rms Piston AR

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Is the Adams Arms piston driven AR worth considering? Buds has them for 599.00. Im looking for an inexpensive but reliable AR. This is for HD only and some plinking. I would like to put a laser light on it.

[Suvorov]

In my somewhat limited experience - have have seen two Adams Arms guns suffer catastrophic failures which rendered them useless. I have yet to see another piston design fail. If I were in the market for a piston gun, I would stay away from Adams Arms design.

A couple other comments -

1. 599 is mighty cheap. You should ask yourself why? Is this just the upper or the complete rifle? If the complete rifle that is so cheap I would be quite concerned about the rest of the components as well as the quality control around it.

2. Do you really want a piston gun? I say this as a person who has been shooting ARs for over 20 years and has been using a piston gun as his primary rifle for over a year - I see no advantage of a piston AR over a DI gun and see quite a few disadvantages to the piston guns. They may have there advantages in the extreme or when firing suppressed, but not for the average user.

3. So I'll sound like a broken record here but unless you really want a piston gun for whatever reason (and it that case I'd avoid Adams Arms), I would buy a basic DI AR from a quality manufacturer. You won't find them for 599 but you could find a used one around that price range and you could get yourself into a Smith M&P or even a Sig M400 for just a couple hundred more.

[Chuck Haggard]

I've seen the S&W Sport model for sale in the right around $600 range, give and take. I'd go that route before I went with the Adams.

[Default.mp3]

1. 599 is mighty cheap. You should ask yourself why? Is this just the upper or the complete rifle? If the complete rifle that is so cheap I would be quite concerned about the rest of the components as well as the quality control around it.

They are blemished models. Non-blemished models are going for 760 USD. Still not very inspiring. However, I've heard some positive impressions of the Huldra Arms rifles over on Lightfighter, which use the Adams Arms piston system; not sure how that relates to Adams Arms own line, though, since supposedly Huldra Arms is pretty QC oriented, so Adams Arms might step up the QC for the parts they're sourcing to Huldra. The information is also kinda dated, from 2011, so take it for what it's worth. I run a PWS, personally, but that's a long-stroke piston, rather than Adams Arms short-stroke piston, which is also used by almost every other piston AR system, such as the H&K, LWRC, POF, LMT, etc. (suppressed shorty, my 14.5" is a DI, and yeah, yeah, DI's a misnomer, it also uses a piston). So... the short-stroke piston can obviously work, it's just a question of whether or not Adams Arms is worth the squeeze. And I'd say Hell no, it ain't.

For example, as Chuck Haggard noted, the S&W Sport model's pretty cheap... Hell, at Bud's, it's 10 USD cheaper than the Adams Arms, if you get the neutered version with no muzzle device and 10 round magazines (http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_763_977/products_id/71970/S%26W+M%26P15+Sport+State+Compliant+10%2B1+223REM5 .56NATO+16%22). For 50 USD more at Bud's, you can get the regular M&P15 Sport (http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_763_977/products_id/71969/S%26W+M%26P15+Sport+30%2B1+223REM5.56NATO+16%22). Or, head over to BCM, and snag one of them uppers that are on sale and comes with a free muzzle device and BCG; this 16" carbine is 440 USD (http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-M4-16-Upper-Receiver-Group-p/bcm-urg-m4-16.htm). 40 USD for a charging handle, 30 USD an MOE handguard, and a lower of your choice (this complete Tennessee Arms (http://www.tnarmsco.com/complete-lower-receiver-w-cmmg-metal-parts-kit/) one starts at 150 USD, and the guy's doing pretty damn well over at LF, or maybe you rather stick with a traditional aluminum one, PSA (http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/1213/category/4282/) has one for just 130 USD), and bam, a very high quality upper for as low as 630 USD. With DI guns, you have so much more options when it comes to parts and upgrades down the line. With the Adams Arms, if the upper goes sideways, you're basically stuck with getting parts from just Adams Arms, not to mention having to deal with rail compatibility issues if you ever want to move beyond the basic handguard.

[LittleLebowski]

I've seen the S&W Sport model for sale in the right around $600 range, give and take. I'd go that route before I went with the Adams.

Me too but I'll bet either would do the job.