http://www.majorpandemic.com/2012/06/all-about-adjustable-ar-gas-blocks.html

What do y'all think?

When you have to worry about recoil in a 223 it gets interesting.

BUT for competition, every fraction of a second counts for sure.

I'd run one if I had a smith that couldn't get the gas port size right. But I tend to use a smith that gets it right.

The only other one I want, is one that I can flip off and on, for use wiht a 300/221 for use with a suppressor so you don't have action noise on single shot mode.

The article goes on and on about recoil reduction, which is really a misrepresentation of what to expect. You won't necessarily FEEL the reduction, you'll SEE it in your sights. I've got a few friends with adjustable gas blocks. Two of the three adjusted them and couldn't tell a drastic difference at all. To get the benefit of an adjustable block you really need to do the low mass carrier-spring-buffer combo. If you're not gonna go all out, your money is better spent elsewhere.

A buffer appropriate for your gas block, a comp and a shooting stance that compensates for the gun's recoil will make a big difference (more noticeable for most people in my experience).

When you start messing with low mass carriers and such you're really getting into the minutia and in my experience very few shooters are actually good enough to see the benefits they offer. I shoot faster than everyone I know that has an adjustable gas block and don't think that I'd see a significant difference with an adjustable block at this point.

You might notice the difference, but to take advantage of it you've gotta really be at the top of your game.

Cuzz and I were just discussing adjustable gas blocks for his next 223 AI and his 22 DTI. Playing on the edge of parameters set up for 5.56 and then going beyond can be easily overcome with an adjustable gas block vs adding weight to the carrier and buffer.

Thanks for the link.

I guess I need to worry more about this stuff! I am sort of dull, so being dull I just go out and buy a Colt at Wall-mart and say "well this works and shoots well" good enough!

They are good for working out the reliability on wildcats that just don't have standards. They greatly improve the powder choices since the port pressures can be adjusted. I found in my 20's that they really let me dial in several accurate powders that just wouldn't let me run the rifle reliably.

Greg

At one time I thought about getting one and tuning it for my suppressor. I stopped using the suppressor before I bought it. Problem solved

Why did you stop using it?

Thanks,
Ron

I personally don't see much benifit to them with centerfire rifle cartridges that shoot bullets that break the sound barrier. The rifle is still very loud from the sonic crack of the bullet. Loud enough that I still wore hearing protection when using them. The can just upsets the ballance of the rifle, not to mention making the rifle 8" longer. I bought the can about 10 years ago and after the new and the cool factor wore off the negatives just outweighed the positives and I stopped using it on my AR's. This year I put it on a custom Mini 14 that is nothing more than a range toy. The rifle has an adjustable gas block and I've fine tuned the can to that rifle. I imagine it'll spend the rest of it's/my life on that rifle.

I'm not knocking cans all together, I have a rimfire can that I couldn't be happier with and shot a 9mm can with subsonic ammo recently that really impressed me.

They come standard on any FAL. The idea didn't catch on, however, for general military issue because correctly adjusting it requires more expertise than can be expected from the average recruit. If you fully understand its use, however, it's an advantage.

They sell them for M1 Garands, too.