School me about the buffer, please.
One thing that I always found strange about the AR is the component known as buffer.
AK, czech Vz., FAL, M14, SCAR and other popular designs do not have such thing, be them rotatory or tilting bolt. But well, all those guns have a piston, while the the AR has a DI system.
I thought I was on something, but then I checked other (and older) guns who were also DI, like the french MAS-49, and it didn't have a buffer, just the usual recoil spring. But I know the DI of the MAS-49 is a bit diffeerent be less sensitive to fouling and also the gun has a tilt-locking bolt.
So, what makes the buffer necessary for the AR? The bolt carrier design, or the way the DI of the AR was designed? Combination of both maybe?
Can the buffer be considered a design weakness since it doesn't allow a foldable stock and it's another part to make the gun unecessarialy more complex? And I've also seen that buffer can cause bolt bouncing.
Educate me. :)