The price difference is miniscule, considering the price bracket those rifles are in to begin with. Why on earth would anyone consider purchasing one without an adjustable gas system? And which came first: the supply or the demand?

I'd like to avoid people's opinions on the rifle or the company itself. I am not in the market for one of these guns. Just curious as to the specific circumstantial question posed.

I am no authority on piston operation ARs, but a couple of thoughts:

The system is supposed to be more reliable* than direct impingement, and the gun might therefore appeal to the consumers who believe that. The system is also somewhat cleaner than DI, and that matters to some.

But adjustable systems can be problematic if they’re not adjusted properly. I have had only one AR with an adjustable gas block. It was not adjusted properly from the factory and I couldn’t get it to be reliable with common ammunition myself. I had to send it back for servicing, and I was never confident of its reliability thereafter. I would have preferred a gun that was designed and regulated for common loads without the need or capability for any adjustments which is true of all the DI guns I’ve owned and worked with.

In other words, someone might want the real and supposed advantages of a piston gun, but not want the possible complications of an adjustable gas block.

* More reliable than what? is always my question about piston guns. I have never seen any reliability issues with any of the many guns I’ve had experience with that were due to the DI mechanism.

Adjusters come out of adjustment, seize up, or otherwise fail at the most inopportune moments.

If you're not suppressing the gun the conventional wisdom on eliminating unnecessary failure points would not allow adjustable gas on an AR.

Most piston ARs are trading money for weight with little benefit, and the drawbacks of "engineers" toying with the workings of a system that isn't broken. Few do it well, all of them are proprietary and expensive. In my opinion the only ones worth the change in operating system are the MCX,BRN-180 that remove the buffer setup entirely and lean into needing proprietary parts to run non-standard setups, but as to those being "better" more "more reliable" I don't entirely know.

Excellent points. I suppose there is no need for it, if not using a silencer. I am a believer in the DI system, and agree that piston guns are not superior. A simple normal/suppressed system would have little room for failure or other trouble, but indeed more room than a non-adjustable system.

I have seen reports from the machine gun rental range in Vegas, on other forums. The owner says the HK416 is the ONLY piston AR he still bothers to employ, as all the others proved inferior to the DI ARs, in terms of failure rates and maintenance requirements. I thought that was very interesting. I'll have to revisit those threads, and see if he specifically addressed the MCX in any way.

I have an LWRC piston upper. I shoot it suppressed at all times. None of my DI rifles/uppers have adjustable gas systems. All of my ARs are a little over gassed with suppressors. I've never experienced cycling reliability issues with any of my rifles/uppers.

I know of guys who have adjustable gas systems. Most have had to futz with their systems to make them run 100%. I've installed heavier buffers, and that's it. My guns ran just fine with the lighter buffers, however with a slightly snappier recoil.

I have no idea why LWRC doesn't make an adjustable gas system. Unless someone works for LWRC, they won't know either.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
I have no idea why LWRC doesn't make an adjustable gas system. Unless someone works for LWRC, they won't know either.

LWRC does make an adjustable system. I was curious as to why they bother making a non-adjustable one. I think Sigfreund and Rustpot pretty-well answered my query.

I agree on the DI superiority, even when suppressed. I typically like to do a bit more than just a buffer though, considering my eyes seem to be extra sensitive to any exhaust gasses.

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
LWRC does make an adjustable system. I was curious as to why they bother making a non-adjustable one.

I don't keep up with LWRC new products, as I prefer my DI rifles over LWRC's piston system. My LWRC upper is an IC Enhanced model, which have fixed gas blocks. I recall that all of their 5.56-chambered rifles have fixed gas systems.

It's my understanding that only their REPR models have the adjustable gas blocks. REPRs are chambered in 308 and 6.5CM.

But maybe LWRC has changed their lineup recently.

That makes sense, and meshes well with the other logic. I wasn't aware of the timeline of their product line; it appears the adjustable system is a newer addition. I think it makes a lot of sense to offer, especially considering a lot of folks prefer the DI system; so the adjustability is a nice factory option that is value-added to the piston system. I'll go DI suppressed or not, but if I was gonna get a piston gun, I sure would want an adjustable one, for my purposes.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
LWRC does make an adjustable system. I was curious as to why they bother making a non-adjustable one.

I don't keep up with LWRC new products, as I prefer my DI rifles over LWRC's piston system. My LWRC upper is an IC Enhanced model, which have fixed gas blocks. I recall that all of their 5.56-chambered rifles have fixed gas systems.

It's my understanding that only their REPR models have the adjustable gas blocks. REPRs are chambered in 308 and 6.5CM.

But maybe LWRC has changed their lineup recently.

Not sure what vintage IC Enhanced upper you have, but LWRC has been offering a two position gas block on their IC-Enhanced rifle for a few years now.

TR

I’ve had a LWRC M6A3 5.56 piston gun with a 4 position AGR since 2012, so they’ve made AGR guns for a while. However, I’m not up on their current offerings.