Elkins45
Member
I needed a heavier buffer for my 9mm AR pistol build so I poured a rifle buffer full of lead. It works great but (obviously) requires a rifle length tube to work. I spend $25 bucks for a commercial solid heavy 9mm carbine buffer, but as an experiment I decided to see if I could make one myself that would work in a carbine tube. As it turns out it wasn't that difficult.
Step 1: cut two pieces of electrical conduit. I think the sizes are 1/2" and 3/4" but those are probably ID. I know they aren't OD. Drill a few holes in the smaller tube near the end.
Step 2: carefully position the smaller tube in the center of the larger one inside something flat and heat resistant. I used the cup from an old muffin tin. Melt some lead and pour an appropriate amount down the middle of the center tube. Now you see the purpose of the holes: to lock the inner and outer tubes together after the lead cools. I then took a torch and melted additional lead into the space between them so they are totally locked together.
Step 3: get a rubber stopper from the hardware store and whittle it down to fit inside the tube to act as a bumper.
Since it was just an experiment I only fired it a few times, but so far it seems to work perfectly. Obviously since this doesn't have sliding weights it's only appropriate for blowback guns. It seems to work well in my 9mm. In fact it's maybe a little too heavy. Some of my powderpuff reloads weren't cycling the bolt 100%.
I think if I were planing to actually use this very much I would drill a hole thru the outer and inner tubes and then pin them together. The lead bond might not hold up to repeated cycling over the long term.
Step 1: cut two pieces of electrical conduit. I think the sizes are 1/2" and 3/4" but those are probably ID. I know they aren't OD. Drill a few holes in the smaller tube near the end.
Step 2: carefully position the smaller tube in the center of the larger one inside something flat and heat resistant. I used the cup from an old muffin tin. Melt some lead and pour an appropriate amount down the middle of the center tube. Now you see the purpose of the holes: to lock the inner and outer tubes together after the lead cools. I then took a torch and melted additional lead into the space between them so they are totally locked together.
Step 3: get a rubber stopper from the hardware store and whittle it down to fit inside the tube to act as a bumper.
Since it was just an experiment I only fired it a few times, but so far it seems to work perfectly. Obviously since this doesn't have sliding weights it's only appropriate for blowback guns. It seems to work well in my 9mm. In fact it's maybe a little too heavy. Some of my powderpuff reloads weren't cycling the bolt 100%.
I think if I were planing to actually use this very much I would drill a hole thru the outer and inner tubes and then pin them together. The lead bond might not hold up to repeated cycling over the long term.
