Is Piston or DI Better For Shooting 5.56 Suppressed?
This video compares the cleanliness of Direct Impingement (DI) and piston-operated AR-15 systems when shooting 5.56x45mm NATO suppressed. After firing 100 rounds through each platform with a SureFire RC2 suppressor, the DI system showed significantly more carbon fouling on the bolt carrier group, lower receiver, and upper receiver compared to the piston system. While both systems performed reliably, the DI system required more cleaning.













