Nick Wantland - VLTOR A5 Buffer System

[Clint]

New article just out where Nick Wantland from VLTOR detaiis their A5 system

The VLTOR A5 Buffer System is my favorite thing that we make, and is one of the things that I get most excited about when I talk to people about VLTOR and what we offer.

We make some other really cool stuff, so it’s sort of funny that an unsexy part like a buffer would be my favorite. But when you dig into the technical side of things, its attractiveness becomes clear.

The VLTOR A5 Buffer System is basically a proprietary buffer and receiver extension tube that are intermediate in length. The buffer and the tube are both 3/4 of an inch longer than a standard carbine buffer set up. The system also utilizes a rifle action spring instead of a carbine spring.

There’s a ton of things that it does simultaneously, some more nuanced than others…But the synopsis is it regulates carrier velocity, changes felt recoil impulse, and most importantly, it opens up the entire operational envelope of the gun. It allows the gun to run properly under a much wider range of input and factors. This usually equates to more overall reliability…which is a good thing.

Whether you’re using the carbine buffer system, or the longer rifle buffer system, the bolt carrier’s stroke length is the same – around 3.75”. The carrier travels the same distance, so the amount of compression a carbine spring and rifle spring experience is the same.

However, the carbine spring is shorter and has less wire than a rifle buffer spring. This means with the rifle buffer system, you have a longer spring with more coils and more wire to perform the same work. When both springs are deflected the same amount, the carbine spring experiences more stress, and also experiences a higher differential between the pre-loaded position and fully-loaded positions than a rifle spring does.

There is a lot more to it than that, but in basic terms, the rifle buffer system is quite literally more smooth and consistent than a carbine setup, in regards to the action spring.

One of the other unique features about the A5 buffers are their internal biasing springs. There’s a spring inside of each buffer that keeps internal weights stacked against the front face of the buffer. This assures that the weights are always in the same place when the gun starts its unlocking and cycling processes. Weights are always in the same position, so the gun is always overcoming the same mass, in the same way, every time.

End of the article has some quotes from local favorites Mike and Will.

Most of this has been well covered here, but this is straight from the MFG.

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