@upslopeP , this is a bit long-winded, but I think it's worth exploring, as you're not the only one out there having this experience, or just trying to sus out a good couple of recommendations...
The reason you're having this experience, is because ARs/opinions are like @$$h0les - everyone's got one, and they're certain theirs doesn't stink. (Ie, it's a low barrier to entry to get one, few people have wide experiences with enough makes to warrant their opinions of theirs, tribalism and brand loyalty cloud judgment, and internet forums turn into echo chambers of people repeating fashionable info they haven't personally experienced.)
Real talk: There are vanishingly few people who ever put enough rounds on any given AR to burn out a barrel.
Of those who have, only a fraction of a percentage have done it multiple times across multiple makes/brands.
Those people are rare, and they are worth listening to.
Not because they've "burned out a barrel", but because of the range time and diversity of variables encountered in going through all that. Depending on the cadence of fire (short of full-auto), we're talking at least 5000 rounds per barrel. That much experience is hard to come by, especially across multiple civilian makes of guns. If someone doesn't have thousands of rounds of ammo on each of multiple guns, their opinion, in the most literal sense of the word, is simply limited.
That's not to diminish anyone's experience with their own ARs - but it takes a lot of volume to get genuinely evaluative experience levels and data sets, in pushing guns to their limits consistently. Those people are just rare. And most of them have better things to do than argue with people on the internet - and that's why you're having a hard time finding consensus on ARs.
In my posts above, I'm speaking with more experience than all but a rarified set of people, in terms of AR
reliability. Someone else (Form) added nuance and significantly more experienced knowledge on the piston side of that equation - especially in terms of their
limitations. Which I personally value and appreciate, as it's rare and difficult to find someone with that level of legitimate experience and knowledge.
But I wouldn't say the exchange was black or white, DI
vs piston, good
vs bad. It was more about the limitations of piston guns on the far side of normal conditions - situations that just don't apply to most people who aren't taking that gun to work over the long haul. The nuance isn't that piston guns suck - my takeaway was that someone should be prepared to do some gas tuning with differing ammo and conditions, and that orgs getting extremely high round-counts and experiences with theirs over the last 10 years are starting to migrate back to DI. That doesn't mean the piston guns are bad or wrong - it means high volume institutions are finding the limits of those guns at the organizational level.
If an average shooter buys a well-built DI or piston gun, uses good ammo, good mags, and good lube, they'll rarely if ever be shooting enough ammo in enough conditions to find those limitations.
Medium Budget: BCM, a cheaper Sons of Liberty Gun Works model, or Daniel Defense.
Gucci: LMT, Blackout Defense, Geissele Super Duty, SOLGW Mk I.
Disclosure: Those recommendations are either from personal experience, or based on experiences of those I personally trust. They're also not an exclusive, conclusive list. This is not financial advice, I'm not a doctor I just play one on TV, etc, etc.
