Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/693549
www.fragoutmag.com CAliber or ChAMbering? Looking at the chamber, you'll find the customary calib- er designation: ".223 WYLDE". 223 WHAT!? How about .223 Rem or 5.56 MM – do they fit this rifle, or am I to buy some obscure wildcat loading? Relax, that's not how you may be afraid of. You might have heard already that the .223 Rem and 5.56 MM are just ALMOST identical, and that the chamber for one might – or might not – take the other. And so the .223 Wylde is not really a "caliber" but a "chambering" rather: it's just the shape and layout of the chamber, that was tweaked a bit so as to make doubly sure they would both fit in it just as well. So you don't need any ".223 Wylde" ammo – any .223 Rem or 5.56 MM would do. gAs-piston The AR rifle / carbine / pistol market is roughly divided into two usually hostile camps: the One-And-Only True-Stoner direct impingement-driven (or DI) and the Gas-Piston Driven ones (further split between Long-Stroke and Short-Stroke piston-driven). The PWS decided to hedge their bets, and they offer ALL of the above. The MK1 features innovative (for ARs) Long-Stroke piston layout, in which the piston and operating rod are rigidly connected to the bolt carrier. That might seem novel for the AR – but it has been time-proven in, e.g. the AK system, not to mention such classics as the M1 Garand rifle. The bolt carrier has a rigid op-rod attached at the top of the usual gas key. Piston of various lengths are attached to it, depending on the gas system dimension. This makes the AK and PWS gas systems barely identical in comparison. The detachable PWS piston is mandated by the almost unchanged AR system charging handle, which contacts the base of the gas key – so the piston has to be removable to attach it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eNVNOHPdHo)