Quote Originally Posted by Ronin13 View Post
Wait, so you're saying I'm going to get bolt tilt and/or battering on my POF someday? Uh oh, that's a lot of money I have invested in that weapon.
You may. All I can attest to is the piston AR's I have worked on have shown signs of bolt tilt, battering or otherwise unusual wear.
With a G-I rifle the gas impulse is evenly distributed to the bolt carrier/bolt and is a rapid although smooth impulse. It is also directly in line with the bore which helps keep recoil managable.
On a piston rifle the entire recoil impulse is focused on the top of the bolt, where the gas key usually resides. This results in bolt tilt and battering of the impact area of the carrier. It also causes the recoil impulse to be about 3/4" above the bore centerline. This can contribute to muzzle rise.

I am just not a big fan when folks go about trying to re-invent the wheel. Eugene Stoner was a mechanical genius similar but no equal to John Browning. Everytime somebody thinks they are smarter than the original designer and deviate too much from the design the results are usually less than expected.
YMMV.............................................. .....