Re: Piston Rifles Accuracy
I'm not a fan of the op-rod driven AR's, but the LMT system is one of the lightest on the market, and is difficult to distinguish in weight/balance between a DI gun.
To me, the biggest issues are reliability and handling before accuracy, so those need to be addressed first for me.
So far, the properly-built DI guns have a reliability AND accuracy record that op-rod guns fall short of, but it's great when you get results like this with your LMT.
As far as cleaning goes, every op-rod driven weapon I've been issued or have used needed cleaning in the gas block and piston areas, in <span style="font-style: italic">addition to </span>the internals of the receiver.
With a DI gun, I don't really clean them, other than brush off the brass residue on the bolt face, and add more Slip2000 EWL. At certain round counts, I'll break down the bolt and clean out debris from the ejector channel, as well as the extractor, and replace the ejector spring.
The claim that op-rod driven guns don't require cleaning is a marketing ploy, in my experience. They are usually MORE maintenance-intensive, like the FAL, M14, M60, M240, SAW, etc.
Neglecting the piston head and gas block on an exposed op-rod design is a recipe for malfs when enough carbon or carbon+rust build up in that area. What I like about the DI design is that you basically have a closed system that, if kept wet with a thick oil, doesn't allow rust to form, and carbon fouling only increases the gas seal of the system.