JP buffer fail

[tnoble]

Has anyone had there JP buffer fail?  Mine ate all the O rings, knocked the retaining ring off and chewed up the mass slider.  Less than a 1000 rounds on the gun, PF 130.

I know stuff fails but this seems a little premature, JP site says around 5000 rounds to replace O rings.  I ordered the short stroke upgrade and it's up and running again but now I'm paranoid its going to fail again. Seems the rubber O rings are a week link in the system, seems like Delrin or some other tougher material would be more appropriate.

 

Sent a note to JP a couple weeks ago explaining the issue and asked if there was something I should look at that may have caused the premature fail. Got a response the next day wanting the serial number so they could look up my build.  Sent them the info but have not heard back since, sent 2 more follow up emails and left voice message....still nothing.

Bought the JP because of there reliability and customer service, don't seem to be getting either right now. 

 

Thanks, T

[Darqusoull13]

That's extremely odd. I've run my o rings to failure in "testing" several times and they go well beyond 5k (several times that). I change the match gun o rings at the 5k for super cheap insurance but I've run a multi year test before and it takes a lot to shear the retaining ring off... 

Are you using a full JP build with a JP Bolt? Which weight SCS buffer did you order as well?

If you're in a pinch for a match you can grab the short stroke conversion kit to replace the parts you need. 

[tnoble]

It is a full jp build, bought through the ready rifle program. It came with there standard 4 mass slider. I did purchase the short stoke kit after the other failed. It is up and running again. I hope it was just a fluke, maybe one of the O rings was bad, once one goes I think the weights banging around just destroys everything else. 
thanks, T 

[Kokeman]

I bought a ready rifle last May. I have 5 or 6k on it. I just got a new Oring kit but have not changed them yet. They still look brand new. Have you kept the buffer oiled?

[mveto]

Wonder if the oil or cleaner you use is somehow degrading the oring, I’ve shot several thousand with my PCC and AR and my orings still look brand new. I’ve heard if others having the same issue and always wonder what oils and cleaners they use.

[tnoble]

I use Breakfree CLP oil, used it for years on all my guns without issue. I checked the directions on the bottle, doesn’t say anything about not using on synthetic/ rubber ect. This is the first and only JP  buffer I own, everything else is a traditional setup. Didn’t think I had to give it any special treatment??
I asked JP for a recommendation for oil/ lube but as I said they have not responded. If there’s something special I should be doing to maintain this buffer I’m open to suggestions.  
Thanks, T. 

[jerseyglock]

When was the last time you clean the buffer tube?

 

[philmadxx]

Interesting - I'm only at about 2500 (GMR-15 SCS short stroke) rounds and I check the o-rings every time I clean, they look perfect.  Have they worn away and finally gave out or did they just fail suddenly?  Could it be just some sand in the buffer tube?  Are the new o-rings showing signs of wear? 

I also run Lucas oil in my guns - much thicker and stickier than CLP and not much of the "C".  

Keep us posted - curious. 

[tnoble]

2 hours ago, jerseyglock said:

When was the last time you clean the buffer tube?

 

Not very often, maybe a couple times since I got it. I’ll run it for a couple matches between cleaning, less than 1000 rounds through it. Pull it out, wipe down and lite re-oil. 
Don’t know how it failed, nothing left of the O rings except a bunch of tiny ground up pieces. 
Didn’t know it failed until I got home from a match, heard all the weights rattling around. 
my guess it probably failed on the last stage, it never stopped running. 
T. 

[SteelCityShooter]

Any chance the retaining screw that holds the SCS assembly together backed out?  It's supposed to be retained by thread locker but that may have failed.  

[tnoble]

2 minutes ago, SteelCityShooter said:

Any chance the retaining screw that holds the SCS assembly together backed out?  It's supposed to be retained by thread locker but that may have failed.  

No, everything was tight. Had to heat the screw on the tail end to get it loose, other end seemed just as tight. 
That’s  the frustrating part, I can’t come up with a reason why it failed.

Don’t know if I need to do something different as far a maintenance or just chalk it up as an oddball fail.  

[Kokeman]

23 hours ago, tnoble said:

I use Breakfree CLP oil, used it for years on all my guns without issue. I checked the directions on the bottle, doesn’t say anything about not using on synthetic/ rubber ect. This is the first and only JP  buffer I own, everything else is a traditional setup. Didn’t think I had to give it any special treatment??
I asked JP for a recommendation for oil/ lube but as I said they have not responded. If there’s something special I should be doing to maintain this buffer I’m open to suggestions.  
Thanks, T. 

I use Lucas oil on mine. I clean it every 1000 to 1500 rounds. 

[Darqusoull13]

On 9/5/2020 at 9:15 PM, tnoble said:

No, everything was tight. Had to heat the screw on the tail end to get it loose, other end seemed just as tight. 
That’s  the frustrating part, I can’t come up with a reason why it failed.

Don’t know if I need to do something different as far a maintenance or just chalk it up as an oddball fail.  

Sounds like a fluke but definitely not great to happen. I can't really give much advice on why it would fail that way either given I've only taken 1 to failure intentionally myself. Keep an eye on it and check for any future premature wear. 

I doubt it's the lube as I know plenty of guys using CLP. I use Mobil 1 5W-20 to lube all my guns nowadays. That's partially for performance and partially because I have a bunch of it leftover from oil changes. I just let the remainder of the empty bottles drain into a catch bottle for gun lube 

[DyNo!]

20,000+ rounds on mine but I tear it down after every firing and if there is an o-ring that has torn, I replace it immediately.

[ampleworks]

I've never gotten more than 1500 rounds of o-rings. I've used various oils and none of them seem to make a bit of difference. The only time I saw significantly less was when testing ammo and was shooting some stuff that made major.

[egd5]

I'm still on my original o rings and I've had it a year and a half, probably with 12-15 K rounds.

[brian45acp]

Just came across your post. The buffer that came with the ready rifle is alloy and the snap ring is steel. Your load was too hot for the setup and the O rings will beat themselves thin and the weights begin to get sloppy and shake around making the issue worse in a hurry. This scenario beats the metal snap ring and it is stronger than the alloy buffer. The groove the snap ring rides in gets rounded and your snap ring pops off. 
 

The new short stroke kit is an all steel buffer and will solve that issue. It’s also heavy so it’s likely to put you closer to where your weight combo should be with tungsten and stainless weights. Meaning you tuned your buffer system and didn’t realize it. But watch for the O rings getting flat and the weights having slop. When you see this you need more weight so trade a tungsten for a stainless and try again. As you get closer to being perfectly tuned to your load the O rings last very long time. 
 

good luck dude 

Edited March 27, 2021 by brian45acp

[Ccampo1129]

Mine finally gave out on me. I’m a little north of 5,000 rounds. I got lazy and didn’t clean my JP for about 4-5 matches. It still ran absolutely flawless. Decided it was wayyyy over due for a cleaning and separated the upper and lower to find pieces of O-Rings everywhere. All of my O-Rings in my buffer were split torn disintegrated. She still ran though! 12$ O-Ring set from JP and i have enough to replace them 3-4 more times.