Cozad Manufacturing was founded by Andy Cozad, a Soldier in the Army Reserve and an avid shooter. In addition to his Army Reserve career, Andy worked as a deputy sheriff for 13 years and spent 6 years as a firearms instructor, holding certifications through the Pennsylvania State Police, Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and the National Rifle Association.

During his 2014-2015 Afghanistan deployment, Andy was lodged next to several members of the Australian Defence Force Special Operations Command that were using HK416 and Colt 10.5” guns with Knight’s Armament suppressors and were finding a number of weapon failures due to snapped hammer springs and other faulty parts. Their hydraulic buffer was not adequate and had failed to work properly. This was the first piece of the puzzle. The next piece was when a friend asked Andy to make an AR-10 barrel chambered in 45-70 Government. The recoil of this setup led Andy to commit to making an improved AR buffer. Having a long-standing interest in Eugene Stoner’s rifle design, Andy found an improved buffer design to be an opportunity.

His goal was to make an effective mechanical buffer that out performed the hydraulic models currently available. Working through a series of prototypes he identified problems, with redesigns going through several transformations before arriving at the Cozad M18k. This proved to out-perform hydraulic models while remaining an effective mechanical buffer.

The M-18k is a patented design the better absorbs recoil, better controls cyclic rate, and helps improve shooter accuracy, especially in rapid fire. Made from aircraft-grade material and stainless steel, the unit measures 3.25” when compressed and weighs 3 ounces.

Cozad buffers are multi-caliber capable, as the initial 45-70 experiment demonstrates. The company has had good results with their A2 buffer with 458 SOCOM. As one Cozad customer reports, “The buffer cuts felt recoil of 458 SOCOM in half. It actually made my BCA upper run better and will now cycle all bullet weights now from 300 grains up to 576.” Cozad also has a pistol caliber carbine model and another for the Barrett M82. New to the line is a buffer for the a Rock Island VR80 shotgun. Made from 17-4 stainless steel and weighing 2.5 ounces more than the factory aluminum buffer, it was designed to improve function with heavy field, buckshot, and slugs.

Contact Cozad at CozadManufacturingLLC.com or call 814/516-6359.

Read more in the August 2020 issue.

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