Hi,

I was wondering, if there is anyone making one piece PWS piston upgrades out there, so instead of the two piece piston stock from PWS, it is one piece from the start to the end? Presumably they would then have a custom / special charging handle or have the piston head somehow screw in / out (which I would have no idea if it would last) or switches to a gas puck system like AKs.

I know that it is supposed to prevent carrier tilt, but I would think that for longer term reliability, a one piece design is going to be better (and I wager why in the epic M4 reliability post the PWS was left out of discussion, it likely broke a lot sooner than the others due to that 2 piece design under their conditions)

Or if there is another long stroke piston system for the AR that utilizes a single long piece piston?

Thanks,

Hydra-Fire is designing a retrofit long stroke piston system. I personally have no experience with them.

However to my knowledge PWS is considered one of the best piston manufacturers. I can't comment on the carrier tilt, but I'm pretty sure that the long stroke system doesn't completely fix tilt because PWS uses the Anti-tilt buffer tube atop of the long stroke system. If that's what you're looking for than the buffer tube is solid as I have two of the mod 2s.

Most of the short stroke piston systems you find nowadays do the job just fine.

Hmm I will look into that, I own a Mk 2 and soon a mk 1 mod 2 and was just wondering aloud about the 2 piece construction of the piston it self.

I look at it and I can certainly see those as the weak points of failure, for normal use who knows how long, but under stress I feel there is more chance that something goes wrong there.

And yes, for my MK114U build I am getting a pws EBT mod2 for sure, since that helps with the tilt as much as the longer piston.

And to me, I don't mind a non-changable or non standard charging handle, so honestly I think their reasoning of going with that 2 piece setup is not an issue for me.

I think the whole short/long thing is silly.  They both provide the correct force and travel to cycle the BCG.

I've run the holy dogshit out of the PWS, and ran a Mk1, Mod 0 back when I was contracting.

I'm not concerned about the durability of the piston at all, but that's me.

Adcor's current rifle has a long stoke system

Earlier models from them got poor reviews though.

Personally I wish there was a retro fit kit with a pws style long stroke type system

For use on a build with a windham/mgi quick change upper

I'd be happy if PWS would do a conversion like Black Rifle Arms does.  You send them an upper and they send you back a piston upper.  At least then I'd have some control over what components go in it.  Instead, you only get what they build and they don't build enough of them and their prices suck donkey balls.

PWS had retro fit kits prior to making uppers. But specs on barrels/etc were all over the place making it difficult to retro. So PWS made uppers

good to know, i noticed that PWS has "DI barrels" for sale i wondered what was proprietary about their piston barrels.

they dont really have much info posted on their website.

I don't know about PWS, but I love my ARAK-21 long stroke upper, runs very smooth.......
" />

Well that looks pretty nifty.

" />

" />

the ARAK is very cool, but i have heard mixed reviews as far as reliability though.


i wonder how it would fair in a sustained fire/ light fire support capacity with a heavy 16" barrel.

if you dont mind me asking, how heavy do you use it? what volumes of fire, average range session round count, and whats yer maintenance cycle?

just curious as its another option i have been looking at lately.

I run my ARAK 85% of the time and only run my other AR uppers now n then. I have about 2500 rounds thru it with almost zero problems (after about 2300 rounds my extractor started to wear, got replaced quickly for free by Faxon with their "new" higher grade steel extractor, I had the old kind). Ive had no other problems with it. Runs flawlessly with a 16 inch 5.56 barrel and with a 16 inch 300AAC barrel. Cleaning is a snap and takes about 60% less time then a DI upper. The recoil is also a lot less, shooting 5.56 out of the 16 inch (rifle) feels like a 22LR recoil. And the Ambi-Eject is great. Takes about 6 seconds to switch from righty to lefty (for my friends who are lefty). The only complaint some people have it the weight. She is a heavy girl for sure ( I think the upper alone is over 6lbs), but its not a problem for me as Im in decent shape. The forward (folding) non-reciprocating charging handle is nice as well (also ambi for the lefty people). So far it has fired every kind of ammo (5.56) I have fed it. I have only put Remington 125 grain 300AAC so far on the 300 Blackout barrel (only about 560 300 AAC rounds thru it because they cost a lot more then 5.56) At the 200 yard targets at the range Im getting (with 5.56 out of a 16 inch medium barrel) 2.1 inch average groups (using EOTECH 512 and a 3X). Also got to try it (again 5.56 n 16 inch) recently on a bump-fire stock and it ran like a devil with little to no muzzle rise. The folding "brace" on the pistol set up (as seen in the pics) stays folded when shooting because I can (needs no buffer or spring). I did find after some rapid fire fooling around, the gas adjuster gets hot after 5 mag dumps in quick succession. Then the only other short coming of the ARAK-21 upper is (for some) the cost, which is no small thing. My upper in Ambi, Cerakote OD Green with 3 barrels (12.5 inch pistol in 5.56, 16 inch in 5.56 and 16 inch 300AAC) cost me almost $2K. But for me, worth every penny. The ARAK has made my other AR uppers dust collectors.

About 200 or more rounds per range visit (more because a lot of other people wana give her a try). With the mid weight 16 inch 5.56 barrel (not the pencil or heavy they offer) it gets "hot" after about 4 mags on the bump-fire stock (dumped a 30 round mag in 4.8 sec with a 3lb trigger), cant say what the heavy barrel would do. As for cleaning, it takes one (or two) quick barrel swabs (with a bore snake) and then the gas regulator gets take apart and scrubbed out each time I shoot, nothing else has ever needed to be cleaned. Have never had to run a wet bolt (carrier) ever. the AK style piston seems to keep thing clean and smooth running. Even my Colt with retrofit Adams piston collects dust in the time of the ARAK. Next year Im using as my Deer Hunting rifle (with 300AAC and 5 round "hunting" mags) running on single shot "gas off" setting.

I have one as a SBR. The only complaints I have of mine is yes the gas block gets hot but I wear mechanics gloves and this alleviates this issue. The other issue is the carrier put some marks in my lower reciever where the buffer tube would screw in. I filed the area where it hit and use aluma black and no more issue. If Faxon would put a radius on the BCG this could solve this issue. I did contact Faxon and they said they were aware of this happening. Otherwise it's a good upper and runs great with brass and steel ammo. Still waiting on tax stamps on my suppressors to check that.

nice, thanks, for the info