DPMS ?

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  • Sniper 79

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    19   0   0
    Oct 7, 2012
    2,939
    48
    Why do people knock DPMS. I own one and it has been great and shoots my hand loads through the same darn hole. I even out shot a guy with too much money that was shooting a Les Baer custom at a local match. I hear negative coments about them all the time. I am proud to pull mine out of the case.
     

    nucone

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jan 23, 2012
    317
    16
    Arkansas in the Ozarks
    I have no idea why DPMS gets a bad rap as I have always had good luck with mine and they offer a good value for the money. I had one with the A2 front sight that shot very well but traded it in on an M1A about 3 years ago. Last summer, I purchased a DPMS Oracle as an 'investment' gun just in case the big O won. I had intended to sell it for a profit but it shot so well, I couldn't bring myself to sell it. I must admit that the DPMS buttstock and handguards could stand for significant improvement. I replaced them with Magpul MOE hardware and the excessive play of the OEM equipment is now resolved.
     

    Small's

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    11   0   0
    Dec 16, 2012
    605
    28
    south of Indy
    Ive heard alot of guys of guys on ar15 say that they've had problems with their parts kits. But i would say most of it has to do with the guns not being made to milspec standards. Commercial buffer tubes instead of milspec, 4140 steel barrels instead of 4150, non chrome lined barrels, bcg's not mpi/hpt tested, maybe cheaper materials, etc. Mostly things that make building the guns cheaper. This is just my opinion of why people dog them so much "from what ive read" A friend of mine has one and it shoots very well. I have no problem with dpms but if i m looking for a shtf rifle i would build one with quality parts, buy a colt 6920 or something similiar that has each part tested/inspected and built to a standard
     

    223 Gunner

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    199   0   0
    Jan 7, 2009
    4,411
    47
    Red Sector A
    Over the years I have owned 2 or 3 DPMS rifles, and never had a problem with them. But because of the bad rap they get, they can be tough to sell, unless you let it got uber cheap. YMMV
     

    wsenefeld

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    69   0   0
    Dec 2, 2011
    2,187
    48
    Boone Co.
    They get a bad rap because their aren't over priced.

    Example: Black Friday 2012, Dick's Sporting Goods was selling tickets for Troy AR15's for $700ish (normally priced around $1,100-$1,200). You pay for the rifle, then a few weeks later when it comes in you show them your voucher. A week or two later the Colorado theater shooting happened and Dick's cancelled the Troy order and refunded the money. People contacted Troy, asking if they would honor the voucher. Troy said they couldn't as it was less than the cost to make it and they would no longer be selling to Dick's because pricing it that low made them look like a bottom shelf AR manufacturer.
     

    Hop

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    16   0   0
    Jan 21, 2008
    5,084
    83
    Indy
    They get a bad rap because they lot test their parts and more bad parts slip through than a manufacturer that individually or even batch tests parts.

    You will find more pictures of broken DPMS FCA pins, more walking FCA pins, more broken bolt lugs, more not tourqued barrel nuts, not staked & loose gas blocks, etc. than of the top teir manufacturers. It doesn't mean it can't happen with a tier 1 gun, it'll just be more unlikely. You don't have to pay for these extra QA steps if you don't want. You can check a lot of these parts yourself & avoid the extra cost.

    You can't win a race with a good daily driver Chevy car unless it has some race quality & inspected parts inside. You have a much better chance to win a race if you start with a race car. The is just my opinion. YMMV.
     

    BE Mike

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    18   0   0
    Jul 23, 2008
    7,536
    113
    New Albany
    I can only speak from my experience. I have a DPMS AP-4 and the AP-4 .22 upper. Both have functioned flawlessly and are extremely accurate. I also have a Rock River national match A-4. I don't shoot tens of thousands of rounds in my rifles (so far just several hundred). I also replaced the DPMS stock trigger with a Rock River 2 stage. Then there is this: FirepowerTV DPMS M4 1000 Rd Torture Test - YouTube
     

    Tombs

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jan 13, 2011
    12,022
    113
    Martinsville
    Considering the amount of options in the AR world these days, especially with the price of BCM stuff, I can't understand why anyone bothers with DPMS.

    If you have money to burn and can't wait for things, I suppose DPMS is for you. DPMS made sense about 4-5 years ago, but there's so much stuff available that's far better made for the exact same price.

    For that matter, a top tier gun is maybe a paycheck or 2 difference. If it's something you'll have for life, why not get the best built and most reputable?
     

    Sniper 79

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    19   0   0
    Oct 7, 2012
    2,939
    48
    Thanks for the info guys! Know I understand why people talk smack about them. I still like mine and at the time I was looking to purchase there was nothing in an AR setup in my price range so that is maybe why I went with them. My uncle also had some AR's he built with their parts kits and they were great shooters. I custom speced out one of their bull barrel guns and after about a nine month wait it is now my favorite gun. So much so I sold off all my others and have now been bitten by the black rifle bug. Traded my garden tractor for a Core 15 the other day and cant wait to get that one out. Got a lot of reloading press work first though. Thanks for all the input! I am learning a lot on here.
     

    LPMan59

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    May 8, 2009
    5,560
    48
    South of Heaven
    They get a bad rap because their aren't over priced.

    Example: Black Friday 2012, Dick's Sporting Goods was selling tickets for Troy AR15's for $700ish (normally priced around $1,100-$1,200). You pay for the rifle, then a few weeks later when it comes in you show them your voucher. A week or two later the Colorado theater shooting happened and Dick's cancelled the Troy order and refunded the money. People contacted Troy, asking if they would honor the voucher. Troy said they couldn't as it was less than the cost to make it and they would no longer be selling to Dick's because pricing it that low made them look like a bottom shelf AR manufacturer.

    no, they have a bad rap from doing things like using .223 chambers on "5.56" guns and incorrectly staking gas keys and selling out of spec LPKs. There are a couple of really shocking threads on ARF.com about them.....not so much that a lemon made it out the door, but in the one the DPMS CS rep called the customer a liar and then got pwned when the dude provided photo evidence.

    Not to mention, a lot of specs come as upgrades (ie CL) and once added in, you could buy a BCM for the same price. I havent kept abreast on their catalog/prices, so this could have changed.

    Now before anyone calls me a hater, I owned a DPMS Panther Lite 16 and it worked just fine for my plinking purposes.
     

    HavokCycle

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Nov 10, 2012
    2,087
    38
    Zionsville
    i have no problems with DPMS at all. in fact, i have no issue at all with any quote unquote -lower end AR manufacturers. one of my favorite rifles is a Del-Ton (cheaper than DPMS even!) and its been a damn reliable nail driver.
     

    dtkw

    Expert
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Aug 18, 2009
    998
    18
    Bloomington
    I had my 458 socom started off as a DPMS 5.56/223 shooter. It worked fine until my son lost interest in shooting. I got a 458 socom upper and sold the 5.56 upper and have been using the DMPS lower for the socom without any problem.
     

    Shootin'IN

    Expert
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jan 11, 2010
    850
    18
    S.W. Indiana
    You won't hear another bad word about DPMS if someone else walks up with a composite lower like Plum Crazy or New Frontier.:n00b:
    Some people don't like things that are different.
     

    ru44mag

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Feb 6, 2013
    2,369
    48
    no, they have a bad rap from doing things like using .223 chambers on "5.56" guns and incorrectly staking gas keys and selling out of spec LPKs. There are a couple of really shocking threads on ARF.com about them.....not so much that a lemon made it out the door, but in the one the DPMS CS rep called the customer a liar and then got pwned when the dude provided photo evidence.

    Not to mention, a lot of specs come as upgrades (ie CL) and once added in, you could buy a BCM for the same price. I havent kept abreast on their catalog/prices, so this could have changed.

    Now before anyone calls me a hater, I owned a DPMS Panther Lite 16 and it worked just fine for my plinking purposes.

    My interest in the evil black rifle is starting to grow, so I'm starting to look for opinions on rifles and prices. DPMS came up and I'm seeing a lot of availability in the $600-$800 range. Saw this thread and checked out BCM. Went to there sight and they say they are completely sold out of rifles. Went to gunbroker and found BCM, but the prices are no where close to DPMS.:scratch:
     

    netsecurity

    Shooter
    Rating - 100%
    22   0   0
    Oct 14, 2011
    4,201
    48
    Hancock County
    I agree with what everyone says above, good and bad. Mine was a good shooter. Let's face it, the AR-15 design is reliable and accurate, even without milspec parts. There's nothing wrong with owning a DPMS, and I'm sure you could shoot competitively with them. The gun is still more accurate than you are.

    I sold mine and bought a Colt 6920 though. The real reason I did that is because my DPMS was an SBR and an A2, not because of the quality. But I also wanted to own a milspec rifle, instead of settling for second best. The Colt is definitely more solid.

    Really the main difference is that most DPMS barrels are 1-9 twist instead of 1-7. And DPMS uses a cutout bolt carrier. I don't think the commercial size buffer tube affects accuracy or reliability. Nearly all civilian market AR-15's in the low price ranges have those same features, so DPMS isn't alone. That's what you get in that price range from any mfg.

    I think the next step up, and one I'd recommend over DPMS is Rock River.
     
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