Decisions, Decisions: The Choice Is Yours
This is a common gas system question I get. What’s the difference and why did I choose a DI system over a piston. Well truth be told I originally wanted to make a piston system because they are said to be more reliable due to the lack of gas in the internals of the rifle. I have always heard that the HK416 is the best of them since that’s what they use at DEVGRU. So, I set out and built my own 416 to see what made it so good. It was a horrible experience. That gun is miserable to shoot. It has a lot of kick and is violent. I then went and talked to some of the boys I know that work in that world and asked them what they liked so much about it. They said they also hate it and ran DI rifles anytime they could.
DI Gas System
A di gas system is when the gas returns to the bolt to unlock the bolt and cycle it. There are many different gas lengths out there and we can talk about that more in another article. It’s called direct impingement. This does send the gas and carbon back to the internals of the rifle which makes it significantly dirtier. If the rifle is built by us, you should see 8000+ without cleaning before seeing any issues. If it’s built by other companies maybe 1000 rounds will do it. Still a lot. If you’re that person who doesn’t clean your rifle you should fix yourself.
Piston
Well, it’s just that. It has a piston that is attached to the gas block. The gas drives the piston back to start the cycling process instead of the gas itself doing the work. This keeps all the gas right around the gas block. As you can tell it keeps all the gas out of all the moving parts. The problem is that piston driving back is a violent process that causes a lot of muzzle rise between shots. I think it is hard to cycle with suppressors as well. They also create a thing called carrier tilt. Google it.
Why I Choose The DI System
So, in quick closing the DI system has come leaps and bounds to more than out performs the piston system. Also, most piston systems are proprietary, and people seem to put high price tags on them and they simply are not worth it. What are your thoughts? Do you think I right or wrong, comment below and let’s talk it out.
