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Posted: 1/1/2015 10:08:57 AM EDT
| I need a heavy buffer and want to know why cant I just turn up a buffer from steel that is the weight I need. I see most of the buffers ate aluminum filled with weights. is there any problem with using just steel? |
| A standard rifle or carbine buffer is not a solid chunk of metal. It has moving weights inside that change how the buffer takes in and returns energy to the system. You CAN simply change out the weights in your buffer (and make your own weights in the process) to give you a custom weight, but it's important to the way the gun functions to maintain a moving mass component. Solid buffers work in 9mms, since they're blowback, but in a gas operated rifle, I'd stick with the standard design. |
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Quoted:
I understand that the H3 and the heavy buffer from spikes are solid. The H3 is not a solid buffer, it is a carbine buffer housing with 3 heavy weights which are each made of tungsten and are separated with buna rubber pads. It weighs in at 5.4 oz nominal. The Spikes buffers are ST-T1, ST-T2, and ST-T3 which are carbine buffer housings filled with tungsten powder. |
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If you need a heavier buffer than what is out on the market give this a try
Tubb carrier weight It really doesn't matter if the weight is in the buffer or the carrier, it fit in the back of the bolt carrier The CWS™ itself, with no additional weight inserts, weighs 1.54 ounces. The CWS™ with the stainless insert weighs 2.79 ounces (1.25 insert weight) and the CWS™ with the carbide insert weighs 4.05 ounces (2.51 insert weight). |
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Quoted:
If you need a heavier buffer than what is out on the market give this a try Tubb carrier weight It really doesn't matter if the weight is in the buffer or the carrier, it fit in the back of the bolt carrier The CWS™ itself, with no additional weight inserts, weighs 1.54 ounces. The CWS™ with the stainless insert weighs 2.79 ounces (1.25 insert weight) and the CWS™ with the carbide insert weighs 4.05 ounces (2.51 insert weight). now thats interesting. |
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David Tubb made the CWS for match guns running 24-26" barrels on a standard rifle gas system. Pushing heavy bullets behind slow burning powders so that makes a lot of gas.
Same concept for carbines. Its even worse for carbines due to port location and port size, and pressure curves for burning powders You need something to delay that bolt from unlocking to A. let gas build up or B. let the gas pressure subside for a bit. I use the CWS in a 20" NM A2 I like because my brass is much easier to resize and is not bouncing off the brass deflector. It also made my brass easier to find as it piles them all in the same spot about 1ft in diameter circle. They also claim you can shoot hotter loads not that you should. They show a load heavy load of H4895 over a 80 grain bullet with blown out primer w/o the CWS and the same load w/ CWS and the brass looked normal |
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I got a rod of tungsten, put it in a lathe, turned it to the diameter i wanted
then cut identical length pieces to what was already inside a buffer. I settled on 2 tungsten weights inside, the rest as it was. you can find some tungsten and cut pieces like i did. I had it laying around at the time but it can be found. at that time it was $37 a pound |
| I have made two of them. Both from stainless steel so I don't have to deal with finishing and rust. I made both hollow and used the weights and rubber pads for the damping effect. I made one short for a 5.56 carbine tube and one for a long 308 tube. The long one is a little thicker in some places to make it heavier. |
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I can't see why not make your own buffers out of whatever material you want as
long as they can stand up to the use for as long as you expect them. I'm making my own out of delrin for a ultra-lite build and regulating the gas flow via an adjustable gas block. Also experimenting with delrin cores and elastomer spacers to see what works and retains some of the energy dissipating properties. |
| I made a rifle buffer from 1" 316 stainless bar stock, trimmed down the rifle buffer spacer from the one I scavenged for parts and added extra weights from an old carbine buffer that had been chewed to hell from a rough carrier notch (ym n/m hard chrome carrier that did it, fwiw) for use in an a2. I haven't weighed it so im not sure exactly how heavy it ended up at but its heavy for sure. between that and an enhanced spring, that rifle is the sweetest shooting, most comfortable ar I've shot to date. Any more and it wouldn't cycle, I'm sure. Brass damn near just trickles out but it hasn't had a malf yet and it's been running filthy (hasn't been cleaned since put together 12/2013, only around 7-800 through it though just oil as needed). If you have the tools to make them, it's a fun thing to experiment with. Do it. |
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Quoted:
I can't see why not make your own buffers out of whatever material you want as long as they can stand up to the use for as long as you expect them. I'm making my own out of delrin for a ultra-lite build and regulating the gas flow via an adjustable gas block. Also experimenting with delrin cores and elastomer spacers to see what works and retains some of the energy dissipating properties. That's perfectly reasonable. But remember that not only does the buffer dissipate the recoil and gas system energy, it returns energy to close the bolt. If you make the buffer too light, it won't have enough inertia to force the bolt carrier forward with enough energy to strip a round and close the bolt. It's a trade off between mass and energy, and even if you use "just enough" gas to open the bolt and eject the empty case, you still need to store up enough energy in the buffer/spring system to load the next round and close the bolt. One of the purposes of the moving mass (sliding weights) in the buffer is to help close the bolt all the way. A delrin core won't help with that at all, and you'll wind up with the spring doing all the work. An ultra-light carrier may help with that, but you still have to have enough energy to overcome the resistance of the round in the magazine (spring, feed lips, angling it into the feed ramps, etc.). |
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