What makes you think a piston gun would be the way to go? (I have a piston ar, so im not completely anti piston at all, but i would love to hear your reasoning.)
Yes, that is the upper i have. Its very nice. Its also heavy, and not any cleaner than my di guns, really. Spair parts are also a pain for the proprietary stuff. Im not anti piston, i just dont think its the "one ar" choice. But opinions are just that, and i do reapect yours!
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You are lucky you got that upper when they were still available...as recently as a couple years ago, Optics Planet had them in 14.5" welded/pinned non-NFA for half-price...if I had seen it then I would have gotten one. I believe that gas system is based on the LWRC and the 516 is supposed to be an improved version of the HK 416...not all piston AR's are equal and if I was going to have one, then I think the 516 system is one of the best choices. You may also recall the AR-18, the ACR, and the SCAR...all viable 5.56mm piston platforms. But in my opinion the 516 rules the day.
A high-quality DI gun will still blow more trash out of the action under adverse conditions if you forgot to close the dust cover, so I'm not necessarily saying all piston guns are always better than all DI guns. I just could not help but to share that vid because if you watch it all, you can see they test under some pretty good adverse conditions which illustrates why the right piston gun is a good choice.
EDIT: but yes, Sig specifically pretty much drops you as far as parts go once they discontinue a rifle...definitely a negative for them.
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Yes, this is the 14.5 with chrome lined barrel and fa profile bcg mil. Over run. Was 425 from sig for the upper. I absolutely love it, and wish id bought more. You make valid points!
Piston guns are overrated. If the purpose of owning one is because it's easier to clean, then you're lazy. lol
They weigh more, are not standardized, and add complexity...but they handle recoil better, are easily adjustable if they ever did get sluggish...if SHTF, which would you rather have? Something to clean all the time or something with glock reliability in rifle form
Piston gun Say Like An SKS ??
Well the AK/SKS argument is a whole separate thing, but I think these guys were talking AR platform DI vs piston. Otherwise, you could also toss in the Sig 556
I tend to towards the advice so far that Aero is a good option "all things considered". Although I stepped up to defend piston guns, for the OP, I think a mid-tier DI AR is what he wants and he has been given some good advice so far in that regard.
Those were a good option when they were 200 dollars or so. Now? Nah, id never even consider one.
Aero would be.a decent.chpice, although recent barrels of thiers (ballistic advantage) have had some pretty bad reports. Personally id build mine, which is what i do. Otherwise, the battle arms rifle is a STEAL at the 700 dollars ive seen em sold at recently.
