-assist bump and close the dust cover when loading up. It's a quick easy routine that will help prevent a lot of problems.
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I think a lot of competition shooters focus more on "softest shooting" rather than reliable function, a forward assist doesn't fix that.
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This is on initial load and make ready and reloads, not during strings of fire.
A forward-assist most definitely makes a difference in bumping a slightly out of battery due to crud or stiff mag springs bcg into battery.
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Lighter springs and/or carriers will have a harder time stripping a round.
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Hw often do you USE the airbags in your car? Wouldnt you rather them be there in case you need them?
They save lives.
Thats what the FA did. Just because you dont use it dont mean you should get rid of it.