Hi my name is Art
I am 88 years old x army ranger (korea 1951/1952). I have been around and shot and qualified with every thing the army had in the 1950's,I also hace been shooting my rather medium sized collection of hand guns (s&w , fn, beretta and some others.. for 50+ years. Now for my post I am new to ar s. Now for my dumb question Does it matter if the rifle is cocked or not to separate upper from lower.

It won't make a difference whether the hammer is cocked, or, forward (uncocked) to separate the upper from the lower. However, the BOLT CARRIER must be forward and not locked back. It's a good practice to have the hammer forward when separating the upper from the lower. Or, have the selector switch/safety on 'safe' if the hammer is cocked. That way you eliminate the chance of dropping the hammer against the lower when the upper and lower are separated. It's usually easier to re-assemble both halves with the hammer cocked (and safety 'On'). Also, once you have both separated, push the take-down pin, and pivot pins back in. If you leave both pins pulled out and happen to drop the lower, you run the risk of breaking them and/or causing pretty much unrepairable damage to the lower. Thank you for your service and stay safe!

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SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS

thank you

Art

What Eric300 said and thank you for your service.

The only dumb question is the one that goes unasked.

Welcome to the gang.

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