I've never taken the time to disassemble a buffer till today. I was exploring the possibility of pulling standard buffers, getting tungsten weights and making heavy buffers out of them. It is entirely possible to do so, however I seem to have lost my "jewelry" scale and can't get the weights for each component (buffer body, weights and polymer endcap).

But i took pics of the interior, for those that may also have never seen the innards of a standard AR15 buffer. I believe this is a buffer sold by Bushmaster.
Width of the weights is shown.


Length of weights shown:

I took apart a standard car buffer ive got 3 weights.With some tungsten rod you could change hat into like an H2 or H3but if I read the post more carefull id see you already thought of thatmy H buffer weighs 3.5 oz and my 9mm 5.7..I think H2 is 4oz and H3 4.5 or 4.7oz.

This is laughable, but last night I went online to look for tungsten replacements for the steel weights in this buffer (I know they are steel cuz I did a very scientific test with a magnet) and found a bunch of fishing weights. None looked the right size and ordering tungsten from a metal dealer for one buffer would not be practical. So.....

I went to Wal_mart today and happenned upon the fishing section and remembered the weights. I looked for tungsten weights with no luck, but I saw some lead ones that looked about the right size and priced right at .77 a package....

Deal.





I still cannont find my scale so I have no idea what it weighs, but I can feel it weighs heavier than the regualr weight.....

Quoted: This is laughable, but last night I went online to look for tungsten replacements for the steel weights in this buffer (I know they are steel cuz I did a very scientific test with a magnet) and found a bunch of fishing weights. None looked the right size and ordering tungsten from a metal dealer for one buffer would not be practical. So..... I went to Wal_mart today and happenned upon the fishing section and remembered the weights. I looked for tungsten weights with no luck, but I saw some lead ones that looked about the right size and priced right at .77 a package.... Deal. img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/jsinz/IMG_1923.jpg I still cannont find my scale so I have no idea what it weighs, but I can feel it weighs heavier than the regualr weight.....

that is funny!

I get this image of Jed Clampet building a musket out of a fishin' pole!

the H buffer has one tungsten weight (ahh.... 1 oz sinker)
the H2 has 2 tungsten and one steel
and the H3 has 3 tungsten weights

or a bag of 'split-shot'  

I am confused about something.  Or maybe I missed it but what are you trying to do with heavier buffer?  Change cyclic rate or make it heavier in butt or what?

I had a guy tell me in Nam Charlie didn't like to mess with M2 Ma Deuce and they tended to avoid bases with them.  Don't know if this is all true or not but he said they took CAR 15, cut another spring shorter and placed in butt.  He said this slowed cyclic rate.  With the front end of a CAR cut off the decibles were around 188.
Reportedly when they got a probe they would open up with the short CAR barrel and it wounded like Ma Deuce.  I did not see it but have no reason to doubt my friend.

Seriously, how will adding some friggin' spring coils in the buffer gonna make a .223 bullet fired out of a short barrel wound like an M2?  

Tungsten weights are so simple to get, if you know where to go.   And they're FREE.


Where?  How?   Go to any local machine shop in your area and ask for some worn out
tungsten carbide milling cutters.   It's not pure tungsten,  but it's almost as dense and
a lot tougher.    They are available in a variety of diameters (mostly simple fractions of
an inch, like 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, etc)  and in a huge array of cutter configurations.

Any good machine shop should be able to use a diamond cutoff wheel to remove the
fluted ends and leave just the solid shank for you.   If the diameter of the shanks is
too large,  they can be taken down with a diamond wheel on a tool grinder setup.  
A shop that's not too busy might do a few of those for you for free but if you want
a lot, they'll charge you for the labor.  

CJ

Quoted: Seriously, how will adding some friggin' spring coils in the buffer gonna make a .223 bullet fired out of a short barrel wound like an M2?

It would sound like a M2.

Being a tinkerer, I've played around with the exact same stuff you guys are discussing. I was trying to create the heaviest buffer I could using a standard buffer tube. I removed the 3 steel inserts and replaced them with tightly rolled lead sheeting. This added a few about 1 oz to the weight.

I also tried lead shot (7 1/2 Bird Shot) and it only added about 1/2 oz. The air space between the shot wastes a lot of space so it cuts down on the weight. I even looked at the tungsten fishing weights, but most are that I looked at are tungsten alloys and not 100% tungsten. They seem to range from 20-90% tungsten, the higher the price, the higher the tunsten content. I even looked into tungsten powder, but the same issue with the lead shot occurs, the airspace between the powder granules doesn't allow you to make use of the full potential of the volume of the buffer shell.

Finally, I found someone who sold me used, arc light electrodes. These are made from 100% sintered tungsten and are about .60 - .75 inches in diameter. Tungsten isn't easy to cut, but using a dremel with a reinforced cutoff bit I was able to cut them into lengths about the same size as the steel inserts that I removed. Then I used a bench grinder to reduce the diameter to about .47" (since the inside of the buffer housing was .50"). This allowed the slugs to move freely. Replacing the steel slugs with the tungsten, and installing the original discs between the slugs, I was able to get a total weight of 6.2oz in a carbine sized buffer housing and it works great in my M4gery.

A couple of notes. Cutting tungsten with a dremel takes a lot of time. Due to the density of the metal, you can only cut for a few seconds before you have to let the cutter cool down. This is also true when using a grinder on it. You can only grind it for a few seconds before it gets too hot to handle. Even with pliers, the transfer of heat makes the pliers too hot to handle after a very short time. I had to dunk the tungsten slug and pliers in water after about 30 seconds of grinding to let it cool down enough to continue grinding.

It was an interesting diversion, but not very cost effective.

Quoted: Quoted: Seriously, how will adding some friggin' spring coils in the buffer gonna make a .223 bullet fired out of a short barrel wound like an M2?   It would sound like a M2.

lol, now THAT would make some sense  But he did say "wound"

If you apply some heat to those lead weights, they snug up mighty nice in that there buffer... like, solid.

Quoted: If you apply some heat to those lead weights, they snug up mighty nice in that there buffer... like, solid.

Why not just press a dowel of approximately the right diameter into dirt and pour molten lead into it? File off the excess and close up the buffer.

Quoted: Quoted: If you apply some heat to those lead weights, they snug up mighty nice in that there buffer... like, solid. Why not just press a dowel of approximately the right diameter into dirt and pour molten lead into it? File off the excess and close up the buffer.

Because I dont have molten lead.

I hammered these in there, they were a smidgen to large so I got them started and hammered away. I flattened the ends by hammering the steel inserts on top. Only way i could get two to fit.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: If you apply some heat to those lead weights, they snug up mighty nice in that there buffer... like, solid. Why not just press a dowel of approximately the right diameter into dirt and pour molten lead into it? File off the excess and close up the buffer. Because I dont have molten lead. I hammered these in there, they were a smidgen to large so I got them started and hammered away. I flattened the ends by hammering the steel inserts on top. Only way i could get two to fit.

You can melt lead on a charcoal or gas grill if you have a pot you're willing to sacrifice. It would only take five minutes. There's always a way to McGyver a lead slug if you've got a source of heat.

Quoted: I hammered these in there, they were a smidgen to large so I got them started and hammered away. I flattened the ends by hammering the steel inserts on top. Only way i could get two to fit.

So do they move freely inside the buffer?
I thought the whole point was to "buff" and not bounce off the rear of the rec. extention?

Quoted: Quoted: I hammered these in there, they were a smidgen to large so I got them started and hammered away. I flattened the ends by hammering the steel inserts on top. Only way i could get two to fit. So do they move freely inside the buffer? I thought the whole point was to "buff" and not bounce off the rear of the rec. extention?

No sliding within anymore, they are packed in there.

Well see if it works.

Loose fit, tight fit, what's the difference?

I'm pretty sure they're supposed to move in there for a reason.

They're supposed to move, but the effect of a solid buffer (bolt bounce) might not be a problem depending on the configuration of the rifle.  I get the impression he's just tinkering, and not doing anything with a SHTF rifle.  So it'll be fun to hear the report of how--or whether--it works.  Tag to watch the mayhem.

Quoted: Seriously, how will adding some friggin' spring coils in the buffer gonna make a .223 bullet fired out of a short barrel wound like an M2?

Read the whole thing..........................

The extra spring slowed down the rate of fire.

The shorter barrel made it louder... hence the confusion by the VC as to what was actually being fired at them.

read the last 4 words of your statement

barrel wound like an M2?

I have a friend who grinds endmills. He saves the broken 1/2" carbide endmills and I make weights out of them.