Does one REALLY need a dust cover and forward assist?

[voodoo_man]

Forward assist? For press checks.

Dust cover? Close it when not firing so it keeps running.

[breakingtime91]

both are a need in my book. One keeps shit out, which to me is important and don't see a reason why you wouldn't have one... The other insures that the gun is absolutely, no doubt in battery. No question, I want them.

[GJM]

As pointed out previously, the dust cover is mandatory for a Pat Rogers class. Here is a good secondary use:

[SecondsCount]

I rarely use a forward assist but out here in the West, chasing things in the high desert, the dust cover definitely gets used.

[ReverendMeat]

I use the forward assist.

Dust cover, I just like for the aesthetics.

[Chuck Haggard]

IMHO the forward assist has never been needed and just adds a snag point to the gun.

The dust cover was something that I thought mandatory, now I am not so sure after testing my S&W Sport for quite awhile.

Throwing dirt, sand, gravel right onto the BCG through the no dust cover ejection port and then shooting the gun, and doing so multiple times, yields zero issues noted so far.

[Hambo]

I could live without them on some oddball caliber varmint AR that was always clean.

Training and OCD might cause me to freak out if they weren't on a duty rifle.

[Cookie Monster]

I don't know much about AR's and less about their parts. My Thunder Ranch edition rifles don't have forward assists, Clint Smith has thought about AR's a time or two.

[breakingtime91]

I don't know much about AR's and less about their parts. My Thunder Ranch edition rifles don't have forward assists, Clint Smith has thought about AR's a time or two.

I have no doubt he has. I really respect clint smith but disagree on this. I found the forward assist to be really useful after press checking at night to double check that the gun was in battery. It also helps put the gun in battery when you have fine dirt/crud in the lugs. My opinion is based off using the rifle in a different country so I could see the argument that you may not need these features. Interesting thread.

[DacoRoman]

I like the FBA for ensuring the bolt being in battery after the press check, and I like closing the dust cover at the end of the loading sequence signifying the weapon is now charged and chambered.