New guy with question on piston AR options

[The Boss]

I have experience with rifles mostly AK type designes and am planning to take the plunge into AR's soon. Recently the piston driven uppers and conversions have come into the market and I would like to know if there are any here with first hand experience with any of the current options. The HK are not avaliable to the public and over priced when they can be found. The P.O.F uppers are $1000.00 for the 16'' M4. Ares Defence and Kurts Kustom Firearms make modifications to existing uppers for about $400.00 and change. I am leaning toward getting an AR and having it modded later. I would like to hear what you guys think Thx.

[invisible man]

I have been talking with a guy who bought one from LWRC and was happy with it. I handeld one at the St Louis NRA show and it seemed well made. I did like the internals on the pof it has a silicon nickel coating of some sort on bolt and carrier. I know your pain, its hard to drop over a 1k in an upper without shooting it first! I would think customer service would be as important as the manufacturer.

[The Boss]

I just spoke with a sales rep at Leitner Wise an he said that they do the upgrade for $750.00 which includes a new updated bolt carrier the gas system and return shipping.

[invisible man]

I have heard that LWRC does offer a special of some type on uppers ready to go from time to time. They are so new(piston upper design) I am betting they will price drop at some point. At least I can hope!

[The Boss]

Kurt Kustom Firearms does the conversion $495.00 and sells complete uppers for $895.00. The conversion that he offer is competitive with the Ares Defence system and he does the conversion. So that is why I am leaning toward the KKF M9Evo Gas System. The problem is that I don't think that many people have had it done so I can't get a review.

[sproc]

In case people with first-hand knowledge don't reply, I offer my own conclusions from reading a number of threads at various forum sites, all anecdotal.

ARES: People on TheOtherSite seemed all excited about it because it is affordable and a non-permanent drop-in, but a number of reported failures quickly deflated that. Failures included the operaeting rod popping out of the piston, breakage where it screws into the gas block, etc. They also reported a lot of trouble getting the company to respond to their emails and calls. But keep in mind that happy customers rarely post on websites.

POF: While I've not read first-hand accounds of POF failures, I read hearsay posts about them having stoppages during classes, and I got the idea some were caused by weakness in the operating rod (IIRC). Personally, I think their rails are big and ugly.

LWRC: I've have yet to read a negative report on an LWRC. Their design seems stronger as the operating rod is supported over more of its length. In general, it seems like they are trying to build the best piston rifle possible rather than focusing on cost. They seem to be focused on getting military interest, which requires robustness even in sustained full auto. But they are still pro-consumer (totally unlike HK). I even understand that Larry Vickers (of HK 416 fame) owns an LWRC and recommends it for folks who can't buy an HK 416 (i.e., all of us). Finally, their latest bolt carriers are TeflonNickel coated.

The Bushmaster piston is a POF but missing some of the nice features like the coatings.

I've never heard of the Kurt Kustom conversion. Sorry.

So based on all the above, I decided to buy the LWRC. Don't ask me how I like it because it's not arrived yet. But my deciding factors were based on reliability, ease of maintenance, and customer service. Cost really wasn't a factor in my decision, but I don't think they cost any more than the POF or a high-quality DI AR (Colt, Sabre, etc.) plus an ARES. In fact, I think they're less.

Again, all the above is just based on my poking around various forums including TheOtherSite, this site, and the LWRC forums. You'd be a fool to take any of this as gospel, and should perform your own research, etc., etc., etc.

ETA: LWRC does conversions as well as selling uppers and complete rifles both directly and through dealers.