DPM Systems has been finding ways to reduce felt recoil in all sorts of handguns.  I’ve been using their system in my Walthers for a couple of years and am happy to see they now have a system for the AR-15.

The concept is simple: Most perceived recoil comes from the slamming of mechanical parts of the gun, not the firing of the cartridge.  Be it the slide against the frame of a handgun or buffer bottoming out in a rifle.  This slam is when the rearward momentum is transferred to the shooter.  Eliminate the slam and the shooter feels less recoil.

The execution is beautiful: As seen in the video below DPM uses a series of springs to absorb impact and decelerate the rearward motion of the bolt.  Once the end of the rearward movement is reached and the bolt begins back forwards the springs releasing in the buffer accelerate the bolt.  Their handguns systems work similarly.

The result: a recoil impulse that feels smoother and gentler without reducing reliability.  To get a better feel for how this works watch the video below.

No footage was included of the buffer in action because it’s tough for that to actually show anything.  If we shot the same gun with a regular buffer and then DPM buffer you’d have no way of knowing if the recoil portrayed was real or just us acting.

I haven’t yet tried out the different springs to tune this buffer.  Out of the box it ran great in our rifles using both regular and light-weight bolt carriers, rifle and carbine-length gas systems.  I would like to tinker with it a bit and try it out in my Stag 10S eventually, but that won’t happen until I can get Gretchen to let go of having the buffer in her rifle.

For more information on her rifle see the parts list here.

For more information about this buffer and their pistol offerings check out DPM System’s website here.

Photo by author.