Gas piston ar15 worth the extra money?

[SON*OF*LIBERTY]

I have been building AR style rifles for over 10 years. I will personaly only run Gas Piston. Will not own a direct impingment.

Gas Piston is a naturual step...if you can afford it do it. If anything to not have gas blown into your face.

The advantages are numerous, the disadvantage is weight and cost. It's not a matter of functioning at minimum, its a matter of performance. If you want to get the job done, direct imp works fine, if you want more than that...gas piston goes along way.

The pros and cons are already weighed inmany places for them to be repeated here.

BTW: cost can be dramatacly offset if you build th eupper form scratch, you will not hav eto purchase or replace uneeded parts such as a two pice machined B&C...or a standard gas block...

I used to run CMMG style kit, but now use the AA kits exclusively. the AA is cake to swap for supressed fire or .22 drop in .

 

[deen_ad]

When the zombies attack, your going to want a piston driven AR!

If the zombies attack I'll grab an AK even though I have and AR. The AK isn't as accurate but I know it'll fire when needed. I don't think the gas piston is worth the extra cost and I can buy a lot of AK ammo for that money.

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The "Feedback Score" is low by 4, not everyone posts it I guess.

Deen
NRA Benefactor/Recruiter
Washington Arms Collector member
South West Washington Arms Collector member

 

[Unka-Boo]

I have been building AR style rifles for over 10 years. I will personaly only run Gas Piston. Will not own a direct impingment.

Gas Piston is a naturual step...if you can afford it do it. If anything to not have gas blown into your face.

The advantages are numerous, the disadvantage is weight and cost. It's not a matter of functioning at minimum, its a matter of performance. If you want to get the job done, direct imp works fine, if you want more than that...gas piston goes along way.

The pros and cons are already weighed inmany places for them to be repeated here.

BTW: cost can be dramatacly offset if you build th eupper form scratch, you will not hav eto purchase or replace uneeded parts such as a two pice machined B&C...or a standard gas block...

I used to run CMMG style kit, but now use the AA kits exclusively. the AA is cake to swap for supressed fire or .22 drop in .

I like piston guns, but my problem with the AR is that they are all backwards engineered retrofits. I'm not sold....

You want a Stoner designed piston gun, find an AR-180.

 

[SON*OF*LIBERTY]

I speak from a position of experience, not judgment.

I would atleast try it over a period of time, then decide what you like. If your a gun enthusiast, it is deffinatly worth the cost, if not, then, leave it as it is. Compared to "going out and getting an AR-180" wich may not be th enext logical/feasable step for all, especcialy since a GP kit, is an addition to your already owned rifle...its not bad.

I just wanted to chime in, not everyone is stuck on tradition, the gas piston is a great option for some one looking to do more with thier AR.

Again, list the pros and cons...it realy isnt an argument.

 

[Hamtaro1085]

You actually listened and made a logical decision.. that's kinda rare in shooting circles and indeed you now have some extra loot to buy stuff that is useful.. may I suggest that $300 towards a good holo or red dot sight?

Yeah I want to do an acog!

 

[SON*OF*LIBERTY]

just build a gas piston upper from scratch, the cost wouldnt be anymore than any other upper.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I've owned AR15 DI rifles and carbines since 1986 and I have no clue why anyone would want or need a piston in an AR15. Dirtier? Clean it. Aside from that (IMO) there's no serious pro gas piston argument

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Yeah I want to do an acog!

Look into the triple illumination source types, they are pretty cool

 

[Unka-Boo]

I speak from a position of experience, not judgment.

I would atleast try it over a period of time, then decide what you like. If your a gun enthusiast, it is deffinatly worth the cost, if not, then, leave it as it is. Compared to "going out and getting an AR-180" wich may not be th enext logical/feasable step for all, especcialy since a GP kit, is an addition to your already owned rifle...its not bad.

I just wanted to chime in, not everyone is stuck on tradition, the gas piston is a great option for some one looking to do more with thier AR.

Again, list the pros and cons...it realy isnt an argument.

No, you've made a judgement based on your experience...

My opinion is what it is, an anonymous post on an internet forum, take it as you will.

Like I said, they don't float my boat.

Do they work? I'm sure most do, sounds like you have one that you like very much. Will I put down everyone who buys one? No, buy what you like, if it works for you, awesome.

Gas piston ARs come and go, there have been conversions out there for the last 30+ years. There are plenty of arguments as to their merit, good and bad.

I lump them in with the left handed ARs, neat idea, but not really necessary......

 

[CAL30M1]

I've use to own a gas piston AR and it was okay. It did have a certain "cool" factor, but that's about it.
It's a whole lot of money for something that isn't necessary.

 

[netsecsys]

FWIW, having fired an M16A2 in the military (quite a while ago), I personally would go with a gas piston AR if my life depended upon it. I cannot describe how clean I kept my rifle but still had many operating failures after very few rounds (under 1000). I believe that sending carbon to the bolt area reduces reliability and introduces more opportunity for failure...

 

[eldbillbo]

No, you've made a judgement based on your experience...

I lump them in with the left handed ARs, neat idea, but not really necessary......

Don't go there boo.

There are plenty of reasons for a left handed shooter to have a rifle made for them #1 reason is the crap shoots across the face and if there is a Kaboom there goes part of the face. Seen the scars on a leftys face left when his right handed Ar15 went kaboom because of bad ammo . his quote " good thing i was wearing safety glasses."

lets put it this way

say you had to buy a ar15 today for a match and your right handed , you have $800 you go to a gun store and they only have 2 ar15s left same brand and parts availability is not a issue.

the right handed rifle is $800 the left handed rifle is $700 which would you buy and why?

the right handed one for $100 more but is "but not really necessary"

or save that $100 and buy the left handed rifle even though your right handed

but you are right its not a necessity how ever it is a preference. and thats what it kind of comes down to with pistons. Pistons take care of a problem but introduces some new ones and attempts to combine the reliability of a AK47 with the versatility and accuracy of a ar15. and in my opinion at this point of piston development its not a necessity but a preference.

I do own a piston system and i do like it. its a discontinued system but i think its one of the best systems developed because its not a rod slamming into the carrier but the gas pushing the rod which is attached to the carrier thus limited carrier tilt its still harsh on the upper receiver so i had to install a roller cam to slow down the receiver ware. It does have more muzzle climb and i am screwed should i loose or break a part.

would i buy another piston system. No. my others ars are all DI and they will stay that way. I did see a Spikes Adams system on Arfcom for $100 and i passed by it even though i was one of the first to see it.

 

[The B]

FWIW, having fired an M16A2 in the military (quite a while ago), I personally would go with a gas piston AR if my life depended upon it. I cannot describe how clean I kept my rifle but still had many operating failures after very few rounds (under 1000). I believe that sending carbon to the bolt area reduces reliability and introduces more opportunity for failure...

you don't need to clean the vast majority of ARs to keep them running. and an AR that wont run dirty either has something else wrong with it, or it's reliability threshold is too low. all they need is lube, and plenty of it.

your issued weapon had something else wrong with it. what, i can't say, without a description of symptoms.

there are no mysteries with the AR, gentlemen. you describe a problem with a specific rifle, i can describe a solution. these guns dont just "jam" for no reason.

 

[iGun]

7.5 lbs w/o the optic, shoots less than 1 moa, zero failures. I'm very happy with my piston gun.

 

[netsecsys]

you don't need to clean the vast majority of ARs to keep them running. and an AR that wont run dirty either has something else wrong with it, or it's reliability threshold is too low. all they need is lube, and plenty of it.

your issued weapon had something else wrong with it. what, i can't say, without a description of symptoms.

there are no mysteries with the AR, gentlemen. you describe a problem with a specific rifle, i can describe a solution. these guns dont just "jam" for no reason.

It wasn't just my weapon... I guess I can't be convinced that sending the hot gasses and carbon to the BCG is good for consistent, reliable operation. Again, if my life were on the line, I would go with the piston. Thanks.

 

[Unka-Boo]

Don't go there boo.

There are plenty of reasons for a left handed shooter to have a rifle made for them #1 reason is the crap shoots across the face and if there is a Kaboom there goes part of the face. Seen the scars on a leftys face left when his right handed Ar15 went kaboom because of bad ammo . his quote " good thing i was wearing safety glasses."

I personally see the piston system as a elvolutionary step to a all around better US rifle , Kurt at KKF who was the first to resurrect this idea of the drop in piston Ar15 was in the process of developing that rifle then he died in Motorcycle crash. I had talked to him about it cause it was something i had i had thought about and he was already in the development of.

Lol....its ironic too...because I'm left handed....

Like I said, if they work for you, great. Personally, I dont see the need.

 

[eldbillbo]

Lol....its ironic too...because I'm left handed....

Like I said, if they work for you, great. Personally, I dont see the need.

yah i know your left handed, your just getting old and stuck in your ways


Hey but there is nothing wrong with going with the basics plenty of guys out there shooting with irons out shooting guys with $500 red dots . Guys with $100 bi-mart scopes out shooting guys with $1100 acogs .

but if gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, Thats what its all about.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

FWIW, having fired an M16A2 in the military (quite a while ago), I personally would go with a gas piston AR if my life depended upon it. I cannot describe how clean I kept my rifle but still had many operating failures after very few rounds (under 1000). I believe that sending carbon to the bolt area reduces reliability and introduces more opportunity for failure...

So maybe you had a bad M16.. I have only had one failure with a 5.56 AR 15 in over 2 decades of shooting factory and reloads and that was with an old beater range magazine with worn feed lips. That experience is with 4 personal ARs as well as a bunch of buddies guns

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

I used to run CMMG style kit, but now use the AA kits exclusively. the AA is cake to swap for supressed fire or .22 drop in .

That's one of the problems, it seems like there is no "standard" for gas piston setups so you are likely stuck with one company for parts/service and if they change their design and decide to stop carrying legacy ones, well, too bad, buy the new setup.

Check out "Filthy 14", Pat Rogers ran 43k rounds through a DI AR and cleaned it once at like 23k rounds (boresnake).
Maybe there are piston ARs that can do the same thing, I just haven't heard about any yet.
I like piston guns, AKs, M14/M1A, Garand, etc. but those guns were built around a piston design. The AR systems are added on to a design meant to be something else.

I'll wait and see how it evolves and if it becomes the new standard instead of the new gizmo I'll look into them.

 

[Hamtaro1085]

I should just buy both the piston and the di system and run a test and go to the range run a bunch rounds through each one until a failure happens....