Recoil buffers and cyclic rate reducing doohickies??

[Trace Rinaldi]

Do any of these things work? Do they have any effect on accuracy for the better, or better reliability? Im not worried about recoil, I just want anything that will make the rifle actually perform better. If they are worth buying which one is the best? Im putting together a heavy barrell target/varmint type AR.

Sorry for the noob question. Still trying to figure all this AR stuff out..

Thanks..

[TehLlama]

Too heavy a buffer will mean short stroking (not cycling the action far enough back), which can be very frustrating, and much more common firing dirty, underpowered, or just lots of ammunition.

An H or H2 will be just fine. The hydraulic or enidine buffers will slow cyclic rate a lot, but really only make sense for FA weapons.

[Stickman]

Trace,

There are a lot of different carbine buffers, but not much in the way of different rifle buffers.

Did you plan on running a carbine buffer system (UBR, or other adjustable stock), or were you running an A1/ A2 PRS rifle stock?

[Trace Rinaldi]

Im using the PRS stock bud... I "thought" I had heard that cyclic rate reducers slow down the bolt a bit and add up to better accuracy by leaving the round in the chamber a split second longer or something.. I could be wrong on my recollection though, my memory sucks

Thanks for the responses guys..

[Paulo_Santos]

I've used the Enidine buffer and it works great. I just started using the Tubbs SS Springs (Superioe Shooting Flat-Wire Springs) and I like it better than the Enidine buffer. They both work very well, but I was just worried that the enidine buffer would crap out on me so I switched to the SS Springs. Also, the SS Springs are cheaper and it works for the Carbine or Rifle stocks.

[Stickman]

Trace,

For the PRS, I would stick with the standard buffer, it does a good job. Carbines tend to be a little more twitchy.

[parabellum]

on my precision build, i use an olympic pneumatic buffer. the rifle is a range queen, and i don't think i'd ever use such a device on a field weapon.

the weapon in question has an A2 stock, the pneumatic buffer only works with the rifle length extension.

it is not select fire, but i do notice a significant reduction in recoil. i do miss the "sproing" sound you get with a rifle length buffer and spring tho

[TehLlama]

PRS with standard rifle buffer is GTG - if you don't feel the need for a telescoping stock, that's the best solution. I guess I hadn't considered that in my reply.

[Trace Rinaldi]

Thanks for the replies, that saves me a few duckets and thats always appreciated

[federalist22]

Has anyone had any problems with Enidine buffers (carbine - 16" S&W M&P15ORC - .223/5.56 - used Remington UMC 55gr 223 rounds, 30-PMAG)? Although the Enidine carbine buffer cycles fine during shooting, after the last round in the mag the bolt carrier fails to lock to the rear, but instead cycles forward without a round to chamber. The only thing I tried new for this rifle was the buffer. I will probably shoot again real soon and revert back to my off-the-shelf buffer--disappointed because the Enidine ran real smooth--friends also remarked on the cycling being smooth. The failure to lock to the rear is very bad for tactical reloads if the bolt has to be manually pulled to the rear.

[rob_s]

I would avoid the Enidine like the plague. I have "fixed" several guns by simply removing that POS Enidine and dropping in an H buffer (talking carbine stocks here) or in some rare instances a C buffer. Most often these are people having problems getting the bolt to lock back on an empty magazine while at class who "never had that problem before" (I swear, if I was an instructor I'd get those words printed up on my company t-shirts). In some cases the Enidine has caused such short-stroking problems that the bolt fails to even strip a fresh round out of the magazine 100% of the time.

I find the Enidine to be like a lot of things people put on/in their guns; a transfer device designed to transfer money from your wallet to the other guy's. To make matters worse it offers no advantage whatsoever.

Enidines, two stage triggers, all kinds of other widgets and doo-dads.... most of these people would be FAR better served attending a quality basic carbine course from someone like Randy Cain and actually learning how to shoot. There's nothing as comical as watching a guy with a bipod, ACOG, Enidine, two-stage trigger, etc. ad nauseum getting outshot on every single evolution by a guy with a stock Colt 6920 running the carry handle. Even out to 200 yards.

[federalist22]

Rob,

I only installed the Enidine because a friend swore by them (but he has his on an 24" bull barrel varmint killer) so I thought I might give it a try, but I am going to revert back to my standard buffer. I will eval the H an C. Thanks for the feedback.

[rob_s]

They *may* have some application in the benchrest/long-range game. I wouldn't know as that's not my thing. However given the number of problems I've seen with them, and assuming that reliability is still the #1 priority even with the BR/LR crowd, I wouldn't install one.

I've seen reference before to the "smooth" feeling or the reduced recoil, but for me and the kind of shooting I do if you're able to notice those things you're either VERY good (in which case whatever benefit these products offer are incremental at best) or you're focusing on the wrong thing (in which case the problem is software not hardware).