Bolt carriers and silent loading

S

steve garrett

Well-known member
The biggest draw back of an ar 15 for me is I hate the noise it makes getting a round loaded into the chamber. The bolt needs to slam home so that it goes all the way into battery. What I have been doing is cracking a window a couple inches and sticking the barrel out the window to rack a round in the chamber. When I pull up to a stand. I am wondering if there is any other suggestions on this. Would a coated bolt carrier help at all?
 
no for coated bolt carrier will make it clean easier but to not make noise when loading you need to slowly let the charging handle in and then just bump the bolt carrier the rest of the way with a forward assist.
 
Last edited:
Yup, no need to slam it into battery. Move the charging handle like you would a regular bolt, it's just a small click when you push it into battery with the foreword assist. Wrapping a coat/blanket/etc around it when you do it will make it even quieter. If you're running a slick side rig...
 
I will probably draw a ton of heat for saying this but I keep mine loaded. I simply don't pull the trigger in the truck. Been carrying a Glock a long time and even without a safety I have all my feet, legs, fingers, toes and reproductive organs. Don't really see a reason to change.
 
big diff between how a glock works and how an AR works.

A glock is striker fired and rides around half cocked & unlocked. It requires something to depress the trigger safety to allow the trigger to move back, completing the cocking and releasing the striker to fire.

An AR has a floating, unlocked firing pin riding on top of a live round. Using the safety doesn't change that.

If you're going to ride around with a loaded AR-and lots of us do, self often included- it's best to do so with full understanding of the risk involved.

As others have described, if the AR has a bolt assist you can use that to load the first round quietly. A slick side lacks this ability.
 
You can load a slickside quietly using the recess in side of bolt carrier as a leverage point to push carrier forward with thumb. Actually, pushing bolt into battery with your thumb in this recess is less of a problem than getting the bolt to strip that first round out of magazine gently. Most of the time I have to bump the round a few times to break that first round out of mag. I could, of course, drop a single round in the chamber before seating a magazine.
smile.gif


Regards,
hm
 
Originally Posted By: R15 PredatorI will probably draw a ton of heat for saying this but I keep mine loaded. I simply don't pull the trigger in the truck. Been carrying a Glock a long time and even without a safety I have all my feet, legs, fingers, toes and reproductive organs. Don't really see a reason to change.

Must be a Virginia thing. I keep mine loaded and carry a Glock too.
 
My pals & I close our AR bolts inside the vehicle before opening any doors.
Course they are all pointed up in the racks & safeties on.
 
No need to slam it into battery. Even if you do, if you are not sitting withing 50 yds of the truck it isnt going to matter. If they hear the gun, they probably heard your truck coming down the road. I hunt with an AR and have never felt like it was to noisy when I did let it slam. Never had a problem just using the forward assist after gently sliding the bolt forward.
 
I just picked up a chrome RRA BCG. I got it yesterday cleaned and lubed it up and boy that thing goes right into battery alot easier than my cheapo palmetto bolt carrier. I think my solution is going to be to use this bolt carrier. then after a day of hunting give it a quick wipe down with a tad more lube. until I come up with something better that is about the best I can think of.
 
Are you basically worried about a slam fire? Because the only slam fire I've ever saw was when a guy released the bolt, but then squeezed the trigger on what he thought was an empty chamber. I tried to get slam fires, and I believe they are a myth. Or maybe happened on out of spec guns and ammo from back in history.
 
Originally Posted By: steve garrettThe biggest draw back of an ar 15 for me is I hate the noise it makes getting a round loaded into the chamber. The bolt needs to slam home so that it goes all the way into battery.

He doesn't like the noise.
 
Originally Posted By: reb8600No need to slam it into battery. Even if you do, if you are not sitting withing 50 yds of the truck it isnt going to matter. If they hear the gun, they probably heard your truck coming down the road. I hunt with an AR and have never felt like it was to noisy when I did let it slam. Never had a problem just using the forward assist after gently sliding the bolt forward.

Interesting, I never thought of it that way. Do you think that would apply to slamming a truck door too?
 
I don't want a slamming noise when I get out of the truck. We always close our doors as quiet as we can. I don't like to walk more than about 400 yards from the vehicle when we make a stand, sometimes we are quite a bit closer than that. not because I am lazy its just a waste of time to walk further.
 
Originally Posted By: R15 PredatorI will probably draw a ton of heat for saying this but I keep mine loaded. I simply don't pull the trigger in the truck. Been carrying a Glock a long time and even without a safety I have all my feet, legs, fingers, toes and reproductive organs. Don't really see a reason to change.

Ha ha ha, a "hunting chambered" poll on another forum I belong to spawned a 20 page slugfest, glad to see more adults here! FWIW I simply carry mine chambered for the day too. That would NOT be legal in many states I understand?
 
yes, state laws vary.

In AZ and NM riding around with a loaded gun wile hunting is legal. it gets more fun when looking at shooting from or across a public road, how a public road is defined and such things. But you can ride around with a loaded gun.

Other states may not allow that. or you may be hunting on public land subject to additional regs and it's not allowed, say a WMA.

When hunting in NM or AZ I tend to load the rifle at my first stop & just keep it loaded all day. With a bolt it's quite easy to be safe, just lift the bolt handle & crack the action open. With an AR you can't do that, it's just loaded & to some extent unsafe.
 
Originally Posted By: CoyotejunkiOriginally Posted By: reb8600No need to slam it into battery. Even if you do, if you are not sitting withing 50 yds of the truck it isnt going to matter. If they hear the gun, they probably heard your truck coming down the road. I hunt with an AR and have never felt like it was to noisy when I did let it slam. Never had a problem just using the forward assist after gently sliding the bolt forward.

Interesting, I never thought of it that way. Do you think that would apply to slamming a truck door too?

I generally dont slam doors but have had it happen when other people are with me. Still called in coyotes. I have had coyotes walk in sight of or past the truck also. Most places I hunt get a lot of other traffic. Coyotes see and hear trucks all the time as well as hear doors shut. They have no reason to associate it with danger unless they have been shot at and associate it with a vehicle. I can hear a truck driving down the road from a long ways when I am on a stand. Dont you think the coyotes hear it long before I do? I am hard of hearing. Like I said, they will hear your truck. Especially in the wide open areas I call. I have driven past areas that I could see people calling and watched the coyote go to them. The coyote did not care that I was even there on the road. Always try to limit the noise but you will not eliminate it completely. Just listen real close when you and a partner walk to a stand. It is amaing how much noise you will hear each other making.
 
Coyote behavior is something I have never claimed to have figured out. Sometimes they just do not follow the rules.
smile.gif


I have had them come to the call from downwind and run right up the trail we walked in on. They don't seem to mind you driving by, but if you slow down or stop, they generally won't stick around in my experience. Funniest was one time we walked back to the truck after a stand, started talking and practicing howling and other noisy stuff. Sure enough a coyote comes running in towards the truck. We had already put the rifles away so all we could do was just laugh it off.

I've even seen them come in a minute or two after we just shot one. The first gunshot didn't seem to bother them.
 
Last edited:


Write your reply...
Back
Top