Nylon buffers for Semi Auto Historic Arms

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Like most small weapon parts, "buffers" are generally a consumable / "expense" item. In a big ordnance system, they, like springs are changed regularly to maintain reliable function. I recall with some amusement my reaction when first confronted with the "yellow-spring" buffer in our initial FN Minimi issue. As I understand it, those were supposed to be fitted ONLY in the "folding butt" variant. In the butt of these guns there was an alloy thing shaped like the real buffer that was only there as a spindle to locate the plastic butt and its retaining bolt. They were a bit "parts-hungry" in service.

How many "private" users swap out the little coil springs in the feed covers of their belt-fed toys after "X" amount of rounds? How often do civilian M-60 GMPG drivers replace the extractor and ejector springs? It's not just compression that kills those last two, but the accumulated crud buildup that reduces travel efficiency AND which collects moisture that mixes with the crud to cause corrosion and collapse of the springs.

"Run 'til fail" is not exactly a good idea with small arms, artillery, aircraft, etc..

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[WallyG.]

Correct me if I'm wrong here.. but wasn't the key component of the original Bren buffer that was removed in the Historic Arms builds a big coil spring? A sacrificial nylon buffer as proposed is intended to be disposable after some quantity of cycles... I just thought that adding a few coils might prolong the wear interval.