AR15 Gas Piston ?

[4thandbleek]

I'm looking into adding another AR15 to my collection and I've read a lot of the gas piston system that is out there, in terms of it being cleaner than the traditional gas blowback. I know Bushmaster makes a gas piston AR but do any other companies make them? I'm also pondering on the 6.8 mm as opposed to the 5.56. Any thoughts or suggestions ?

 

[gimpy]

Are you planning to suppress it? If not, I wouldn’t be going piston, unless it’s just something you want.

 

[SupressYourself]

Pistons don't make suppressed ARs run much cleaner. Most of the extra crap you get in the action comes from the barrel, not the gas tube.
The only fix for that is low-blowback suppressor design like OSS and others.

 

[SupressYourself]

And if you're looking for a different caliber to run in a small frame AR, I would go 6mm ARC.

 

[Dogtown]

Get an LMT monolithic upper. You can swap cartridges, barrel lengths, and in some cases between direct and gas piston.

 

[houndog]

I'm kind of a fan of piston guns, although I don't currently run suppressed.

You have several good alternatives. I know people love LMT, although I have no experience with them. PWS makes a very nice system. Fairly light, reliable and pretty soft shooting. I also own a Sig 516 and it's big brother, a Sig 716. Excellent guns, although the 516 has been discontinued. For a while they were blowing them out at $599 for the upper, but I think those deals have pretty much dried up.

 

[alamo5000]

When I first started building my first AR(s) back in the day I was advised (appropriately) to avoid piston systems.
In hindsight that was some of the best advice I've ever gotten and I am glad I followed it.

The reasoning behind it was that the components to a piston system are almost always proprietary to a given manufacturer. If they stop production, change, or go out of business you are SOL.

Personally I think the benefits of a piston upper are not nearly what many claim. And being cleaner is not on that list.

 

[4thandbleek]

Are you planning to suppress it? If not, I wouldn’t be going piston, unless it’s just something you want.

No, i will not suppress it.

 

[4thandbleek]

Get an LMT monolithic upper. You can swap cartridges, barrel lengths, and in some cases between direct and gas piston.

Sounds pretty useful, I will check it out and likely make an order.

 

[strikeeagle1]

I have these two piston rifles and run both suppressed like sewing machines.

H&K MR556A1 16" 5.56 (a clone of their HK 416 used globally by armed forces)....and H&K is well-known for deceptive claims regarding their military products.

Primary Weapons System 9.75" .300 BO