In order to answer yes, you need to have been using said rifle as your primary for no less than two years. For a rifle to be identified as your "primary", it needs to be the gun you default to for the majority of your training. It needs to be the gun into which you've invested the most time/money/thought. It needs to be the gun that is the most "squared-away", when compared to other rifles you own.

If you answer yes, please comment with the make/model, and why you prefer it over a conventional AR15.

If you answer no, please comment on why you prefer a conventional AR15 over piston alternatives.

If you answer it might be, please comment with the make/model you think you'd like to have as your primary, and what advantages you think it would have over your current (presumably conventional AR15) primary rifle.

Question:
Is your primary rifle a long or short stroke piston gun?

Choices:
Yes.
No.
It might be if the one I think I'd like was more affordable.

 

None of my rifles identify as primary.
Preferred pronouns are killer and boom boom.

No
I was first a .30/.45acp guy, getting into guns when “poodle shooter” was still being thrown around. I had set up (poorly) a PTR91, VZ58, and an AKM. I started leaning towards the AR15, but the import ban on Russian AKs made me go all in. The AR15 is so much easier to work on yourself, and the supply of parts, rifles, and ammo is domestic. I bought tools and spare parts when on sale. I also found out how easy it is when the aftermarket is geared for your rifle.
Ironically my primary relocation choice from Washington state is grizzly country, so I have been looking at 7.62x39 and 7.62x51 rifles again. I’m looking hard at the Ruger SFAR. It’s lighter than most 7.62x39 guns, and is the most like an AR15.

I voted No because although I have one piston gun, that wasn’t because of the system’s supposed advantages.

The question is of course whether there are meaningful advantages to piston ARs, and I can’t think of any. One claimed advantage is that piston guns are cleaner, but when I can clean the bolt carrier group of a DI gun after a several-hundred round session in about 15 minutes (or less if I’m in a hurry), my response is, “Okay, so?” Why is that such a big deal?

On the other hand, piston gun mechanisms are not standardized to the way that DI guns’ are, and I was not impressed with that fact the one time I worked on an officer’s piston rifle after it had been assembled incorrectly by someone whom she trusted to clean it for her. I had to order a replacement spring that the other guy had put in wrong, evidently because he didn’t pay attention when he disassembled the weapon, and wasn’t familiar with piston guns.

Although rifle weight is becoming more of an issue the older I grow, if there’s no advantage to having a heavier short range defensive weapon, why have it?

But “What about reliability?” My response to that is, “More reliable than what?” I’ve fired my DI guns tens of thousands of times without a single malfunction that wasn’t due to bad ammunition, and bad ammo will affect a piston gun just as much.

I’m always happy to hear about innovations and the people who are willing to experiment with them, but there is literally nothing about a piston AR that makes me want to rely on one for serious purposes.

To clarify, without having to edit/reset the OP, the poll is considering all piston rifles; not just piston "AR-style" rifles. Sigfreund's reply gave me the impression that the OP may be giving readers/voters the impression that I was only curious about conventional vs. piston AR rifles. SCAR, Bren, 55X, PWS, 416, ACR, XCR, AK, Galil, G36, MCX, etc; everything is being considered.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KSGM,

Never thought of it as my primary but the first one I would grab if needed would be my LWRC SBR.

So far, the results are showing a better turn-out for piston rifles than I anticipated.

My "primary" rifles are both DI, but my needs aren't such that I'd see much advantage from a piston gun. Everything I need a rifle to do, my DI rifle does just fine, and possibly better than some piston options. If I was suppressing a rifle, or shooting a lot of full-auto, my choices might be different, but I'm not. For what I'm doing, the weight savings and parts standardization with a regular run-of-the-mill AR-15 is more advantageous than the benefits offered by a piston system.

quote:

I’m looking hard at the Ruger SFAR. It’s lighter than most 7.62x39 guns, and is the most like an AR15.

I'm intrigued by these as well, and have been watching from a distance. The lightweight .308 option has some appeal. I may eventually end up with one if they prove to be reliable, although I have no concrete plans to buy at the moment.

14.5 mid length DI for me

Piston long stroke,sig 556.
Why, because I gave my DI AR and my 551 clone to my two youngest grandsons.

.

If I understand the poll function and icons correctly, some folks have commented without voting. At the time of this comment, the poll count is yes:6 no:15, but there seems to be another vote for piston, and three more for "no" in the comments, making the count yes:7 no:18. Still more pistons represented than I anticipated.

This is if I understand correctly.

I’m still trying to figure out primary what from the last thread?
(“go to” for what?)



It sounds dreadful and not something I’d wish to have forced upon me.

I had sworn off the X95 after inexplicably bad accuracy with an earlier one. As it so happens, I ended up back with a newer one in a trade. The newer ones group better, but still not great compared with an off the shelf AR.

I have my X95 set up as a bump in the night gun. For that philosophy of use, and being used as a "truck gun" in a vehicle, it does well.

It depends whether you consider the Ruger Mini-14 a piston gun.

quote:

whether you consider the Ruger Mini-14 a piston gun

I do.

This does indicate a flaw in my OP. I try to be thorough, but things squeak through. And, it seems I can't edit the OP without resetting the poll, so I will add it here:

*It really boils down to a "DI" AR15 or not. I typically refrain from using DI terminology, as I subscribe to the "internal piston" description, but it can make things confusing sometimes. So, in the intended context of this poll, something like a HK93 would be a "no" vote, as it would fall in the piston category, even though it isn't a piston-operated weapon.*

I went with the Mini-14 over a DI AR-15 due to the exhaust porting through the receiver. I know the vast majority of civilian AR owners never have an issue with jamming. But a survival rifle could conceivably go quite a while between cleanings, so I figured why take the chance at all if I didn't have to.

quote:

primary what

Rifle, as defined in the OP.

quote:

“go to” for what?

Whatever flavor of crisis scenario the rifle's user fancies most likely, based on his perceived circumstances.

Or, if you don't subscribe to the "combat" philosophy of the firearms hobby, it's whatever semi-auto rifle you prioritize the maintenance of: upkeep of the weapon itself, and your proficiency with it.

I really can’t say it’s my primary but, it gets shot at the range quite a bit is my favorite piston rifle….. M1 Garand.

I think of guns in general as tools. I select them for what I am doing, just like clothes or shoes or tools as I have the luxury of having choices. But if "primary" in the end means SHTF and I get to only grab one with little chance of getting to my supplies, I'm picking an AR as it has the most chances of being viable long term at least in the US. But if "primary" means less than that mostly I run a piston gun because I happen to like many of its features.

I had hrcjon pegged as a for-sure piston vote.

Hrcjon, considering the primary, as defined in the OP, do you have an AR that you have equipped just like your SCAR, that you consider as capable, and revisit on a regular training basis? Also, what features of piston platforms do you find so endearing, that you gravitate toward them, over an AR?