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Buffer

7K views 27 replies 17 participants last post by  EWP 
#1 ·
Will a standard ar buffer and spring work with a 6.8 upper or do I need to upgrade to a heaver buffer / spring? Anyone use the endine?

thanks
RandyJ
 
#4 ·
A standard carbine buffer and spring should be ok, but it depends on the strength of your ammo and which model upper you have. Some manufacturers overgas their uppers which necessitates a heavier buffer. Alot of our members, myself included, utilyze a SSS flatwire buffer spring instead of a standard sarbine spring. Mostly due to reliability and durability.
 
#5 ·
Sorry, I should have mentioned that, I am using a 16 inch, straight from the factory Rock River 6.8 forged upper. Specs are 16inch Wilson chrome moly barrel, 1/10, SAAMI II chambered.

thanks
 
#7 ·
I also use Tubbs SSS (Superior Shooting System) flat wire springs in all my lowers. If you are using a carbine stock I would put in a SSS spring and standard buffer. This should do the trick. If it is throwing out the cases around 2-3 o'clock I would then put in an H buffer. But I would try the standard buffer first, no sense in spending if you don't have to. ( I do have a RRA upper though that is so over gassed nothing I do changes anything) I need to put an adjustable gas block on that one. You can get those springs from BCT.
 
#9 ·
thanks for your replies..you folks rock. for you guys with the rock river, how does it shoot? accuracy? thanks again!
 
#10 ·
mine hovers right at 1 MOA with just about everything i have tried so far. 90gr Sierras, 100gr Rem SP, 110gr Sierra prohunters. i have some Barnes 85 TSX's that are gonna be for Deer season and some Barnes 120gr solids for some penetration experiments. i have not shot either of the Barnes offerings yet though. all that with a 4X scope too. i'm sure it would do much better with some magnification on it.
 
#11 ·
Definitely start off with the regular carbine buffer. I am running a carbine buffer and the Tubbs SSS flat wire springs that I bought from BCT (great service btw, springs arrived about 2 days after purchase). With this setup and my 18" SS bison barrel, I am getting consisten ejections between 3:30 and 4:00 with 90gr TNT and 29.5-29.7 grains of Re7.

I would not recommend the Endine buffer. I bought one for my rifle to begin with. I would have to say that with the endine, Tubbs spring and FSC30 comp, recoil was practically nothing. However, no matter how hot or mild the load was I could not get the bolt to lock all the way back on the last round. I switched back to the carbine buffer and haven't had a problem since.
 
#12 ·
I have the same upper. Mine is pretty overgassed. With the stock buffer spring and carbine buffer my cases ejected at the 2 o'clock range. I could never retrieve any of my brass at the the gun range! I replaced the stock buffer with an H2 buffer and things got better. Most of the cases eject in the 2-3 o'clock range now. I am getting ready to add a SSS flat wire spring and see if that gets it closer to 3 o'clock all the time. It may like that combo or it may like the SSS spring with a standard buffer. Have to wait and see.

I get very good 1 1/2 MOA accuracy with my handloads in this upper. Right now it really likes Speer 100 gn with Ramshot Xterminator and Sieera 110 gr pro-hunters with H322. 110 gn Accubonds are in the development stage right now for this gun (I have everything loaded and ready to go just to lazy/busy to get to the range and test ;) ). I use PRI mags and I can load them a bit longer than the usual specs call for so I believe this helps my accuracy potential to a degree. I still have a heavy stock trigger and I need to upgrade to a better trigger. I could hold 1 MOA with a better trigger I believe. On an interesting note I changed my stock A2 flash hider to a Smith Vortex and my point of impact shifted a good 4" at 100 yards. My scope is now back to the factory stock settings that it came out of the box with.
 
#14 ·
once again, thanks for all the response folks, very helpful!
 
#15 ·
As other have said what you need depends on the ammo you plan to shoot regularly and how big the company made the gas port in relation to pressure. All of the large companies out there over gas there guns on purpose to cut down on tech calls of SS. The best way to decide on this is get a round idea of the ammo or load you plan to shoot. If its factory ammo then use it. If its hand loading then find your tuned load and go off of that. You want the loads you use to eject about 3:00 to 3:00 12 being the muzzle and your 6 being well your 6.:) In all likely hood a full power load with the stock spring and carbine buffer will eject about 2:00 on a RRA. The first thing you should add is the SSS spring. These have many more benefits than just being extra power. So much so even if a normal spring and buffer is perfect it is still a good idea to add it then trim it to get the ejection back to ideal. I have been using these long before the 6.8 ever came out. They are awesome and unlike other springs than need to be changed every 5-10 K they will last 1million rounds before needing a change or basically the life of your gun for most. It also changes the way the tension is applied during the range. This allows for a delay in the BCG moving ( a good thing) It is a flat wire so it will be much much longer than a equal stanrda round piano wire spring and when fully compressed even though it has more coils will be smaller.Sorry to get off track.

Once you have changed the spring check your ejection angle again. Most likely it will be aorund 3 as most do know load there barrel to the top end for whatever reason. But if you still are getting around 2:30 whihc was the norm back with the old combat rounds with this barrel you woudl move up to a H or H2 buffer. Normally a H2 buffer worked best with the heavier bullets 110-115 and the H buffer with the 60-90 gr bullets. You will likely be fine with a Carbine buffer and the SSS spring.

When you get the spring do not worry if it does not seat all the way down to the ledge on the buffer its has no negative effect and happen with many buffers. It will also be even longer than a full rifle length buffer spring. it is suppose to be so don;t think you got he wrong one. Because of its design it works with both rifle and carbine buffer tubes. Slap it in as normal install the buffer and shoot it. Should only take about 1 min. Very simple.

BTW congrats on the new 6.8 you will have a great time with it. Its a awesome round in the AR. What it always should have had IMO.
 
#16 ·
I don't mean to hijack so let me know if I need to do a new post. I was just going to when I saw this one.
I have a RRA 16 inch upper on a RRA lower. I am shooting SSA 110 gr. Sierras.
My issue may be more of an annoyance than a problem. Every shot I take I hear the spring moving and the buffer recoiling. Is there anything I can do about this?
Thanks
 
#17 ·
Every shot I take I hear the spring moving and the buffer recoiling. Is there anything I can do about this?
Short of doubling up on hearing protection...no. What your hearing is totally normal.
 
#18 ·
the spring sound is just part of shooting an AR....
 
#19 ·
Thanks for the post Tim, that cleared up my misunderstanding about ejection angle. I also have the RRA upper but I get ejection around 3:30, as evidenced by the fact that I keep hitting the guy two lanes to my right with ejected brass.

Edit to add: For you guys who have one, does that SSS reduce felt recoil like they say it does?
 
#20 ·
Thanks for the post Tim, that cleared up my misunderstanding about ejection angle. I also have the RRA upper but I get ejection around 3:30, as evidenced by the fact that I keep hitting the guy two lanes to my right with ejected brass.

Edit to add: For you guys who have one, does that SSS reduce felt recoil like they say it does?
That's a subjective one...

but shooting a standard spring and the SSS back to back, they do feel different.

With the standard spring I could feel the recoil of the round and then the thump of the buffer bottoming out hard in the extension tube.

With the SSS spring it feels more like one action and I think the bottoming out is greatly reduced. It IS measurably stronger and helps with closing the bolt too.
 
#23 ·
I also have the RRA upper but I get ejection around 3:30, as evidenced by the fact that I keep hitting the guy two lanes to my right with ejected brass.
Looks like I spoke too soon. That good ejection was apparently the result of a gas leak due to my gas key not being screwed all the way in. I tightened the screws on it and now it's ejecting at 2 o'clock. Maybe I will get that spring and buffer after all.
 
#24 ·
#25 ·
Is the Tubb version equal in quality and performance?

******

Tubb SpeedLock Systems Flat Wire Buffer Spring AR-15 Rifle Chrome Silicon

"Chrome silicon alloy spring is heat-treated, stress relieved and shot peened to increase reliability and service life.

Notes:

Bolt load is increased by 10% compared with Tubb round wire buffer springs

Provides a flatter recoil impulse

Requires about 6% less force to fully compress than Tubb round wire buffer springs

Less than 2% change in spring loading through 500,000 compression cycles

Duty rated for 1,000,000 cycles"
 
#28 ·
I just put a Tactical Springs extra power buffer spring in my 6.8 but haven't got to shoot it yet, does anyone have any experience with these springs? They seem to have even better spec's than the SSS springs so I bought a couple of their red springs for my carbines and a three pack of their extractor springs also.

Here is some info on the springs I use

WHAT MAKES OUR SPRINGS UNIQUE?

All our springs are constructed from Certified Chrome Silicon wire stock to withstand extreme heat and highly cyclic rate. The certification rating ensures a consistency in the parent material of 95%, which translates to repeatable consistency in performance & function. Certified Valve Quality Chrome Silicon wire is used in very high stress applications such as, NASCAR, Formula One, Moto GP & Pro stock racing motor valve springs. It is not uncommon in some of these applications for valve springs to see 15,000,000 compression cycles in one race. It is this extraordinary capability that made Chrome Silicon wire the obvious choice in our spring production vs. music wire used in OEM springs and by most aftermarket competitors. In addition, all of our Chrome Silicon springs are heat treated, stress relieved, and shot peened in separate post winding treatments. We also treat each spring with a proprietary, deep-penetrating, Re-Micronized (to .3 Micron particle size), inhibited, Molybdenum-Disulfide(MoS2) formulation to eliminate 90% of all mechanical wear on the spring. The combination of materials & processes result in a loss of no more than 5% in spring efficiency. We take our extractor springs one step further in the form of Cryogenic Processing. This computerized, ultra low temperature process (-320°F) increases the strength & wear life of the parent material through a change in microstructure resulting in less retained austenite and more uniformity. Why cryogenics for the extractor spring and not our other springs? Due to the size of the extractor spring, high stress cyclic rates and asymmetrical temperature exposure, premature wear and or shortened spring life can occur. Cryogenics effectively combats these issues giving the spring a very predictable & uniform performance within the operation of the weapon cycle. It is NOT recommended that a D-Fender™ ring be used when using our extractor springs. CRANE O-Rings may be used, but are not needed due to the strength and durability of the spring itself.



CONSTRUCTION SPECS BUFFER SPRINGS:

ASTM Grade A877 Certified Valve Grade Chrome Silicon Wirestock
Heat Treated, Stress Relieved and Shot-Peened post winding (Our springs are REALLY shot-peened)
Impregnation / Plating with Re-Micronized Moly Disulfide formulation
Hard plastic tube packaging for protected transport and easy storage
Optional Cryogenic Processing available
ADVANTAGES:

Shortened "lock time" for faster sight recovery and platform stability
Consistent spring pressure throughout the duty cycle of the spring, resulting in fewer malfunctions related to spring operation. (Especially Type III malfunctions)
Improved & consistent cyclic operation
Greater resistance to heat induced performance degradation
Reduced operating cost as fewer springs are needed during the life of the weapon
Less downtime and fewer trips to the armorer for spring replacement, in fact, this will most likely be the only buffer spring you will ever need for the duty cycle of your carbine!
Works reliably & consistently in all SBR platforms

APPLICATION SOLUTIONS (2 OPTIONS):

Extra-Power Buffer Spring, best option for 14.5" and 16" barrels with carbine length gas system platforms with standard front sight towers and H buffers, gas piston guns, and suppressed weapons. Color Coded RED.
Standard Buffer Spring, best option for all others, including some non-suppressed shorties, middy guns with adjustable gas blocks, 1st Gen M&P's, all Rock River Arms, uppers with light weight carrier groups (VTAC), etc. Color Coded BLUE.
 
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