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308 Piston bolts any difference?

cletuskasady

Full Member
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 8, 2007
88
4
New Jersey
Are 308 piston bolt carriers pretty much the same or Is there a difference and not interchangeable?
Just don't want to spend $400.00 for a 308 POF bolt carrier assembly if another brand works just as good.

thanks, Joe
 
Uhhh you can't use a POF bolt carrier in a DI gun. If you have a gas tube a POF bolt carrier will smash it. The POF carrier has it's gas key section machined right into the carrier and there is no opening for a gas tube. I can post a pic if you want as to why this wont work if you need.
 
Uhhh you can't use a POF bolt carrier in a DI gun. If you have a gas tube a POF bolt carrier will smash it. The POF carrier has it's gas key section machined right into the carrier and there is no opening for a gas tube. I can post a pic if you want as to why this wont work if you need.

Thanks for the help, I see what you mean from the pics on their website.
I don't need to replace the bolt carrier right now, have a POF 308 i shoot now and two P308 lowers i bought in a group buy years ago. Trying to decide whether to go with POF uppers or something else.
If I go with POF uppers I'll like some spare parts.
 
Might help to have some context as to what you are doing. Why do you need a replacement bolt carrier in the first place?

Thanks, I explained this in my last post. Nothing broken just would be nice to have spares if i build the lowers all POF. I matched a P308 lower with a Fulton upper and just like the POF upper/lower setup better.
 
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You can run a DI bolt in them. but the Hogan/pof carriers have an integral piston key machined into them, so are specific for there systems.

Thanks, OK so i can the run the DI bolt in a POF, will the use of a DI bolt affect the functionality of the piston system or intended operation of the rifle?
 
I think there's a little confusion with respect to 'bolts' and 'carriers' - two very different things. Your factory POF carriers are dimensionally different than an Armalite or DPMS pattern carrier, not to mention the slight variations in bolts, firing pins etc. POF carriers will also have the strike face for the piston rod machined in as part of the carrier itself. The DPMS pattern carriers have a gas key staked on with which the gas tube will rest to cycle the rifle. Hence, you would have to choose what type of system you want to build an upper with and go from there to select an upper that would be compatible with the POF. With Hogan bushings for both the takedown & pivot pins, you should have a decent number of DPMS-pattern upper receiver options. Hope that helps clarify...
 
Ok now Jason I have a question. If I had a POF stripped upper&monolithic rail could I build that into a DI upper? GAP does this in their GAP-10 using a POF upper so how to they make the DI bolt carrier work if the POF BC is longer?
 
Absolutely cutnbullets. I don't have a GAP 10, but if i wanted to make my POF a DI gun rather than a piston rig you could certainly do the conversion. Their might be a little "fix" here and there that you'd have to figure out but it can be done. That'd be a fun project actually. The carrier length shouldn't be an issue with a shorter (only slightly so) carrier running. You might even be able to run a standard ar15 platform carbine length buffer as a result. Let us know what you end up doing!