Originally Posted by
MountainRaven
If we start with a 20" barrel, rifle gas, rifle receiver extension, rifle buffer weight... only one part would really be an improvement, and that would be the LMT E-bolt. Or the KAC E-bolt, if you got a KAC barrel extension. And I don't think that's going to give you an edge in reliability, so much as durability.
Everything else is pretty much intended to get full-auto carbines to run on par with full-auto rifles, and I'm not certain you'll see much benefit (possibly any benefit) in a semi-automatic carbine.
Maybe if you can test the dozens of hundreds of configurations across a couple dozen weapons with ten or twenty thousand rounds run through each, you might find something that pushes the carbine to be more reliable than others, but otherwise...
...it's just one dude tinkering with one (or a few) of their own personal rifles. Which is fine. But it's going to be a non-scientific test, statistically insignificant, the plural of anecdote isn't data, &c.
So, sure, maybe you'll be able to get a 14.5" barrel intermediate gas gun with some sort of E-BCG (SureFire, KAC, LMT, doesn't matter) and an A5 buffer system to run reliably and with great durability; But I feel reasonably certain that you would be unable to demonstrate that this hypothetical individual weapon is more reliable or durable than an LE6920 (or reasonable proxy), much less the Stoner-Sullivan Original™ AR-15/M16/C7 configuration.
So, yeah. An LMT E-bolt, if you have to. I don't think an H or an H2 buffer should even need to be mentioned.
(The above assumes the end-user wants a 5.56mm NATO rifle or carbine capable of running reliably a variety of ammunition types under a variety of field conditions, and is not trying to specialize the weapon for accuracy, multi-gun competition, 100% silenced/100% of the time, preservation of spent brass, preferred "recoil impulse," feel or any other specialized application(s).)
ETA: Probably the most, "optimized," fighting carbine that fits the above criteria - and actually has the testing to demonstrate it - would be a KAC SR-15/SR-16 upper on an LMT MARS lower. And the LMT MARS lower is just because the ambi bolt catch on the LMT is better than what the KACs come with. Just add the Geissele, KAC, LaRue trigger of your choice and done.
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