Marstar op-rod recoil buffer questions

Cyanide Ride

Cyanide Ride

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
227   0   0
Location
Alberta
So I decided that these would be an affordable insurance for the longevity of the rifle overall:

M14-101-L.jpg


I picked up 4 of them, 2 to install and 2 for spare.

I've only had a chance to test it in my shorty, but since installing it, I have experienced multiple "failure to feeds"

They measure about 6.20mm thick and it stands to reason that they could mess with the timing of the gun.

Now, does anyone have experience with these?

Do they break in after after a certain number of rounds? or will I have to cycle the bolt 9 times out of 10 after each shot?

Did I waste my money?.
 
I have one installed, never had a problem. Whether you actually need one or not, that's usually the question. I don't think so honestly, and that seems to be the general consensus. I leave mine in, just because I guess.
 
I used one, and it was the only time I ever had trouble with any of my M14 rifles... Took it out & the rifle went back to running properly... I don't believe they are needed, but your mileage may vary...

Cheers
Jay
 
It may or may not be the source of your problem. I'm not sure of their value, but I have one in my scoped M14 and it does have indentation in it, indicating that it is being struck and is buffering metal on metal contact. I'm not experiencing any problems with that gun. The odd problem I encounter is with ejected cases being stuck between the op rod and the receiver or scope mount. Doesn't occur often enough to bother me.
 
Having two of those installed probably won't even allow your bolt to lock back after an empty magazine. You're only supposed to use one at a time.

These things can twist and get caught in between the coils of the spring, slowing or even stopping the op rod from cycling. A well greased spring shouldn't have any issues.
 
DASQ said:
Having two of those installed probably won't even allow your bolt to lock back after an empty magazine. You're only supposed to use one at a time.
Click to expand...

I know the golden rule is to never assume, but I sincerely hope that was a joke:p

fyi, I have *TWO* M14s :dancingbanana:

DASQ said:
These things can twist and get caught in between the coils of the spring, slowing or even stopping the op rod from cycling. A well greased spring shouldn't have any issues.
Click to expand...

It's pretty well greased, I have a Marstar oprod guide as well.

<shrug> guess I'll give them a call and try to return them.
 
An M-14 is designed so that the rear face of the bolt, and the rear face of the op rod contact the reciever, (at the rear and at the front of the reciever respectively), at the same time thereby dividing the force of the bolt recoiling between those two pieces. When you install this buffer thingy, the op rod comes to a halt before the bolt and then the op rod takes all of the force right at it's weakest point, the roller bearing cut out.

Hows that for an explanation?

Scott
 
Cyanide Ride said:
I know the golden rule is to never assume, but I sincerely hope that was a joke:p

fyi, I have *TWO* M14s :dancingbanana:
Click to expand...
It wasn't a joke. You assumed we all/I knew you had two rifles to install those buffers on.

Terrible golden rule by the way. People make thousands of assumptions every day, it's vital to day to day function. You assume your alarm clock is working in the morning. You assume your gas tank was siphoned in the middle of the night. You assume your fridge wasn't dead even though you ran out the door without breakfast and it could be all rotting away right now.
 
I make my own buffer and have not had a problem in 5+ years and 8-12k of ammo. Stops two pieces of metal "op rod and receiver" from smashing together when a round is a little hotter.
 
Communication, safeguards and redundancy are your best friends. I do project management, I try not to assume. I work the angles and manage risk. You can't plan for everything, but you can try (I have three alarm clocks, don't park outside, have triple locks on my garage, and my wife is on mat leave taking care of our child and best of all, it is all protected by M14s :dancingbanana:)

A quick search of my previous posts before jumping in would've told you all you needed to know (like owning two M14s) If it doesn't, well then, I really don't know what to tell you.

But hey, we are getting off topic here.

I am going to call Marstar and test their "ironclad guarantee" I am still well under the 30 day limit.

Maybe they designed the buffer to be too thick?.

Y2k, how thick are your homemade buffers and how many rounds do you have through your M14?.
 
Cyanide Ride said:
A quick search of my previous posts before jumping in would've told you all you needed to know (like owning two M14s) If it doesn't, well then, I really don't know what to tell you.
Click to expand...

I can't honestly believe you would assume everyone should look through the reply history of everyone they are replying to.

But that said, I don't see how the buffer is going to make things WORSE... the plastic is absorbing the shock, as opposed to the heel of the reciever. The op rod shouldn't be any worse off because of it.
 
DASQ said:
I can't honestly believe you would assume everyone should look through the reply history of everyone they are replying to.
Click to expand...

Why is it you always have to explain yourself to those "holier than thou" types? :rolleyes:

I am not saying that everyone should look through everyone else's history. But if you are going to go into someones thread and begin insinuating that they are an idiot in a public forum, you had better be damn sure about it.

So the next time, before you insult someones intelligence because you believe yourself to be smarter than you are, spend 5 minutes and think (installing one buffer causes FTFs, installing two wouldn't even allow the rounds to feed at all) Utilize the basic skills of observation (post count, history, age, itrader rating is a good one) In other words, do they look like a noob, sound like a noob, or post like one?. It's called common courtesy, general politeness, or giving them the "benefit of the doubt." The phrase "Looking before leaping" comes to mind.

You have made good posts and asked good questions in the past and I don't ever recall jumping into your threads calling into question your competentcy, so I do not know what the basis for all your hostility towards me is. But I urge you to go seek the means to resolve whatever it is that bothers you.

Lashing out at me isn't going to solve the issue and it is uncalled for.

DASQ said:
But that said, I don't see how the buffer is going to make things WORSE... the plastic is absorbing the shock, as opposed to the heel of the reciever. The op rod shouldn't be any worse off because of it.
Click to expand...

I wonder if this could cause undue stress on the Op-rod?. If the the recoil is designed to be split between the front and the heel of the receiver, could this conceivably break the op rod?.
 
Cyanide Ride said:
I wonder if this could cause undue stress on the Op-rod?. If the the recoil is designed to be split between the front and the heel of the receiver, could this conceivably break the op rod?.
Click to expand...

It could, but that's assuming the plastic buffer does nothing but place all the force back onto the op rod, which is exactly what's not happening. Perhaps the flexing of the plastic is putting force on the op rod, but if anything that would be balanced by the fact that it's absorbing the force in the first place (slower incoming, faster outgoing). I would be physically impossible for 100% of the force to rebound onto the op rod. The op rod would not be the sole piece of metal that is absorbing the entire recoil force of the gas system. That is certain.

If anything, you can consider the buffer to be merely a spacer; a receiver extension that prevents the bolt from impacting the rear/heel of the receiver. That said, it would transfer the impacting force from the heel of the receiver to the 'head' of the receiver where the op rod is already hitting with every cycle. To the op rod itself, it's only stopping a little earlier, nothing else changes (to it). It's not that the op rod is actually stopping short and absorbing all the force alone, the receiver is merely longer and is hit by the op rod earlier. The real question is, how does the elasticity of the plastic used in the buffer reflect force, and how is the force consistency of the recoiling operating rod. The spring itself is never in a state of actual 'rest' (that is, in a full uncoiled position), so the spring itself will be resisting slightly less when the op rod hits the buffer/receiver. This additional force would be extremely minor (the buffer itself is less than half an inch thick I believe), and would likely be compensated for by the elasticity of the plastic buffer itself. At worst, you could consider it a transfer of force from the heel of the receiver to the front of the receiver.

And I was not insulting you or your intelligence. You feel that I insulted your intelligence because you believe that you could not have made that mistake. All I suggested was that the buffer was not meant to be used in 'twos'. It never came with instructions, but it would be an interesting experiment to try. One buffer stops the bolt just after the hold-open latch, it would make sense that two buffers might not even allow the bolt to clear the magazine in order to properly strip the next round. Which would result in a failure to feed. I was not 'lashing' out at you, if anything my posts are overly deadpan and emotionless.
 
Shok buffers have been used for years on 1911`s. Anyway my buffer was untouched till the Chinese spring finally gave up a few years ago after 8-10k rounds, then when the spring lost its pep the buffer after one session 200 -400 rds was chewed up and needed replacing. Withou it that op rod would have been hitting pretty hard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom