04-05-2020, 12:51 AM
Wanderson Wrote:Does a heavier buffer & carrier actually change the duration of lockup in a significant way? I know it would in a blowback carbine, but a DI setup shouldnt unlock til pressure drops to safe levels.
I do like running heavy BCGs & buffers in my variant ARs, mainly to just slow the cycling action to give the mag time to bring up another round, and seems to help with stripping rounds. I run a FA bolt carrier & H2 buffer in my 12 6.5g AR and dialed in the adjustable gas block with Wolf steel and its been completely reliable.
Sure, the bolt won't unlock at peak pressure and damage the receiver, but it still can unlock 'safe' but too early. Spitting in your face if you are a left-hander, stressing and dragging the bolt against too much pressure, which in turn robs the system of momentum to fully cycle, the extractor claw can strip or jump over rims.
Unlocking and going backwards is only half of the cycling, you need mass going forwards into battery. If you go a light BCG then it might not have enough mass going forward to, as you say, strip the next round in a mag with a stiff spring, or heavy bullets (like a full mag of heavy 300 Blackout), or go into battery if the gun is clogged with dirt.
Always full-mass/full-auto (more weight) BCGs for me, and make sure the system is generously gassed so this can be tuned at the port with an AGB. Frankly, I can't see a situation where a low mass carrier is better than a normal carrier, given you will have to compensate in some other way to ensure reliability. Maybe Blackout which as a calibre is undergassed when subsonic, but then there's the stripping of the next round to worry about.