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Posted: 1/31/2012 7:53:07 AM EDT
| Not quality but price. Standard prices or current sales anyone knows of ? Believe I have a chunk of money coming in around a month and I want to chuck my chunk at a piston.... finally. |
| Quality isn't necessarily linear with price, but it's a fair indicator of initial quality and product support. Personally I'd probably go with an Adams Arms retrofit on the upper/barrel/rail of my choice, but ONLY IF you're comfortable with working on your own guns. That way you get everything you want and nothing you don't. |
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Get an upper of your choice with barrel, Adams Arms kit, bolt of your choice, firing pin & clip, charging handle, flash hider, sights and BOOM, cheap piston upper. We need to put people who say "clip" when they mean "magazine" on a timeout...  Since he's talking about an upper, I assumed he meant firing pin retaining pin or something, and not a magazine. |
| I'm helping a buddy with building a Piston AR right now, and we have found that the cheapest quality piston is the Adams Arms retrofit on whatever upper you want. Luckily, I would also say this is the best piston you can buy. I am a bit biased though, as my only AR is Adams Arms. |
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The Osprey 416 can be had for much less than that $550 AA kit.
I've been running Osprey kits on several ARs for a while now. Never so much as had a hiccup with either of them. http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=31987/Product/AR-15-M16-OPS-416-GAS-PISTON-CONVERSION-KIT https://www.gaspiston.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=KITS Plus with the Osprey kit there's way fewer parts so less to worry about breakage. |
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Its not $550 for the kit, thats $550 for a complete Adams Arms upper. The retrofit kit will run you around $280 if you look around, which is cheaper than the Osprey.
Plus, its not "way" fewer parts. It just replaces fewer parts since it does not replace your Gas Block. The only thing that it doesn't have are the springs that the AA kit comes with, which I personally prefer (although the gun still functions fine without them). |
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Get an upper of your choice with barrel, Adams Arms kit, bolt of your choice, firing pin & clip, charging handle, flash hider, sights and BOOM, cheap piston upper. We need to put people who say "clip" when they mean "magazine" on a timeout... LOL I was talking about the firing pin retaining pin and thought clip was just as good a word 
ETA: Also forgot about the cam
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Hmm, looks like the low-profile AA kits are available now...
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/2ADACPSDADAGB11-1.html |
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are you looking for complete rifle/upper or a piston kit?
piston kits are around 300-500 depending on which company you get. seems like Adams Arms is most universal and good quality kit to get. as far as full rifle, you are looking at few different options. And accessories makes huge difference in price. Stag m8 seems to be cheapest. but keep in mind that m8 does not come with quad rail. which adds another 250 on top the cost of rifle. so m8 is not really cheap. and with plus package(this is what make tier 1 and tier 2 brand, things like m16 bolt carrier, m4 feed ramp, 1/7 twist barrel with chrome lining, mp/hp test barrel and BCG, and heavy buffer) you are adding extra 100. so around. Total of 1500~msrp. So considering most if not all piston rifles comes with quad rail. stag is about average mid range price. Lwrc are considered tier 1, and they are around 2000~msrp. you can choose arms sights instead of troy sights and it will bring it down to 1850~ And with Adams Arms, also prices varies from accessories to accessories. the price ranges from 700-1800 just for complete upper. with similar options the price is similar with stag m8. |
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The "cheapest" piston upper that I would get would be the PWS. It's a good machine and relatively affordable.
Buying cheaper stuff is setting yourself up to be one of those goofballs that is posting about how crappy their piston rig is....oh, by the way, "I bought the cheapest one I could find."  At that point you should be banned for excessive dumbness. 
"What is the cheapest car/watch/benchgrinder that I can buy?" Perfectly OK to buy cheap, just don't write off all pistons as crap when your crap breaks. Now, it sounds like you might have meant which upper is the most bang for the buck - I still say the PWS if you are really trying to save money. I shoot LWRC, and they cost more because of some features that the PWS doesn't have - but the PWS DOES have quality. Fewer bells and whistles, maybe, but very good quality. Anything less is NOT setting yourself up for success. |
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The absolute cheapest way to go is the old style adams arms kits from cdnn investments. They use a replacement gas key instead of a bolt carrier. $169.00 for the kit.I have 2 of them and have had zero problems with them.
http://www.cdnninvestments.com/aftermarket.html |
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The Osprey 416 can be had for much less than that $550 AA kit. I've been running Osprey kits on several ARs for a while now. Never so much as had a hiccup with either of them. http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=31987/Product/AR-15-M16-OPS-416-GAS-PISTON-CONVERSION-KIT https://www.gaspiston.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=KITS Plus with the Osprey kit there's way fewer parts so less to worry about breakage. I second that emotion! |
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The Osprey 416 can be had for much less than that $550 AA kit. I've been running Osprey kits on several ARs for a while now. Never so much as had a hiccup with either of them. http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=31987/Product/AR-15-M16-OPS-416-GAS-PISTON-CONVERSION-KIT https://www.gaspiston.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=KITS Plus with the Osprey kit there's way fewer parts so less to worry about breakage. I second that emotion! A fellow Infantryman understands that simpler = better! No dials to turn or adjust. Just shoot the thing. Can on, can off, the Osprey doesn't care. It just keeps running. I think they should pay me for my graciousness. ;-p |
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Osprey for sale, 50% brand new and cheap http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_7_159/958133_Osprey_OPS_416_Gas_Piston_Kit__285_shipped_50__new.html |
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im a huge fan of the piston set up runs smooth and clean as we all know... I already posted this company in a different forum but here you go again, I found them and other stuff at great prices at
tacticalgeargroup.com 
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im a huge fan of the piston set up runs smooth and clean as we all know... I already posted this company in a different forum but here you go again, I found them and other stuff at great prices at tacticalgeargroup.com thanks for the heads up, very good price on the Adams Arms kits
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I got Ares piston system for 218 (included shipping). It's great for .223/5.556. I like this kit because no gunsmitting is required. Complete install done by 5 minutes. I bought one of the Ares kits a while back too (couldn't use it cause the profile on the barrel I wanted to use it with was too big) for $215 directly from Ares but I think they ended that promotion shortly thereafter, right? I can only find them for around $399 now...
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