Full Spectrum
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2022
You're definitely on the right path of thinking. The scss doesn't have any more adjustment than a normal buffer system, however. You can change the weights in a regular carbine buffer to the same extent as the scss. Adjustable gas blocks generally work, but in rare cases they get seized up.
There's also the problem of users not knowing how to adjust for gas properly. Or swapping from one load to the other might not be totally reliable. When you have the milspec port size and full power loads, it generally just works without having to fiddle with long Allen keys to adjust the tiny set screw.
I'm also in the process of doing some testing for a video to show extra variabilities of ejection patterns that chart mentions beyond simple gas system variables and buffer configuration. The real fun begins when you start testing the common advice and try to find ways or variables it doesn't account for.
I agree with Russel, here. On barrels with gas ports drilled more liberally, while also using super hot reloads I've gone from stuck cases and sheared rims to functioning decently with just changing the ammunition and no change to the rifle. In some cases of overgassing, it is hard to tell exactly what the problem is like with stuck cases and failures to extract. The other thing is that these are generally tiny set screws that generally require a long allen wrench when under a rail and they have some dozens of positions where the screw makes multiple revolutions. It's hard to tell where it should be, the adjustment screw erodes over time, and sometimes even get seized. You would have to count some dozen of nebulously defined clicks or so from fully closed if you ever needed to confirm an adjustment. I generally use the adjustable blocks on my non-larping rifles where there is less of a degree of seriousness/no martial concerns. I also use it on my precision AR-10 where I already treat it more like a precision instrument and the adjustable block fits in with that. For instance the superlative arms adjustable block (a very good one) has 30 settings and requires a 3/32nd allen key.
On rifles with a martial focus (like the WWSD should be) it is generally more reliable and better to have a set (or sets) of ammunition load(s) that are loaded hot and the gas port/buffer tuned for that. Those with adjustable blocks from the factory by design like the SCAR and HK416 are made with shorter rails and much larger gas blocks that have a better arrangement for switching the very few gas settings (usually regular and suppressed) than some tiny set screw with a long allen key required. It's also the reason why someone as a customer of an AR that will be taken seriously should ask the manufacturer (they all list every spec of a barrel besides gas port size funny enough) before buying a barrel or rifle.
