After doing some research, I am considering using a low-mass carrier w/adj. Gas block to reduce recoil.
I have seen JP low-mass... is there anything else comparable? Is this my best alternative to reducing recoil other than brake? which I would really like to avoid

A low mass carrier and buffer will reduce recoil and speed up cycling. I like JP because they increase bearing surface which helps reduce receiver wear. JP spends a lot of time and money developing their equipment. Many manufacturers of low mass carriers just remove material and that is not necessarily a good thing.

pros: reduced recoil, faster follow up shots

cons: bolt bounce, receiver wear, expensive

To prevent bolt bounce get a good quality buffer spring. I like Tubbs flat wire constant force spring

To prevent receiver wear get a carrier specifically built for faster cycling and or a roller cam pin.

Nothing to do about cost. Buy once, cry once. Spend the money and do it right.

I feel and adjustable gas block is a must. This makes tuning a breeze.

My 3 gun AR has a JP stainless low mass carrier, 2 oz rifle buffer, tubbs flat wire spring, syrac adjustable gas block. Super fast cycling.  After 5000-7000 rounds, the only failure i've had with this gun was FTF from bad primers. No other failures.

Thanks for reply

Get the JP and get the version with the QPQ finish.


I have one with between 5-6k on it, carrier still looks brand new, and the receiver looks lightly burnished where the bearing surfaces ride.  Otherwise zero wear to the upper.  The difference is stark when I look inside my uppers that have high round counts and standard carriers.

Compared to high round count uppers with standard carriers, the JP is absolutely worth it especially if you have a high cost upper.


I have a Mega Monolithic upper on the way and I am going with a JP carrier in part because the Mega upper is not just a $60 stripped upper.

For a rifle with a can, I prefer full weight or even heavier carriers.  Keeps is running when it gets dirty.

For a game gun with a brake, for sure get a lightweight carrier and an adjustable gas block.  Keeps the rifle flat and enables fast follow up shots.

Main reason for the question was for my 308 ( although my other ones can benefit),  I mainly started looking at it because I don't want to put a break on my range gun and looking for a way to see my shot and for follow-up shots.

If you want to reduce recoil but you don't want the blast of a muzzle brake, start with an adjustable gas block and see how you like it before you spend the coin on a low mass carrier.


I initially was setup with full gas and a m16 carrier on a suppressed 16" midlength.

Adding an adjustable gas block really tamed down both recoil and gas to the face.



You could also take some weights out of your buffer to experiment with reducing reciprocal mass.  Unless you are shooting full auto you don't need the dead blow effect of the weights in the buffer.  That will take a little time but it won't cost you any money.

A muzzle brake reduces recoil the most like up to 60%.  Since you don't want that, you have to reduce the actions impulse as much as possible.  You will only gain at most 1/4 the advantage of a muzzle brake unless your gun is badly overgassed....which is common in AR10's.

The more important thing is adjustable gas as mentioned above.  Most AR10's are WILDLY overgassed and have double Orings on the extractor to pull the brass out.

Buy the JP SCS for AR10.  Get the regular one, not the heavy one.  Order it with the AR10 3 spring kit or call JP and just request the weakest spring.  The weaker the spring, the less gas you need to cycle.  Now the bad thing about the weakest spring is it barely chambers against stiff extractors.  Both my large frame builds had that trouble.  Both were completely fixed by removing the double O-rings included on the extractor.  Those are there for a stiff extractor to yank brass out of overgassed guns.  Since you have adjustable gas, they are just extra friction to overcome (and therefore require more spring to chamber which means more gas which equals more kick).  POF roller cam helps too.  Try this with your existing bolt carrier and you might be surprisingly happy.  After about 500 rounds expect the rings to wear and you may need another click of gas.

Now my two builds are of different intents.  SInce you posted in the precision rifle forum, I will assume yours is like my 6.5 creedmoor.  In that case I use the regular JP SCS and a full mass BCG.  I want the carrier to be heavy to guarantee almost no bolt carrier movement until the bullet is well on the way.  I also run that upper suppressed so the weight delays unlock until the can has let most of its gasses out too.

The other build is for 3 gun 308.  I use the same lower, but the bolt carrier for this one is the JP aluminum AR10 one with the weights on the back.  This with a JM muzzle brake kicks about like my 6.8 SPC.

Thank you guys for that great information, I do have a adjustable gas block on it... And just picked up a Jp silent spring from ee ( although I have no clue which spring is in it, I didn't know that was a thing till now) I will tune this together, and hopefully see some improvement while I keep an eye out for a low mass carrier.

low mass carrier is a gimmick.

It is when you don't have an adjustable gas block .  The muzzle brake is responsible for the most recoil reduction.

Not when tuned properly as part of an entire system it isnt.


When people put them into an extreme light weight build, just to save weight, without tuning the gas, sure.  They buy them for the wrong reason.

I don't care how light your BCG is, the bullet is out of the bore before the bcg starts moving.

No, it's not.

You are correct, sir...

on the paper range.

And only on the paper {3gun} range.

The research I've been doing certainly seems to agree that a light bolt carrier with an adjustable gas block, certainly tames The Recoil and keeps the muzzle down. After putting the JP silent buffer on I notice a lesser recoil and more comfortable to shoot... But I think it could even be better.

Negative ghost rider.  I wouldn't use an aluminum or super light in a combat rifle. But I'd trust the JP low mass steel carrier.  

Take the weights off the SCS and turn the gas down to match. See if you notice any difference.

I agree.  Aluminum bolt carrier is a pain just like a race car tuned to run on alcohol - track/ Range use only.
However  I would have no work rifle problems with any quality steel carrier including lightweight as long as the total reciprocating mass was at least 10oz for ar15 and 13oz for ar10 and the system from adjustable gas to extractor spring was tuned.