

The stock you choose for your rifle needs to match the buffer tube kit. It’s also very common to see buffer tubes cerakoted, duracoated, and anodized, so you can find one that fits the bill on your custom build. 6061 T6 aluminium is easier to weld but has a lower strength & durability. Mil-spec buffer tubes are forged from 7075 T6 aluminum, which offers higher-strength and more stress-resistance than the 6061 T6 billet aluminum used in commercial buffer tubes. They’re also made from different material.

The buttstock has to match the tube size or it will not assemble correctly. Why should that matter? Because that slight change in diameter means the two are not interchangable. Mil-spec buffer tubes are built two-hundredths of an inch smaller than a commercial tube. There are two standard types of buffer tube kits mil-spec and commercial.
