As time has passed, we are seeing that most piston systems are not all they are cracked up to be. In fact, many of the new mid-length DI systems are surpassing the performance and durability of many of the piston systems on the market right now. Take the BCM 16" middy #14 challenge of around 35,000rds.
At this point, I would not build onto any AR platform anything other than a quality DI system.
you’re definitely confusing some things here… there’s not really any “low profile gas blocks” with pistons- and there’s no piston that will fit under a larue handguard, last i knew.
as stated, “piston” and “direct impingement” are two different systems… you can go “low pro” with DI, but not with piston.
you probably don’t care, but pistons are:
-unreliable,
-way over-gassed, beating up your internal parts
-over-gassed because there’s no DI action to assist in bolt unlocking, therefor the bolt must be forced out of battery by piston operation alone
-heavy
-inherently less accurate, due to the inability to float them
-there’s zero standardization of parts
-over-priced
-people will laugh at you
I find it so amazing that the gun magazines were pimping piston guns so hard just a few months ago, and already they are falling by the wayside. I am soooooo glad that I joined this forum before I bought my first ar about two months ago. Its amazing how people tell the truth when they arent trying to sell you shit!