While the vast majority of ARs and ARPs are cycled via direct gas impingement, which requires a tuned buffer system, there is a growing number of micro ARPs that are bufferless ARs, and which are cycled via direct blowback action rather than gas impingement.
As a result, these direct blowback micro ARPs are entirely bufferless, which opens up a whole lot of other potential advantages. These are some of the top reasons to consider a bufferless AR, specifically a bufferless micro ARP, for your next build.
Build a Smaller Micro ARP
The main reason, and the most obvious one, to build a bufferless AR is to build the smallest possible micro ARP. Other ARP builds, even those with the shortest barrels, only a few inches long, will have extra length at the back of the receiver with the buffer tube sticking off the back.
If you go bufferless, you can for obvious reasons build the smallest possible ARP - a 5 inch upper to be used with a bufferless AR will yield a smaller ARP than a 5 inch upper that requires a gas and therefore a buffer system, for instance.
Better Concealment and Discretion
It follows, since you can build smaller micro ARP platforms with bufferless systems, that these more compact guns will therefore conceal better and be more discrete overall, which means it’s easier to transport them, too. This makes them great for a wide range of defensive applications, including as truck guns.
Better Performance in Tight Quarters
Micro ARPs definitely do have some drawbacks with respect to handling, but superiority in tight quarters is not one of them - in fact it is a marked advantage.
Despite the fact that ARPs are known for their sharp, punchy recoil and loud reports (plus a lot of fouling) their more compact nature means they handle and point better in extremely tight quarters, giving them an advantage for defensive applications.
Just pair it with a smart cartridge for such an application, like 9mm, and you’ll have a good defensive micro ARP.
A Simpler Action, Fewer Overall Parts
A gas impingement system requires a gas block, tube, a bolt carrier group with gas rings, and a buffer system that houses the buffer weights and springs.
Some bufferless ARs utilize direct blowback, which requires none of that. The action is much simpler and once chamber pressures build up past a certain point, the action opens, extracts the spent cartridge, and chambers the new one.
They’re not the best for higher powered cartridges but for cartridges like 9mm, they work just fine, and the simplicity means fewer parts to tune, and fewer parts that will wear out.
It’s Good for Low-Pressure Cartridges like 9mm
Higher pressure cartridges present a lot of problems with bufferless AR systems that use direct blowback, because the chamber pressures don’t drop to levels low enough before the action unlocks and starts to open.
The problem here is that this can produce case rupture and a whole bunch of other potentially dangerous issues with direct blowback. However, for low pressure cartridges, such as 9mm, a bufferless system that uses direct blowback is usually fairly safe and reliable.
No Pistol Brace Woes
It can be tempting to add a pistol brace to a micro ARP that has a buffer system, even if it has a short buffer system, just to increase stability. But in the past few years there have been a whole bunch of legal problems with pistol braces, as regulations have been in a fairly fluid state. If you skip the buffer system and build a bufferless AR without any buffer tube, you won’t even need to think about pistol braces.
But You Can Add a Folding Stock
Even if you ditch the prospect of a pistol brace because you built a micro ARP with a bufferless upper and no buffer tube, another big selling point of bufferless ARs is that they offer you more flexibility in terms of options for adding a folding stock.
With the buffer tube sticking off the back of the receiver, adding a pistol brace or a fixed stock is the natural move, but without the buffer tube there, you now have the flexibility to add a folding stock, which enables a very compact profile, but which can be opened and used to add stability and recoil control when shooting.
Explore Short Buffer Systems and Bufferless AR Parts Here
If you’re planning on building a micro ARP, whether you’re going to build a conventional ARP with a short buffer system and upper or are going to go for an entirely bufferless AR, we have the assembled uppers and other parts you need. Shop our collection and get in touch with us if you have any questions before you buy and we will help you out in any way we can.