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Fwd Assist


MarkB

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That's a long tour!

 

i kept extending my tour cause i knew if i rotated back home they'd send me back in 6 months, i was a heathen by that time and didn't want to put up with stateside Corps BS

 

 

Glad you made it back home brother lasher. <thumbsup> Operation Hasthing's by all accounts was no walk in the park.

 

Hastings was the first operation up around the DMZ, i went back to DaNang about 2 months after it ended and talked the Master Gunnery Sergeant into sending me back up to Dong Ha, spent the next almost 2 years in all those quaint little places that have bad reputations, the Rockpile, Camp Carroll, Gio Lin, the Razor Back, Quang Tri, Con Thien, Khe Sanh (only once), up and down Route 9. wasn't in the bush often. only bad thing about being sent back up was i had no command structure locally, dang near starved to death, or so it felt. had an ARVN battalion up there, they would trade their weapons for a case of C's, i had an M2 carbine for awhile, a Gunner i knew traded for a grease gun. KaBar's were worth a bottle of Jim Beam to the Air Force dudes that ran the airstrip at Dong Ha. i managed to "liberate" enough C rations to survive...but i was hungry all the time it seemed

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My dad had a chrome German helmet with a spike on top. Said he found on some Buddhist shrine. He has a picture wearing it and holding a Thompson smg at one of the FOBs. lol. He kept the helmet but said the Tommy stayed in rotation between the radio guys that lived.

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Like many you've seen to much.What many of my bro's found disturbing were the monkeys hanging,said they looked like babies.Sadly I wasn't able to join because of polio,was considered 4F.Many of my friends and family went and returned different then when they left.Coming from the southeast side of Chicago there were some of the heaviest losses of the nation.Family is all Army.Hope you enjoy a long happy health rest of you'r life brother.You saw the sites that's for sure.Even had a few guys that were LRRP's go back,said they were looking for any kids that looked like them.

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Now that we've got that out of the way...

 

 

One of the key points that I used to teach in my class about the forward assist is this... It is an "EVIL" >:D button. But to think of it as a Clint Eastwood movie... the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

If for some odd reason that you would have to use the forward assist for anything, stop for a second and think about it. Ask yourself "why am I using the forward assist?"

 

THE GOOD - In a tactical situation, and you need to at least be as quiet as possible, but right before your raid or kicking in that door, you want to do a press check on your rifle to ensure it is chambered. So instead of pulling the charging handle back and just letting it go slamming the bolt home. You use the forward assist along with holding the charging handle and quietly push the bolt back forward.

 

 

 

THE BAD - In a shooting situation, while you're banging the hell out of that trigger with your figure, and all of a sudden everything just  stops.

 

Quick, ... mag change.

 

Hit the bolt release and drive on. ... OH poop... the round didn't chamber. :o

 

Hit the forward assist get the round to chamber... continue shooting.

 

 

 

THE UGLY - In a shooting situation, while you're banging the hell out of that trigger again, with your figure, and all of a sudden everything just  stops.

 

Quick, ... mag change.

 

Hit the bolt release and drive on. ... OH poop... the round didn't chamber. :o

 

Hit the forward assist get the round to chamber...it doesn't go at first... so now you realize that your either pushing it forcible with your thumb or you're hitting the forward assist with the palm of your hand to get the round chambered.

 

It chambered  :D

 

You pull the trigger to send the next round down range ... and poop...  everything locks up. Can't pull the charging handle to extract the spent casing ... nothing.

 

So now you got to figure out how the hell do I fix this?      (your problem now, not mine... that's for another story at another time. >:()

 

 

 

So I would tell them, if for some odd reason you decide you want or need to use the forward assist...

 

     1. always use your thumb... unless you don't have one.

     2. only push on the forward assist 3 times. (any more than 3 times is bad, 3rd time is a charm type of thing)

     3. only use lite to medium pressure when pushing on the forward assist.

     4. if for some odd reason the round doesn't chamber by the 3rd try, STOP and clear the rifle.

 

 

 

 

So that's my pennies worth on the forward assist.   :ifly: 

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Old habits die hard, especially when they beat it into you

Never got beat, they constantly reminded us we were volunteers and could leave whenever we wanted....then convinced me to beat myself up and enjoy it. :banana:

It would be interesting to know just how many times I smacked the FA in basic and AIT alone.

Edited by jtallen83
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unfortunately they do still teach that.

 

 

That is why I stress it so much on what not to do when I was teaching armorer courses.

 

This is exactly why we need to pimp YOU, in teaching more armorer's courses, brother.  Exactly why.

 

I'm not gonna let this die, until we have you as a household name for All-AR armorer's training.  Let's push this.  <thumbsup>

 

Pat Raley for President!  :hethan:

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This is exactly why we need to pimp YOU, in teaching more armorer's courses, brother. Exactly why.

I'm not gonna let this die, until we have you as a household name for All-AR armorer's training. Let's push this. <thumbsup>

Pat Raley for President! :hethan:

I second the nomination, I wanna see AR Armorer's courses in every Middle/High School, nationwide by 2018, I know you can do it, brother!

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Yep there is so little I know about the actual hands on practical operating procedures of the AR 308 it is pitiful. I do know how it is supposed to work, but after the game starts things start to become completely ungirted. Most of the info I see is biased towards the sellers. I have discovered the"what ifs" happen to me often.

I have been told "If you don't know how to get there,ask the fellow that has been there"

Mr. Raley has been there.

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Evening. I carried a M-16 in Nam in 65 and again in 69-70 and our early M-16's did not have the forward assist and I never missed it.  My Ruger SR-762 does have the forward assist and I've never used it.  I look on it just like the spare tire in my Expedition, It's there and if needed it's a great idea but (knock on wood) I have so far never used it !

 

Are these the years (1965-1966) they had pencil barrels with 1-12" twist?

 

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Yep there is so little I know about the actual hands on practical operating procedures of the AR 308 it is pitiful. I do know how it is supposed to work, but after the game starts things start to become completely ungirted. Most of the info I see is biased towards the sellers. I have discovered the"what ifs" happen to me often.

I have been told "If you don't know how to get there,ask the fellow that has been there"

Mr. Raley has been there.

 

Brilliant logic indeed.

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My uncle was there from 65-66.  From some of his stories the M16 was just starting to be properly refined in 65 and he had mixed feelings about it when he as out in the field (canopy).  I think he adjusted to it by the time he rotated out in 66.

 

Watched a video on the Tet fiasco in 1968 as it occurred in Saigon and it showed one part briefly of an ARVN in a firefight in one of the districts and his barrel was literally glowing red from the bayonet lug forward.  This was filmed in broad daylight and you could see that barrel glow cherry red in the high-noon daylight.  Either he had a thinner pencil barrel or was just simply firing a lot of rounds, or both,  before the camera came on.  

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