blaxsun
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Today I had a chance to try out the Enidine hydraulic AR15 buffer in my 7" Dlask/SOCOM PDW. What a treat! WOW! To say this reduces felt recoil is a vast understatement. Totally eliminates is more like it! A friend of mine who helped me put it through its paces was equally blown away. Having owned numerous ARs and other black rifles, we found this a pure joy to shoot - far and away the most controllable AR either one of us has shot to-date.
In combination with the PWS CQB compensator (which makes shooting next to it tolerable!), there was virtually no muzzle rise or felt recoil. Zip. Nadda. It was like shooting a .22LR - or more like an airgun (just replace "pfffft" with "bang" instead). This made it incredible easy to stay on-target, and we were getting really tight groups in rapid fire from an unsupported standing position using a 1x reflex. It was a blast to shoot!
What's the catch? Funny you should ask... First, pulling the bolt back is now a bit misleading. Where you would normally reach a certain level of tension before release the charging handle - with the Enidine you actually reach this point and then have to ratchet back a bit more to completely charge it before releasing (I suspect this additional tension is due to the hydraulic mechanism kicking in). So it becomes kind of a 2-stage charging handle. Over the course of the session this became progressively easier; so either we subconsciously adapted or there's a breaking-in period.
Depending on the magazine, failure to completely retract the bolt can be problematic. PMAG's had almost no issues - but the LAR-15's experienced a FTF every time (we thought it might be due to running 10-rounds in them, but we dropped it all the way down to 5 with no luck). This is potentially a huge sticking point, since it's very easy to undercharge.
The second aspect is probably the most annoying. Using the Enidine buffer the bolt will not lock back after the last round - regardless of ammunition or type of magazine. It is a definite no-go, and I was able to confirm post-range session that the Enidine is particularly prone to this problem. There's some suggestions about changing out the spring but I'm still doing some reading and research into possible solutions. Obviously this is not an ideal situation for rapid and frequent magazine changes...
The Enidine buffer is primarily designed for FA applications where a reduction in felt recoil and cyclic rate is desired, so it's entirely possible that this was designed with a certain carbine barrel length in-mind and that these issues may not be as prevalent. The documentation is scant on this, and the quest continues...
Next range session we'll run a back-to-back comparison with the Spike's Tactical ST-T2 buffer. Should be interesting! If anyone else has any experience with the Enidine or suggestions, please PM me!
In combination with the PWS CQB compensator (which makes shooting next to it tolerable!), there was virtually no muzzle rise or felt recoil. Zip. Nadda. It was like shooting a .22LR - or more like an airgun (just replace "pfffft" with "bang" instead). This made it incredible easy to stay on-target, and we were getting really tight groups in rapid fire from an unsupported standing position using a 1x reflex. It was a blast to shoot!
What's the catch? Funny you should ask... First, pulling the bolt back is now a bit misleading. Where you would normally reach a certain level of tension before release the charging handle - with the Enidine you actually reach this point and then have to ratchet back a bit more to completely charge it before releasing (I suspect this additional tension is due to the hydraulic mechanism kicking in). So it becomes kind of a 2-stage charging handle. Over the course of the session this became progressively easier; so either we subconsciously adapted or there's a breaking-in period.
Depending on the magazine, failure to completely retract the bolt can be problematic. PMAG's had almost no issues - but the LAR-15's experienced a FTF every time (we thought it might be due to running 10-rounds in them, but we dropped it all the way down to 5 with no luck). This is potentially a huge sticking point, since it's very easy to undercharge.
The second aspect is probably the most annoying. Using the Enidine buffer the bolt will not lock back after the last round - regardless of ammunition or type of magazine. It is a definite no-go, and I was able to confirm post-range session that the Enidine is particularly prone to this problem. There's some suggestions about changing out the spring but I'm still doing some reading and research into possible solutions. Obviously this is not an ideal situation for rapid and frequent magazine changes...
The Enidine buffer is primarily designed for FA applications where a reduction in felt recoil and cyclic rate is desired, so it's entirely possible that this was designed with a certain carbine barrel length in-mind and that these issues may not be as prevalent. The documentation is scant on this, and the quest continues...
Next range session we'll run a back-to-back comparison with the Spike's Tactical ST-T2 buffer. Should be interesting! If anyone else has any experience with the Enidine or suggestions, please PM me!
