Hello I am building a lightweight rifle and decided to go with a Voodoo low mass BCG.  I have a few questions

Can I just run a regular gas block?  

What can I expect from doing so?

Is there an alternative to the adjustable gas block?

Who makes a good lightweight flash hider/brake?

Anybody have any of these for sale?

If you are running a LW BCG yeah you WANT an adjustable gas block. Do you need it, no because you can adjust the buffer and spring to compensate. However, in most cases its easier to make adjustments with an adjustable gas block and it can be more reliable if you get a good adjustable gas block.

With the LW VooDoo carrier isnt that something like around 2 ounces less than a standard BCG? If thats the case and you dont want to go the adjustable gas block route I would just try it out with an standard carbine buffer and spring, or get the JP SCS spring and kit. I've heard of people just dropping in the JP LW BCG's without an adjustable gas block and the gun ran smooth. That BCG is around 2 ounces less than a standard BCG so this is where my information is coming from.

I second the JP silent capture spring. I have them in all my rifles.

This comes up every now and then.  Here's my take on it:

The LW BCG will run faster and harder with a standard carbine buffer.  You will be over gassing the rifle even more than the normal design.  Some on here have had an issue with the BCG cycling faster than the magazine can feed, then they start chasing their tail with buffers and springs as a band aid.  Sure, you can add heavier buffers in the back end to slow cycling down, but what's the point of lightening the BCG only to add compensating weight into the buffer tube?  Its a rhetorical question, there is no point.   You end up paying more for a LW BCG than a standard, and you end up paying more for the heavier buffer than the standard, just to shift weight from one point to another.  

I don't mess with changing springs other than I have some enhanced standard springs and the JP silent capture spring with carbine weight setup on a suppressed rifle.  Changing springs is too much of a can of worms in my opinion, and I want springs to be interchangeable throughout all my ARs.  The JP silent capture spring is for applications in which you want to quiet down the action, and strives to be comparable to the carbine buffer weight, or H, H2, etc if you have the weight adjustment kit.  You're  just paying $130 or so for an H2 JP SCS rather than just getting a regular H2 buffer for about $30, on top of already paying more for the LW BCG.  All that and you're still adding weight to the buffer to cancel out the LW carrier.  At that point you've gone full retard.  

Get the adjustable Gas Block and don't look back.  You can then run LW BCG with the carbine buffer weight, or even lighter-than-carbine buffer weight.  You are making a LW build after all.

In your last paragraph, first sentence, did you mean: "Get the adjustable gas block and don't look back."

I think that's what he meant!   I will just get an adjustable then.  

Anyone have one they want to get rid of???


Ed

Low mass carriers should have an adjustable gas block, anytime the BCG is altered like that adjustable is the way to go

Yes, thank you for pointing out that error!

First, put down the scotch bright pad.

what are you talking about? He is not done yet, there is still a ton of black on the rifle

If I'm not mistaken the voodoo lw bcg is not more than two once different than the standard 11 ounce bcg. You could easily run that without and adjustable gas block. Heck it will probably run perfectly fine with a carbine buffer/spring. However as above posters have stated your gun is going to now be over gassed.

2 ounces isn't much if you want reliability drop the voodoo carrier. If you want to play around with weighted bcg get an adjustable gas block. Most will tell you the adjustable gas blocks are just as reliable once properly setup and I believe that as well. Just do yourself a favor and get a highly rated adjustable gas block.

If it's cost that's holding you up... make your own by drilling, tapping and add a screw to the existing GB... or just buy a lower cost one Primary Arms. This one is nice because it can be adjusted from the front, but there is a set screw used that needs to be accessed from the side.

Yes, you want an adjustable GB with a low mass carrier.
Here's video on Adjusting a GB