Thought they were retrofitting it with gas piston uppers????
That’s a better and cheaper way to go than completely replacing it.
And it works.
I dunno; at some point you gotta take a look at all the money that's been thrown at it fixing it and reevaluate.
Another thing you have to do is consider how you're fighting; e.g. flamethrowers wouldn't be a very good method for infantry room-clearing because the house catching fire and trapping the rest of the squad would be too distinct a possibility, but flame-throwers would be very good at clearing trenches, bunkers, and [dry] grassland. (Ignoring the possible political consequence of using flamethrowers on civilian populations.)
Advocacy for M4 pistons has gone on for years, yet remains but a minor upgrade for the uptight. A marginal improvement, again (like most AR improvements) a minor benefit for those in particular need of it, but otherwise irrelevant - if not problematic - for most users.
I don’t recall details offhand, but have seen critical respectable reviews grudgingly deem AR pistons more trouble (albeit minor) than it’s worth: greater weight, [sometimes] undesirable change in balance/feel, an unintended change to a system designed for direct gas impingement. Keep it reasonably clean, and the gas tube will function fine.
It may be a fine improvement for those articulating (or just desiring) the change, but not worth being a general-purpose ubiquitous modification. Most compelling benefit: attaching a suppressor causes significant increase in gas pressure, getting far more blasted into the operator’s face (gack blarg snort), which a piston can eliminate. Most compelling dissuader: it’s yet another moving part under pressure, just one more thing that can and will break.
Piston guns can have their own problems.
That’s a better and cheaper way to go than completely replacing it.
And it works.”
GOOGLE Daiwoo DR200 rifle.
Now, GOOGLE Daiwoo DR300 rifle.
The DR200 is 1.5 MOA, uses AR parts in the trigger assembly, and is hands down superior to the 'Matty Matell' foisted on our Vietnam infantry and its assorted, sordid bastard offspring toted by today's American soldiers.
That South Korea could produce a superior rifle should embarrass all Americans. Were Sam Colt to be revived and brought to a Colt Board Meeting, the board members better be wearing armor.
Col. Hackworth blew the whistle on the Matty Matell during the Vietnam War. His fellow officers at the Pentagon told him to “Shut up and buy Colt Industries stock.” What John Moses Browning would say about the AR series would be most interesting - probably obscene, but inlightening, none the less.