Quote Originally Posted by markm View Post
Wouldn't recoil energy vary wildly depending on gassing and buffer system? I mean... I've shot over gassed carbines that will impulse way harder than a correctly gassed gun.
Correct IMO. I have a .223 bolt gun that weighs the same or less than my AR’s and the “felt recoil” is substantially less than any of them. The “felt recoil” from most AR’s is more a result of 1 lb of steel slamming to a stop into your shoulder than from propelling the 55 gr bullet forward.

Yes, I know all about the physics, that it can’t actually create more energy than the cartridge firing produces, etc, but that’s not how it comes across.