AR15 - What tube to get 'Mil Spec or Commercial'

[ratdog]

I want to replace my stock including the buffer tube. Does it matter if I go w/ a Mil Spec versus Commercial setup?

For instance, get a new Magpul CTR commercial stock and commerical buffer tube.. (yes - on a pre-ban)


Thanks

 

[WaldoOneFive]

I would get Mil-Spec because that is what 90% of AR parts are produced for. The Commercial-Spec buffer tube is the minority.

You will have a far easier time finding Mil-Spec stocks, etc. The "Mil-Spec" size is the primary size used in the AR15/M4 world.

Many people believe that "Mil-Spec" is the ONLY way to go. I believe in this school of thought to keep all my AR's the same, and on par with the rest of the AR community.

 

[1903Collector]

I'm curious, do you know the size difference between the two?

 

[amb]

Around 0.020-0.025" depending on which writeup you read. There are also some commercial tubes that have undersized threads (per the diagram below), but there are also commercial tubes with full-height threads, so don't go by that. (In any case, note that the base thread is the same and that they all thread into the same receivers.) This is a pretty good diagram from LaRue: