the only other difference i can think of is gas tubes vcan melt, while pistons wont, but youʻd have to shoot an assload of ammo in a very short time.

I bought the Sig 516 when it was relatively affordable ($1300). The biggest issue piston guns claim to have is carrier tilt. Oh, and every piston design is proprietary as well. Mil-spec doesn't seem to exist in the piston world. Personally, if I had to choose, I would go with piston as they run cleaner and cooler than DI. Just not as accurate, but I'm not looking for sub moa with my AR. I'm looking for functionality and reliability. Not trying to say piston is more reliable than DI, but just that what I have fits my wants. They are heavier, though the PWS I heard was pretty light (7lbs). All in all, if I had to do it again I would still buy piston. Just for the cleaner, cooler aspect, nothing more.

I think the piston accuracy is overblown.  There are pistons that are pretty accurate (enough to outshoot the bulk of the people) and DI guns that are not accurate. 

I have a friend who had his REPR shoot under a quarter sized group straight out of the box, no sandbags, etc.

I have had some PWS's come in with bad carrier tilt problems.  Inside the reciever was worn and the buffer tube was worn down.
I replaced the buffer tube and welded the carrier.   added .010" to the diameter.  So far better than the original.

I have modified a bunch of Osprey Kits also.  I weld on the back end of the carrier and machine it back down to fit the buffer tube better. 
It helps but most customers havent put the quantity of rounds thru thier guns to really see if it is a fix or not.

I think Piston is way more maintenence than DI.

On my personal DI guns I never fully clean them. Just take out the bolt carrier and grease it when it looks dry.
My DI upper with 5000+ rounds has no wear on it.  Dirty as cr*p tho....but i'm going to let it run till it jams.

If someone wants to furnish the ammo, I'd put one of my LWRC's up against a DI for comparison.............just sayin'...................

hmm
interesting
PWS claims no carrier tilt with their system

how many is "some"?
and did it depend on round count how bad their problems were?

When I bought my first AR I had the same dilemma.  After talking to some people I decided to go with the DI.  This is the information that was given to me that lead me to that decision.

1) The AR15 was not designed to be a piston rifle, if you want a piston rifle get one that was designed around that system like the AK.
2) If you plan to clean your rifle regularly reliability will be a non-issue. 
3) For SHTF purposes I was told that the average soldier walking around in Iraq/Afghanistan normally carries 7ea 30round magazines, for a total of 210 rounds.  Any decent AR, DI or piston will be able to fire 210 rounds in one sitting no problem. 
4) If the shit is that bad I'll either be running away or dead before I get off 210 rounds anyway.
5) I don't need a gun that can shoot thousands of rounds in one sitting because I can't carry that much ammo anyway.
6) I could buy a DI ar15 AND an ak for the price of the piston rifle that I wanted.  So I did.

I think this thread could probably go on forever.  I think it basically comes down to what YOU want.  For me if I was going piston I'd get an HK or LWRC.  If I could afford one I'd buy one in a heartbeat.  Fact is I can't.  If you got the money I"d get one.  My advice is to get whatever you want and you can't go wrong.  Aloha!   

This was supposed to be a quote response but somehow I screwed that up..

Just for the record, our basic load is 210 rounds. The only issue with the 5 F's is due to lack of cleaning properly, wear of parts after years of being passed from one Soldier to the next, sand (that fine nasty shit found in Afghanistan) and Soldier's not treating their weapons correctly. That being said, the moment your M4 doesn't fire when you need it takes all those times it performed just fine right out of the fucking window and it becomes the biggest piece of shit M4 EVER!!!!!

We've been trying to get you to come out to Puuloa  Range and see what you can do on the NRA 800 AGG for a while now.

If someone wants to furnish the ammo, I'd put one of my LWRC's up against a DI for comparison.............just sayin'...................
[/quote

Quote from: GZire on April 19, 2013, 05:30:02 PM

I'd love to shoot out there, but I'm not a fan of the structured competition.

I offer ammo, a venue, a nationally approved course of fire for you to put your LWRC up against rack grade miltary rifles and you wimp out......
How else are you going to compare your stuff against DI systems? Swimsuit and Evening Gown categories?.
....just saying.......