Ask Ian: Why Does the AR15 Have a Buffer Thingie?

Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! From Arvid on Utreon: “Why does an AR-15 need a buffer thingy? Why can’t it just have a spring like every other normal gun?“ The Ar-15 really doesn’t need the buffer and tube, but it is a holdover from the origins of the system: the AR-10. The intent of the AR-10 was to create a battle rifle that was very lightweight (under 7 pounds, originally) but still soft-shooting and controllable. In order to do that, Eugene Stoner. has to pull out all sorts of tricks. As it applied to our question today, this included a straight-line design with a buffer on the end of the bolt carrier to absorb any residual impact of the bolt carrier on the end of the receiver tube. At this time, there was no apparent need to allow for a folding stock, so the bolt was allowed to run th