Quick Tip: DON'T Ride the Charging Handle!

Here's a problem new AR-15 shooters sometimes encounter: You seat a full mag in the rifle, pull the charging handle, and.... the bolt fails to go into battery. That means the bolt does not fully close, which prevents the hammer from striking the firing pin, and so the rifle won't fire. What happened? Brownells Gun Tech™ Caleb Savant explains. The problem is usually caused by "riding" the charging handle forward - keeping your hand on it and slowing down the bolt / carrier group so it doesn't close completely. When this happens, just hit the forward assist to push the bolt closed. (That's actually the forward assist's job!) To make sure the bolt goes into battery on the first try, pull that charging handle then keep your hand back when you let it go. This really applies to just about any semi-auto firearm, not just the AR-15.