AR15 operating system- low mass vs. balanced reciprocal mass advice

[Yondering]

I agree. You went further in depth than I did. I should've included that I set a gas block to run with a light load then never re adjust for a heavy load. I've found full mass setups more tolerant of this than a low mass setup. A way overgassed heavy reciprocating mass is just harsher than necessary. An exceedingly overgassed low mass system seems likely to rip case rims in my experience.
Like you said, tuning fixes all this but if you're not going to do that a heavy system is more forgiving.

Gotcha, I see what you mean now. Yeah, a full mass system is definitely more forgiving of different loads and conditions, like suppressed/unsuppressed, most of the time.

 

[Nivium]

@Nivium how did this end up for you? I'm a huge proponent of tuning for low recoil, but for my 6.5 and 6 Grendels I typically go heavy just because I'm more likely to push hotter loads in in them than a 5.56. I've shot a factory JP 6.5 Grendel with a low mass system quite a bit, and it works great and gun movement is minimal even though it's fairly light, but I can load a little hotter in my full mass systems. And even the the recoil is what I'd call light, it just feels a little more jarring than a similarly tuned 5.56.
And yes, the Similar Threads function brought me here.

Worked out very well. Ultimately, went with a lightweight hunting rig that ended up about 4.2 lbs. The carrier is a boomfab, which is an incredibly light out-of-production titanium carrier. The buffer system is a jp scs with a medium spring. When tuned, the recoil is negligible and a good deal less than a standard 223. The system also helped cut weight generally. Reliability is not an issue but I clean it often (though I don't know if I have to). All in all, I would recommend the lightweight buffer/carrier system because it cuts a good amount of weight from the rifle and I do think it has an advantage in recoil reduction over a balanced, but heavier, system.