What should my process be when firing an AR-15?

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bos19

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I feel dumb for asking this. I am a relatively new AR-15 owner and was told not to pull the charging handle back every time I want to chamber a round, but to hit the bolt catch instead after attaching the magazine. What I was doing before I was corrected was attach the magazine, pull back the charging handle, and turn the safety off. I basically wasn't hitting the bolt catch at any point. I'm more confused than ever because I've seen different opinions on this.
 
I feel dumb for asking this. I am a relatively new AR-15 owner and was told not to pull the charging handle back every time I want to chamber a round, but to hit the bolt catch instead after attaching the magazine. What I was doing before I was corrected was attach the magazine, pull back the charging handle, and turn the safety off. I basically wasn't hitting the bolt catch at any point. I'm more confused than ever because I've seen different opinions on this.
What you were doing isn't wrong... Just more work than necessary.
 
While there is nothing technically wrong with using the charging handle, using the bolt release is much faster, easier, ergonomic, and eliminates the possibility of a cartridge misfeed caused by a “soft” release of the bolt. Loading a cartridge from a locked back bolt is best achieved with the bolt release. It’s really analogous to using the slide release on a semiautomatic pistols versus pulling the slide back to release the slide after loading a fresh magazine.
 
One of the problems of using the changing handle to chamber a round is the tendency to ride the charging handle while the round is chamfering. Riding the handle reduces to "speed" the round chambers so that it may not completely go into battery.

Using the bolt release to chamber a round would eliminate that problem.

I'd recommend using the bolt release to chamber a round from a "new" magazine​
 
While there is nothing technically wrong with using the charging handle, using the bolt release is much faster, easier, ergonomic, and eliminates the possibility of a cartridge misfeed caused by a “soft” release of the bolt. Loading a cartridge from a locked back bolt is best achieved with the bolt release. It’s really analogous to using the slide release on a semiautomatic pistols versus pulling the slide back to release the slide after loading a fresh magazine.

What should my process be from when I am getting the gun ready to firing the gun? Should I not be using the charging handle at all? What's confusing to me is a lot of people don't seem to agree on this.
 
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If its the first mag and/or the bolt is forward, then insert the mag, pull back the CH and let it go.

If the bolt is locked back, as it would be when you empty a mag- then just insert a new mag and hit the bolt release.

I think this is the way it was intended to go. You can do things differently and still get to the same place, nothing wrong with that.
 
Field strip first, clean, remove factory oil, put back together, after you’ve oiled all moving metal parts.
Shoot the helluva out of it.

Clean, repeat.

Enjoy
 
Uncle Sam taught me that when the other guy is trying to die for his country, you want your M16 out of commission for as little time as possible - live round in chamber at all times when in the bush, if not then charging handle on first round/ mag only, bolt release after that until the cease fire command is given (ammo cost is not a consideration).
 
I used the charging handle all the time in NRA Highpower competition, when going from standing to sitting and prone rapid fire. The rules have been changed, now you are sitting or prone when the targets come up, but it used to be you went from standing to sitting/prone and shot your rapid fire rounds. And I preferred not rolling the rifle around, or trying to reach over the upper to reach the bolt release and getting my shooting coat sleeve caught on the match sights. Grabbing the charging handle was simple and positive.

I don't understand or agree with any orthodoxy about the bolt release versus the charging handle. It is kind of like eating. I have been criticized many times by friends about my eating habits. I will eat, for example, all the meat, then go after the corn, finish that, then eat all the carrots then finish the potato. They claim to have a superior eating process, as they mix their meat, corn and carrots on the plate and eat their swill that way. In fact, they feel this is the only way to eat your food, mix it up on the plate, ladle it in their mouths. But you know, it all goes down the gullet and we all crap it out the back end. And I seem to be alive and well and therefore, I conclude, there are alternative procedures to eat your food.

Humans are so easily pressured into group thinks, we do whatever the group thinks or does. I heard a Psychologist claim that humans are lemmings, we just follow the group over the cliff into the waters. And she was right, humans have demonstrated time and again, they will drink the Kool Aid because everyone else is guzzling the poison. Well, the hell with that. Millions walked into gas chambers because the guy up front lead the group in that direction. You know, you have to learn for yourself that conventional wisdom is bunk. You have to decide for yourself what works for you and the hell with those who demand conformance to some strange group norm. If pulling the charging handle gets the round in the chamber, and the gun goes bang, then it works. The hell with those who insistent the only way to load is by hitting the bolt release. Do it the way you want to do it.
 
Lighten up Francis.

I used the charging handle all the time in NRA Highpower competition, when going from standing to sitting and prone rapid fire. The rules have been changed, now you are sitting or prone when the targets come up, but it used to be you went from standing to sitting/prone and shot your rapid fire rounds. And I preferred not rolling the rifle around, or trying to reach over the upper to reach the bolt release and getting my shooting coat sleeve caught on the match sights. Grabbing the charging handle was simple and positive.

I don't understand or agree with any orthodoxy about the bolt release versus the charging handle. It is kind of like eating. I have been criticized many times by friends about my eating habits. I will eat, for example, all the meat, then go after the corn, finish that, then eat all the carrots then finish the potato. They claim to have a superior eating process, as they mix their meat, corn and carrots on the plate and eat their swill that way. In fact, they feel this is the only way to eat your food, mix it up on the plate, ladle it in their mouths. But you know, it all goes down the gullet and we all crap it out the back end. And I seem to be alive and well and therefore, I conclude, there are alternative procedures to eat your food.

Humans are so easily pressured into group thinks, we do whatever the group thinks or does. I heard a Psychologist claim that humans are lemmings, we just follow the group over the cliff into the waters. And she was right, humans have demonstrated time and again, they will drink the Kool Aid because everyone else is guzzling the poison. Well, the hell with that. Millions walked into gas chambers because the guy up front lead the group in that direction. You know, you have to learn for yourself that conventional wisdom is bunk. You have to decide for yourself what works for you and the hell with those who demand conformance to some strange group norm. If pulling the charging handle gets the round in the chamber, and the gun goes bang, then it works. The hell with those who insistent the only way to load is by hitting the bolt release. Do it the way you want to do it.
 
SLAMFIRE said:
"Humans are so easily pressured into group thinks, we do whatever the group thinks or does."
Charitably called the Road to Abilene when I'm in a good mood. (Bleating Sheeple when I'm not)

bos19, Don't worry about it.
Pull & release of the charging handle is just fine. :thumbup:


.
 
depends on what hands shoving the mag in for me.
if im swapping mags with my left than it's easier to wack the bolt release.
If im pulling a mag from my right hip pocket, which is where I usually keep loaded mags when I'm humting, I'll slap it in and snap the charging handle back.
I've never been in combat and have had no training, but that's just what feels right to me. Ive always had right side reciprocating charging handles on my semis, and I still prefer them on my ARs, so that's probably part of why I do it like that.
 
I like to say its hard to argue with results....if it works, it works, matter what "everyone else says"

The flipside is that just because it works doesnt make it the best, or most efficient way, still, in the end, if it works it works.
 
As has been mentioned by others, there are often many ways to safely and easily to achieve a positive result. I’m talking about the way I’ve been trained, the way I’ve seen many other trained, and what works for me.

The objective here is to load a cartridge into the chamber, and despite who agrees or disagrees on what method, it really isn’t rocket science so until you get to the point you’re in combat or competition and milliseconds count, don't over-think it. You will be potentially doing this from 2 different conditions. The first condition is from a closed bolt (bolt carrier forward). The second potential condition is open bolt (bolt carrier to the rear, and locked back). Some people prefer to always load from an open bolt, so they will manually lock back the bolt prior to loading.

It makes little difference if you decided to load from an open bolt or a closed bolt. The biggest reasons to load from an open bolt are 1. A positive magazine lock is more easily achieved when magazine spring doesn’t encounter resistance when the top cartridge presses against the bottom of the bolt carrier; 2. You reduce the risk of a misfeed from a “soft” release of the bolt handle; 3. When the bolt has been locked back automatically from an empty magazine 4. It’s easier to inspect the chamber. When reloading, you will almost always load from an open bolt since and empty magazine will activate the bolt catch. Occasionally the bolt carrier will not lock back, in which case you will reload from a closed bolt unless you decide to manually open the bolt prior to reloading. There is no right or wrong if you load from open or closed bolt but I, like many, prefer to load from an open bolt. For me this is primarily because it makes visual and manual inspection of the chamber much easier. To safely inspect the chamber prior to loading you need to cycle the charging handle anyway, and with less than a second you can manually lock the bolt back which will allow you to manually inspect the chamber with less worry of closing the bolt on your finger. This in turn will give you some of the other aforementioned benefits of loading from an open bolt.

To load from a closed bolt:

0. Verify your firearm is pointed in a safe direction, your strong hand (your right hand if shooting right handed) is on the pistol grip, and your finger is stabilized outside of the trigger guard
1. With the magazine removed, fully pull back the charging handle and slightly roll the firearm slightly towards your support side so you can inspect the chamber to ensure it is unloaded (this is when an open bolt fan would manually lock the bolt carrier back, if you want to load from a closed bolt you will release the charging handle to close the bolt)
2. While maintaining your grip, use the thumb of your strong hand to flip the selector to “safe”
3. Leave your strong hand on the pistol grip to hold the firearm and tuck the butt under your right armpit to stabilize it
4. Use your support hand (if you’re shooting right handed this will be your left hand) to retrieve and insert the magazine.
5. Once inserted you use the palm of your support hand to tap upward on the magazine to ensure a positive lock into the magazine catch (loading a magazine into a closed bolt will often require a little of extra force to overcome the magazine spring pressure to fully lock into the catch)
6. Use the support hand to tug on the magazine as if removing the magazine to verify it is locked in
7. Use your support hand to pull back the charging handle all the way and then release to load the first round into the chamber
8. Your firearm is now loaded

To load from an open bolt:

0. Verify your firearm is pointed in a safe direction, your strong hand (your right hand if shooting right handed) is on the pistol grip, your finger is stabilized outside of the trigger guard
1. While maintaining your grip, use the thumb of your strong hand to flip the selector to “safe”
2. Manually and visually inspect the chamber to ensure it is unloaded
3. Leave your strong hand on the pistol grip to hold the firearm and tuck the butt under your right armpit to stabilize it
4. Use your support hand (if you’re shooting right handed this will be your left hand) to retrieve and insert the magazine.
5. Use the support hand to tug on the magazine as if removing the magazine to verify it is locked in
6. Use the palm or thumb of your support hand to press the bolt release to release the bolt carrier and load the first round into the chamber
8. Your firearm is now loaded

There are all sorts of tactical operations you can do in this process to verify a cartridge has been loaded, maintain eyes down range, etc. but these are the basics.

What should my process be from when I am getting the gun ready to firing the gun? Should I not be using the charging handle at all? What's confusing to me is a lot of people don't seem to agree on this.
 
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I've always just pulled the charging handle back and released it. It's always worked fine and I haven't bent or broken anything and don't ride the bolt down. It may not be the "correct" way to do it but it works fine for me. I'm not much of a herd follower.
 
And I have a side charger, which makes it easier not to "ride" it down. But on my rear handled ones I never thought about using the handle. For the experience I'll have to try it. Seems awkward and ungangly though.
 
My Infantry unit was taught to ALWAYS load with the bolt locked back, the charging handle locked forward, and ALWAYS used the bolt release.

This meant our bolt never had an unnessary passenger in the form of the Charging handle clattering down its cutout to slow the travel of the bolt.

This greatly aided in preventing failure to go into battery and the then necessary use of the (some now claim useless) Forward Assist or wasting even more time attempting to clear the un chambered round and load another, finding that the extractor had not yet engaged the cartridge rim and, especially in the prone, the cartridge then not ejecting and a second round being forced from the magazine and shoved into the first in the classic "Double feed"

Thus many folks that learned it that way (many the hard way) and folks they talked too insisting you ALWAYS load from the bolt locked back, CH locked forward, using the bolt release.

Time does march on and the problems (some who weren't around then claim imaginary problems) of the early life of the AR15 as the M16 XM16 E1 and M16A1 seem to have fallen to the way side.

If you want to use your charging handle on the range, Go for it. The 43rd Mongol Horde is not likely to be shooting at you on the range. If a rare now a days stoppage occurs you have all the time you need to safely reduce it.

Don't sweat it. DO whatever blows your skirts up, or whatever is required at the event you may be attending

-kBob
 
If you load a full mag with the bolt forward then give the mag a good pull downward to make sure it’s locked in. Locks in easily with bolt back. Some scenarios require bolt closed on empty chamber with full mag locked in.
 
Don't worry about it. Either way is fine.

Learn to pull the charging handle and then just let it fly forward with the bolt. Or use the bolt release. It doesn't matter. Neither is 'wrong'.

The biggest mistake that new AR-15 owners make is not using enough lube. Keep a decent amount of lube in there and you will be fine. It shouldn't be dripping out, but it shouldn't be dry either.

Some magazines can fit 31 rounds if you press them in. This is bad, as it makes it impossible to seat the mag on a closed bolt. I have seen it happen to seasoned people who should have known better. Make sure you only load 30 in your 30rd magazines.

You don't need to white glove clean an AR every time you shoot it. A simple wipe down and relube is fine. More often then not, I just add some lube. White glove cleaning is a waste of time. You don't clean your car's engine when you change the oil. You just change the oil. Detail cleaning is worthwhile after every 2 or 3 thousand rounds to look for parts wear and to see if you need to change springs.

Gas rings wear out. Extractor springs wear out. Eventually... a bolt will wear out. (10k-20k rounds) These rifles are made for hard use.

Enjoy your new rifle!
 
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