Quote Originally Posted by Compost View Post
For small firearms at least durability and ruggedness seem to have finally won out and are now generally regarded as more important and vital than weight. Hence the return of the gas piston supplanting direct gas in many recent variants of the M4. Also the longevity of the heavy and cumbersome MAG58/M240. The Gucci lizardskin variant might even be scrapped as it suffers from metal fatique especially when fired from a pintle instead of a softmount.
Would you use functioning interchangeably with durability? If so, I'd agree. One of the appealing characteristics of the piston is the reduction of carbon fouling finding its way into the chamber.

There are also continual improvements in bolt carrier groups, chambers, magazines, trigger packs, and even charging handles with specific geometries to reduce failure, and even improve ambidextrous usage.

There is also a lot of unicorn hunting for the perfect lubricant, and there are even some folks testing the old beliefs like running a rifle with less lube in a desert environment.

It's all about squeezing out that last fraction of performance to ensure that when you pull the trigger, it goes bang instead of click.