Quick and Easy recoil Tuning question.

[AGENT TIKKI]

Was talking with an old fogey friend of mine, and he swears that he can get the smoothest softest recoil from cutting the springs from his recoil buffer.

He says he cuts his recoil spring, one 360 degree loop at a time. Shoots a couple mags. If hes got no feeding issues, he'll rinse and repeat. Once he starts getting failures, he'll count the coils on a cut spring, and cut a new spring one less coil than his "experimentin" coil.

Sounds intriguing, but I'm guessing probably not the most reliable thing in the world to do. Isn't he slowing down lock time, and slowing down the time his BCG returns to battery (changing timing)? I fail to see how this will reduce recoil doesn't the bolt fly back faster with less resistance and bottom out a the end of his buffer? I guess recoil impulse may be lengthened, but if the bcg goes all the way back and hits the end of the buffer tube wouldn't that concieveably cause a double bump of felt recoil for every shot? Also with a weaker spring, wouldn't it affect the speed at which his BCG returns the battery and cause feeding issues? (He seems to always be fiddling with his ar....)

Wouldn't experimenting with buffer weights, and perhaps a FA bolt carrier be a little more reliable, though prolly a bit more expensive?

[Breadman]

Ask yourself... Have I EVER heard anyone who is not a dumbass recommend this?
It sounds like you are asking a question that you already know the answer to.

[AGENT TIKKI]

Ask yourself... Have I EVER heard anyone who is not a dumbass recommend this?
It sounds like you are asking a question that you already know the answer to.


Well, I'm not an authority, nor am I an engineer. I can make reasonable estimations with a fundamental knowledge of physics. I'm asking because, there may be something I'm missing.

And come on man, Dumbass rily? Old fogeys always got something up their sleeves man.... I'm always learning something from them. Some good, Some bad, some funny.

[ucrt]

.

Sounds like a good idea....that 5.56 recoil is so brutal. :rolleyes:

I think calling someone a "DA" on THIS forum for an idea like that is...well...er..you know... is just being nice.

[JSantoro]

There's a societal-level misconception in America that price and cost mean the same thing.

For the sake of "tuning" felt recoil (instead of ensuring function), yes, trying complete, intact springs and buffers might be more up front, but less on the back end because you aren't increasing wear on other parts by futzing with the action spring in ways it's not meant to be futzed with. Cutting a spring under those kinds of stresses for the sake of a comfort-based ideal may seem penny-wise, but is pound-foolish.

Those doubled-up coils at the end of the spring exist for a reason.

What this cat's got up his sleeve may very well be nothing more than a limp wrist. Is his name Lamar, by any chance?

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5310/limpwristedthrowingstyl.jpg

As my grandfather once told me: "Being older does not automatically make one smarter or wiser. It just takes a long. Goddamned. Time!"