Wolf A1 quick range report

[Arkane]

I took the Wolf A1 out today. Before firing I cleaned it and it needed it. There was some kind of residue in the chamber that came out easily and the BCG and piston head were dirty prior to cleaning. Once clean I lubed the rear part of the piston with Aeroshell and the BCG and upper with CLP.

It ate 300 rounds of PMC 62g X-tac with absolutely no problems, not a FTF or FTE one. Prior to firing I ran some magpul dummy rounds through by hand to check cycling and encountered no issues nor damage to the rounds. Some observations:

1. These rifles are overgassed, really overgassed. I switched from a standard carbine buffer to an H2 and that smoothed out the action considerably.
2. Carrier tilt is minimal but there is obvious wear on the front lip of the buffer tube. I'll be switching to an anti-tilt heavy buffer to fix this.
3. Zeroing using the tall front sight post (I didn't get a short one) and a troy rear BUIS using a 50/200 zero was uneventful.
4. Accuracy wise I find this rifle on par with any DI AR.
5. For giggles I did two mag dumps back to back. The handguards do get warm no more than any other handguard I've used.
6. Muzzle rise isn't bad, and I imagine once I switch to the actual T91 muzzle device it'll be even smoother.
7. After firing once the rifle cooled down I broke it down. Minimal carbon in the chamber and really not that much on the piston head. It gets about as dirty as the FAL does (no surprise there).

Overall I'm impressed.

[e292644]

Let me know which anti-tilt heavy buffer you are going to get, and do you think will it work well with silencer attached?
You mentioned about you want to switch to actual T91 muzzle device, I thought from your picture your Wolf A1 upper come with standard T91 muzzle device already installed.

1. These rifles are overgassed, really overgassed. I switched from a standard carbine buffer to an H2 and that smoothed out the action considerably.
2. Carrier tilt is minimal but there is obvious wear on the front lip of the buffer tube. I'll be switching to an anti-tilt heavy buffer to fix this.
6. Muzzle rise isn't bad, and I imagine once I switch to the actual T91 muzzle device it'll be even smoother.

[Arkane]

It came with the T91 device that lackes the venting holes, no idea why they switched to that one 9unless it lowers cost of production). The rifle smoothed out considerably with a 4.9 oz H2 buffer so I'm going to go a little heavier and use the Heavybuffers H3 which weighs 5.5oz. I don't think adding a can is going to be an issue. You'll get a little bit more blockback.

FYI I called Wolf this morning and they don't have the normal front sight post in stock nor plan to include it with rifles so if anyone has one they want to get rid of (or swap for a taller one), lemme know.

[e292644]

I can't believe they swap out the flash hider to a different one, that sucks. Let me try to get some of the flash hider and front sight post import then.
BTW, have you try P.O.F. Mil-Spec Anti-Tilt Carbine Buffer Tube yet?

It came with the T91 device that lackes the venting holes, no idea why they switched to that one 9unless it lowers cost of production). The rifle smoothed out considerably with a 4.9 oz H2 buffer so I'm going to go a little heavier and use the Heavybuffers H3 which weighs 5.5oz. I don't think adding a can is going to be an issue. You'll get a little bit more blockback.

FYI I called Wolf this morning and they don't have the normal front sight post in stock nor plan to include it with rifles so if anyone has one they want to get rid of (or swap for a taller one), lemme know.

[Arkane]

I looked at the POF tube however it is mil-spec diameter and if you plan to use the T91 stock a commercial diameter tube is a must. Once I get my stock and castle nut I am going to look at how much input I have into the receiver and may contour a commercial tube to resemble the POF tube, every little bit helps.

No idea why they switched the flash hider, but from all the reference materiel I've seen it's not a T91 series rifle norm. The only non standard one I've seen is a slightly milled out version on the 91s arms show pics. Flash hiders are readily available here.

Whens peaking with the gent @ Wolf I got the distinct impression they have no idea what the market is looking for.

Note aside I have scoured the 91S show pics and from what I am able to discern the following parts would be needed to replicate that version:
1. A slightly milled out flash hider.
2. The Keymod handguard.
3. A Tangodown QD VFG.
4. A magpul MBUS rear sight,
5. The T91 pistol grip.
6. The t91 castle nut.
7. A Magpul Moe SL stock.
8. The T91 sling.

[e292644]

BTW, what was the symptom when you notice your Wolf A1 over-gassed? I switched my DI AR in between shooting but did not notice that.

[Arkane]

The recoil impulse was more pronounced and back gassing was more noticeable compared to the other piston ARs I've fired. IMHO an H2 or H3 buffer is almost a must for these uppers.

[rchen404]

Hey Arkane. Old topic but what tube and buffer did you end up going with?

Any way you can post a pic of the damage to the buffer tube/lower so I know what to look for?

Is it sufficient to just get an anti tilt buffer and leave the tube alone? I don't want to mess with removing the castle nut. I'm running it on a Colt m4 lower. Thanks

[Arkane]

Hey Arkane. Old topic but what tube and buffer did you end up going with?
Any way you can post a pic of the damage to the buffer tube/lower so I know what to look for?
Is it sufficient to just get an anti tilt buffer and leave the tube alone? I don't want to mess with removing the castle nut. I'm running it on a Colt m4 lower. Thanks

I seriously suck at taking pics, even with a good camera. On my clone I'm running a stock tube and H2 buffer, but it still has a pretty low round count. On my shooter I'm running the heavy buffers H2 anti-tilt buffer with the wolf spring and POF anti-tilt tube. If I had to prioritize I'd go with the anti-tilt buffer first. I've seen little to no evidence of any outside of normal expected wear running the setup with 3000+ rounds through that rifle.

If you're getting tilt you'll know it as soon as you pull the buffer out of the receiver extension, it'll show up as scraping and even gouging. This isn't my pic but is kind of an extreme example to illustrate what can happen. Another indicator is if the Bolt Carrier itself starts getting significant shiny spots on it from metal on metal wear.

[Kilo 1-1]

Arkane, you are correct about the upper being seriously over-gassed. My upper still cycles weaker Brown Bear steel cased ammo with a H2 Buffer. I am in agreement that a H2 buffer is probably the minimum weight I would go with this upper. The H2 buffer was a night and day difference in recoil impulse, and I'm sure it'll help prevent premature wear.

Gas piston guns tend to be over-gassed in nature. Gov contract HK416s came with their proprietary heavier buffer for those running standard Gov. M4 lowers with the uppers.

[Iamscotticus]

How about instead of making the gun heavier, lightening the carrier and with a stiffer spring?

[e292644]

That's a great idea, I'll try to get some prototype lightweight BCG for T91 see how it will perform.

How about instead of making the gun heavier, lightening the carrier and with a stiffer spring?

[Arkane]

How about instead of making the gun heavier, lightening the carrier and with a stiffer spring?

I could see the upside to getting a couple of ounces back but honestly I think having positive control of that bolt carrier in recoil with the anti-tilt buffer is worth the weight.

[Iamscotticus]

There are two wsys to arrest the inertia enough to achieve the timing you want for extraction. Adding weight, which eventually compromises the spring, or using a spring that that applies enough pressure on a closed bolt to achieve the same. David Tubb has got this down to a science. Also, although its mere speculation for the T91, perhaps using a .308 spring will give the results a H3 buffer wil??
Im just looking for ways to mitigate, not solve, the overgassing without adding weight to a heavy rifle. To that end, I plan to lose a few oz cutting down t a 14.5" with an A2 flash hider.

Id like to hear from anyone who has a 14" . Has the shortened length tamned the gas?