Configuration of buffer weights

[markm]

Was talking about 9mm… pointed that out about 5.56mm in that post.

Gotcha. yeah... 9mm is a whole other ball of wax. I was toying with a 5.7 upper in AR years ago. The horrible bolt bounce was the deal breaker.

[Mysteryman]

The weights are only there to prevent bolt bounce. Bolt bounce is only a problem in full auto as it disrupts the timing of the hammer falling on the firing pin.

In semiautomatic fire the hammer falls when the trigger is pulled again, which is long after even the worse bolt bounce has subsided. The since the weights sliding in the buffer serve no purpose in semiautomatic fire, the order in which they are placed is immaterial.

In full auto, it makes sense to put the heavier weights in the back, as the weights hit in succession, first the forward one, then the second one, etc. You want the impact force to increase, not decrease as a function of time.

Just so I'm tracking. The tungsten weight is closest to the urethane plug, not closest to the bolt carrier.

[lysander]

Disagree with you there… being I’ve seen out of battery discharges due to that very thing you said only is a problem with full-auto.

Link related to 9mm ARs, but still occurring with semi-auto fire. Just because OOB is almost non-existent in a 5.56mm, doesn’t mean it is the same across the board. And with the push of 9mm ARs over the past few years… it is a fair argument.

https://blowback9.wordpress.com/2021...ut-the-ar9/#23

That being said, putting the heavier weight forward helps prevent that. Shy of “just because,” give me an argument where you’d see weight balance shifting towards the rear as a positive. Legitimate question.

Because even if you fire quick enough to send the hammer down when the bolt isn’t locked… you still end up with click/no bang and need to cycle the action. If running buffers like that reduces that chance (bolt bounce), why not?

If you are seeing out of battery discharges, you have an poorly designed bolt and/or firing pin, period.

In is a simple thing to design the bolt and firing pin so that the hammer can only hit it when in battery.

[utahjeepr]

So my understanding was steel weight(s) go into the buffer before tungsten. Kinda like the alphabet, S before T. Gotta say though, my guess is that it matters about as much as putting the buffer spring in "backwards".

[markm]

So my understanding was steel weight(s) go into the buffer before tungsten. Kinda like the alphabet, S before T. Gotta say though, my guess is that it matters about as much as putting the buffer spring in "backwards".

I have to go check mine!

And my cam pins!!!

[Jstud220]

Just so I'm tracking. The tungsten weight is closest to the urethane plug, not closest to the bolt carrier.

To my understanding and according to the instructions Giessle sent me with the tungsten weight I ordered, when you pop off the rubber bumper you insert tungsten weights first followed by steel. So for an H2 buffer you should insert tungsten, tungsten, followed by steel touching the rubber bumper. I just find it really strange that 4 different buffers I popped open all had the weights the exact opposite way.

Fwiw the other buffer that I could not remember the brand at the time of this post is a cmmg h1 buffer. So that’s Giessle, aero, cmmg, and white label armory that all sent me H buffers with the weights installed backwards. If you’re like me and it’s something that bothers you it may be worth the time to check your h buffers. I don’t think it really matters that much at the end of the day considering I ran every one with the weights backwards for years before discovering this and reconfiguring them.

[Ned Christiansen]

There are so many 9's being made my so many outfits, and some of them "have issues" as they have not been carefully designed by people who understand all the little nuances of firearms (not saying I do).

One can pretty easily self-demo the fact that the original in 5.56 cannot fire out of battery by means of dropping the hammer on the firing pin. The hammer will drop with the bolt retracted a bit but it cannot contact the FP at that point. Further forward it might, depending on carrier design, but the FP cannot reach through the breech face with the bolt unlocked. Looking at just about any "repeater" design going back to before 1900, there will be found some manner of blocking the firing pin or hammer or both until the bolt is fully in battery.

On some of the myriad 9's out there it would not surprise me to find that many or even most will fire with the bolt say 1/8" out of battery. Since, again, standard AR design allows the hammer to drop with the bolt retracted-- all the way back to the point where the carrier rocks the hammer off the sear and holds it there-- simple blowback 9's, probably a lot of them will fire slightly out of battery.

[lysander]

To my understanding and according to the instructions Giessle sent me with the tungsten weight I ordered, when you pop off the rubber bumper you insert tungsten weights first followed by steel. So for an H2 buffer you should insert tungsten, tungsten, followed by steel touching the rubber bumper. I just find it really strange that 4 different buffers I popped open all had the weights the exact opposite way.

Fwiw the other buffer that I could not remember the brand at the time of this post is a cmmg h1 buffer. So that’s Giessle, aero, cmmg, and white label armory that all sent me H buffers with the weights installed backwards. If you’re like me and it’s something that bothers you it may be worth the time to check your h buffers. I don’t think it really matters that much at the end of the day considering I ran every one with the weights backwards for years before discovering this and reconfiguring them.

So, they would have been install the correct way, according to the drawing.

[lysander]

On some of the myriad 9's out there it would not surprise me to find that many or even most will fire with the bolt say 1/8" out of battery. Since, again, standard AR design allows the hammer to drop with the bolt retracted-- all the way back to the point where the carrier rocks the hammer off the sear and holds it there-- simple blowback 9's, probably a lot of them will fire slightly out of battery.

Given the power of 3-D modeling, it seems sad to me that such would be the case.

Mr Browning managed to design things properly without such aids.

[prepare]

For clarity; starting with an empty H Buffer-

Add 1 rubber washer, 1 tungsten weight, another washer, a steel weight, another washer, another steel weight, and then the plug?

Is that the correct orientation?