yes, as a general rule if there are no markings on the buffer, it is a carbine buffer

as for the overall "quality" of the rifle, I would be VERY disappointed if I were you. Its good that they tried to make right the worst of the wrongs, but there are still MANY more that should never have been there in the first place.

if they are going to earn their place among the top tier AR manufacturers they are going to have to shift their thinking to meet the high demands of the consumer market
this is one of the biggest understatements I have read in a while IMO. Based on what I see here, I thing one would be better off or at least as good going with an RRA or Bushmaster