[Will1911]

I posted an answer to this kind of question the other day. AR and AK's are different critters. It doesn't really make much difference which company makes them. I build my own guns because I like building guns.

If you drive a truck over an AK or an AR, you WILL break it. If nothing else, you'll bend the barrel.

As for piston versus gas impingement, piston is better. The gassed and associated gunk don't come back to the upper receiver for an AR. That makes for less cleaning. The physical forces though on the bolt carrier can cause wear over thousands of rounds for a piton driven AR. However, keep the rifle clean and lubricated, No Problem

Yes, yo0u can drop an AK in mud, pick it up and it will fire fine and spit muck out of the barrel with the bullet. The difference is that the AK has shitty accuracy and the AR has excellent accuracy. Granted, in a combat situation it doesn't matter too much WHERE you hit the enemy as long as you hit them and put them down and out of action. So, for that the AK works fine. If you want to put an enemy down from distance, use an AR.

 

[Will1911]

There isn't much in the way of steel cased ammo in 5.56 / .223. I have built an AR pistol for 7.62x39 and it eats any ammo I feed it which is mostly steel cased. Reliable? yes it is. I built it. Would I want mud int he barrel? Of course not. Would it fire with mud in the barrel? Yes it would.

The only drawback with the steel cased ammo is that you can't reload the casings. Same with my 1911 .45. It will fire anything I give it but I can't reload the steel casings when I use steel cased cartridges.

the Rec7 is only available in 5.56/.223 or 6.8mm SPC. 6.8 ammo isn't very cheap. You aren't going to find .223 ammo much with steel casings and .223 ammo isn't very expensive. Only with 7.62x39 ammo do you need to concern yourself with steel casings. There is a LOT of Russian surplus steel cased 7.62x39 ammo out there cheap. That's what an AK is for OR the AR pistol I designed and built.

 

[Will1911]

I know wolf and tulammo make steel cased 556 and I think Privipartizan does as well so wondering if the Rec7 will run it.

Yes, the Rec7 will shoot it. So would probably any AR. You can't reload the casings is all. The steel casings are a bit thinner than brass casings and can't really be reloaded (except for an absolute emergency). They were designed to be one time shot casings. Yes, they will fire fine.

The Rec7 is certainly a fine rifle. Keep it lubricated if you buy one. Every AR should run kind of wet. That makes them last longer with thousands of rounds going through the barrel. The barrel is where the worst will happen as the rifling threads wear down. This is true also for an AK. The receiver for an AK is much less finicky than the receivers of the AR platform are. As I mentioned previously though, the AR is far more accurate than an AK. The obvious solution to this small dilemma is have one of each.

 

[Will1911]

The Rec 7 will shoot that ammo. No problem.

 

[Will1911]

Yeah I get that but underneath the dust cover of an AK there is a lot more room for mud to go to and not be in the way of the mechanical parts. On an AR there is far less room and the mud gets packed right in with the mehanical and moving parts.

Do you plan on dropping your guns in mud puddles? Personally, I take care of my guns.

 

[Will1911]

Me thinks you may be over thinking this a bit.

While a piston AR may run cleaner than a d.i. AR I dont think one is anymore reliable than the other.
Sure some may disagree but theres a **** ton of troops out there staking their lives on a d.i. AR.

You are definitely over thinking this. Piston AR's will run cleaner, but, there is a tradeoff in that the bolt carrier 'may' get extra wear inside the upper receiver. DI AR's won't get that extra wear. Piston systems have come a long way though and most of them will happily go for thousands of rounds and still be cleaner inside than a DI AR. They do cost more though. So, just keep your rifle clean and lubricated. No problem. I have both a DI and a piston rifle. The only real difference I have noticed is that my piston rifle has a little bit less kick to it. That though is likely because it has a low mass bolt carrier and a different buffer. Not because it's piston driven. If you want an AR, it is your budget that needs to determine what you get. If you have plenty of money, go ahead and spend a couple grand. Adams Arms make nice piston rifles. Mine is custom built using their piston system and low mass bolt carrier.