Can someone explain the basic differences between the two and why (or why not) the gas piston design is superior to the standard design?

Well I have gpd upper by pof (416) HK also makes one ,there is two much to mention know but I love it and cleaning is optional as it says hk and pof have recorded rifles going 15000 round with no stopage. ar15reviews.com has a good article and the HK usa sight under military.My Pof came stadard w/chome 1/8 twist polygonal barrel(not 1/9 or 1/7)fluted heavy,chome chamber,chome bolt,chomegas piston parts,predetor free float hand rail,removeable front sight,bayonet,vortec fh,and the works .The lower however is the sweetest I ve had!!! Get one Ive sold all my standard ARs.  Petes tactical has a one for $940.00(upper) 303-850-0587 retail from others like dsa are 995-975.00 and the wait from pof can be 4-8 months.They have the contract with the department of energy for gpd ARs.Man I cant say enough.

Ya know, I'm all for trying new stuff and experimenting with different things.  But I don't understand this apparent need to fire thousands of rounds without cleaning.  I usually even clean my AK's after every 500 rounds or so.  Why would I pay extra for a weapon that will go 15,000 rounds without cleaning?  Who actually does that outside of testing?   I mean whatever floats you boat, but I've yet to have anyone give me a valid scenario proving one would need a weapon that would go thousands and thousands of rounds without cleaning.  On one weekend trip into the desert I fired almost 2000 rounds though one of my AR's, it was windy and very dusty. I was firing a mixed bag of ammo but it was mostly Wolf.  The gun was filthy, sandy, sludge filled and I didn't have a single failure of any kind over the three days and I never cleaned the weapon until I got home.  Was it a dirty mess to clean?  Yep, but a quick blast with gun scrubber cut the worst of it off in less than 30 seconds. Evn the AK I took was a filthy mess.  Give me one reason why anyone, including a soldier, would need anything more reliable than that.  I mean just how many rounds does the average soldier run through their weapon between cleanings?

And before someone says how you can bury a piston rifle in sand and it still fires, I've tried that with my AK's and it doesn't still fire if the action is filled with sand.  Also, take a look at that Gunsmoke Enterprises torture video where the fired 1100 rounds, full auto in one AR, cooling it by tossing it in a mud puddle several times and the only failure it had was with a Beta mag in it.  Who needs more reliability than that?

I'm not trying to put anyone down for wanting or having a piston upper, it's their money, they can spend it any way they want to, but after reading all the pros and cons, piston uppers seem like a solution looking for a problem to me.  Or, probably more to the point, a new toy for folks tired of their standard AR's.

It's done mostly by the manufacturers as "torture" tests just as many other companys have done such as GLOCK. While your desert field testing was a good idea your not living in the desret full time like our troops and dealing with the dust bowl 24/7. Bottom line is that the ARs G.I. systems have been and always be ladies, you have to take care of them. I own a POF piston upper and have fallen in love with it. It cures all the potnetial problems the AR/M-16. I am in full agreement that when your done shooting to clean your weapons. This is because I'm a gun super freak and because I'm jnot made of money.

The practical reasons for owning a gas-piston upper over a standard upper are:

- Ease of maintenance
- Bolt never caked with carbon
- Functions better due to less maintenance, less chance of maintenance related problems.
- Lesser recoil - you can stay on target a bit easier than with a standard DI upper.
- Easier follow-up shots
- State of the art parts upgrades increase performance and reliability


These points are based on MY EXPERIENCE with the POF-USA.com gas-piston upper.

- rem

Does the piston upper hurt accuracy at all?

Quoted: Does the piston upper hurt accuracy at all?

Not at all.  If you go to the LW forum in the industry section you will see many sub MOA gas piston uppers.