Asking for personal info on DPMS AR-15

[Mij]

Does anybody have personal experience with this brand name of AR, I’m thinking of useing one to do Some target shooting and possibly a very few improvised drills 223/556 ammo. I’ve only recently become aware of this name. My only experience with an ar platform was with Colts by Stoner in the 60’s early 70’s. And were fully automatic. Don’t expect these to be even close to the ones I “was” familiar with. Thanks in advance for any info.

Buy the way, I’ve done a search. I found nothing but for sale or trade. Nothing on personal opinions. Thanks again.

 

[Mgderf]

I have a DPMS AR-10 LR-SASS in .308.
In my opinion it is a quality firearm, and probably more than I need, but a hoot to shoot.

There are brand snobs everywhere, and some will tell you "if it's not a Larue, or Daniel Defense, then it's not worth buying".
Balderdash!
DPMS is a serviceable rifle, and won't break your budget.
At least that's the way they were 5-6 years ago.

Consider this,
There are 2 major AR10 platform "paterns".
One is Armalite, and the other is DPMS.

 

[DadSmith]

Does anybody have personal experience with this brand name of AR, I’m thinking of useing one to do Some target shooting and possibly a very few improvised drills 223/556 ammo. I’ve only recently become aware of this name. My only experience with an ar platform was with Colts by Stoner in the 60’s early 70’s. And were fully automatic. Don’t expect these to be even close to the ones I “was” familiar with. Thanks in advance for any info.

Buy the way, I’ve done a search. I found nothing but for sale or trade. Nothing on personal opinions. Thanks again.

I had the DPMS Oracle 308. It was inexpensive and I shot it a lot. Ended up giving it to my buddy who wanted it.
Never has a problem with it. I shot Russian Steel case and old corrosive military ammunition as well as American made ammo.
Not one problem.

 

[El Conquistador]

I have one in 556 that i bought years ago after the ban was lifted. I still have it, its been shot quite a bit without any issues.

 

[cosermann]

Back in the day, before the number of companies building ARs exploded, the big 5 were Colt, ArmaLite, Bushmaster, DPMS , and Olympic Arms.

Today, people would consider a DPMS a lower tier rifle, but they’ve been doing it a long time, and they’re perfectly serviceable for a budget gun.

 

[Mij]

Thanks folks, looks like I’ll try it out.

 

[papa6x]

I've got one with a 20" heavy barrel, it's shoots better than I do. Never had any problems with mine either.

 

[Elcardo]

I'm working on one right now, was a gift to my daughter by her grandpa
....it's a 5.56
I need to put an hbar barrel on it to be maryland compliant, it's never been fired
Very first thing I noticed was the buffer tube was loose ...there's no staking on it so grab the castle nut and was able to back it off by hand .
In no way am I saying this is common for them as it's the only one I've ever handled but just like any rifle I'd recommend checking things like that
Maybe check barrel nut and gas block if you can then run her

 

[Mij]

I'm working on one right now, was a gift to my daughter by her grandpa
....it's a 5.56
I need to put an hbar barrel on it to be maryland compliant, it's never been fired
Very first thing I noticed was the buffer tube was loose ...there's no staking on it so grab the castle nut and was able to back it off by hand .
In no way am I saying this is common for them as it's the only one I've ever handled but just like any rifle I'd recommend checking things like that
Maybe check barrel nut and gas block if you can then run her

Will do, thx.

 

[Colt556]

I’ve had a few over the years and they were fine. As someone already mentioned they were one of the original handful of AR builders back in the day. I’ve had a couple AR10s and they worked well but I decided to stick with my M1As for 308. Still have a DPMS lower on a 20” build and it works well. As long as it’s not been abused it should be ok. Also check to see if it’s a complete factory built rifle or a build (assembled) that someone used a DPMS lower on, could be a world of difference.

 

[nucular]

Back in the day, those were referred to as Doesn't Pass Military Standards. Having said that, I have one with a DPMS lower and it has been just fine.

 

[brdhntr37]

I had one that I shot for several years before swapping out for the Barrett rec-7. Never had the first issue out of it. I fired about 1500 rounds through it

 

[Leo]

DPMS stands for "Defense Procurement Manufacturing Systems"

They are a manufacturer of Mil Spec parts. All assembled, you get a Mil spec rifle. I have used DPMS replacement parts with no troubles.

No matter what the snobs say, I have never seen one that did not reliably function. The rifles I have worked on were home builts that are assembled of all different "premium" aftermarket bling parts that would not play nicely together. The DPMS rifles with barrel upgrades shoot as good as the barrel and bullet combination with shoot.

If you like it, get it and shoot it with pride.

 

[FNparabellum]

Does anybody have personal experience with this brand name of AR, I’m thinking of useing one to do Some target shooting and possibly a very few improvised drills 223/556 ammo. I’ve only recently become aware of this name. My only experience with an ar platform was with Colts by Stoner in the 60’s early 70’s. And were fully automatic. Don’t expect these to be even close to the ones I “was” familiar with. Thanks in advance for any info.

Buy the way, I’ve done a search. I found nothing but for sale or trade. Nothing on personal opinions. Thanks again.

Let me say upfront this is just my opinion and this was 10 years ago. My very first AR was a Dpms and it was complete trash. I was still active USMC so had plenty of experience with the platform but the thing malfunctioned constantly and would chew up the cases of any brass I put in it. Paid a local gunsmith to fix it and it ran a bit better but no where near as well as pretty much any other AR Ive had or shot since. I got rid of the gun and have never touched the brand since.

 

[DadSmith]

Let me say upfront this is just my opinion and this was 10 years ago. My very first AR was a Dpms and it was complete trash. I was still active USMC so had plenty of experience with the platform but the thing malfunctioned constantly and would chew up the cases of any brass I put in it. Paid a local gunsmith to fix it and it ran a bit better but no where near as well as pretty much any other AR Ive had or shot since. I got rid of the gun and have never touched the brand since.

I knew a few Colt M4's that fit that description of your DPMS.
US Army issue though.
After years of building my own. I think several were just from worn out springs, and would have taken an armorer about 15 mins if that to get it back up and running properly.
I built a huge dislike of Colt from that experience, but later in life i learned it was most likely a maintenance issue that the armorers failed to address.
If I knew then what I know now I'd have bought and replaced the springs and buffer myself.

 

[FNparabellum]

I knew a few Colt M4's that fit that description of your DPMS.
US Army issue though.
After years of building my own. I think several were just from worn out springs, and would have taken an armorer about 15 mins if that to get it back up and running properly.
I built a huge dislike of Colt from that experience, but later in life i learned it was most likely a maintenance issue that the armorers failed to address.
If I knew then what I know now I'd have bought and replaced the springs and buffer myself.

Very possible. But the dpms wasn't ran through thousands of Marines (soldiers in your case) like the
Colts where. And my DPMS was brand new. Its entirely possible mine was just defective but with how much you drop on a firearm it only takes one Limon to leave a sour tast in your mouth.

 

[DadSmith]

Very possible. But the dpms wasn't ran through thousands of Marines (soldiers in your case) like the
Colts where. And my DPMS was brand new. Its entirely possible mine was just defective but with how much you drop on a firearm it only takes one Limon to leave a sour tast in your mouth.

I understand that, but back then being young, and dumb all I could see is Colt made junk.

 

[Gabriel]

I understand that, but back then being young, and dumb all I could see is Colt made junk.

Colt does make junk... at least now they do.

 

[DadSmith]

Colt does make junk... at least now they do.

I thought CZ bought them out and was going to improve quality?
If they haven't that will be a black eye to CZ brand as a whole.

 

[Gabriel]

I thought CZ bought them out and was going to improve quality?
If they haven't that will be a black eye to CZ brand as a whole.

The 18 we have are about a dozen years old. They have been constant problems since we bought them and I would never buy a Colt after dealing with these turds. That's where my opinion of Colt comes from.