Piston vs Impingement?

alright, so DI is better for my and most of our purposes. Gotcha.

So before we start the which I should look at, how about the ones I shouldn't. I don't mean Norc. I mean which ones are just not worth the asking price?

I got my colt last year in April for 1099 usd.
added a few things to it, brought the cost to 1800CAD
 
I own both piston and Di. Im planing to get rid of all my DI ARs to buy another piston. Im talking about PWS rifles. They are great. Bolt stays cool and very clean. The trigger group and other parts stay very very clean. The only part that gets dirty is the piston head and the barrel, their easy to clean. However the DI gets ####ing filthy and gunk build up.
 
Seems like the only thing differentiating DI and piston is an operating rod. In the absence of an operating rod, does the bolt not become the rod/bolt combined? Does that make the AR a better rifle? I'm just as curious as the OP.

SKS, SVT-40 and M305 are all popular non restricted that have pistons.
 
I own both piston and Di. Im planing to get rid of all my DI ARs to buy another piston. Im talking about PWS rifles. They are great. Bolt stays cool and very clean. The trigger group and other parts stay very very clean. The only part that gets dirty is the piston head and the barrel, their easy to clean. However the DI gets ####ing filthy and gunk build up.

Dirty is immaterial. If the gun runs then go with it. Have a look at the filthy 14 legacy. 19000 rounds plus without cleaning and no issues. Piston is indeed snake oil that has yet to be proven a substantial improvement over di. The whole hot bolt bs is just that bs. Your bolt hardly gets warm and there's no reason to touch it.

Tdc
 
My KAC SR15 A3 with 62 gr / Armalite AR-10T with Lapua 170 gr Lockbase HPS are MOA easy... Sometimes better... JP.
 
Dirty is immaterial. If the gun runs then go with it. Have a look at the filthy 14 legacy. 19000 rounds plus without cleaning and no issues. Piston is indeed snake oil that has yet to be proven a substantial improvement over di. The whole hot bolt bs is just that bs. Your bolt hardly gets warm and there's no reason to touch it.

Tdc

Didn't you hear though!? Delta force asked for it, so you know it has to be crazy amazing because some giant ego SOF operators asked for it to be built. And nothing those guys ever dream up could ever be frivolous or a massive waste of money just to see if they like it better or not! I heard also on the intranets that if you put multi cam on while shooting a piston system, it makes the rifle even that much more reliable but ONLY if you multiply by the volume of your SOF beard!
 
Dirty is immaterial. If the gun runs then go with it. Have a look at the filthy 14 legacy. 19000 rounds plus without cleaning and no issues. Piston is indeed snake oil that has yet to be proven a substantial improvement over di. The whole hot bolt bs is just that bs. Your bolt hardly gets warm and there's no reason to touch it.

I dont touch the bolt but more heat means more tear and we both know DI bolt does get really hot during rapid firing. I dont know you but I assume you have a PD ar and ur not just talking outta ur ass. But if you dont have it and have never experienced one you shouldn't talk.
 
I , m not a bench shooter, just like to know what the gun is capable of ,is all. If you can get a AR for around the the $2000 range, DI, and it's accurate to boot, I think that's the way to go. I was all set on a stag arms,but then I seen the Colt Diemaco, and then I seen the KAC, anddd then I seen the BRO,,WTF! There's to many ,need more money. Good luck OP :)
 
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TDC, again what i feel about PD and DI is my opinion, and my experience. its like comparing AK Vs AR.Glocks VS 1911, Aimpoint vs Eotech, 5.56 VS 7.62 you get the point
 
As I never had any problem with my DI guns I don't see why I would change to piston AR. Ar15 were designed as DI guns by stoner
Stoner went on to upgrade his design by adding a piston and calling it AR18 (but not before the US army already ordered M16s from Colt..)
 
Didn't you hear though!? Delta force asked for it, so you know it has to be crazy amazing because some giant ego SOF operators asked for it to be built. And nothing those guys ever dream up could ever be frivolous or a massive waste of money just to see if they like it better or not! I heard also on the intranets that if you put multi cam on while shooting a piston system, it makes the rifle even that much more reliable but ONLY if you multiply by the volume of your SOF beard!
You are right, people who actually use these guns in combat ask for new stuff just to waste money. An Internet commando who shoots 50 rounds a year is more qualified to judge reliability than some dumb@ss "operator" with an inflated ego!
 
I like DI guns for competition use. Very smooth-shooting and light. I've found them to be primadonas compared to piston guns though (not AR, but SKS and VZ). For a competition gun, that's not a problem as it stays clean and doesn't fire more than 300 or so rds in a range session. Shoot about 500 and the effect of those dirty gasses blowing directly at your BCG will be felt.
 
Rumour has it that if you built a side-charging, piston driven upper with wooden furniture, it would no longer considered an AR15 variant.


Disclaimer: Not really.
 
I like DI guns for competition use. Very smooth-shooting and light. I've found them to be primadonas compared to piston guns though (not AR, but SKS and VZ). For a competition gun, that's not a problem as it stays clean and doesn't fire more than 300 or so rds in a range session. Shoot about 500 and the effect of those dirty gasses blowing directly at your BCG will be felt.

Ballistic Radio has 20,000 rounds through a KAC with no cleaning...

People who think DI doesn't work run garbage guns.
 
The AR18 was a bargain bin version of the M16 intended for nations that lacked the ability to build the M16.
Delta wanted a short barrel gun to better survive suppressor use with high round count intensive training cycles (if I was regularly shooting suppressed guns to death I would consider a very short list of big money piston guns).
The round count required to generate cook offs in piston guns is the same as DI guns which is why according to the US IAR program the number of full auto rounds required to generate a cook off is the same for the M4 as the 416. Bolt face heat is chamber heat. But hey keep the cool running myth alive.
Piston guns still get filthy, they just spread it around more. After using and cleaning a number of modern piston driven rifles including the AUG, SA80 and G36 the super clean nature of piston guns is in my opinion very much overstated.
Quality DI ARs have been shown to eat many, many thousands of rounds between cleanings, just like quality piston guns.
You can source all the parts to replace worn or broken DI gun parts from a large number of sources, but with a piston gun will be tied to a single source for a number of proprietary parts.

Don't think to much about it a good $1500 ish AR can be expected to last through 20k rounds with only minor issues. That is lots more money in ammo than initially spent on the gun people obsess over.
 
The DI is a superior system in terms of engineering because it achieves the same goals as a piston but with a lighter weight, fewer moving parts.

Most of the world's modern piston guns use the Stoner AR-18 system because it's cheap and crude, and allows you to manufacture the receiver housings from cheap-ass plastics and folded sheet metal.
 
Dirty is immaterial. If the gun runs then go with it. Have a look at the filthy 14 legacy. 19000 rounds plus without cleaning and no issues. Piston is indeed snake oil that has yet to be proven a substantial improvement over di. The whole hot bolt bs is just that bs. Your bolt hardly gets warm and there's no reason to touch it.

I never got the whole "hot bolt" thing. When was the last time anyone shot their AR and then immediately dumped the BCG out into their hand? If not then really, who gives a fukc how hot the bolt gets or not?

I have a company test rifle that has seen more abuse than 100 CGN AR's combined. It rarely if ever gets cleaned and is operated under the most brutal and punishing conditions. I don't even know how many rounds it has through it but it is in the thousands upon thousands. And that DI rifle keeps chugging along happy as can be with just the odd squirt of lube onto the BCG.

The AR as designed by Gene Stoner is just fine thanks.
 
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