I handled an ar the other day at a show and noticed how tight the fitting between the stock and buffer tube was. I plan on using a mission first tactical minimalist stock (mil spec) and was curious on how I would be able to achieve this fit on my ar?
Does yours have slop or are you just anticipating that it will?
First off, make sure you are matching a milspec buffer tube to a milspec stock and not mismatching with commercial parts.
My first build did so I’m anticipating it will
It might be tight, it might be loose. If it’s the latter and you want it tighter, you can add strips of electrical tape to the end of the buffer tube to tighten up the fit. I wouldn’t advise this, though, as regardless of the tape used, it will eventually gum up or unpeel or do something else nasty and require corrective action. It will end up creating more problems than it fixes.
Your best bet is to abandon the minimalist stock from MFT and go with one of two Magpul options: Magpul MOE SL or Magpul FCS. They’re both super sturdy, super tight, and lightweight, no-frills stocks that won’t rattle on your tube regardless of tolerance variation. The MOE SL has the added benefit of coming with QD swivels molded right into the stock AND maintains adjustability as well. All my rifles use this stock these days.
Not only do these options offer you a similar stock to the one you wanted (light, simple) that fits tightly on the receiver extension, but I’d also trust Magpul’s product quality a lot more.
Hope that helps.
The MFT minimalist stocks I have have been pretty good. I’ve got one on a rifle that has a few thousand rounds through it, and no complaints on the stock. It fits tight on a DD extension with no play. But if you want a really tight fit the tightest fitting stock I have is a B5 enhanced sopmod, it’s to tight on some extensions.
My experience with MFT is that they tend to fit very tight.
As for other options, the newer designs, such as Magpul SL, BCM Gunfighter, and the Daniel Defense are all designed to have a tighter fit.
Look for an earlier model B5 Systems SOPMOD stock. Mine is super tight, and actually required some fitting to get it to slide on the buffer tube.
The MFT’s are usually pretty tight!
I have found the BCM stock to be somewhat tight, and the Magpul CTR to be very tight.
Are there thicker buffer tubes?
I’ve heard the black ones are thicker.
I think it’s a stereotype though.
:laugh: Too funny First Sergeant!!!
Ya, it’s definitely tight enough to where I don’t have to worry about anything