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Posted: 2/16/2012 7:42:33 AM EDT
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Understanding your AR15 type rifle with an Adams Arms gas piston system installed.
Recently we have been inundated with calls and email about basic problems that can be easily solved by understanding the way your rifle operates. We appreciate all of our customers and want to take the time to talk to each and every one of you. We systematically go through all of our emails and phone calls daily, always making sure to contact everyone back. In the mean time please take this opportunity to read through this post and see if any of these troubleshooting techniques can help. We build all of our rifles, uppers, and gas piston systems to operate with the mil/industry spec standard or TDP (Technical Data Package) What does this mean; it means when we designed our operating system, it was built to function under a fixed set of pressures with a known amount of resistance. If you deviate outside of these parameters it could create unforeseen variables. (i.e. short stroking, carrier bounce, and double feeding) A piston system is an accessory that controls the energy of the rifle. It transfers the expanded gas in the barrel through a mechanical operation that allows the bolt carrier group to cycle or operate. First, understand that an AR15 type rifle is a machine and like all machines, they need to be tuned in order for them to operate reliably and efficiently. When building a rifle from the ground up using parts from multiple manufactures this is absolutely imperative. It is irrelevant whether you’re assembling a direct impingement rifle or gas piston rifle. The same rules apply Rule 1. It takes X amount of energy to overcome X amount of resistance. Both counter act one another. Energy for an AR15 is controlled by chamber dimensions, ammo load, and the size of the gas hole in the barrel. Rule 2. Any and all added resistance will rob the operating system of a certain amount of energy. Tolerance stack up on parts are very important as well. Keep in mind when upgrading your rifle you could possibly be changing the tolerances and you will need to tune the rifle accordingly after the upgrades are complete. What does all of this really mean… It means under optimal conditions with mil/industry standard parts; Our gas piston system was designed to operate in semi auto with a carbine stock and tube in conjunction with a standard buffer. A standard buffer will have no markings on the face and will weigh 3.0oz Our gas piston system was designed to operate in full auto with a carbine stock and tube in conjunction with an H2 buffer. An H2 buffer will say H2 on the face and will weight 4.6oz Any added part upgrades; buffers, charging handles, ambi bolt catches, exc. Can have an effect on how the system operates. If you choose to use any of these upgrades you will need to tune the rifle accordingly. This may require you to find a way to reduce the resistance or open your barrels gas port. I currently run what I believe are the best most high speed low drag gadgets on the market and my rifle functions flawlessly. In today's AR15 market there are gadgets, widgets and upgrades that do just about everything from chop up zombies to possibly render your rifle obsolete. I strongly suggest you do your research and understand how these parts and accessories adversely affect the performance of your rifle! Thank you for your time |
| What does AA define as optimal conditions? I've been kicking around doing a piston for a lon time, but if it can only be a "fair weather gun" so to speak, it's gonna be hard for me to justify when I can run my DI rifles until they are hot and nasty. I do realize that enough filth will stop anything, but let's just say a 2000 round weekend of drills, should I expect the rifle to run and run well as long as all parts are in spec? |
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Quoted: What does AA define as optimal conditions? I've been kicking around doing a piston for a lon time, but if it can only be a "fair weather gun" so to speak, it's gonna be hard for me to justify when I can run my DI rifles until they are hot and nasty. I do realize that enough filth will stop anything, but let's just say a 2000 round weekend of drills, should I expect the rifle to run and run well as long as all parts are in spec? Thanks for the post ILBubba, What we're talking about are realistic expectations. slapping a bunch of parts together hoping everything works is not realistic. The point of this post was to help educate people who may not understand the inner working of their AR15. Basically if the rifle doesn't operate as a DI gun putting a piston system on it isn't going to miraculously make it function. If a lower is out of spec or if the parts are not compatible with an upper it doesn't matter how tacticool it looks it will not function. Thanks Jim Granger Adams Arms |
| Roger that, and thank you for your reply. I still haven't built or even ordered my piston system, but you guys are high up in the running if I decide I want a piston, and I wanted some clarification. Plus, I also wanted to get any piston bashing headed off before someone linked this and said something to the effect of "Adams Arms says pistons only work under ideal conditions, not hard use." I guess in that way, my question was for my benefit and for others as well. Again, thank you. |
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Quoted:
Will your mid length piston kit run with a rifle length buffer or do you need a carbine length buffer only? in a DI rifle length, the gas pressure will be slightly less than that of a mid, and a mid will be slightly less than a carbine length DI. so i am just guessing here, that a rifle length buffer spring is "softer" than a mid or carbine spring. if so, then a rifle buffer spring will allow for cycling of the action. BUT if a rifle length buffer spring is "harder" than a mid or carbine length, the mid length piston kit won't have enough force to push the bcg back far enough to properly cycle the next round. |
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