Ar buffer - Commercial vs Mil Spec

[Dark Mod]

This may sound like a dumb question, but the search button has failed me once again. How do i know if my reciever needs a mil-spec or a commercial sized buffer? Or is it the case that either will work as long as you have a matching stock?

[NORCAL#1]

Yes both will work fine make sure to use the same stock.

[Dark Mod]

Yes both will work fine make sure to use the same stock.

Your the man

[KALIDAWG8996]

the only difference between the commericial and mil-spec buffer tubes is the diameter of the tube itself. 1)The commercial buffer tubes are fatter and will accept commercial size stocks. 2)mil-spec will accept mil-spec stocks. 3)Commercial stocks will fit on a mil-spec tubes BUT, you will get more play in the stock on your shoulder...no bueno. Quality, material, and pricing differ between manufacturers of course...

buffer and buffer spring are the same on both....beware of the cheap chicom crap though....

[tacticalcity]

As a retailer I get this question daily.

The difference, for all practical purposes, is only the diamater of the end of the tube that the stock slips onto. Both will fit into your receiver just fine.

[motorwerks]

just pick one and stay with that one. All of mine are commercial they work fine.

[CHS]

The difference, for all practical purposes, is only the diamater of the end of the tube that the stock slips onto. Both will fit into your receiver just fine.

In reality though, the milspec ones are all made by quality manufacturers that hold certain standards. While there are some Commercial ones out there that are made to almost the same standards (commercial threading will ALWAYS be inferior to milspec threading due to the way they are done), there are LOTS of just plain garbage commercial kits out there.

I buy milspec because I don't have to shop around. I go with a name brand and I know I'm getting quality. If I try to get a quality commercial system, I have to actually shop around a bunch and I might still end up with an inferior piece of garbage.

I've seen basically everything you can imagine go wrong with a commercial kit, but have never seen anything go wrong with a milspec kit. Just food for thought.

[thrillhouse700]

The guys that took out osama use Milspec

[nrvnqsrxk]

They'll both work. I would go with mil-spec though simply because more stocks come designed to those.

[dieselpower]

And I need to add this... and disagree with tac-city on this. The threads are different sized because the threads are made differently, the metal used determines the overall strength of the tube... There is a night and day difference between a cheap tube and a quality tube.

CHINA IS NOW MAKING CHEAPO TIN-CAN METAL MIL-SPEC SIZED TUBES..they have cut threads and are painted black...the bodies are cut down to mil-spec diameter... they cost like $5.00

Get your tubes from a reputable source.

Even UTG (that cheap Leapers company) uses 6061-T6, with Type II Anodizing on Mil-Spec tubes with proper Rolled threads. These are like $20 or less.

Don't go by size alone... find out what its made out of and or just buy from a reputable source.