Forward assist delete. Good/bad?

[BluntForceTrauma]

I'm a minimalist, and don't like unnecessary clutter. My last two uppers had neither the FA nor the dust cover door. But I miss the dust cover, so I'll get that on future builds, but I still won't get a FA.

[AZBackcountry]

The forward assist allows for quiet chambering a round while hunting after brain farting and forgetting to at the truck. The other thing I find the forward assist is a nice thumb rest when carrying my ARs laying on my left arm with the barrel facing left.

The dust cover is an absolute must on a hunting rig. At the range, who cares about the cover.

[Timmy2Knives]

Still not getting what FA does that can't simply be done with a finger on the carrier. You *can* quietly chamber a round without FA. Am I missing something?

As for a dust cover on a hunting rifle, WHY? None of my other (non-armalite pattern) hunting rifles has ever had anything covering the action. Bolt guns, lever actions, and semi-auto hunting rifles of many makes and calibers- no dust covers of any kind. And no one complains either!

What do you guys do? Drag your rifles behind you on the ground while you hike in? I don't get it. In a war zone like the sand box or jungle, absolutely! But let's be real guys. That's not what this thread is about.

[Jk2paintworx]

I ordered a 2A Armament Balios upper without a fwd assist or a dust cover. Her how I made my decision. I have another ar that has both features and don't use either. It was comforting knowing that I had them but when it's comes right down to it I'm not sure why. Shooting supressed makes my action dirty fairly quickly and When my action needs cleaned it has a hard time chambeing a round unless I really let the charging handle fly. I don't like to do this when chambeing at the truck on the way to a coyote stand so I usually let it go from about half way back and this gets things close. From there I just pull back slightly and let it go again and it takes it home. If not I just push the carrier with my finger as Timmy mentioned.
As far as a dust cover goes I guess I just don't ever think about it. I often hunt in dust, snow.... And it's never been a issue since I usually have the rifle in my hands and not on the ground.

[Klem]

Still not getting what FA does that can't simply be done with a finger on the carrier. You *can* quietly chamber a round without FA. Am I missing something?

As for a dust cover on a hunting rifle, WHY? None of my other (non-armalite pattern) hunting rifles has ever had anything covering the action. Bolt guns, lever actions, and semi-auto hunting rifles of many makes and calibers- no dust covers of any kind. And no one complains either!

What do you guys do? Drag your rifles behind you on the ground while you hike in? I don't get it. In a war zone like the sand box or jungle, absolutely! But let's be real guys. That's not what this thread is about.

Timmy,
If you are convinced these thing are surplus to requirements then by all means get rid of them. One option is to remove the dust cover and the pin holding the thumb device on a normal upper. That'll save most of the weight you are concerned about. I challenge you though to get a mate to hand you the same gun with and without those parts (just tape them to the side to save time) while you are blindfolded and test if you can tell which one is lighter. If you can't then that'll be your conundrum for the day.

I think it is called Weber's Law. 'As the size of the stimulus increases, our ability to detect differences in it decreases', or something like that. The stimulus in this case is the weight of the whole gun, and the differences is with, and without the dust cover and FA. The heavier your gun, the less likely you will notice small changes in weight like those two items.

I sometimes work the action slightly when a round is up the spout. Not enough to eject but just to check that everything is working and not gummed up. Then finish off with thumb on FA for peace of mind (left handed). Especially after rain or water crossing. I don't spend days out in the weeds anymore so I guess it's more habit than necessary. I've loaded a few rounds quietly with the FA over the years, but not many. I think the dust cover is a good bit of kit. It keeps the right hand side fully camouflaged if you've painted it. And... it keeps the dust out.

[Kswhitetails]

Timmy,
If you are convinced these thing are surplus to requirements then by all means get rid of them. One option is to remove the dust cover and the pin holding the thumb device on a normal upper. That'll save most of the weight you are concerned about. I challenge you though to get a mate to hand you the same gun with and without those parts (just tape them to the side to save time) while you are blindfolded and test if you can tell which one is lighter. If you can't then that'll be your conundrum for the day.

I think it is called Weber's Law. 'As the size of the stimulus increases, our ability to detect differences in it decreases', or something like that. The stimulus in this case is the weight of the whole gun, and the differences is with, and without the dust cover and FA. The heavier your gun, the less likely you will notice small changes in weight like those two items.

I sometimes work the action slightly when a round is up the spout. Not enough to eject but just to check that everything is working and not gummed up. Then finish off with thumb on FA for peace of mind (left handed). Especially after rain or water crossing. I don't spend days out in the weeds anymore so I guess it's more habit than necessary. I've loaded a few rounds quietly with the FA over the years, but not many. I think the dust cover is a good bit of kit. It keeps the right hand side fully camouflaged if you've painted it. And... it keeps the dust out.

I'd go run around in the weeds with you anytime, Klem. I'd watch you slowly get farther and farther away until I was alone and scared. But I am sure that without a doubt I would learn a thing or two.