I'm definately curious to the correct buffer weight for the RRA mid length I'm building. I have heard standard and H buffers will work. Any suggestions?
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I'm definately curious to the correct buffer weight for the RRA mid length I'm building. I have heard standard and H buffers will work. Any suggestions?
That's a bit of a tough question to answer.
The gas port size and ammo selection play heavily into this.
Either of these choices will most likely work.
That said, I personally prefer a heavy buffer (H2/H3), heavy spring (SSS) and bigger gas port.
I believe this provides the most rugged reliability.
That is probably not the best setup for a high speed 3 gun rig.
The rifle buffer is appx as heavy as an H3 buffer, so it's not actually heavier than the original rifle design.
Finding the proper buffer for your build will probably end up being one of the last things you do to fine tune the balance of your weapon for proper operation. The proper buffer will be determined by several factors, the most important being barrel length, gas system length, gas port diameter and what type of ammo you intend to use or need to use. I'm assuming your build won't be suppressed. Unless you can look at an existing rifle that is exactly like the one you intend to build, there are too many variables to reliably predict exactly what buffer/action spring your build will need to run the ammo you choose reliably. A standard carbine buffer isn't a bad place to start and may help you explore the lower limits of reliability with low power practice ammo. A standard and an H buffer seem to cover most builds that are similar to yours. Once your build is done ammo choice will be the deciding factor in what works best for you. Good luck.
Start with H. CAR buffers are pretty much too light more most things unless you have a midlength with a tiny gas port and you shoot super soft loads like Remington/UMC, Wolf or PMC.
I've been running an H2 on my BCM middy for a while now. It starts to cycle a little slow when we run Hornady steel cased ammo... that stuff is really mild.
If I have a 16" mid gas system AR and am shooting, say m193 what would be the difference in using a H buffer or standard buffer? I mean what difference would I feel or tell?
You will feel less recoil. I can tell a difference in muzzle climb when using a h2 compared to when shooting with the car buffer. My bcm 14.5 carbine will reliably cycle tula ammo with a h2 buffer. I don't know of any weaker ammo available here to try in it.
Edit: Nevermind I just realized this is about middies.
I've got an H buffer in both my BCM middies. I've found when shooting the frangible ammo in my agencies indoor range that I need to go with a standard Carbine buffer for reliable feeding as the frangible appears to be underpowered for use with the H buffer.
With full power ammo an H buffer or H2, etc should serve you well. If using low powered ammo go with a carbine buffer.
I started with a carbine buffer in my 16" BCM LW middy, but have since switched over to a "H" buffer. I tried some Wolf ammo through it and it didn't want to lock back, but ran fine otherwise. It works flawlessly with any ammo that I typically run through it, including PMC. Since I don't run Wolf through it normally, I decided that the "H" buffer was the right choice for me.
I was having problems with a 14.5" BCM Middy shooting Golden Tiger ammo until I switched out the H2 buffer with standard carbine buffer. After that it ran like a sewing machine.
Another consideration is that RRA uses semi-auto bolt carriers, which weigh less than the normal full-auto ones. In my RRA mid length upper, the H3 and BCM recoil spring is working perfectly. It smoothed it out some so it no longer feels like the rifle is beating itself to death. I think the upper came from the factory completely overgassed.