Help me decide / educate me on buffers.

[17K]

That, and it costs more…

[Heavy Metal]

I frankly don't see how they could get a patent on the biasing spring concept for one simple reason...the MGI RRB used that concept for at least a decade and a half before VLTOR incorporated a variation into the A5.

I have taken one of those apart before, it actually has two springs inside.

[Disciple]

If the RRB is not patented USPTO could be unaware of it. They also appear different with the RRB having a telescoping tip; what's inside it?

[okie]

I frankly don't see how they could get a patent on the biasing spring concept for one simple reason...the MGI RRB used that concept for at least a decade and a half before VLTOR incorporated a variation into the A5.

I have taken one of those apart before, it actually has two springs inside.

The patent office is pretty much a meme at this point. They basically just grant patents without doing the prerequisite research, but there's so much prior art that anyone with enough money can pay a patent attorney to find something that invalidates a claim you make. Basically a patent is only provisional until challenged in court.

It's also virtually impossible to protect a patent unless you have big money. You have to write a non refundable check for half a million just to get the ball rolling, and the average cost will run upwards of a million. Even if you win, you're still out the million plus in most cases.

[Heavy Metal]

If the RRB is not patented USPTO could be unaware of it. They also appear different with the RRB having a telescoping tip; what's inside it?

Even it wasn't patented, it constitutes prior art and would not be able to receive a defensible patent. You can't patent something that is already in use somewhere else.

[Heavy Metal]

The patent office is pretty much a meme at this point. They basically just grant patents without doing the prerequisite research, but there's so much prior art that anyone with enough money can pay a patent attorney to find something that invalidates a claim you make. Basically a patent is only provisional until challenged in court.

It's also virtually impossible to protect a patent unless you have big money. You have to write a non refundable check for half a million just to get the ball rolling, and the average cost will run upwards of a million. Even if you win, you're still out the million plus in most cases.

And I suspect you are exactly right in your assessment.

[Heavy Metal]

If the RRB is not patented USPTO could be unaware of it. They also appear different with the RRB having a telescoping tip; what's inside it?

Three weights with two biasing springs separating them. The tip acts as a counter-plunger to spread the energy of the impact of the BCG/Buffer over a longer period of time. Think a "U" instead of a 'V'. The plunger throws the residual energy of impact back to the moving mass in the opposing force vector.

[okie]

And I suspect you are exactly right in your assessment.

It's a sore point. I'm an industrial designer and I've got a few things that could easily be patented, but without multinational money behind you all that does is allow you to send cease and desist letters, which are almost by definition a bluff. The only time you would ever actually sue someone is if you thought you stood a pretty good chance of winning at least a million dollars, or if you were a big company like Amazon and you could burn a cool million just to protect your turf. In most cases, a cease and desist letter is an outright admission that either you don't have the money to litigate or that you don't think you would win, or that even if you did win the award wouldn't pay your court costs. Awarding fees to the patent holder is extremely rare. In most cases the court will just award whatever the actual damages were and make you eat the litigation costs. Of course they can also deem your case to be petty and make you pay the other party's costs.

The other reality in patent law is that whoever can hire the best lawyers is almost always going to win. It's not like criminal law where simply being innocent can save you. Pro bono is almost unheard of, and actually frowned upon in that area. There's virtually no sympathy for the small time inventor who gets railroaded by a major company. They practice patent law like it's a contact sport, ethics or basic human decency need not apply.

[Patrin]

Nope. There’s no benefit. There’s no increased operating range, or bigger window, or whatever people think it does. I have never seen it in 14 odd years of having at least lower setup with an A5. If the gun will run, it run on a carbine + H2 as well or better than with an A5.

I'm starting to come around to this. Just switched out one of my carbines from an A5 to a standard with an H/Carbine buffer (winter + tula). I found the A5 a lil lacking in severe cold temps vs a standard carbine setup.

[MistWolf]

I'm starting to come around to this. Just switched out one of my carbines from an A5 to a standard with an H/Carbine buffer (winter + tula). I found the A5 a lil lacking in severe cold temps vs a standard carbine setup.

That’s because you’re running under powered ammo. The AR wasn’t designed to run under powered ammo.