As i'm sure most of you have been beat over the head with by DI proponents, i've also been told that piston guns are not as good as DI guns especially in the area of spare parts avalibility, cost, etc.
Over the last couple of days i've been involved in a thread on a training related site about the best gun for "best gun for long term disaster, piston or DI".
In that thread, most were beating the drum of DI, almost to a man (and I was willing to agree) that parts avalibility would be the most difficult aspect of trying to keep a piston gun going simply because there were so many parts avalible for DI guns and those parts would be avalible longer simply due to sheer numbers.
As the argument became a little bit heated, I finally decided to not just accept what I had been told and see for myself exactly what worked and what didn't.
What I found was quite the eye opener and made me a very happy man.
As we all know from my other posts here, I chose to buy an MR556 upper, mod it to my preferences, and use a standard AR style lower (Gen 2 Noveske Forged Flared Lower) so I could use any STANAG style magazine without worry and also not be concerned with proprietary HK lower parts.
I assumed (like a dumbass) that nearly everything in the upper was incompatible with DI parts with the exception of the extractor, ejector, cam pin and associated springs for the ejector and extractor. Because of this, I bought a spare 416 bolt (complete) and tried to figure ways to chop the end off of a standard DI bolt to make it the same length as the HK bolt, just in case I needed spares beyond that.
So, tonight, I decided to throw caution to the wind and dissassembled a brand new Noveske bolt carrier group and my MR56 bolt carrier group, then do partial swaps and worked my way up to a full swap out of the entire bolt, firing pin, cam, etc.
It turns out that standard DI bolts and ALL of their parts are direct replacements for the HK parts, either in partial or as a whole. I compared firing pin lengths and firing pin protrusion from the bolt face and found them to be the same. The firing pin spring still also fits into the full swap and works exactly as it does with the HK bolt.
In other words, everything inside both upper and lower receivers with the exception of the bolt carrier itself, is a full, and direct swap out if necessary. The bolt carrier is not an issue though as it is a major assembly of the rifle and is expected to last the life of the rifle, as are the only other incompatible parts such as the barrel, op-rod, piston, gas block.
A quick check shows that it headspaces just fine as well.
Right now my only possible concern would be the proprietary HK firing pin retaining pin. I've seen some take a hell of a beating in the past (of course this was in DI guns, so I don't really know how those forced translate into the 416 series), but even then, a field expedient replacement could easily be manufactured in a few minutes if necessary.
So, should any of you find yourself with a need of new bolt parts or even a complete bolt, take them from the guns of the dead DI koolaid drinkers lying next to you..... :18:
Over the last couple of days i've been involved in a thread on a training related site about the best gun for "best gun for long term disaster, piston or DI".
In that thread, most were beating the drum of DI, almost to a man (and I was willing to agree) that parts avalibility would be the most difficult aspect of trying to keep a piston gun going simply because there were so many parts avalible for DI guns and those parts would be avalible longer simply due to sheer numbers.
As the argument became a little bit heated, I finally decided to not just accept what I had been told and see for myself exactly what worked and what didn't.
What I found was quite the eye opener and made me a very happy man.
As we all know from my other posts here, I chose to buy an MR556 upper, mod it to my preferences, and use a standard AR style lower (Gen 2 Noveske Forged Flared Lower) so I could use any STANAG style magazine without worry and also not be concerned with proprietary HK lower parts.
I assumed (like a dumbass) that nearly everything in the upper was incompatible with DI parts with the exception of the extractor, ejector, cam pin and associated springs for the ejector and extractor. Because of this, I bought a spare 416 bolt (complete) and tried to figure ways to chop the end off of a standard DI bolt to make it the same length as the HK bolt, just in case I needed spares beyond that.
So, tonight, I decided to throw caution to the wind and dissassembled a brand new Noveske bolt carrier group and my MR56 bolt carrier group, then do partial swaps and worked my way up to a full swap out of the entire bolt, firing pin, cam, etc.
It turns out that standard DI bolts and ALL of their parts are direct replacements for the HK parts, either in partial or as a whole. I compared firing pin lengths and firing pin protrusion from the bolt face and found them to be the same. The firing pin spring still also fits into the full swap and works exactly as it does with the HK bolt.
In other words, everything inside both upper and lower receivers with the exception of the bolt carrier itself, is a full, and direct swap out if necessary. The bolt carrier is not an issue though as it is a major assembly of the rifle and is expected to last the life of the rifle, as are the only other incompatible parts such as the barrel, op-rod, piston, gas block.
A quick check shows that it headspaces just fine as well.
Right now my only possible concern would be the proprietary HK firing pin retaining pin. I've seen some take a hell of a beating in the past (of course this was in DI guns, so I don't really know how those forced translate into the 416 series), but even then, a field expedient replacement could easily be manufactured in a few minutes if necessary.
So, should any of you find yourself with a need of new bolt parts or even a complete bolt, take them from the guns of the dead DI koolaid drinkers lying next to you..... :18: