going light, BCG, buffer?

[Ring]

i was speaking to a 3 gun shooter and instructor and he mentioned that he was going to use a JP light BCG and removed all the weights from the buffer,,,
i asked if he was worried about over gassing it for lack of a better term..

he said he had a adjustable gas block as well


would bolt bounce be a issue? wear on other parts moving to fast?

[SA80Dan]

That is the way to get the ultimately softest shooting rifle available, no question. However, it is a complete system....the adjustable gas block is a key part and needs to be tuned to the ammo in use.

Running a completely empty buffer is not a good idea as without any weights in it at all it will excacerbate bolt bounce. It at least needs some 'weights' in there, even if they are just aluminum or delrin pieces repacing the original steel (aka the JP LMOS buffer). These light weights allow for the deadblow type effect to still work while keeping the buffer light.

[armatac]

This doesn't sound like the direction I would take any AR. A heavy bolt group slows extraction to avoid the high pressure spike. It also allows for a more reliable firearm because the larger mass has a longer time behind the cartridges for pickup. It also give the carrier group more energy to get the rounds into chamber(momentum has a mass variable). This can go too far ofcourse but that is why the standard is a tuned system.

If you are a tuner, you could make anything work.

[markm]

Don't talk to three gun h0m0s! ;)

[SA80Dan]

Don't talk to three gun h0m0s! ;)

Well of course, that's always true! :D ;)

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

My JP 18inch rifle-length, adjustable gas system with the slick JP bolt carrier and the Rifle length LMOS Buffer, with a Rifle length stock is silly stupid easy to shoot- and your buddy is right, the gas system adjustability is the key- it lets you tune the gas to where it works with all the light weight stuff. Probably not the best system for a gun that will see a range of ammo and cleaning conditions, but a great fun gun.

I shoot 75gr PRVI 223 ammo with it so that I know when 300+ yard steel is hit. When I have time to reload, I think the other component would be light 55 boat tail ammo loaded to min power factor and then tune the system all over for that.

If you have more than one AR, a JP system like that is a good way to do a little h0m0 'experimenting'.

[fixit69]

That comment freaked me out a tad. Empty buffer even with j sys gas block doesn't sound... sound. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that take away reliability?

Who know, I don't shoot competion. Just blast away.

[kartoffel]

I've heard this argument from some local competition shooters: a lighter buffer increases the cyclic rate, which lets you shoot faster even in semi. I guess if you are a bionic supergamer who can outrun their trigger it might be worthwhile.

Still, let's say your heavy buffer equipped carbine runs at 600 rounds per minute. Are you shooting sub 1.0 second 10 shot splits? No? Then you don't need a faster buffer.

[SA80Dan]

That comment freaked me out a tad. Empty buffer even with j sys gas block doesn't sound... sound. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that take away reliability?

Who know, I don't shoot competion. Just blast away.

Like I said, an empty buffer will be more prone to bolt bounce. By contrast, a lightened buffer, even though the weights will be light, will still retain the functional buffering characteristics (i.e. a sort of deadblow effect). So yes, an empty buffer would be more prone to a tiny bounce out of battery, with a very fast trigger man on the case, more prone to pull trigger and 'click'.

Kartoffel - its not really about the cyclic rate, its more about less mass = less disturbance to the rifle, both on the recoil stroke and the return in to battery....less disturbance = faster follow up shots. Yes, the gnats cocks worth of time it saves really does matter to those really high speed top guys.

Is this all really necessary (or even desirable) outside of a high speed competition or specialized environment? No its not...mil spec rifle with mil spec ammo is fine.