benEzra
Moderator Emeritus
With AR's, the magazines are usually the problem, followed by lack of lubrication, and in some cases poor assembly, primarily unstaked parts that need staking. The DI system per se is almost never the cause of an AR going down, unless you're talking about some of the ultra shorty SBR's (especially when run with sound suppressors).I would believe that a piston activated M16/4 would be the best. The actions are not the problem, the gas system is. And if you go with the AR you have that GYNORMOUS AFTERMARKET to use.
The problem with piston AR's is that you are cramming a piston into a design made for a skinny gas tube and a bolt carrier/receiver designed for force to be applied perfectly axially. So you end up with a skinny piston compared to an AK, and premature wear due to carrier tilt is a big problem in many piston AR designs. That's not to say a piston AR is necessarily any less reliable than a good DI AR, but I would suggest that they're not any more reliable either, and suffer from the same primary points of failure as the AR (magazines, tight clearances in the receiver, and failure to lubricate when it's dirty). IMO if you like pistons, it would probably make more sense to buy a rifle designed from the ground up as a piston gun, like the FN SCAR.