There doesn't seem to be many reviews of these out there, so I thought I'd share my experience.
My primary AR is an SR15 mod 2 which has always been over gassed. When I put a suppressor on it (Thunderbeast Ultra 9, 223CB, and an AAC M4 2000) it made the problem way worse. The damn rifle recoiled like a .243, felt like it was a trying to tear itself apart, and wouldn't lock back on an empty magazine. Probably the most violent cycling AR I have felt. I asked KAC if they had any suggestions and was told I was out of luck.
With the somewhat proprietary gas system I couldn't easily go straight to an adjustable gas block to solve the problem. So, I decided I would try some different buffer and spring combinations to see if I could mitigate the issue. I got an H1, H2, and H3 buffer as well as a Geissele braided and JP buffer spring. After working through all the combinations I settled on the JP spring with H2 buffer as the best combo. This took the edge off the recoil and cut down on gas blow back a decent bit. But, it was still very snappy and ejecting at 1 to 2 o'clock.
As a side note, I was not at all impressed with the Geissele spring/buffer set-up. Even with their reduced diameter buffer it would frequently bind and did not feel nice to operate.
After getting frustrated with this I finally decided to try Gemtech's suppressed carrier. I ordered one, received it a few weeks ago, and have shot about 700 suppressed rounds through it since then. It has totally transformed the rifle. Hot 556 suppressed shoots smoother than 223 steel case unsuppressed now. I am amazed at just how much of an improvement it made. On the suppressed setting with a suppressor it shoots super smooth, has perfect ejection, and locks back on an empty mag every time. Without a suppressor on the suppressed carrier setting the rifle does become a single shot. However, when you switch it back to unsupressed mode it is business as usual again.
I have not had any gas system related failures yet when used on the correct setting. I will be interested to see if stays reliable through the winter, or whether it will turn out to be a little undergassed when it is cold. So far it is gassed at least well enough to not be bothered by 3-400 rounds of suppressor gunk.
All and all I am really impressed with just how well it worked in this situation. It may be more of a band-aid than anything, but so far so good.
My primary AR is an SR15 mod 2 which has always been over gassed. When I put a suppressor on it (Thunderbeast Ultra 9, 223CB, and an AAC M4 2000) it made the problem way worse. The damn rifle recoiled like a .243, felt like it was a trying to tear itself apart, and wouldn't lock back on an empty magazine. Probably the most violent cycling AR I have felt. I asked KAC if they had any suggestions and was told I was out of luck.
With the somewhat proprietary gas system I couldn't easily go straight to an adjustable gas block to solve the problem. So, I decided I would try some different buffer and spring combinations to see if I could mitigate the issue. I got an H1, H2, and H3 buffer as well as a Geissele braided and JP buffer spring. After working through all the combinations I settled on the JP spring with H2 buffer as the best combo. This took the edge off the recoil and cut down on gas blow back a decent bit. But, it was still very snappy and ejecting at 1 to 2 o'clock.
As a side note, I was not at all impressed with the Geissele spring/buffer set-up. Even with their reduced diameter buffer it would frequently bind and did not feel nice to operate.
After getting frustrated with this I finally decided to try Gemtech's suppressed carrier. I ordered one, received it a few weeks ago, and have shot about 700 suppressed rounds through it since then. It has totally transformed the rifle. Hot 556 suppressed shoots smoother than 223 steel case unsuppressed now. I am amazed at just how much of an improvement it made. On the suppressed setting with a suppressor it shoots super smooth, has perfect ejection, and locks back on an empty mag every time. Without a suppressor on the suppressed carrier setting the rifle does become a single shot. However, when you switch it back to unsupressed mode it is business as usual again.
I have not had any gas system related failures yet when used on the correct setting. I will be interested to see if stays reliable through the winter, or whether it will turn out to be a little undergassed when it is cold. So far it is gassed at least well enough to not be bothered by 3-400 rounds of suppressor gunk.
All and all I am really impressed with just how well it worked in this situation. It may be more of a band-aid than anything, but so far so good.
