AR Sponsor
Posted: 11/9/2011 12:12:23 PM EDT
| I'm trying to diagnose and or fix an issue we are having with MILES weapons and FTF/FTE issues because of under powered (second run) M200 blank rounds (because we can't get the good stuff). Failure to Feed / Failure to Extract IS a gas pressure issue in a MILES weapon. If you drill the gas return in the barrel a tad bit bigger (on a dedicated blank firing MILES weapon), the rifle will run with no issues on the crap blanks we use. I was spit balling another way around drilling the gas return, and thought that if you lightened the buffer wafers inside a carbine buffer that there would be less "mass" to push back, but the same amount of resistence due to the buffer spring not being altered. Am I correct in my thinking? I'm no rocket scientist or engineer. But I'm sure someone on here knows the effects of what I want to do (lighten the wafers inside the buffer). I'm talking from 5.7 ounce to maybe 3.5 to 4 ounces. Anyone want to take a swing at this? |
|
Well it's certainly worth a try... I would pop open the buffer and remove one of the weights. See if it cycles well. If it doesn't, remove another. You want to have at least one weight in there though because it provides a reciprocating mass to help keep the bolt in battery long enough that most of the gas has been expunged (upon firing) and also as a dead blow hammer to help prevent bolt bounce (upon chambering the next round). You may not care much on a dedicated MILES system, however. There are also reduced power buffer springs you could try if you cannot get them dialed in by removing the weights. You can get to the weights in the buffer by popping out the roll pin in the buffer. Do you know what weight buffers you're currently using? If you're using a heavy buffer you could try running a carbine buffer. |
| They are carbine buffers. We are going to try and "lighten" the weights, by drilling them out in the center using a 3/8" bit on all 3 of the solid soft steel weights that are in there and re-installing, then a test fire on our worst running MILES weapon. It's trial and error at this point. But I see that you see what we are saying. I don't think removing the weights will help us, but lightening them up may give us the reduced "mass" for blow back. That way we got the buffer "as designed," just lighter. We shall see! I will post my results if anyone is interested. |
| Make sure you lube the buffer, inside of the receiver extension, and spring coils with some CLP before blank use - I've had bone-dry, pass-a-CIP-clean weapon not fire blanks before, and a little lube can fix this in short order. That's about the easiest, cheapest fix you might find, so it might benefit you to try that first, before messing with buffer weights. My $0.02. |
|
Quoted:
I'm trying to diagnose and or fix an issue we are having with MILES weapons and FTF/FTE issues because of under powered (second run) M200 blank rounds (because we can't get the good stuff). Failure to Feed / Failure to Extract IS a gas pressure issue in a MILES weapon. If you drill the gas return in the barrel a tad bit bigger (on a dedicated blank firing MILES weapon), the rifle will run with no issues on the crap blanks we use. I was spit balling another way around drilling the gas return, and thought that if you lightened the buffer wafers inside a carbine buffer that there would be less "mass" to push back, but the same amount of resistence due to the buffer spring not being altered. Am I correct in my thinking? I'm no rocket scientist or engineer. But I'm sure someone on here knows the effects of what I want to do (lighten the wafers inside the buffer). I'm talking from 5.7 ounce to maybe 3.5 to 4 ounces. Anyone want to take a swing at this? Are these standard issue M4s? If you're using "H" buffers, I'd start with going to standard carbine buffers. There are also low-mass carriers available that might lighten the reciprocating weight helping them to cycle. The only other thing I'd think of is rather than cutting apart and drilling the existing buffers - if you have access to a lathe, maybe have some deralin spring guides made? Or, rather than that, get one of the Spike's or other buffers that use tungsten powder instead of weights, and pour out the powder - then either replace it with something less dense (lighter) or maybe put one steel buffer weight in there with some rubber "bumpers" to keep the reciprocating weight function? ~Augee |
|
Quoted:
They are carbine buffers. We are going to try and "lighten" the weights, by drilling them out in the center using a 3/8" bit on all 3 of the solid soft steel weights that are in there and re-installing, then a test fire on our worst running MILES weapon. It's trial and error at this point. But I see that you see what we are saying. I don't think removing the weights will help us, but lightening them up may give us the reduced "mass" for blow back. That way we got the buffer "as designed," just lighter. We shall see! I will post my results if anyone is interested. Removing the weights is the correct way of reducing buffer mass. The buffer itself is already relatively low mass since they are aluminum. The internal weights are the real mass. |
|
Quoted:
Aren't the dedicated 9mm AR carbine buffers even lighter than standard carbine buffers? And, aren't the 9mm carbine buffers made specifically to work with blowback operated weapons (like a M4/M16 with Miles)? The 9mm carbine buffers are HEAVIER than a carbine buffer, nearly 2x, they are roughly the same weight at the H3 buffer. |
AR Sponsor