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Posted: 5/4/2020 12:05:05 AM EDT
I'm fairly new to AK's but I saw this: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1004695669?pid=396324 as I was looking through Midway and wondered if anyone here had experience with them. I wouldn't say no to less felt recoil if this thing actually works.
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[#1]
Quoted: I'm fairly new to AK's but I saw this: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1004695669?pid=396324 as I was looking through Midway and wondered if anyone here had experience with them. I wouldn't say no to less felt recoil if this thing actually works. View Quote I used to run them. Can't say I noticed a difference in felt recoil, but it did reduce potential wear from the back of the bolt carrier hitting the back trunion. It's not expensive, really, so give it a try and see if it works for you. |
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[#3]
Had a POS IO AK. Buffer was the only way to keep it from jumping of the rails. Sold it quick.
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[#4]
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[#5]
I have them on my .223 and .308 VEPRs, makes them slightly smoother, enough to feel. More so you can hear the difference... Decreases wear significantly. All said, no reason not to run them for $10.
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[#6]
I need one for my Polish WBP rifle.
Recoil is more jarring than it should be. The bolt carrier is smacking the rear of the receiver. |
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[#8]
Nope I would avoid them. Long time ago on akfiles several people had issues with buffers causing the receiver and rivets to expand. When the carrier his the buffer it compresses and transfers the energy outward to both sides of the receiver.
There are other ways around carrier jumping issues. Sometimes this is because the carrier lacks the angular grind on the rail slot that is designed to pull the carrier back down onto the rails as it moves forward. Sometimes the grind profile is wrong. Some US mfgs completely omitted this step and had issues - I think IO still might. |
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[#9]
Originally Posted By SubSonic1836: I need one for my Polish WBP rifle. Recoil is more jarring than it should be. The bolt carrier is smacking the rear of the receiver. View Quote Many AK's come with cheaply made recoil springs, or the AK may be slightly over-gassed. I have changed out recoil springs on several of my AK's and I could feel a noticeable difference in felt recoil. After the first five rounds shot on my Yugo Npap DF, and my WBP Fox, I changed the springs to extra power springs. Now they are both nice to shoot. |
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[#10]
Originally Posted By Speedwinder: Many AK's come with cheaply made recoil springs, or the AK may be slightly over-gassed. I have changed out recoil springs on several of my AK's and I could feel a noticeable difference in felt recoil. After the first five rounds shot on my Yugo Npap DF, and my WBP Fox, I changed the springs to extra power springs. Now they are both nice to shoot. View Quote Yep an Xp spring is the way to go first. I have a Saiga .223 that is overgassed, had way too much recoil for .223. Wolff XP spring calmed it down. A lot of the felt recoil in the AK is from the BCG movement |
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[#11]
I hadn't considered extra power springs as the gun had no issues functioning save for a impossibly stiff mag release (Maybe that's where the previous owner put in a extra power spring).
Considering the price of the part and the fact that I'm seriously considering about getting a different AK I might experiment with the buffer and springs and take whatever I learn from that and apply it to the next gun. |
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[#12]
About 15 yrs ago I put one on my Bulgarian milled ak and all it did was caused jams. Not one every shot, but enough for me to throw it in the trash mid range session. Wasted my money. Still have the gun and it hasn't fallen apart by not using the buffer.
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[#13]
Quoted: Yep an Xp spring is the way to go first. I have a Saiga .223 that is overgassed, had way too much recoil for .223. Wolff XP spring calmed it down. A lot of the felt recoil in the AK is from the BCG movement View Quote Keep in mind too, that the spring is storing some of the energy from the first recoil impulse. Energy doesn't go away just because you used a stiff spring. More energy is stored with a stiff spring, less with a weak spring, the remainder goes back through the trunion into your shoulder. That stored energy is released in a forward motion when the bolt is slammed home again (some is taken up by the friction of pulling a round from the magazine and a stiffer mag spring helps that as well). A stiffer recoil spring will transfer more energy forward. If smooth firing is desired, this also disturbs sight picture. |
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[#14]
Had one, 400 rounds in it snapped at the top just waiting to clog up something g in the internals. Ditched it and haven't noticed a difference.
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[#15]
Originally Posted By Speedwinder: Many AK's come with cheaply made recoil springs, or the AK may be slightly over-gassed. I have changed out recoil springs on several of my AK's and I could feel a noticeable difference in felt recoil. After the first five rounds shot on my Yugo Npap DF, and my WBP Fox, I changed the springs to extra power springs. Now they are both nice to shoot. View Quote Yep I put the Wolff extra power spring in there after the first shooting session. It helped but it still jars my cheek when the bolt carrier smacks into the receiver. |
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[#16]
Originally Posted By SubSonic1836: Yep I put the Wolff extra power spring in there after the first shooting session. It helped but it still jars my cheek when the bolt carrier smacks into the receiver. View Quote The Wolff extra power should have cured the problem. I have never needed more. One last thought, you might try moving your face slightly more forward on your WBP when shooting. I tend to shoot with my nose almost touching the back of the dust cover. You might give it a try and see if it helps any. BTW, I am a big fan of WBP AK's. |
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[#17]
Originally Posted By SubSonic1836: Yep I put the Wolff extra power spring in there after the first shooting session. It helped but it still jars my cheek when the bolt carrier smacks into the receiver. View Quote |
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[#18]
Originally Posted By BoomBoom: About 15 yrs ago I put one on my Bulgarian milled ak and all it did was caused jams. Not one every shot, but enough for me to throw it in the trash mid range session. Wasted my money. Still have the gun and it hasn't fallen apart by not using the buffer. View Quote Me too, back in the 1990's. Turned my AK's into jam-o-matics. Tossed 'em into the trash. The WOLF extra power spring is benificial. I know that BLV uses them, and have had very positive results on stamped rifles. |
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[#19]
I put a buffer in my WASR when I noticed some bolt peening, but on my first range trip it was causing problems.
Didn’t notice my problem was a weak recoil spring til I bought a Draco, then swapped in a Wolff xtra power spring. I also had a Tapco G2 trigger with the squared off hammer so the bolt was probably losing more speed resetting it til I filed the hammer down. Sort out your spring first. There’s an earlier thread discussing recoil springs, someone posted the name of a guy selling a pack of different rate springs cheap. |
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[#20]
Quoted: I put a buffer in my WASR when I noticed some bolt peening, but on my first range trip it was causing problems. Didn't notice my problem was a weak recoil spring til I bought a Draco, then swapped in a Wolff xtra power spring. I also had a Tapco G2 trigger with the squared off hammer so the bolt was probably losing more speed resetting it til I filed the hammer down. Sort out your spring first. There's an earlier thread discussing recoil springs, someone posted the name of a guy selling a pack of different rate springs cheap. View Quote |
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[#21]
they are a band-aid for a problem that needs to be properly addressed.
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[#22]
No, but I've owned one for 25 years - it's around here somewhere....
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[#23]
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[#24]
Originally Posted By Finslayer83: they are a band-aid for a problem that needs to be properly addressed. View Quote THIS If they were worth a shit, for such a cheap piece, you would've seen soviet bloc countries (and any others who issued AK variants) using them long ago......a buffer will just add another potential failure to a very robust and reliable platform |
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[#25]
Originally Posted By adh: THIS If they were worth a shit, for such a cheap piece, you would've seen soviet bloc countries (and any others who issued AK variants) using them long ago......a buffer will just add another potential failure to a very robust and reliable platform View Quote |
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[#26]
I dunno man, never had a need for them. IF the factory installed them, meaning in Russia or Romania, I'd be surprised. Well not so much on the SAIGA since it's a hunting rifle.
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[#27]
Originally Posted By nictra: I dunno man, never had a need for them. IF the factory installed them, meaning in Russia or Romania, I'd be surprised. Well not so much on the SAIGA since it's a hunting rifle. View Quote The Galil ACE has buffers from the factory, although I doubt they need them; I'm not aware of them causing issues in those guns, but I'd be curious to hear of any such instances or why the Israelis decided to use them. |
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[#28]
I did notice that now that you say it. I'd be interested to hear their reasoning for this as well.
Maybe it's because I'm getting old. I'm pretty sure when these things 1st came out they had a tendency to break apart and really mess things up. Perhaps like a lot of things, technology has caught up and made them better? I'll eat mt words if that's the case. I think I did hear at one time that they do help mitigate gas during suppressor use. Anyone know if that's true? They might be worth it then, although I'll point back up to the breaking apart thing due to the extra back pressure. The extra back pressure might be another argument in favor though..... |
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[#29]
Originally Posted By nictra: I did notice that now that you say it. I'd be interested to hear their reasoning for this as well. Maybe it's because I'm getting old. I'm pretty sure when these things 1st came out they had a tendency to break apart and really mess things up. Perhaps like a lot of things, technology has caught up and made them better? I'll eat mt words if that's the case. I think I did hear at one time that they do help mitigate gas during suppressor use. Anyone know if that's true? They might be worth it then, although I'll point back up to the breaking apart thing due to the extra back pressure. The extra back pressure might be another argument in favor though..... View Quote I have used them in suppressed AKs, but I haven't removed them to see if they make a difference; seems like most of the gas comes from the ejection port anyway, especially on suppressed AKs without a KNS piston. |
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[#31]
The metal piece on the Saiga doesn't keep the piston in the gas tube like the Micro Draco, but the MFR thought it was necessary. I removed the whole recoil assy, & replaced it with a Bulgarian telescopic assy, but using the 308 recoil spring, & a Buffer Tech buffer. Matter of fact, all 8 of my AK's have the buffer assy, as well as my Galil, & all my FAL's too. I didn't put any of them in because I had a problem, I simply wanted to prevent my carrier from smashing into the back of my receiver. Sort of like having shock absorbers in my car. And 15-20 years later, they all still look new. Whether they do any good, or not, I feel better that they are there. And in my opinion, the Buffer Tech ones were much better than the Black Jack ones. GARY
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[#32]
The original Galil had buffers and the new ACE does too. I haven’t removed mine but I haven’t installed any in the other AKs either. AJ
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[#33]
Had a black jack one and really didn’t notice a difference in felt recoil
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[#34]
Do you guys think these actually reduce stress at the rear of the receiver? I’m honestly almost feel that they actually INCREASE it, but I honestly don’t know. I have 2 transferable full autos, and have thought about putting them in those, but again, I’m not sure if they are good for the gun or bad. Thoughts?
Feel like a dumbass asking this question with all the guns and shooting I do, but I really have been wondering about this. |
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[#35]
SAR 1 owners here. The rifle has way to much recoil. Peening the hell out of the bolt carrier. I put the wolf extra power spring in it . Helped slightly. I also had a slant break on it. Threaded it myself. Removed and put a barrel nut on it. Again helped a little more. Still peening . I cleaned it up lightly with a file. It’s defiantly over gassed. But I only paid $249 for it new. I’m not putting any more money in it. Shooting it till it falls apart. But yeah , it hurt shooting this rifle. WarDawg
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[#36]
I am attaching a video of a type 3 Bulgarian AK being fired. The video is partly in slow motion. Please note that the carrier makes contact with the rear trunnion pretty constantly.
Inside the AK-47 https://youtu.be/70ITPdXzQqg?t=10 Almost all of my AK's (maybe all not sure) show the markings of rear trunnion/carrier contact. For me it is a matter of how much contact. I find I can feel any excess contact when I shoot an AK, but I expect some contact. There are many recoil variables: type of ammo being shot, gas port size, gas port carbon, recoil spring condition/strength, lubrication, how you hold the rifle, and probably many more that I haven't thought of. I don't claim to be an expert on AK's but have been shooting them for over three decades. I won't use a buffer in my AK's although I did try one many years ago and rejected it. I am not trying to tell anyone what they should do, just trying to offer some information. |
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