So I was recently offered an ar15 with a gas piston kit for cheap. I don’t know much about them other than you need to keep them clean or bad things happen. I do know that guns that use piston systems tend to have less issues with jamming and whatnot but an not sure if the piston kit would solve that problem outright… Anyone more knowledgeable about this sort of thing have an opinion?
*by them I mean ar15s in general
my m4’s dirty as fuck and still works fine.
i’ll be cleaning it today since i’m just chillin in my can with a cold pack hoping the contagious part goes by quickly so i don’t infect anyone else…
as for piston systems, you have to think about long-term service options. i personally don’t trust most of the companies offering piston setups to be around 10-15 years from now (but stranger things have happened) or if they are, either design changes or dropping piston uppers all together means they may not support current offerings down the line.
DI uppers have been working for half a century. Yeah there were hiccups on the original design; the AK-47 isn’t even close to the original design either. Guns are designed, then improved, and then eventually either go away or remain for a VERY long time. The M1 Garand had issues at first too. They got worked out, and it’s one of the greatest weapons we’ve used in US History. Same with the m16 family.
Is the “piston kit” already installed, or is this a regular ar-15 with the parts to convert if you want? if so, take it, sell the piston conversion, and use the money to buy ammo.
just make sure the gun is CA compliant before you accept it. calguns.net can guide you further on that.
The rifle has the kit installed already. He told me the maker… I don’t exactly remember the name but i do remember that it’s not from a manufacturer that comes to mind. From what I can tell, it is Cali compliant. It has the small mag and the bullet tool thing. Maybe I should pass, then? Hmmm.
You could always accept it, trip the upper, and get a regular DI upper.
Or get it, shoot the fuck out of it, and if it dies and you can’t get repair parts, get a new upper.
The lower is the “firearm”, so once you have that, as long as your uppers are compliant (no flash hider/bayonet lug and at least a 16" barrel if you don’t have an NFA tax stamp for a short-barreled rifle) you can buy whatever you want and have it shipped straight to your house.
With one lower and several different uppers, you can actually have a very nice gun “collection” that’s technically only one “gun”. 
Just make sure it’s on the up and up, and make sure it works properly. If the seller isn’t willing to go to the range with you and run a mag thru it, and doesn’t want to give you the s/n to have the LEO’s make sure it’s not stolen, something’s definitely up. (of course this all depends on how much you know/trust the seller–and CA may require that type of firearm be transferred at a dealer even for a face-to-face sale…check local laws and all that.)
Will do. Thanks!
So there’s always a catch. Apparently my friend is getting divorced. His wife caught him selling stuff off and threatened legal action. Since I’m a friend of both of them, I figured I’d stay out of it. Just as well i guess. Maybe I should hang onto my cash till’ after the holidays. Sucks to be me, haha
Yes, stay out of that.
Also, I don’t know about in California, but here, you can’t just call up the police station and have them check a serial number to see if something is stolen. I don’t think that you were worried about that with your friend, but if you ever are worried about that when dealing with a stranger, you can just offer to make the purchase through an FFL.
[QUOTE=Stu;2277615]Yes, stay out of that.
Also, I don’t know about in California, but here, you can’t just call up the police station and have them check a serial number to see if something is stolen. I don’t think that you were worried about that with your friend, but if you ever are worried about that when dealing with a stranger, you can just offer to make the purchase through an FFL.[/QUOTE]
Depends on the station. Some will, some won’t.
Obviously not something you call 911 for, but if you call the regular number and tell them you’re considering purchasing a firearm privately and want to make sure it’s not stolen, as long as they’re not prohibited by local/dept. regs from doing it, most of the time they’ll be cool and take down the info and contact you a few days later. Again, totally depends on regs and how busy they are.
Yea, the non emergency number. Will have to remember to do that. I think all of our transactions (including private) have to go through an FFL. Sounds like you guys don’t have to do that. Luckyyy!!
You’ve never bought a gun from the back of a truck in a parking lot before?
Not something to one should ever admit to doing 
I’ve bought AND sold that way.
Sucks it’s illegal in CA. :shrug:
Well, shouldn’t admit to it if you live in California
Hell if I lived in California, I wouldn’t even admit to living in California. :giggle: