DPMS Input

[Terry]

I have a DPMS M4 that I bought back in 2005. I didn't know a whole lot about them when I bought it. I have heard that they are crappy and that they are good guns. Does anyone have any input? Is it a decent gun or should I go with something like a rock river, colt, etc?

[goalie]

Shoot the hell outta the rifle and see what it does. Until you do that, it is all speculation from chairborn rangers.

(You could check and see if the carrier key is staked properly, and if the upper/extension has proper M4 feed ramps as well....)

[LarryFlew]

After 6 years you should be telling us if the DPMS is good or not My take would be if you have not had problems and already have the gun there is no decision.

[Hammer99...]

Yes you should get rid of that rifle ASAP. I can dispose of it for a small fee.

You probably gona get both DPMS haters and lovers. There is nothing wrong with a DPMS. They make them in so many flavors some good some OK. Rock River might be an upgrade but Colt in my opinion is the Holy Grail of m-forgeries. There are a bunch of very good rifles out there.

[JJ]

Shoot the hell outta the rifle and see what it does. Until you do that, it is all speculation from chairborn rangers.

(You could check and see if the carrier key is staked properly, and if the upper/extension has proper M4 feed ramps as well....)

But its not what the uber tactical Mall Ninja's say is the best. So it must be garbage. We may need "the chart" for this one.

I'm with LarryFlew. If you've had it out to the range and ran some rounds thru it, you should be telling us if its a good rifle.

[Terry]

I haven't shot it a whole lot to be quite honest, which I know is a shame. I need to get it out and shoot it more.

But as far as build quality goes.. any feedback?

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[Paul]

I have a DPMS M4 that I bought back in 2005. I didn't know a whole lot about them when I bought it. I have heard that they are crappy and that they are good guns. Does anyone have any input? Is it a decent gun or should I go with something like a rock river, colt, etc?

How many rounds have you put through it since you bought it in 2005? Have you had any issues with it? If the answer is not very many, and no... Then you probably don't need anything more high speed than what you have.

[rugersol]

We may need "the chart" for this one.

Ask, and you shall receive!



Apparently, DPMS is "off the bottom".

[Norsesmithy]

Generally when someone talks about good and bad sources for AR-15 stuff, they aren't talking about specific rifles, but rather the company in general. A "low tier" manufacture probably still makes many more perfectly functional rifles than they make troublesome rifles, it's just that, compared to a "better" company, they would have a higher lemon rate.

I think that DPMS is unfairly maligned in this, though, because they make an enormous number of rifles per year, so even if they have a better "lemon" rate than another large volume manufacturer like Bushmaster, they are still going to dominate the lemon reports.

That's not to say that I think your odds of getting a trouble free rifle from DPMS are as good as the odds from Colt or Bravo or any of the other big name manufacturers who spend more money on rifle testing and quality control.

M4 feed ramps are essentially meaningless in a semiauto rifle, they are just a "nice" feature, so who cares?

Look for proper staking of the bolt carrier key, make sure you have a proper milspec chamber (DPMS chambers are notorious for being slightly tight, even on their 5.56 labeled guns), make sure you've got a good spring and maybe an o-ring kit in your extractor, make sure your trigger pins aren't walking, etc.

Do all the normal function checks.

And maybe run a case or two of ammo through it.

If it works, it's good.

[PileDriver]

Just went with a buddy who picked up a DPMS last week. We've shot the hell out of it over the weekend, two jams out of several hundred rounds. Not bad for cheap bulk Cabela's ammo, and I'm sure he didn't remotely follow any form of a break in process.

Edit: I plan on getting one this summer, or early fall. Every one I've seen pretty much goes bang every time, I've heard some nice things about their customer service, and I ain't defending myself with it in Afghanistan/Iraq/Compton/MPLS/CommieBlocs/Mars/my home.

[Terry]

Thanks for the input everyone.. it was helpful. I will shoot the hell out of it, hopefully soon and see what abuse it can take

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[cobb]

I think a lot of the bad rap that DPMS gets is not their fault. DPMS sells so many parts and I know people that have built rifles using their parts and then sell those rifle for a nice profit. So someone builds a rifle using DPMS parts and whatever other cheap parts the can throw in it and sell it. Now that buyer has bought a poorly assembled rifle with the cheapest parts possible that have not been fitted correctly and DPMS gets the blame.

I bought an A2 carbine a couple years ago to use for classes that I take. Didn't want something that was expensive to bang against posts and drag though the mud, so this A2 was my pick. I will tell you now that this rifle will be on of the last I will ever sell. It never failed me once, when other high dollar guns I did see fail, especially JP built guns. This DPMS worked every time and I did not baby it, so of course now it is my favorite because of that.

I know some that will get upset, but I think Colts are over rated, especially their pistols. Have you actually looked at one of their 1911's close.

[ComradeBurg]

I have a DPMS AR-15 and built up an LR308 with almost entirely DPMS parts (the upper is one built by DPMS). So far I've had no issues with either one (although the LR308 is pretty new). Most people I know who have DPMS rifles haven't had any troubles either.

Personally I think they're find rifles, especially for the money.

[Ravkin]

I have two DPMS M4 style rifles. One is the Panther Lite 16 which has around 2000 rounds through it. Never had any malfunctions at all. Shoots pretty straight. The other is the AP4 6.8 SPC. Have about 700 rounds through that one. Also no malfunctions and shoots straight. Looking to add either the LR-308T or the REPR to my collection. I have owned a Colt and they are junk just like the ones I used in the Marines. Won't waste my money on a Bush Master either. To many problems with the ones that my friends had bought.

[mc762x54R]

I have one, my father in law has one and his buddy has one...they bought theirs after seeing mine. We've never had any problems with them. I like mine a lot.