If you want a Piston driven rifle go clean sheet (long stroke is best)
I can highly recommend PWS stuff. I have rifles or uppers from both their Mk1 and Mk2 lines, and they perform as advertised. They have fantastic customer service too.
Yea I think it had issues until they ironed shit out with the JPC and that became available for public consumption. So weird seeing that tiny thing on guys that are literally 300+ pounds.
A lot of guys don't realize how little PCs cover. I'm not saying they can't save your life (I've seen them do it) if you were to take a round in one, rather they're nothing like a suit of armor. They don't even have similar coverage to soft body armor. I personally would rather run a chest rig and do shit to not get shot these days instead of running a PC.
1/9 will do 55gr kinda, 62gr ideal, 69gr pretty good for longer ranges for energy retention, up through 77gr barely at the top end where it's getting too low velocity at long range to be really useful out of a 20" without some home brew nasty load in the case. a good pet load is 77gr SMK with 22.7gr Varget max 23.5gr, or if you prefer, 23gr of H335, but be aware that H335 will only get around 2350 fps so it's a varminter, really while Varget can take coyotes. man stoppers might be something like an old school 69gr SMK on top of 22gr (or so, tune it) of N140. these are 18" + loads only, and you usually aren't getting enough velocity on shorter barrels.
note that if you want to use a gameking and do soft points, you want something around 2400/2500 fps and the 65gr in a 20" , too slow and it'll clog, too fast and it'll just tumble and ruin a pelt.
your mileage may vary, and i like to test at 20gr and work up to max 23.5gr unless i know i can push a little.
I do admire those with patience to reload for gas guns. I'm unwilling to do it myself, even for stuff like 6 ARC, which is still not cheap or as easy to find as I wish it were.
I'd never want to use an AR or AK in the home, but I'd like to have the same manual of arms and stability a long gun offers. The clear choice is a PCC, but which one?
Why not? I am not an AK fan so I can't speak to its capabilities inside a structure. The AR has an easy to use, common manual of arms, and if you run an SBR with a can, that mitigates a lot of the noise, recoil, and all of the fireball. I promise that with some training and practice it's not hard at all to be able to move around a structure efficiently and engage targets with 5 rounds into the A-zone in under 2 seconds with ARs. Ask
@Club Sandwich, sounds as if he did enough of that to really know this stuff. If you absolutely must have a PCC, a rather good one I've gotten some trigger time on is the Sig MPX, the 8" model. That thing is legit, but it is also damn expensive. I would advise you steer clear of the CZ Scorpion unless you want to do something like get a customized one from CZ Custom.
If supplying proper ammo and magazines were a non-issue would you have gone for something different besides standard USGI 5.56 rifles and 5.56 loads?
Great question. I'd pick 6mm ARC, personally. Up close one can hit opponents with a round almost twice as heavy as an M193 or 855A1 (though they are a lot slower than either of those), and I've engaged targets out to 600m reliably. One would be able to keep their rifle reasonably light and have an ammo loadout not terribly far from 5.56.
IIRC, Chris Kyle was a big fan of the 300 Win, mag.
Plenty of stuff out now that smokes the 300 Winny for LR. 300 PRC, for example.
I have zero combat experience but, I chug the .300BLK kool-aid. I think a 7.5-10.3 barrel is ideal for everything 200 yards and under and .300BLK only loses about 8% of its juice going to a SBR length system from a "16 platform. I have no issues hitting a man sized target @100 yards even with a "7.5 shorty. Obviously the .300BLK shines lobbing 220 grainBTHP in almost Hollywood levels of quiet.
I agree with you on 300 BLK being solid out of a suppressed SBR, but I limit it to 100m personally, I know it can go farther, but I'm thinking the whole thing is better in its niche role as a CQB weapon that is far superior to the MP5. I don't run subs, either, but that's just me. I've also not shot any living creatures with one either, so my inexperience with it biases me some.
interesting round. 
