Has anyone compared the VLTOR A5 system to a Geissele Super 42 system for a 10.3 in barrel and a standard gas block and bolt? If so what was your experience and what buffer weight did you use, H, H2, H3, etc. I am planning on use M193 but any input is great. Thank you for your feedback.
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10.3 Buffer System
- Thread starter TAMU20
- Start date
I have a 10.5 upper I could slap on my Radian lower which has the A5 system on it and get back to you. That’s the best I could do. But that upper does have a Seekins toolless adjustable block on it
I’ve got a 10.3” Colt upper mounted on a lower with the A5. I run it suppressed 100% of the time with a SureFire SOCOM RC using 5.56 ammo. Usually XM193 or XM855.
I use the H4 buffer. The A5 came with a H0. The gun was reliable with the H0, but perceived recoil is somewhat less, IMO, with the H4.
No experience with the Super 42, but I did have a carbine RE with a H3 and a Sprinco blue spring before the A5. The A5 is a little smoother, but it’s not a huge difference.
I’ve got several AR’s. I haven’t felt the need to replace the carbine RE with the A5 on any of the others.
I use the H4 buffer. The A5 came with a H0. The gun was reliable with the H0, but perceived recoil is somewhat less, IMO, with the H4.
No experience with the Super 42, but I did have a carbine RE with a H3 and a Sprinco blue spring before the A5. The A5 is a little smoother, but it’s not a huge difference.
I’ve got several AR’s. I haven’t felt the need to replace the carbine RE with the A5 on any of the others.
Jigstick, you don't need to do that if you don't want to. What setup are you currently using the A5 for and what buffer weight?
Gasgun thanks for the info. I'm assuming if I am planning on running it unsuppressed I should step down the buffer weight.
Let me begin by saying I'm a big fan of both Vltor and Geissele recoil systems. I'm also impressed with the later models of the JP SCS.
I've got a lot more time and experience with the Vltor A5 recoil system, however, than any of the alternative systems. I really think the Vltor A5 recoil system the best thing to happen to the AR' since the flat top upper. I run the Vltor A5 on 5.56 and .300 BLK SBR's; 5.56 rifles and carbines in all barrel lengths; 224V, 6mmARC, 6.5G, and 6.8 SPC rifles; and even on a FightLite belt-fed with M16 lower. (The FightLite with A5-H3 buffer is the perfect combo!)
Getting back to semi auto firearms - It's hard to improve on the standard old rifle length recoil spring in terms of longevity or performance. The rifle length versions last a long time, far longer than a standard carbine length recoil spring. But few shooters want to run rifle stocks.
On the other hand, it's hard NOT to improve on the standard carbine length recoil spring. They need replacing more often than gas rings. The front coils begin to collapse after just couple thousand rounds.
I'm 100% sure the Geissele Super 42 carbine length recoil spring is a significant improvement over the standard carbine length recoil spring or Bill Geissele would not have brought it to market. I look forward to more experimenting with it. My sense is they "feel" really right. But that could be due to a pre-existing positive opinion of Geissele products in general. I don't know how to quantify this without tons more shooting, and even the US military doesn't have the ammo it needs these days - let alone me.
It would be interesting to see high speed video of both the Geissele Super 42 carbine length recoil spring in action compared to the Vltor A5 recoil system, to observe the degree of bolt bounce.
Here's a project I've got the parts for but just haven't taken the time to experiment with yet: Adding a Geissele Super 42 RIFLE recoil spring to the Vltor A5 system....
I've got a lot more time and experience with the Vltor A5 recoil system, however, than any of the alternative systems. I really think the Vltor A5 recoil system the best thing to happen to the AR' since the flat top upper. I run the Vltor A5 on 5.56 and .300 BLK SBR's; 5.56 rifles and carbines in all barrel lengths; 224V, 6mmARC, 6.5G, and 6.8 SPC rifles; and even on a FightLite belt-fed with M16 lower. (The FightLite with A5-H3 buffer is the perfect combo!)
Getting back to semi auto firearms - It's hard to improve on the standard old rifle length recoil spring in terms of longevity or performance. The rifle length versions last a long time, far longer than a standard carbine length recoil spring. But few shooters want to run rifle stocks.
On the other hand, it's hard NOT to improve on the standard carbine length recoil spring. They need replacing more often than gas rings. The front coils begin to collapse after just couple thousand rounds.
I'm 100% sure the Geissele Super 42 carbine length recoil spring is a significant improvement over the standard carbine length recoil spring or Bill Geissele would not have brought it to market. I look forward to more experimenting with it. My sense is they "feel" really right. But that could be due to a pre-existing positive opinion of Geissele products in general. I don't know how to quantify this without tons more shooting, and even the US military doesn't have the ammo it needs these days - let alone me.
It would be interesting to see high speed video of both the Geissele Super 42 carbine length recoil spring in action compared to the Vltor A5 recoil system, to observe the degree of bolt bounce.
Here's a project I've got the parts for but just haven't taken the time to experiment with yet: Adding a Geissele Super 42 RIFLE recoil spring to the Vltor A5 system....
A bit of an already answered topic. But I have a newer production 10.3 dd barrel that I used on a mod 0 cloneish upper. It has usually wears a aac 556sd can. I have never had an a5 system but I can say that those barrels are said to be over gassed and the super 42 with an h3 make that gun the smoothest shooting shorty or ever shot (I don’t have leaps of experience admittedly) I have only ran about 300 rounds of fiocci 55gr through it (ammo is expensive) but I honestly didn’t think a 10.3 would be better than my 11.5 bcm (t2 springco blue) But it’s nice. I’m slowly swapping all my recoil assemblies to the Geissele. Finding them in stock for the weights I need hasn’t been all that easy.
Standard Colt buffer spring and H2 work just fine in my work DD Mk18 and personal 10.3 builds with M855 ammo, and Surefire RC2 suppressor.
I've not used the A5 but the Super 42 and H3 really clean up the Mk18. Using standard springs and buffers the gun is really snappy and breaks bolts fairly frequently, especially when shooting hot ammo like M855A1. With the Geissele combo it is far smoother shooting and broken bolts are a thing of the past although I rarely shoot that upper anymore.
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