bolt/buffer/spring weight affect recoil how?

[chornet44]

I need help understanding how buffer and bolt weight as well as spring affect recoil. I have a stag 3g upper left hand, auto bolt, I'm about to put an adjustable gas block on and want to understand how all this works. Should I go ad light as possible and get a lighter spring and turn down the gas to minimize recoil and muzzle rise, or heavy. I do understand adding weight slows down cyclic rate. That's about all I understand. How should I go about tuning my left hand gun with full auto bolt for 3 gun?

[GorillaTactical]

I need help understanding how buffer and bolt weight as well as spring affect recoil. I have a stag 3g upper left hand, auto bolt, I'm about to put an adjustable gas block on and want to understand how all this works. Should I go ad light as possible and get a lighter spring and turn down the gas to minimize recoil and muzzle rise, or heavy. I do understand adding weight slows down cyclic rate. That's about all I understand. How should I go about tuning my left hand gun with full auto bolt for 3 gun?

The Bolt Carrier Group (BCG) and Buffer effect felt recoil impulse based on their mass. The basic rule is that the more mass you have in these areas, the more reciprocating mass is inside the gun moving with each trigger pull (producing a longer harder felt recoil impulse). So if you can lighten these areas, you can speed up cyclic rate, as well as cut down on felt recoil, or more accurately, alter the impulse of the felt recoil to be very "snappy". The buffer spring effects recoil based on how hard it lets the moving mass of the BCG and Buffer hit you and how hard it snaps the action closed. The lighter the spring, the harder you will be hit and the longer the weapon's action will remain open. There's a double edged sword to everything though, and in this case, if you have too stiff of a spring, the action won't cycle completely or reliably, causing failures.

Most of the time, when we discussing tuning, we're discussing a completely subjective thing...how YOU like the recoil impulse to feel when it hits you. I personally like an extremely sharp hard pulse followed by nothing...I achieve this with a lightened bcg, a lightened buffer, an enhanced power spring, and an adjustable gas system. The lighter mass moves faster and the whole of the cyclic process ends very quickly...I like this opposed to have a long drawn out impulse.....I use the enhanced spring to aid in feeding FOR MY GUN specifically...sometimes with stock springs I'll get Failure to Feed malfunctions with the round hanging up on the feed ramps....but again, too stiff of a spring, and the action won't cycle and the rounds won't feed reliably either (it's about finding what works for your gun).

Remember that the most important thing you're going to be adding here is the adj. gas block....that will actually reduce felt recoil while the other components are more about finding a feel that works for you.

Recommendations: The FA Carrier is heavyyyyyy, take a look at the lightened carriers out there....the lighter the carrier, the more gas you will be able to bleed off with the adjustable gas block because the lighter carrier requires less gas to cycle....same goes with the buffer...

Edited October 10, 2012 by GorillaTactical