Why No Forward Assist?

[HRider]

I have only really had one occasion where the forward assist would have solved the problem. I didn't use it, never entered my mind. It was at the start of a stage, I dropped the bolt on a full magazine, stood ready and when the buzzer went off, my rifle went "click", I immediately pulled the charging handle only to have another round jam into the one still in the chamber! Of course the second round was still under the feed lip of the magazine. I had to lock the bolt open, snatch the magazine out, slam the bolt forward (if I had been thinking clear at this point, I could have just inserted another mag and been done) clear the unfired round from the chamber, quickly look in the chamber, insert another mag, charge the rifle and THEN start shooting.

Somehow, the bolt was not fully into battery and the extractor was not over the rim of the cartridge in the chamber when I pulled the trigger. I thought that I had a misfire so I started to recharge, what a mess. I have never experienced this situation before or since. However, when I charge a rifle that has forward assist (I have some rifles with and some without), I will tap it a couple of times just for good measure before I say I am ready.

Hurley

[RobMoore]

Maybe it was different when I was in, but I remember SPORTS being a Remedial action. The forward assist didn't come into play in Immediate action (Tap Rack Bang), so the Remedial action was Seek cover, Pull the charging handle to the rear, Observe the spent round and chamber, Release the charging handle, Tap the forward assist, shoot). The first S being "slap the magazine" was redundant in a remedial exercise since you'd just did that and it didn't work. Seek cover was used because this remedial action was going to take longer than a the more simple tap-rack that works the majority of the time.