I really liked the looks of those PDW style stock systems and I wanted one for my 9mm SBR. Looking at some of the available systems on the market, I liked the Battle Arms Development kit (I thought it looked the best, it’s expensive, and it’s not 9mm ready), Troy Tomahawk (looks ok, but it’s the cheapest, not 9mm ready), Maxim Defense (looks awesome, it’s expensive, is 9mm ready), and the MVB Industries (looks good, has a short LOP, is 9mm ready). I settled on the Troy Tomahawk since it was the cheapest one available. I wasn’t even sure I could get the system to reliably work on a 9mm rifle.
The first iteration of my buffer was taking a H3 buffer and cutting the aluminum buffer body and buffer bumper down to give me about an ⅛” bolt overtravel past the bolt catch. I was able to tightly fit three tungsten weights inside the buffer, and it weighed in at about 5.2oz. It worked, but it wasn’t heavy enough, and in my eyes it wasn’t reliable. I glued the buffer bumper into the body because i didn’t drill a roll pin hole for the bumper.
Second iteration was using a steel CMMG 9mm buffer which weighs 5.3oz while being filled with three steel reciprocating weights with rubber pads between the weights. I cut the body and bumper down to work with the Troy system and fitted three tungsten weights. This got the total buffer weight to 7oz. I was happy with this weight, but not with how ghetto the buffer still was.
At this point I contacted Clint Bulter from www.heavybuffers.com to see if he could build me a custom buffer. I had Clint build me another custom buffer a few years back and knew it would be top notch. I gave him the measurements of my own modified buffers and he replied back being very confident that his new Maxim Defense CQB-9 XH buffer would work in the Troy system based on the measurements I gave him. I ordered one up and had it in my hands a few days later.
The CQB-9 XH buffer weighed in at 6.5oz. When I took it apart it had two Tungsten weights inside. A 6.5oz buffer was usable, but not ideal in a suppressed 9mm AR15 platform. I gave him some feedback on the buffer and I asked if it was possible for him to fit a third Tungsten weight inside the buffer like my own 7oz buffer. He said it was possible and would send me one for T&E.
This brings me to the fourth and final iteration. This new buffer dubbed the CQB-9 XXH weighs in at 7.26oz, this is probably about as heavy as a buffer one can get, short of machining a solid buffer completely out of Tungsten. Clint does incredible machine work, I can’t say anything negative about it. At the range my rifle ran smooth and quiet, I would definitely call it hearing safe, but being at a public range I wasn’t the only one shooting. Ringing steel is definitely louder than the muzzle, port, and action noise combined. I ran about 300 rounds of Freedom Munitions 147g American Steel through it and it ran flawlessly.
So if you want to run a Troy Tomahawk stock with 9mm you can purchase the Maxim Defense CQB-9 buffer from www.heavybuffers.com, and at some point I would expect Clint to release the XXH version. I’m not 100% sure of the 9mm buffer weight available direct from Maxim Defense as I couldn’t get an answer from them about what it weighs, they never replied to any of my queries. I know the JP SCS assembly from Maxim is way too light to be effective for a suppressed 9mm setup. With three tungsten weights, it would only equal the weight of a H3 buffer and you lose the weight mass pinned into the back of most 9mm bolts.
Obligatory range video.
Weight of the Spikes Tactical ST-9X buffer
CQB-9 XXH vs the ST-9X
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Originally Posted by Clint
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