Allowing AR15 bolt to slam forward without a round

News to me. I used to do it all the time with M-16s and civilian ARs (still do).

I slam them all on an empty chamber. It’s so loud too. I don’t do it once, either. If I do it, which I do, and often, it’s multiple times per occasion. I even go so far as to pull the trigger on an empty chamber.

Slam! Click! Slam! Click!

The AR does not have the internal 'parts' something like a 1911 or other semiauto handgun has. Doesn't hurt a thing.

Like most military or ex-military people, I've dropped the bolt and dry fired an AR... literally... thousands of times.

You can't do a function check without it.

EIB0879 said:

You can't do a function check without it.

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Exactly. I've never had a problem. What you don't want to do is drop the hammer when the receiver is open.

I have a friend that had a slam fire dropping the BCG on a round that was single fed. I had advised him to not do it, but he assured me it wouldn’t be a problem. He found out otherwise. It was a hand load with a Federal primer which are sensitive

redneck2 said:

I have a friend that had a slam fire dropping the BCG on a round that was single fed. I had advised him to not do it, but he assured me it wouldn’t be a problem. He found out otherwise. It was a hand load with a Federal primer which are sensitive

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That would indicate there was a round in the chamber or something was wrong with the rifle. You never drop the bolt on a chambered round.

carbine85 said:

That would indicate there was a round in the chamber or something was wrong with the rifle. You never drop the bolt on a chambered round.

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Or it could be that the friend might have had a high primer on his handload that got spanked by the bolt slamming home.

Releasing the bolt on an M16 with an empty chamber is in the manual of arms for the rifle.

Don't slam the slide on a 1911 that has a custom trigger job.

The idea is you don't want to cause the engagement surfaces of a delicate trigger to batter each other.

If you want to slam the slide on a custom 1911 to test for hammer-follow, use dummy rounds.

Other than that, its a non-issue on almost all guns.

I guess it would depend on the type of steel. Carpenter 158 is used for every AR bolt im aware of. Also, the rotary motion of the bolt would take a lot of impact out of it.

Bcwitt said:

Also, the rotary motion of the bolt would take a lot of impact out of it.

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I think what bears the brunt of the BCG slamming into battery is the cam pin. Thinking about it a little bit, that would not be unlike a modern semi-auto pistol with a barrel lug and cam pin, but certainly the dynamics are quite different.

W.E.G. said:

Don't slam the slide on a 1911 that has a custom trigger job.

The idea is you don't want to cause the engagement surfaces of a delicate trigger to batter each other.

If you want to slam the slide on a custom 1911 to test for hammer-follow, use dummy rounds.

Other than that, its a non-issue on almost all guns.

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Thread drift warning: @W.E.G. , I thought the point of the hammer drop test with the 1911 was to give it the "worst case scenario". I learned you only do it on a pistol you're serious about buying, with owner consent, you only do it once, and any trigger job that won't take it was marginal to begin with. Happy to learn otherwise though.

As for letting the bolt slam home on an AR-style rifle, go for it. The only issues I've ever seen are when single-loading for slow fire at a Highpower match. If you drop the round fully in the chamber, then slam the bolt home, you definitely have an increased risk of slam fire, especially with softer primers. And this is one of those rare situations where I've actually seen it happen first hand on the firing line. Luckily it only went into the ground somewhere between the firing line and target pits. But this is why most of the ranges I ever shot matches at were very strict about a muzzle level with the targets or below when loading the rifles.

If you're doing a lot of single-shot firing through an AR-15, get a SLED. Google shows me the current #1 option is a dedicated "magazine" that's just a loading tray. You used to be able to get single-shot followers. I think I have a magazine around here somewhere set-up with one, it was a good use for mags that won't drop free from your rifle.

Jerkstore said:

AR15 style rifles

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Empty Chambers.

The M16 bolt rotates and locks in. May help slow the bolt a little. Best to not slam on empty chamber, on a reqular basis.

In fact, load ammo from the magazine of both 1911 & AR15/M16s

Do as you wish. Your choice, your firearm.

That was part of manual arms when I was in the service. Most service rifles would have had that done bunches of times.

Dropping the carrier on a live round that is down in the chamber is the only thing I am aware of not to do with an M16 type rifle. Firing pin bounces on primer. Correct way is to let it load itself from the magazine from locked back release or fully cycling by hand. It has to carry the charging handle when done by hand so a locked bolt release is prescribed after the charging handle is homed.

Rimfire may be different with the firing pin hitting the barrel end similar to dry firing one.

Charlie98 said:

The AR does not have the internal 'parts' something like a 1911 or other semiauto handgun has. Doesn't hurt a thing.

Like most military or ex-military people, I've dropped the bolt and dry fired an AR... literally... thousands of times.

Click to expand...

EIB0879 said:

You can't do a function check without it.

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100% facts right there.

Each rifle/carbine in a basic training company gets the bolt shut on an empty chamber 1,000's of times per month. I've never seen any damage done from doing so. Now pulling the trigger and letting the hammer hit the lower receiver with no upper installed is a different story.

12Bravo20 said:

100% facts right there.

Each rifle/carbine in a basic training company gets the bolt shut on an empty chamber 1,000's of times per month. I've never seen any damage done from doing so. Now pulling the trigger and letting the hammer hit the lower receiver with no upper installed is a different story.

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The M-16A1 that I was issued in BCT rattled like a spray can. It was probably left over from Vietnam. It had abused and overcleaned by numerous Trainees before me. But I never had a had a malfunction and I qualified Expert with it.

These rifles can take a lot and still get the job done.

EIB0879 said:

The M-16A1 that I was issued in BCT rattled like a spray can. It was probably left over from Vietnam. It had abused and overcleaned by numerous Trainees before me. But I never had a had a malfunction and I qualified Expert with it.

These rifles can take a lot and still get the job done.

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Same here. Fort Leonardwood was still using the M16A1 up to the summer of 1991 for basic training and AIT units. In fact I did not get issued a M16A2 until I got to Germany in Jan 1992.

Dropping the bolt on loaded rifles is standard procedure in high power rifle matches. By rule, slow fire (offhand and 600) must be single-loaded. Meaning the shooter drops a round into the chamber and lets the bolt go. I have done this thousands of times myself, but that said, I did witness a slamfire at Camp Perry once. In that instance it was a non-event since the shooter had his rifle pointed in a safe direction, but it was a good reminder that one needs to keep his wits about him when shooting.

Edit: As has already been pointed out, dropping the bolt on empty AR15 chambers does no harm. I have also done that thousands of times.

Tim