Nope.

Unless you just want one, then yes.

 

Nope not needed. However, for the relatively small price of $220, I would think very hard about getting the piston. If for no other reason than easier to clean. If you needed to sell it down the road the piston AND it is LMT will bring a premium $$. LMT is the real deal, much more than your run of the mill plinking AR. LMT is a great choice!

 

Either one is a very good choice. LMT makes a great rifle, excellent materials used in the Mfg.

 

Thanks for the input fellows. I have never owned, or even shot, an AR-15. They are certainly not inexpensive to purchase, but they seem to be high quality and available. Any experience with what they actually sell for retail? I am hoping it is a little below MSRP.

I'll probably play around with it, as is, then think about scopping it later on.

 

Unless you plan on shooting A LOT and cleaning infrequently, you don't need the piston upper. I've put a lot of ammo through my DI uppers without cleaning and as long as the gun is oiled, it runs just fine. It does get very dirty though and if you are really particular about how clean you keep your guns, then it'll take a while to scrub off all the carbon build up. Either way, LMT is a great product, I have one of their 10.5" uppers on my SBR and it's very well made and accurate. You'll enjoy it (provided that you can find ammo to feed it...)!

 

I like the idea of the piston, but I am not quite at the point of trusting them yet. I want to see them settle in and get long-term reports.

I am not singling out LMT. I mean pistons in general.

Regards,
Greyson

 

I like the idea of the pistol, but I am not quite at the point of trusting them yet.

This is a 1911 forum I hope you have a pistol :biglaugh:

I'm sure you meant piston...

Well pistons are great! My FAL is a breeze to clean, I find myself dreading my ARs. I don't think I need a piston in my ARs and I am certainly not going to pay $400 for a conversion, but if I were to buy a new one, I would trust LMTs pistons. LMT has a great reputation and I feel sure they would not stamp their name on anything substandard.

 

for 220 difference, if you have the money, id get it. if nothing else just because its different. think ak style reliablility with ar accuracy. lmt is awesome stuff

 

I shoot my ARs a good bit. And I still don't want a piston gun. I want the much longer battle tested direct impingement system. I don't wear myself out cleaning them much since learning the error of my Army days (circa '81). Now I keep them well lubed and shoot them with amazing reliability and clean them a few times per year. Don't need a piston gun.

 

Curious what kind of groups a stock LMT gun is capable of at 100, 200 and 300 yards if topped with a quality long range scope shooting over the counter loads.

 

I would be too.

For sight in purposes, I fired a five round group at 50 yards for with a LMT Standard 16 SOPMOD I bought a couple months ago.

It was from a bench with iron sights. The group was the size of my pinky nail, well under half an inch center to center. Easily at or under 1 MOA, though this was at 50 yards with iron sights and using Winchester Q3131A. After adjusting the sights to be dead on a half inch orange dot at 50 yards I fired some shots at the 250 yard gongs we have at our range and didnt miss a shot (they are 6" I believe).

I would be curious as to the thoughts of other experienced shooters regarding the mechanical accuracy of the "average" AR. My limited experience with a Bushmaster and my new LMT suggests they are physically capable of shooting around 1 MOA right out of the box. The rest is up to the shooter.

 

Get the piston gun

Once you own one you will understand. As the young hip dudes say it is the ****. It's clean cool and reliable.

LMT was in the top 3 of my list when I shopped for a piston gun but I ended up with a POF (Patriot Ordnance Factory) Recon model. I shot it today with my younger Son and had zero failures in about 300 rounds. This is par for the course, I have had the gun for about a year and have had perfect reliability with it. Then one of the best parts is when you go to clean it afterward and the Upper receiver, bolt and carrier are clean and cold. You do have to clean the piston assembly but in my rifle this is 3 parts and they come right out by hand and you wipe them off in a few seconds, swab the cylinder and it's back together in a minute or less.

For $220 it is worth it in the time and trouble saved in cleaning over the time you own the rifle.

I still have an older direct impingement rifle but I won't ever buy another one.

 

i will have to second the opinion on the patriot ordinance rifle. i have one as well and could not agree more. great rifle.

 

you dont need a piston ever. its just another fix to a problem that aint there.

 

its just another fix to a problem that aint there.

I will have to disagree with you. This is the weak link in the AR, Eugene Stoner knew it and said so himself. Now before I get all the hate mail let me qualify this.

The DI system is both an asset and liability IMO.
Pros:
DI is lighter and less moving parts. It helps the AR attain the incredible accuracy it is well know for, simply because you don't have the mass and harmonics of a piston moving around to deal with.

Cons:
It %$#* where it eats! It delivers all the heat and gunk right into the chamber where it is feeding the fresh round. It is sensitive to gas rings and gas key.

Now, most of us know a well built Mil-Spec AR when lubed properly, can be very reliable. Just the piston is inherently more reliable, ie: AK, FAL etc.

 

personally though, I wouldn't and do not trust a single word in a gun magazine at all. they are nothing but a magazine of adds, I think. I have never come across a gun review where the reviewer gave a bad review.

 

Accuracy difference

I have an A2 Hbar match grade and the POF piston gun I have is more accurate. But it has a better trigger group. The bolt locks up the same way in both guns when they fire. The difference is in how the bolt carrier is pushed out of battery. I fail to see why this would make a difference in accuracy and in my experience it does not.

 

You have any results like that for the Standard 16?

Im sure the barrel is CL as well.

Is LMT going to come out with a midlength piston MRP rifle? That would be pretty sweet I think.

 

No, I don't have any info on a LMT DI. There doesn't seem to be much accuracy info on the net on LMT rifles. I would surmise that is due to the fact that these are fighting rifles not paper punchers.

A non-chrome lined barrel should be more accurate than a CL. It is all in what you want. If you want accuracy then build with that goal in mind. A LaRue Stealth upper would be at the VERY top of my list! LaRue claims 'One Ragged Hole'!

http://stores.homestead.com/Laruetactical/Detail.bok?no=100

As for a mid length piston... I doubt it. The advantage of a middy is lower gas pressure- closer to rifle gas, a piston nullifies those advantages. But hey, they will build what the customers demand... anything is possible!