1. Again it takes almost same number of rounds to foul a gas piston and a bolt. And also guns are cleaned after each training session or actual combat, no matter how many rounds were fired.
2. And why the hell will someone need a cleaning in the heat of battle?
That's the whole point of maintaining it after every use.
3. Now you're bringing MARCOS and the need of OTB capable assault rifle on Pak and China border, so bad. What have they done to you to deserve this kind of treatment?
These are not intended for SFs, these will go to regular infantry (hopefully mountain strike corps).
SFs are happy with there long/short stroke guns.
4. If you ever have to do prolonged firing from your assault rifle, believe me you have issues more serious than cook offs and accidents. You better call for reinforcement or airstrike.
5. Indeed, there is no denial in that. There is a considerable increase in back pressure when suppressed.
But the question is, how many of those 1.4 lakh rifles are going to be used with a suppressor?
1.
Again it takes almost same number of rounds to foul a gas piston and a bolt. And also guns are cleaned after each training session or actual combat, no matter how many rounds were fired.
It may be so but on range .The same number of rounds being fired in DI and Gas Piston rifle but in dirt and sand and wet mud would render one inoperable sooner than the other.
It takes the same number of rounds...in those conditions<assuming also not much cleaning done>.......
I doubt that.
2. And why the hell will someone need a cleaning in the heat of battle?
That's the whole point of maintaining it after every use.
The assumption that one would have time to clean/take apart the guns in their own sweet time,given the unpredictability of battle is something I refer to.
Gas pistons RUN CLEANER. LESS BUILDUP OF CARBON. THEY RUN COOLER too. The cleaning is EASIER and QUICKER.
SO EXTREME HEAT + CARBON BUILD UP IN THE MECHANISM WHERE MOST ACTION HAPPENS + MUD + SAND etc+ AGGRESSIVE FIRING FOR PROLONGED
PERIODS<something we should assume would happen>...there is a lot that can go wrong at the wrong time in DI systems. Reason why Spec Ops Units Like SEALS etc , use gaspistons like HK 416.
Most US soldiers maintained their rifles very well , yet their M16s jammed like crazy in Vietnam.Why the hell would they need cleaning or taking apart the faulty mechanism to remove the heavy dirt in the heat of the battle ? To get back again in the fight and win, incase there isn't any other spare rifle lying around.
3.
Now you're bringing MARCOS and the need of OTB capable assault rifle on Pak and China border, so bad. What have they done to you to deserve this kind of treatment?
So you think MARCOS don't operate in lakes in Himalayas and marshy Creek areas in Gujarat where a gas piston would serve them better....My point was that maybe with a smaller calibre on ships, a short barrel gas piston variant of Sig or Caracal could be used instead of those 9mm Sterlings.So it would have made sense acquiring some gas piston short barrel variants of SIG for the Navy.Maybe Caracal 816 will be the answer to that.
What I said was that an OTB certified
'gas piston' rifle would have been a better choice .The Navy got 2000 of those new Sig DI babies.Navies don't operate in mountains usually<Except Marcos>
These are not intended for SFs, these will go to regular infantry (hopefully mountain strike corps).
SFs are happy with there long/short stroke guns.
SFs are happy with their guns. Most TIER one units operating in Afghanistan were happy initially with their gear, until with changing contexts and conditions they had to take up new weapons and modify them.THAT IS CALLED BEING FLEXIBLE.
SSG units of Pakistan were fighting alongside the NLI and not necesarily with their most hitech weapons but with G3s, Aks and MG3s. I am sure they had been happy too with their gear but had to use regular infantry weapons in battle or due to deniability factor. It's hard to believe anyway that of those 72000 + 72000 rifles none would be issued to some Spec Ops units to make their happiness quotient higher.So maybe a gas piston variant, maybe...ofcourse if the SF want them in DI or not at all is their choice.
But even the regular infantry<who get the DI Sigs> has shock troops like the Ghataks who would likely put those Sigs to a brutal use<without the luxury of cleaning/taking apart the bolt mechanism to solve the issue at hand every now n then >, let's say incase of a conflict with China and not COIN ops.
If you ever have to do prolonged firing from your assault rifle, believe me you have issues more serious than cook offs and accidents. You better call for reinforcement or airstrike.
4.Your line of assumptions is taking your imaginations far and wide. What if there is no airstrike option or no reinforcements and your have no squad weapon to give suppressing fire continuously....firing your Infantry rifle on Auto in that case would be called an 'Aggressive firing ' which translates into both barrel and bolt getting hotter by the second, more so in DI systems.All these factors plus dirt entering the system could lead to a jam more in DI than gas pistons.And even so gas piston parts are a breeze to take out and clean.
So a soldier is anyway supposed to call for reinforcements and airstrike and stop firing and then do what...yes, LAY DOWN FIRE !!!...which is likely going to be in quicker semi auto or full auto mode.
Less jams in those conditions in a good Gas piston gun than good DI one.
Another Example: AK is a reliable gun not just coz of the gas piston system but many other factors.But that gas system does play an important role in it being what it is.
Rounds cooking off is a serious issue and can't be brushed aside coz u think in prolonged firing there are other 'serious' issues and let's just not talk about that.
Those rifles are for use in mountains and are being procured not in hundreds but in hundreds of thousands with a considerable price tag.Why is it wrong to assume that Army Infantry would not be using those someday in a non mountainous terrain but with equally demanding application of a .308 hard hitting round with longer hours of firing the weapon....
But the question is, how many of those 1.4 lakh rifles are going to be used with a suppressor?
Not many but yes, the reason I am a proponent of gas pistons is not just for suppresors but the overall advantages.Without sacrificing standardiztion in infantry units maybe they could have got a few hundred G2 Patrol models for those suppresor use roles alongside the 716is.
Sig 716i is a potent weapon and leaving aside all my points, does perform well feels natural without that extra weight in the front and shoots straight.Plus cheaper. I just hope it works well for the jawans in whose hands they will serve.
