Having spent the last week thouroghly pouring through all of the searchable threads concerning the A5, I noticed that two things are obvious:
Vltor A5 discussions peaked in 2016.
Vltor A5 kit is hard to find and frequently out of stock.
Does anyone else besides BCM sell a conversion kit? This itself is not a perfect solution as BCM evidently does not include the correct buffer weight with the RE. I am using the A5 kit to replace the A2 stock on my 20" rifle. If I have to order parts one piece at a time to make this work so be it. Just trying to avoid paying a lot in different shipping fees. This has really been harder than anticipated…
Should add that I put this in technical section as it concerns putting together parts that may not be normally used together to mimic a well established product.
Just get on the notification lists of a few websites. Almost anything I own ends up with A5 guts, whether it be UBR or Vltor RE. It’s a bit annoying at times, but if you don’t have a case of “need it now”, you won’t have problems getting it. I usually just grab parts randomly when I’m getting other things I need from Midway.
This is what I do anyway now regardless of availability of the kits as neither have the parts I want.
The Vltor one is better than the BCM (which comes with a A5H0, where the Vltor comes with A5H2 buffer). If you buy stuff from Forward Controls they sell A5 buffers as well, between FCD, BCM or Magpul (for tubes), Brownells and Sprinco I’ve had good luck finding the parts I want, I bundle stuff together and/or order multiples to save on shipping
I have the Magpul Enhanced extension listed above and the BCM extension. Both work fine.
The Magpul has ten adjustments, the BCM has eight. So the Magpul offers more/finer LOP adjustments, but not much. I measured the web between the holes and came up with these measurements:
.355 - random 6 position carbine tube
.210 - BCM 8 position
.145 - Magpul 10 position
So the Magpul adjustment is roughly .065 (1/15ish) finer than the BCM. I say roughly because I did these right by the gun safe and the light wasn’t optimal). I really can’t say I’ve noticed any LOP difference.
I use Brownells CS rifle springs and sourced my A5 buffers through BCM as VLTOR was always out of stock. I use a A5H2 in my 16inch and an A5H3 in my SBR. I bought those based on forum searches, suppressed I’d probably be better off one higher in each rifle, but they function fine.
Just curious about stock choices. I have 4 collapsible stocks on my carbines (1 Roger’s super stock, and 3 Magpul sls). For the 20" HB that is free floated with a DD Omega, what would be a good compliment stock? The rifle also has a Leupold telescope on it as well. I know that this really varies from person to person. I have never handled a vltor stock. But they do look robust!
I recently bought an intermediate (A5) RE from BCM, and from Sons of Liberty Gunworks I ordered an A5H4 buffer and Springco Green spring. The BCM part arrived within a couple days, but it’s been about 2 weeks and I’ve received no word from SOLGW. I don’t need it right away, but I’m a bit annoyed that SOLGW charged my card without shipping my order.
My experience is that Magpul and BCM have shipped fast on anything I’ve ordered from them. Since VLTOR is habitually out-of-stock I’d source from those vendors.
As for VLTOR, I’d guess good for them, apparently they are selling all they make.
But BCM includes the most useless buffer weight. Probably to compensate for crap ammo people shoot. But if they were basing the buffer weight off of their overgassed barrels they should include A5H3 buffers instead.
We love the A5 buffer system. But I’d honestly just run a carbine system with H2 if there were any difficulty sourcing the A5 components. If a gun is gassed right, the H2 carbine is just fine.
My experience says otherwise. Carbine weight buffers are too light. H2, A5H2 and rifle buffers are just right. Anything heavier starts noticeably pushing the rifle as the action cycles.
Heavy buffers is a good source for A5 buffers. It’s their item version but they are good to go. As mentioned earlier forward control designs usually had most parts in stock from my experience
I should have added that I’m talking about 223/5.56. I don’t have experience with the other calibers. VLTOR makes buffers in a variety of weights because that’s what the market will bear. But guess which A5 buffer sells out the quickest? A5H2.
I’ve had a chance to test a variety of buffers with an adjustable gas block upper, suppressed and unsuppressed. The sweet spot runs from H2 (carbine RE) to A5H2 (A5 RE) & Rifle.
I don’t disagree. I only have the A5 system in one rifle. I got it from Vltor and it shipped with the A5H2. Just for kicks I removed the tungsten weights and replaced them with aluminum weights I made. I couldn’t tell the difference shooting 193. 16" BCM ULW upper with a pretty efficient brake on it. Maybe I am not smart enough to feel the difference. The only time I would buy the A5 system is if I was doing a new build. If I had an existing standard receiver extension on a rifle I’d throw a H2 in it and call it a day.