I’m in agreement. I’m going to order a DD 11.5" and have already decided to add an SLR gas block to my build.
I don’t think that would make you crazy. I mean, it’ll go in cycles I’m sure! When I first posted about my DD being overgassed as hell, the “people who would know” (who also recommend several questionable things over the years) here ONLY recommended A5. Well, the A5 kit is great and I have them on my ARs, but it did little to fix that specific problem, in fact, I think it actually made it worse because I was adequately running an A5H4 with a springco heavy spring while unsuppressed which was a lot of reciprocating mass vs less mass faster, could just be a wash, but it didn’t feel better. The ONLY thing that fixed that gun for me was running the Micro MOA block to have two specifically tuned in settings. I think other people came around to the same idea, judging that now there are at least 10 options on the market specifically for this. So, in the end, it was an tunable/adjustable gas system, now along with the A5, I’m a fan. But there is another issue…
Do I trust myself to determine the gas settings for my system? By system, that’s gun, ammo, mags, suppressor, and application (temp, elevation, how dirty I’ll run the gun)… I kinda do. That is, if I were carrying the rifle daily for anything “serious” I’d probably intentionally overgass a little or leave it alone, but I feel like I have enough info to determine a proper port size for my uses. I will usually only buy decent 5.56 ammo or reload it to decent specs, I won’t buy Tula shit, I won’t run gamer ammo, etc. I run PMAGs exclusively. I know the Surefire silencers I have are lower backpressure. I only practically only shoot suppressed anymore so dedicated can with one tuned port seems reasonable for my next build. Etc etc and I’ll still err on the side of working-plus-some until I could determine temp and dirt extremes. I can do this and trust the gun after XYZ number of successful rounds down, but this is not equal to true testing that a Colt or FN would do. Short of having a 2k-100k fps highspeed camera you’re just not going to get that though.
Would I recommend anyone else who does not have at least equal to my engineering background to just get go get and start messing with a MicroMOA, SLR, Gemtech or Sun Devil carrier or gaskey? Not without warning that you’ll need to do a cursory amount of research and logical thinking. Then test it as scientifically as possible, that might mean spending an hour or two to learn about the scientific method then hitting the range. It’s really not hard, but I don’t trust most people to handle their guns let alone tweak the way they work.
The AR can take a lot of variation in the gas system. So if you know what you are doing, go for it. I remember someone was talking about de-tuning their gun so that it only barely worked unsuppressed (won’t lock on empty), then suppressed it wasn’t too overgassed. That’s tuning a little too close for me to consider ultra-reliable, would depend on a ton of factors, etc. I’m getting more and more towards suppressed-only or unsuppressed-majority separate guns.
I honestly think there is no replacement for an adjustable gas amount unless you can specify original port size. Things like LMTe carrier, A5, springs, different carrier weights, are bandaids that might fully mask all symptoms but I feel like there is really only one actual solution to over-gas issues - to actually reduce the gas.
I have a DD 11.5 lightweight profile barrel. I honestly do not know if it is over-gassed or not. From day one, I have used Slash’s XH Carbine buffer (8.5 oz), and it has run 100% with AE 55 gr, Sellier & Bellot 55 gr, Federal XM855 62gr and some Wolf 55 gr.
On my next AR build, I do plan on trying an adjustable gas block. I’ve never considered it until recently, but it is worth a try.
I’m not an expert, at all. But if you gun runs wolf 55gr and an 8.5oz buffer… I thiiiiink that might be your answer.
On a side note, you have to be super-majorly overgassed to actually see issues. That isn’t what we are talking about. Most ARs are over-gassed, most ARs do not exhibit issues (unsuppressed). It’s completely understandable that most AR’s are over-gassed. Look at guns that aren’t like the KAC, it likely won’t run tula well, and that’s OK because the guy who bought one won’t care. Same with LaRue’s OBR, those are the most sensitive guns I’ve ever seen when it comes to ammo and suppressor, but when they are within parameters, they’re awesome.