Gas Piston vs Direct Impingement for the AR-15: Pros & Cons?

ChannelCat · Jan 20, 2012

Has anyone had any experience with, or could anyone offer an opinion on the gas piston (newer technology) versus direct impingement (older technology) recycling systems for the AR-15?

http://ar15tactical.net/pistons.htm

What are the pros and cons of each?

Does Bushmaster offer this as an option on new rifles? Their website was inconclusive.

When did the gas piston system come out? I had never heard of it until a few days ago.

I would appreciate any information on this. Thanks.

narcolepticsniper · Jan 20, 2012

ChannelCat said:
Has anyone had any experience with, or could anyone offer an opinion on the gas piston (newer technology) versus direct impingement (older technology) recycling systems for the AR-15?

http://ar15tactical.net/pistons.htm

What are the pros and cons of each?

Does Bushmaster offer this as an option on new rifles? Their website was inconclusive.

When did the gas piston system come out? I had never heard of it until a few days ago.

I would appreciate any information on this. Thanks.

Semper Noctem · Jan 20, 2012

Subscribed. :popcorn:

Ganegrei · Jan 20, 2012

Get a gas piston AR. Also make sure you get one chambered in .40 S&W. :innocent0

kalister1 · Jan 20, 2012

I do NOT think you will hear/read anything Positive about piston guns here?

Dave MP · Jan 20, 2012

krucam · Jan 20, 2012

kalister1 said:
I do NOT think you will hear/read anything Positive about piston guns here?

I like mine just fine and have zero problems with it. Don't follow the "hate"...
http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=66348

They will be a touch heavier than a DI. Eat your veggies, drink your milk, grow a pair, and it won't be an issue.

WheelHead · Jan 20, 2012

I tired to ask about a gas piston AR last week and got flamed....good luck with you thread. :rolleyes:

browning guy · Jan 20, 2012

this thread has been alive 30 minutes and Lord Chad as of yet has not felt the disturbance in the force????? wtf???

BigSteve57 · Jan 20, 2012

browning guy said:
this thread has been alive 30 minutes and Lord Chad as of yet has not felt the disturbance in the force????? wtf???

My guess is we'll know it when he does.

davsco · Jan 20, 2012

you've heard the old adage, 'don't crap where you eat.' well that is what direct impingement AR's do. however they are substantially tried and tested and have worked thru various wars, law enforcement, competitions and the like.

still, i don't think there are too many folks who enjoy cleaning the crap and crud out of their chambers and off their bolts.

piston AR's offer an alternative. generally the tradeoff is a more expensive gun and a little heavier, with some extra parts. and the technology, at least in the AR platform, is a lot newer, without decades of R&D. it's been said they're not quite as accurate but i don't pretend to know the physics behind that but would love to hear it explained.

seems most folks on here say stick with direct impingement, but if you do go piston, get a good one from a company that focuses on piston. i have lwrc m6a3 and it works extremely well for me.

Nemesis · Jan 20, 2012

you're going to get alot of hate for this one...

ignore it though. do know, however, that pistol AR's are a solution looking for a problem. a properly setup DI gun will run as well as a properly setup piston...that being said avoid conversion kits, i would recommend buying a completed high end piston rifle, such as a LWRC.

it all comes down to what you want and what you can afford...the only thing a piston AR can do that a DI one cant is fire underwater...

NateTheShake · Jan 20, 2012

browning guy said:
this thread has been alive 30 minutes and Lord Chad as of yet has not felt the disturbance in the force????? wtf???

Probably tired from our discussion here:

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=73216

There are tons of threads here discussing DI vs. gas piston. I went into more length in the thread I linked by the short of my opinion is:

Pistons are great in any platform but an AR. The AR was designed to be DI and anything else is just trying to occupy the same space with a different operating system.

BenL · Jan 20, 2012

It always seemed like a solution in search of a problem, with one exception: suppressed. A DI 5.56mm will leave you with a little Hitler mustache made by the escaping gases leaking past the charging handle; a piston gun won't.

Silverlode · Jan 20, 2012

A lot more money for less cleaning hassle. Near as I can tell, that about sums it up.

NateTheShake · Jan 20, 2012

davsco said:
it's been said they're not quite as accurate but i don't pretend to know the physics behind that but would love to hear it explained.

The DI gas system separates the bolt from the barrel almost entirely so the barrel is more or less "free floated" from the rest of the action. Gas pistons have to attach to the bolt and then run through a gas piston tube on top of the barrel. This causes some harmonic interference with the barrel during firing.

Is it going to catastrophically change the accuracy? Not at all. Will it be as inherently accurate (assuming everything else is the same) as a DI counterpart? Probably not.

Loss of accuracy is really a minimal issue as far as issues go. The bigger issue is: WHY? Why invest in a platform designed around a totally different system that now has some sort of retrofit? Why not invest in a rifle built from the ground-up around a gas piston?

Russ D · Jan 20, 2012

Buy an AK or SCAR of you want a piston gun. That's all I'm gonna say here. Oh and there is tons of good info if you search.

BradMacc82 · Jan 20, 2012

I'm not even going to comment.

Just watch and wait for the inevitable.

:popcorn:

MCTRV · Jan 20, 2012

Google the interview that John Noveske gave a few years back about DI - AR15s. He knows his shit about this stuff & his products are the best around.

Indiana Jones · Jan 20, 2012

They sure look cool and mean as hell. But I've never fired one so I can't say how they shoot. Alot of guys on here have experience with them. I think honda53s has one? Can't remember. I know clandestine has worked on them. From what I hear people are starting to lose interest in them.

Gas Piston vs Direct Impingement for the AR-15: Pros & Cons?

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