Before you go to the range to shoot your new AR-15, review the Four Firearm Safety Rules and read your rifle's owner's manual to make sure you thoroughly understand how it operates. The AR-15 / M4 rifle has a standard set of controls: FORWARD ASSIST - If the bolt doesn't go fully into battery, hit the forward assist button to push it home. MAGAZINE RELEASE - Push this button to unlock the magazine so you can remove it from the magwell. CHARGING HANDLE - Pull back on the charging handle and let it go to push the bolt forward into battery. BOLT CATCH - Locks the bolt open after the last round in the mag is fired or if you need to lock the action open for cleaning or to inspect the chamber. SAFETY LEVER - When the safety is "on" the rifle is blocked from firing. When it's off, firing is enabled. TRIGGER - Releases the firing pin to fire a shot. There are 3 ways to INSERT A MAGAZINE into an AR-15: the "Beer Mug," "C-Clamp," and "Pistol-Style" techniques. Jeff prefers the Beer Mug and C-Clamp because they give you a lot of leverage and make it easy to tug on the mag to be sure it's fully seated. Once the mag is seated, release the bolt by pressing the bolt catch button OR giving the charging handle a firm pull-and-release. Next, Jeff demos how to UNLOAD the rifle and verify the chamber is clear. He also shares a handy hack for using the AR-15's staggered-stack magazine to determine if a round has been fed from it into the chamber.
