Click. It’s that sound that no operator wants to hear when under fire. If that operator carries a gas-impingement AR, it’s a sound that could occur after a malfunction and is commonly misdiagnosed as a double feed. A simple conversion kit from Adams Arms addresses this issue, keeps the receiver cleaner, offers consistent operation and saves money.

The firearms world is often a place of trends. The latest trend appears to be a shift to piston-driven battle rifles. Although the military has not officially adopted an infantry rifle of this type, a few models have found their way into the hands of operators in Afghanistan and Iraq. The trend started with complaints from the field that the M16s and M4s would malfunction, attacking the AR’s conventional gas-impingement design that allows carbon fouling to enter the receiver area.

A survey by the Center for Naval Analysis found that 19 percent of 2,600 soldiers returning from a deployment, who had actually used their M4s and M16s in a firefight, encountered a stoppage while engaging the enemy. One-fifth said they were “out of a fight due to malfunction with their weapon.” Stories of soldiers using the enemy’s piston-driven AKs on the battlefield and reports like this have made their way home to help surge the latest trend.