Firearms Stack Exchange Archive

What is the button on the right side of an AR-15 for?

My AR-15 has a button on the right side of the upper receiver that is angled into the barrel. What is it for?

enter image description here

Answer 17

The Forward Assist can be used to make sure a round is fully seated in the chamber either after an FTF (failure to feed) or after trying to silently close the bolt.

Answer 15

If you mean the forward assist? This is from wikipedia

when hit will push the bolt carrier forward, ensuring that the bolt is locked. In order to ensure that the extractor is clipped around the rim of the shell


The forward assist is generally not necessary as a standard procedure on any weapon with the exception of the British SA-80A1 version. Having realized the frequency with which the weapon jammed when taken outside of the clean environment of the test range, the forward assist was implemented to save the operator the potential danger of aiming the rifle and pulling the trigger and the rifle not going off because the bolt is not fully forward (a safety arrangement called a "safety sear" stopping the hammer from being released and the weapon firing, because of the dangers of firing with the bolt not fully closed).

Answer 105

On most other (semi-)automatic rifles (or pistols) you have the ability to work with the bolt (carrier) directly. So you also have the posibility to push it forward, if you need to (e.g. if the bolt is not properly locked in the forward position, e.g. because of dirt or too much gunshot residue in the chamber).

On AR-15, you can pull the bolt back carrier back and let the spring push forward. However, if it gets stuck on the way forward, you’re stuck - at least you were with the first AR-15 versions that were lacking the forward assist.

Answer 107

The proper use of the forward assist is to make sure that a round is fully seated, or to get a round that didn’t chamber properly into the chamber so that you can eject it.

Make sure that you don’t use it to force a round into the chamber and then try to fire it. If a round isn’t formed well enough to load using the normal spring force, then there is something wrong with it and you should not attempt to fire it.

All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.