Been a lurker here for years, finally made an account.

I tried to search but it seems like nothing was coming up.

Is the anti tilt buffer worth the money. I'm running the Osprey 416 kit.

If you are using a purpose built piston bolt carrier, I doubt it makes much difference.  If it is a standard bolt carrier with a bolt-on piston adapter, probably.

It works great. I highly recommend one in any piston setup regardless of visible tilt wear.

And just exactly how do you know it's doing anything for you if you weren't having wear problems in the first place?

All pistons tilt. Mechanical force is applied to the very top of the carrier's op-rod lug. Without an anti-tilt buffer, the result is rear, downward (minor and major) tilt of the carrier in all cases. The only way to eliminate the tilt would be to either use DI gas or have the piston op-rod push the carrier from the center of its mass, which would roughly be the same as the bore axis, which wouldn't work. Even if wear is not visible on the buffer tube, the carrier is still being driven downward in the rear, perhaps in some cases, not enough to cause buffer tube marring. I think many piston owners then wrongly conclude that their rifles are 'tilt free'.

The locking nub, anti-tilt style buffer prevents the rear of the carrier from tilting, even though the downward force from the op-rod still exists. The downward force is transfered into the anti-tilt buffer via the nub. The side of the round, half-inch long buffer head may then pushed downward to the buffer tube. The larger surface area on the buffer head with its chamfered edges does little to no harm to the buffer tube. The downward force of tilt still exists when using an ant-tilt buffer, the actual motion of the carrier tilt is mostly eliminated by virtue of the anti-tilt buffer head's very small gap between it and the inside of the buffer tube.

All it doing is transferring some of the downforce from the bolt carrier to the buffer, and relocating that additional wear (which is negligible if the BCG is designed for a piston system) farther inside the buffer tube where it's harder to see.

DS Arms is making a new setup for this tilt a whirl scenario issue. Thread in new AR products forum. Worth a look


http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_124/667955_DS_Arms_Bufferloc____Truly_Improve_Your_M4.html

Sorry. My phone wont let me make it hot. Wow. Magically went hot. Thanks AR Gods

In the long run its seems better to move more friction to the buffer to tube interface then the rear of carrier to buffer tube contact point. Should be less wear on the tube with Al than hardened carrier steel.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_124/667955_DS_Arms_Bufferloc____Truly_Improve_Your_M4.html&page=1

No, for 2 reasons. First, Al on Al wear generally results in galling and rapid catastrophic failure once the anodizing wears through. Second, only a small portion of the buffer actually contacts the tube. Most of the buffer has the spring between it and the buffer tube. The force transmitted through the spring is going to be concentrated on the points where the spring coils contact the buffer and the tube. So if you transferred all of the downforce from the carrier to the buffer, you're going to accelerate wear, because it's concentrated to a smaller area, and more of it is Al-on-Al wear.

If the back end of the carrier is designed properly, the downforce is spread out over a wide area (which minimizes wear) and is better from a metallurgy perspective (steel on aluminum wears much slower than aluminum on aluminum, all else being equal). So an "anti-tilt" buffer is not a good idea.

This... Thousands of rounds through AA systems with no undo wear one multiple guns.  Not an issue.

They're just a bit of added insurance.
If your rifle is set-up properly, you'll still see a bit of wear.
If the wear is dramatic, an anti-tilt would just mask the symptom and not address the problem.

I have over 2000 rounds through my Adam Arms piston AR and am using an  anti-tilt buffer (H3) and have never had any sort of stoppage, and do not see any wear.

 I am using it for a "just in case it is needed", not because I had wear.  On this forum I did see a picture of wear on the buffer tube screw threads.  So, a few dollars seems a cheap approach.

Heavybuffer's anti-tilt buffer is made from 303 stainless steel.

The damage done by carrier tilt is usually up at the front of the buffer tube. The force against the lower tube wall drops after the carrier starts moving. By essentially lengthening the carrier (connecting it to the buffer) you should slightly decrease the initial force imparted to the buffer tube wall by decreasing the angle of impact, theoretically speaking (it's only about 1/4"-- the head of the buffer). Add the coating (dry film? over the anodizing and operaror applied lube of the buffer and there should be no AL - AL contact. I'd run the anti tilt buffer. In fact I do -- an old FRS one in my ARES gun and one of the new fangled DS Arms job on my Adams Arms Rifle. Do I need to? Probably not. The Carriers are designed with extra meat to address the tilt issue. A little wear would probably stop after x # of rounds any way. Haven't fired the Adams gun yet but the Ares showed slight wear (not really enough to worry about) before the A.T. buffer, with no sign of any more wear after its' addition.

Edit: after just looking at my Adams rifle, the anti-tilt buffer essentially lengthens the carrier so that it is already in the buffer tube as the rifle fires -- the carrier doesn't need to make the jump into the buffer tube, which is what causes the actual wear known as carrier tilt wear, so I vote AT buffers +1.

I have one for my older LWRC M6A2 upper. It runs fine, and no visible wear at the front of the buffer tube or near the buffer retaining pin. That was my fear was the force would shear off the pin. It is a PITA to take it apart since it holds on to the BCG pretty well, but really no complaints

I use the Heavy Buffers anti-tilt buffer set up in both of my Ruger SR-556s with no visible wear or issues.  The only issue I see it that it changes the way you clean the weapon (you must push out the front pivot pin along with the rear pivot  to disengage the BCG from the buffer so you can clean from the breach).  Just a minor annoyance because it is awkward.  No real complaints otherwise.

If someone has a better way to do this, I am all ears!  

This looks like a great idea for piston guns!  How does it compare with the Heavy Buffers anti-tilt buffers.  The setup looks more convenient for cleaning and field stripping than the Heavy Buffers setup.

This tube has about 2500 rounds through it with an Ares GSR piston kit.  The anodizing is barely worn through.  It's going to take years to accumulate enough wear to require replacement.  A new tube for $20.00 after 10,000+ rounds is not going to break the bank!!

PM. If you interest. I have mine made for Osprey and AA systems.