>>108097
No reason not to have a buffer tube, as the original AR-10 and AR-15 had full stocks and 20" barrels. A buffer tube was a perfectly good place to put a recoil spring. The floating buffer weights reduce bolt bounce, so that's an improvement over other designs. Also there's no operating rod, so you can't have it forward of the bolt like on a M1 Garand.

> spring overlapping with the the barrel

The heat from the barrel damages the spring. There have been a couple of guns on Forgotten Weapons that moved the spring from around the barrel to somewhere else.

Picture from World Of Guns: Gun Disassembly, available on steam.

>>108099
>No reason not to have a buffer tube, as the original AR-10 and AR-15 had full stocks and 20" barrels.

But they still have them now and have carbines with shorter barrels when they could have been benefiting from a folding stock.

>The heat from the barrel damages the spring.

Should be possible with a shroud or a part of the bolt carrier between the barrel and the spring

> But they still have them now and have carbines with shorter barrels when they could have been benefiting from a folding stock.

Folding stocks are useful for paratroopers and people riding in vehicles, but collapsible stocks work pretty well too.

> Should be possible with a shroud or a part of the bolt carrier between the barrel and the spring

The AR bolt doesn't extend forward past the barrel extension. There's nothing forward of the bolt face that could pull on the bolt.

There's a couple of solutions.

https://deadfootarms.com/products/dfa-modified-cycle-system-rifle-caliber-with-right-side-folding-stock-adaptor/

https://www.liveqordie.com/products/honey-badger-by-q/

  >>108100
> should be possible with a shroud or a part of the bolt carrier between the barrel and the spring

The whole front end gets pretty hot.

>>108101
>The AR bolt doesn't extend forward past the barrel extension. There's nothing forward of the bolt face that could pull on the bolt.

Yeah, I know. You'd have to change the BCG to extend past the chamber and around the barrel instead of all the shit that goes backwards and into the buffer tube.

LR-300

  >>108106
Indeed. Forgot about the LR300.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2011/10/03/para-usa-exits-rifle-market/

>>108107
or the Olympic Arms OA-93.

  I always thought the LR-300 seemed really cool, both in function and aesthetic. I think Todd Jarrett used one in competition for a while and there are videos of the dual-recoil spring system it uses. If memory serves, both springs are retained by tiny little clips that are a bitch to take down. When Allan Zitta designed it, I'm sure he took sturdiness into account on those tiny clips, but it's hard to argue with a much larger, thicker recoil spring that's isolated from all of the barrel's heat and barrel harmonics.

  the sig mcx seems to take the concept of a contained recoil system in the receiver like the LR300 into the current year. it seems pretty cool from having handled some of the variants but i can't speak for how well SIG USA pulled it off. i guess it was good enough to be adapted by the UK metro police, lol

  >>108097
Well there is the AR-18 and AR-180...

Really I wish someone was manufacturing reciever flats and parts kits for them. I would totally build one; I think they are quite a bit sexier than an AR-15.

>>108174
I feel that the AR-18 is a tiny bit more fiddly than the AR-15 when it comes to field strip; aligning the recoil springs, BCG, charging handle just right takes a certain touch. It's hard to explain, but it's easy to misalign the BCG and bolt when re-assembling the gun. It's not necessarily more reliable, either, although most of the malfunctions I have experienced with the 18 were magazine related (either the original Armalite magazine, or converted AR-15 USGI mags). Also, good luck when parts break. My gunsmith took 8 months to hand-file a new, more robust auto-sear assembly when mine broke.

Years ago I posted a AR-18 field strip thread here, but I think it's been lost to the ages.

>>108178
> google site:operatorchan.org ac556guy ar-18

http://www.operatorchan.org/st/res/2703.html
>>>/st/2703

Still there!

  OP might be interested in this

>>108185
BONER STATUS: ACHIEVED!

>>108190
Funfact: The SA80 was a modernised AR-180 innitially. I'd reserve judgement for the InRange review.

>>108193
Too late, already want one badly. May even order one once there available because I've been working a fair amount of OT and have more money than ever saved. That and I paid off a good amount of vehicle loans already.

>>108194
I need one as well.

>>108185
I just wish they moved the charging handle to the left side. The gun is modernized pretty significantly. Might as well move the charging handle too.

>>108196
It's a reciprocating charging handle. I'd be worried about something getting in the way and causing short strokes, which I've accidentally done when firing SCARs before.

>>108198
I love the reciprocating charging handle on the SCAR. I have never had my thumb whacked or had it catch on my gear or any other problem with it. Great for press checks and just positive control over the bolt.

I have watched people get their thumbs whacked, but only if I forget to brief them first.

>>108198
I could see the same problem with a right side charging handle, but at least it's more accessible.

>>108185
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

>>108431
Dope. Now you just need a dramatically overpriced folding stock mechanism for your AR-15 lower that won't be used at all.

>>108441
and here I went a put a fixed stock my -18.

>>108442
I can't knock it. Most AKs on the planet have fixed stocks too, I assume. To each his own.

>>108441
I needed one more AR upper before buying a house.