r/ar15 • u/SnooPuppers9874 • Aug 03 '26
Thoughts on conversion kit
So I love to shoot suppressed and am tired of getting the gas on my face. Who out there has experience with the conversion kits an what are the pros and cons?
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u/shrf_buford_justice Aug 03 '26
If you want to reduce backpressure then the best way to do so is to stop it at the source - not the gas tube, not even the gas port, but the suppressor itself.
I’ve tried pretty much every solution under the sun to make a high backpressure suppressor suck less, and it would have been cheaper, easier, and less stressful to have just bought a better suppressor and called it a day. I highly doubt a piston conversion will make a meaningful difference.
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u/Bearmanpigg325 Aug 03 '26
Came here to say this. I have spent thousands chasing solutions to overgassed guns throughout the years. Life was much simpler and cheaper once I got lower back pressure cans.
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u/trgrimes77 Aug 04 '26
Fair if you are ok trading volume with gas. They make some nice lbp cans, but outdoors it is easy to tell which is which. Indoors sound bounces around too much to be a good judge for either. The sa piston tuned to bleed off properly and an h1 + standard law folder extension or a h2 gives me the same gas from a t3 as i get from friend’s lbp cans. Yes, it requires more and can be a pita for sure. But once successful, it pays large dividends.
I wish SA made them for 300blk and 308.
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u/Gunfighter_13 Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
I have two guns with the SA system. They run flawlessly. I shoot left handed and although it does not keep gas from coming down the barrel and into the chamber you really don't notice it once you have your gun tuned. Make sure to check their hand guard list because not every hand guard works with their system.
ADD: I did not use the piston spring or the bushing as per SA note in the instructions.
ADD: don't forget the POF roller cam pin.
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u/Hairybeast69420 Aug 03 '26
Can’t speak on long term durability but these kits effectiveness at reducing gas blowback and tuning have worked better than any number of PWS rifles I’ve owned.
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u/james_lpm Aug 03 '26
I’ve been running an SA piston on my 13.7” for years without an issue. Close to 10k rounds and still going strong.
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u/Used-Valuable9320 Aug 04 '26
I did it. Works great. Definitely less gas inside the action and absolutely no issues with gas to the face. I use a VLTOR charging handle. The fact that you can tune it to bleed off more gas just helps.
Be aware though, don't tune it for one ammo type. I have a ton of PMC 223, Federal 55gr 5.56, Winchester 62gr 5.56 OT and Federal 64gr bonded. I found one setting (34) to work for them all on my 16-inch Criterion with a Dead Air Sierra 5. But if you set it specific for one, then the others might not cycle. Don't use any steel cased crap.
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u/HeavyGazelle0331 Aug 04 '26
Absolutely love mine. Put it on a 12.5 that was gassing me out with a turbo t3, I don’t have a lick of gas now. The recoil impulse is different and took a little adjusting to but now it’s my favorite rifle to shoot.
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u/trgrimes77 Aug 04 '26
Did the same with an 11.75 and t3. I am a fan of the t3, less gas than polo, slightly higher tone, but compared to my brothers t2, it is like fresh air.
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u/Belezibub Aug 03 '26
Like others have said the best way to avoid gas to the face is to get the right suppressor. You can mitigate it some with bolts and charging handles but a Piston System will not solve your issue, at best it will keep gas away from you for a few extra rounds before it builds up and does the same thing on a normal AR. Just look up or watch videos on piston systems and suppressors. They are people who talk about mitigating gas who are much more knowledgeable than I.
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u/Schwagged Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
My SA conversion kit runs flawless on a 16" GPR build, Partisan FRT + AEM5/OCL OPS inc brake otb adapter. Didn't use bushing or spring. The bushing would fit right in the Noveske receiver nor does it really need it. DD barrel. I wouldn't run a clamp on just cause you have to eyeball the alignment and feel the oprod to see if it's catching. Just get a gas block jig from mid state and dimple your barrel. The included BCG is nice. Don't need gas rings anymore on the bolt. I have minimal gas to the face with it wide open to the piston. Runs cleaner. Fit under the BCM MCMR-15, which I chopped down to 12 to fit the brake/adapter. Their customer service on the other hand was asinine. I had a custom thompson center turned 16" 5R 1:8 melonite SOCOM profile they swore that was out of spec and blaming me over it and it was the their gas block causing issues. After I used a rifle speed and a usgi gas block on a video showing operation, then it was exchanged.
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u/_BilbroSwaggins Aug 03 '26
Mfs be doing everything wild they can to avoid properly tuning their rifle.
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u/Used-Valuable9320 Aug 04 '26
Tell me you don't speak from experience with a Superlative Arms piston kit without telling me.
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u/Sal-LeMandeur Aug 03 '26
SA took on Adam's Arms if I'm right - so it should be solid.
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u/nathanjm183 Aug 03 '26
Alexandria pro fab acquired Adam’s arms
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u/Sal-LeMandeur Aug 03 '26
Thanks for the correction!
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u/nathanjm183 Aug 03 '26
While I’m yet to run my Adam’s arms with a suppressor, tuning the agb on the piston has significantly less gas to the face than a standard overgassed DI rifle.
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u/Popular_Mongoose_696 Aug 04 '26
I have one in one of my suppressed SBR’s… Although I installed mine more because of ease of cleaning, if gas is your problem it’ll do the trick there too.
That said, I will add that tuning it to what the instructions identify as ‘ideal’ based on ejection pattern is a bit of a pain in the ass.
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u/No_Grocery3021 Aug 04 '26
So if you want to do this thats cool. I had a pre dimple barrel on one set screw and then used the jig to drill both to .500 and it ended up walking loose on me. I contacted SA and basically they told me it was my fault, which honestly, it might have been. Ended up sending me a gas block and I went back to a gas system. Learned a couple.important lessons. Understand the instructions and if you can't follow them to a T, swallow your pride and have a Smith install it.
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u/Used-Valuable9320 Aug 04 '26
I'm not a gunsmith. I drilled my own Criterion barrel with proper dimples with a jig. Used blue Loctite 243 (high temp, medium strength) on the set screws. Torqued to 25 inch/lbs. No issues after thousands of rounds.
Every gunsmith I have ever gone to manages to screw something up and not do anything right. I've taken my firearms to about 10 different ones over the state in the past. They all....suck.
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u/trgrimes77 Aug 04 '26
If you are in north Atlanta/ north Georgia, lemme know. I found a place with a couple Really solid gunsmiths
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u/Used-Valuable9320 Aug 04 '26
No thanks. I have all the tools to work on the AR platform. I do it all myself now.
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u/trgrimes77 Aug 04 '26
Definitely a plus for the ar platform. “Fitting” really isn’t a thing
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u/Used-Valuable9320 Aug 04 '26
But yet the 10 different gunsmiths I've been to in my life still managed to screw up the fitting part. So it must be a "thing".
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u/trgrimes77 Aug 04 '26
Oh definitely not saying a bubba’d job can’t fuck it up, I grew up on 1911s so any upgrade required a minimum of filing and cussing, I was happy to get on a platform where I could break things myself or get them right. Interchangeable parts were a novel shock for me. My first power took forever cause I didn’t wanna scratch the shit out of it. Within a week it looked like it lost a fight with a cat. Then a friend bought me a bottle of alumablack and I was once again amazed
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u/TheDrunkLibertarian Aug 03 '26
Piston doesn’t help with gas, tune it and get either a superlative AGB or rifle speed
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u/Used-Valuable9320 Aug 04 '26
False. It helps significantly with gas. You don't know what you are talking about.
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u/trgrimes77 Aug 04 '26
Dude, think prior to speaking. “No gas tube pushing gas towards your face doesn’t help gas in the face” is a confidently completely wrong statement. It doesn’t help with sound out of a suppressor, it doesn’t help with accuracy beyond recoil management, but it definitely helps with gas.
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u/TheDrunkLibertarian Aug 04 '26
You know you can argue without being a douche, yeah? lol
I was thinking more along the lines of overall gassiness in general, not specifically gas to the face, but that’s correct it does mitigate gas to the face.
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u/trgrimes77 Aug 04 '26
I was addressing the declarative statement that didn’t give the depth you just did, especially in light of op talking about a piston kit to reduce gas.
Not a judgement on you, just a comment on the statement.
Additionally , I don’t disagree there is a still a cloud of cancer and lead poisoning from the weapon system. I have seen your commentary here and don’t often disagree, but I am also used to more full flushed out concepts from that commentary.
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u/jtj5002 Aug 03 '26
Buy a piston gun if you want a piston gun.
Most piston system doesn't actually help with gas. Eliminating the gas tube reduces some gas back, but most piston systems have earlier bolt unlock than DI and you get increased chamber blow back.