There’s a minor problem with the way the AR-15 rifle was designed, specifically the buffer assembly. Having a metal spring riding along the inside of a metal tube makes for quite a bit of noise when the action cycles and it can be annoying to the shooter. Armaspec thinks they have a solution in their Stealth Recoil Spring.

A drop-in replacement for the standard AR-15 spring and buffer assembly the Stealth Recoil Spring or SRS uses a central guide rod which allows them to move the spring away from the sides of the tube and isolate it in the center. But instead of having a single recoil spring, the SRS uses a two stage recoil spring system with a long light spring and a short heavy spring for easier cycling and better results.

Another cool feature is the rubber gasket in the front of the buffer. This gasket is the only point of contact between the buffer and the bolt carrier, isolating it further from the rest of the gun and providing constant pressure against the bolt carrier group to keep the bolt carrier from moving about.

The SRS comes in five different weights for both 5.56 and 9mm applications and retails for about $79, which is a bargain considering similar products cost somewhere north of $139.

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50 COMMENTS

  1. Interesting… should be some competition for KynSHOT and JP.
    Will it come in H, H1, H2, etc. equivalents?

  2. I’m curious what leads to such a significant price difference between these guys and the JP versions. I’d love to know how “loud” they are compared to their competitors, especially on a gun running a suppressor.

    • I HATE the SPONG! sound, have a few JP versions, from early to latest. I would think the sound transmitted would depend on how smooth the rods are that everything slides on.

  3. Can you change weights for tuning?

    Their web site doesn’t say much more than this announcement.

    Tunability would be a big plus – it obviously works differently than a standard spring so I wouldn’t want to make a commitment to a bunch of $79 gizmos for tuning.

  4. The Stealth Recoil Spring comes in 5 variations. SRS-Carbine at about 3.3oz equivalent SRS-H at around 3.8oz equivalent SRS-H2 at around 4.7oz equivalent SRS-9 at around 5.3oz equivalent and SRS-H3 at around 5.6oz equivalent. The Stealth Recoil Spring will be available first quarter 2017.

    Nick
    Think you could post a pic of it compressed?

    JP has improved their version, but prices have gone up too.

  5. Give me a plain old mil-spec spring for $5 and I’ll be happy.
    Stealth? I guess someone forgot about the loud *bang* every time you pull the trigger.

    • Simon,

      In all fairness this could actually be important for Special Operations who use nice suppressors and sub-sonic ammunition to minimize their noise signature.

      Remember, the noise that the action generates when it cycles is quite often the primary source of noise … and it can be significant. If this cuts the action noise in half, that could mean getting past enemy sentries without detection rather than having the entire enemy encampment springing to action.

      • I’ll pile on: when suppressing standard 5.56mm ammo, that sproing sound is still significant due to the proximity to your ear. When your’e trying to hear important comms through an ear mic, a setup like this has significant benefits.

    • If you’ve ever tried the retained-spring series of buffer/spring components I think you’d really appreciate the smoothness to even racking your run-of-the-mill AR. I would bet, if one were inclined to perform such a test, that the charging handle lasts longer just for the greater ease in retracting the bolt with the charging handle.

    • Give me a 20 dollar sprinco spring. All sorts of strengths and last for 10 times as many cycles than a milspec

      • +1 for the Sprinco. I’ve also used the polished JP spring. The Spikes Tactical buffers are sweet. The tungsten is powdered in their ST and ST-1 weight buffers. Those together cut down on the noise. But $80 for this isn’t too bad may try it.

  6. That o-ring might make disassembly a little more of a pain, especially if all you want to do is pop the rear pin for a quick bore cleaning.

    Otherwise I like it.

  7. If you’ve got an expensive ’boutique’ AR, this might be a nice add-on. My plain-Jane Ruger AR-556 is happy with the spring it was born with.

  8. The sound of that spring, or the lack thereof, lets me know when my magazine is empty. It does make the gun sound sort of cheap, though.

    Still I can think of better ways to spend $80.

    • I can’t stand the sound (especially when firing suppressed subsonics), but mine isn’t quite as noticeable as it was when it was new. As far as knowing when I’m empty, the lack of trigger reset is what I notice most.

  9. Our liberty, capitalistic, free society produces what our people need. I love America.
    And I always hated that buffer spring noise next to my ear when firing my issued M16.

  10. At 1/4th the price of a complete handgun (such as the Ruger 9E) but only 1/12th the materials and complexity of a complete handgun, this recoil spring is way overpriced. If they sold them for $25, I would immediately purchase two. At $80 each, I will not be purchasing one.

  11. Ok here’s the trick. Stick your finger in bearing grease, wipe it on your buffer spring…bam a $.05 solution. I have 2 rifles with grease on my buffer spring and one with the JP SCS system. You can pull the charge handles on them and cannot tell the difference side by side it works great.
    Seriously, you can’t tell the difference between the $140 and $.05 solutions.

      • “bearing grease” will be NLGI #2 grease.

        But just about any #2 grease will probably do the trick. I’ve used moly grease, I’ve used Delo synthetic, Lubriplate, whatever. It’s a spring, rubbing on the inside of a tube, not a ABEC-7 bearing.

        • I would not tell people to lube their springs. Unless they’re Hillary [or (D)] voters.

          I have used a lubed spring and the JP buffer and spring combo works noticeably better and it ain’t just “noise” (which isn’t why I purchased one). It definitely works smoother, there is less dynamic movement during fire and you get more of the benefit of some of the other things you might have purchased (e.g. NiB BCG or Lantac’s Enhanced BCG, ya go throw some bearing lube on it).

          There’s a few panther-piss remedies I like, Sig Sauer used to ship with Mil-Comm’s TW-25B, I still love that stuff, but I don’t build enhanced replacement parts from it. Just sayin.

        • Let me not confuse any issue by saying “dynamic movement during firing”. To clarify [for optimal performance of your buffer group] you don’t want [it doesn’t gain you anything to have] any extra movement between your buffer and your buffer spring. Greasing your spring doesn’t ‘marry’ your buffer to your spring.

          The JP system does and it looks like this system does too. I just hope it’s not a me-too POS trying to come in under the price point with a chinexican knock off.

  12. But will the 5.56mm version handle a 300BLK round?
    The only AR I have where I can hear the spring over the sounds of the powder and bullet is my suppressed 300BLK.

  13. I kinda like the sprong noise in my AR/M16/M4. It’s like an old friend saying “nice shot” each time I pull the trigger.

      • Yes, M-16/M203 the sproing is comforting.

        If you’ve ever played the Wii version of Call of Duty Modern Warfare Reflex, they put that sproing noise in there and it’s kind of freaky because the M-4’s don’t have it. [Not a gamer but have played]

        : )

        • Really? I didn’t know know that. Though I haven’t ever played Call of Duty on Wii (I’m a PC person myself), I think thats cool.

  14. A no noise recoil spring nice, I guess.
    But what do you do for the sound of the bolt slamming shut and locking after ejecting fired brass?

      • Ask a simple question, get a simple answer. 🙂

        Something else I though of is the hammer hitting the firing-pin. That makes noise.

        Going down the rabbit hole of a quiet rifle further – the only truly quiet rifle I can think of is a bolt-action with subsonic electronic ignition ammunition.

        • Truly quieted covert arms are typically semi-auto .22’s with a slide lock. In effect, they’re a single-shot .22 pistol.

        • DG, are there any slide lock adapters, buttons, levers, ect. for the AR platform?

          I’m liking the idea of stopping the action from cycling after firing…

        • Like a gas-diverting piston system Sig 516 Gen 2 ?

          There are ways to get both quiet and semi-auto / full-auto capability from ammo/suppressor combos. Nothing gets you silence except a Hollywood movie (after all the credits) not even an air rifle.

      • Sproingage?

        Sproingish?

        What th’ F?

        It’s not the noise, the weapon will cycle better (all other things being equal) and that cycle will ‘feel’ better, It’s like people putting vibration dampeners / string quieter devices on bows. Some people might not give a cr_p or shoot but they will notice a difference and it will register as a positive one.

  16. The price for this isn’t that bad. A good spring is $20 and a good H buffer is $30-40. That’s $50-60. This is only another $20-30. Yeah it’s a bit more than a cheap $10 carbine buffer and cheap $4 spring.

  17. Hi, Nick,

    Thanks for the overview of the sweet buffer spring. I can’t say the “ping” from my tube bothers me that much, but that’s mostly because it’s un-suppressed and load as hell.
    I am looking into a suppressed option, especially once they’re no longer NFA items. Woohoo!

    On a slightly separate note: I had some questions for ya regarding .300 blk AR uppers, and it appears you’re considered the resident guru/fan-atic of them. I’d love to shoot you an e-mail and pick your brain a bit, but had a hard time finding contact info through TTAG. Shoot me an e-mail if you’re interested in pointing me in the right direction. Thanks

  18. If the buffer on your AR fully penetrated the length of your buffer spring, then it wouldn’t have to shuttle-thread the back end of itself through the spring during firing under varying speeds and pressures. However, if it was that long, it wouldn’t have any room to move inside the buffer tube and wouldn’t allow the AR’s bolt-carrier-group to cycle and do it’s thang.

    Plus, not only does the stock buffer have to thread through the buffer spring during firing, any trouble it has in doing so is translated to the bolt-carrier-group which also has to penetrate into the buffer tube right behind it. All of those little difficulties and inefficiencies add up to noise / heat / (and in more extreme cases) light, and (while none can be completely defeated) all are BAD.

    The captured spring circumvents a goodly portion of this deficiency/weakness by essentially having the buffer threaded entirely through the buffer spring all of the time and under (I would guess) slightly higher spring load rates (due to their retention systems). Additionally, it (can [or has a ~greater possibility of]) prevent the overrun of the buffer-spring’s ‘period’ (resulting in) the back end of the buffer spring from ‘hopping’ off of the back of the buffer tube during rapid-fire. http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/Lesson-0/Motion-of-a-Mass-on-a-Spring

  19. Just how does the recoil spring make noise during operation lol. If you can hear the recoil spring over the rounds discharged then you’re special. Unless it’s .22 short supressed you’re not going to hear chit. Just use a flat wire spring and it’ll make less noise when clambering.

    • It’s clear you never shot a suppressed AR, it’s a loud “Sproing” when you have your ear on the stock, sitting away from the gun it’s a bit more subtle. You can hear it though, there’s actually a video comparing.

  20. I have never heard any “sprong,” “sproing,” or whatever odd noise there might be coming from my 10.5″ ATI Omni Maxx pistol. It could be the combination of a recoil-reducing compensator married to a blast redirecting shield that keeps it quiet. In my case, I’ll stick with the old adage, “If it ain’t broke…” (although I have made some quality upgrades to the lower)

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