Studies showing piston Ar's more reliable?

[Dutch110]

The largest problem is that reports are often setup to reveal the info the researcher wants. You want DI to win, ok, easy. You want piston to win? Ok, easy.

Outcome driven research. I think the bigger issue is that people consume reports like these and regurgitate them as being gospel. No critical thinking ability. I blame the interwebs.

[georgeib]

I have a single piston AR, a 16" PWS Mod 2 which weighs 6.5 lbs, right in line with my other 16" DI rifles. The long stroke piston design gives it the same number of moving parts as DI, and it does have the benefit of less gas and sound to the shooter when shooting suppressed. Actually very pleased with it, and thinking of picking up one of their 11.9" uppers for a suppressed pistol build.

I can't really speak to overall reliability as I haven't any issues with any of my rifles, thankfully.

[markm]

I'd trust a study showing reliability on a piston AR about as much as I trust the CDC or World Health Organization.

(Wait! Dr Fauci has a piston study coming out!)

[Deadman William]

piston ARs are either novelty or special use. i dont really think of them as ARs, myself, and dont compare them to DI rifles in my own mind - they arent ARs. theyre heavily modified ARs. and since i like the DI design, dont shoot suppressed, i have no use for them.

as to which is more reliable.... boy i just dont think thats a question worth asking. there are far, far, far too many variables - too many if/then questions/answers to ask and answer before we can make anything close to a strong apples-to-oranges comparison and say with any degree of certainty that any particular family of piston designs is or isnt more reliable than DI.

if you would benefit from a piston AR, you already know it and can make that call, methinx. for everyone else, DI is the starting point.

[kyjd75]

There is an excellent discussion of the reliability of the HK416 in P&S Modcast 100 on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyYODtiohzQ&t=3849s Around the 50 minute or so mark, Chuck Pressburg goes into discussion of the 9 years he was deployed in Irag and/or Afghanistan as a member of an elite special forces group. Had virtually no malfunctions and never cleaned his weapon during the entire time he was deployed. He is a big HK416 fan, as you can imagine. Not a test but a real life experience with the HK416. Personally, I own a bunch of piston rifles (HK416/556, Sig 516, Sig MCX Virtus) and also several DI rifles (Centurion Arms all). They all shoot well, but if I had to choose, I'm taking the 416/556 every day of the week.

[jsbhike]

In the context of today's knowledge, it has been surmised by industry types that perhaps a significant portion of the HK's success may not be due to the op rod but just in the use of different materials, alloys and their otherwise German approach to the AR platform...

HK put the infomercial out of a 416 vs. an M4 and one of the demos was pulling both out of water and firing immediately that resulted in the Colt barrel bursting while the 416. If I recall right, it was at least implied that the difference was the piston, but the 416 barrel is cold hammer forged(which I have read a few places are more burst resistant than traditional barrels).

Anyone seen any testing as to piston giving that result versus barrel manufacturing process?

[kyjd75]

HK put the infomercial out of a 416 vs. an M4 and one of the demos was pulling both out of water and firing immediately that resulted in the Colt barrel bursting while the 416. If I recall right, it was at least implied that the difference was the piston, but the 416 barrel is cold hammer forged(which I have read a few places are more burst resistant than traditional barrels).

Anyone seen any testing as to piston giving that result versus barrel manufacturing process?

That is a feature with the HK that has support inside the chamber called OTB (over the beach). The Sig 516 (designed by the same engineer that was responsible for the HK 416) has the same feature. There is no doubt that the 416, and to some degree, the 516, are grossly over engineered compared to a normal M4

[georgeib]

HK put the infomercial out of a 416 vs. an M4 and one of the demos was pulling both out of water and firing immediately that resulted in the Colt barrel bursting while the 416. If I recall right, it was at least implied that the difference was the piston, but the 416 barrel is cold hammer forged(which I have read a few places are more burst resistant than traditional barrels).

Anyone seen any testing as to piston giving that result versus barrel manufacturing process?

That is a feature with the HK that has support inside the chamber called OTB (over the beach). The Sig 516 (designed by the same engineer that was responsible for the HK 416) has the same feature. There is no doubt that the 416, and to some degree, the 516, are grossly over engineered compared to a normal M4

As I recall, Colt sued over that demo and showed that while the HK was pointed down to drain and given about a second longer to do so, the M4's barrel was slightly pointed up and fired without any such delay.

[Arik]

Honestly I don't get what the big deal is. Assuming neither version is slapped together from airsoft parts get whichever, both work fine

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[HKGuns]

Yep both do work fine.

I own HK piston rifles and they are excellent. I also own DI AR’s and they are also excellent.

The biggest advantage to my HK piston rifles is how easy they are to clean.

You don’t get any carbon fouling beyond the tappet piston. The bolt stays pristine, which isn’t the case with my DI rifles.