That wouldn’t be any different for the M1 and M14 though to have similar effect by forward gas.
I think a well designed piston AR with a fairly tight and balanced system is more than likely to be just as accurate as any DI or if any difference all things being the same such as barrel quality, parts refinement and other interferences, them being very close to a point of it more than likely not being much of a point.
From what I’ve seen of my own POF so far and others I’ve had the opportunity to use also, comparing them to some other similar setup DI’s at the time it seemed accuracy was basically the same.
There was a thread on the LWRC forum where someone was complaining about the lousy accuracy they were getting from their rifle compared to DI. Someone suggested to check the accuracy effects of the piston to try shooting groups set up as a piston then shoot groups with the piston assembly removed. Nobody there tried the test. How about here, someone care to try the test?
I know I wouldn’t even think of it with my POF, but I’m sure more people in time will report in with some before and after reports from their PWS system conversions.
PWS has said themselves in discussion on a thread of their system release on Arfcom that they haven’t noticed any adverse accuracy effects.
I think it is kind of foolish to believe that there is a HUGE MOA difference between a gas piston AR and a DI AR. I know that I have never said that. What we are generally talking about is .5-1.0 MOA shift between the two. While I do not think this matters one bit on a chrome lined weapon, on a precision SS weapon it would matter greatly. I imagine that is why we do not see piston AR in high power competition or being used by serious benchrest/varmint shooters.
I think guys shooting competition are even more set in a mold of what’s common place to use than to want to deviate from it much.
I’m sure we’ll eventually see some in time but who’s to know whether it will become common.
A fighting rifle certainly has different setups and thoughts of use in mind than a pampered, dedicated competition or benchrest rifle, but I think it’s just a bit early in the game yet with piston action AR’s still new and not as common as the DI’s are.
I have heard guys mention using their piston AR’s in 3 gun though.
The HP/BR/Varmint shooters I know are ALWAYS after more accuracy. They will try just about anything if they think they can squeeze some more capability out of the weapon.
I think a reason right there is there isn’t really anyone talking about getting more accuracy from a piston AR, just a cooler, cleaner, smoother running with varied rounds, easier to maintain system and if anything all the negative accuracy piston talk has probably made more than a few guys question it even for those aspects.
Well I don’t think you can really squeeze any more accuracy out of the system because of how it operates. You can of course stick a Noveske SS barrel on it, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a piston system IMHO.
Alot of guys seem to look at it that way, but to me a better running, easier to maintain weapon is just that and reason enough to spend the money on it I would spend on another system that isn’t.
I don’t need to set guidelines of not using something for a job it will do and do well.
The three reasons I posted for where and why to use a piston comes from Vickers. I just happen to agree with it.
The other thing that gets me about piston systems is the recoil. They tend to have a much stiffer recoil pattern than a DI system. Most 556 piston guns I have fired (POF, HK, LWRC) feel like a gun chambered in 6.8 than 556. This is of course a negative against the system in my book.
If I am looking for a recon/spr type weapon (where accuracy is important), a piston system does not give me enough advantages to consider it over a DI system. Especially when you look at the cost aspect of it.
Understable, we all have to look at it for ourselves.
I haven’t noticed so much as a stiffer recoil, than more just a little different feeling recoil in how it hits.
Either way for me it’s a very light recoil especially compared to shooting alot of 7.62x51mm these days in different platforms.
The differences in how the system runs is what I’m more concerned about and appreciate more than enough that I don’t have a care for DI’s anymore for my needs.
GotM4, I was curious if you had any further updates on how your PWS upper is running. I’ve got the itch for a piston gun and have a Vltor MUR upper that would be a good base for a PWS conversion.
Haven’t got it back from PWS yet with the newest version on it. I was hoping that they would have had it to me before the 3day Vickers course I was in but it didn’t happen.
