COBrien Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Hello all! My name's Chase, and I just purchased a DPMS LR-308T last week. In doing some research, I stumbled upon 308AR.com and decided to join. I'm glad to find a place that is specific to .308 AR rifles. Let me apologize in advance for a long-winded intro post... This DPMS is my first AR-pattern rifle. I've owned a Mini-14 since 2008 (and lots of other firearms for decades...) and have resisted the urge to buy anything AR-related, but the deal I got was just too good to pass up. Even my wife agreed... I know these threads are worthless without pics, so here's one: The rifle is wearing a MagPul MOE Rifle stock and a Weaver Kaspa 3-12x50 scope. Picked this up, unfired, with original box, OEM mag, ProMag 19-rounder, and the case for $850. He included the OEM butt stock as well as the MagPul. Also threw in a new-in-package RRA 2-Stage for $80. At this point, I'm looking forward to breaking this rifle in. Also wondering if the RRA trigger will work without modification. Finally, after much online research and 2 phone calls to DPMS, im unclear as to whether or not I should feed this rifle commercial .308 ammo. The barrel is marked 7.62x51, while the lower is marked .308. According to the CS rep at DPMS, I should only shoot what's marked on the barrel. According to the parts/service department, I should only shoot what's marked on the lower. I know the lower really doesn't affect what the rifle is chambered for, and have read lots of discussion that goes both ways. 7.62 in a .308 chamber I know is fine, but .308 in a 7.62 chamber may or may not be a good idea. Does anyone have any recommendations re: Ammo and RRA trigger? Thanks in advance, and I'm looking forward to contributing to the forum as I learn more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armed Eye Doc Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Welcome to the forum from Texas. You got a smoking deal on that fine rifle. Someone will be along shortly to answer your questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmackc Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 (edited) Welcome to the AR308 forums from Central Texas! There is a gold mine full of information here about your LR 308. I was in the same boat as you. I am a M1 Garand and M1A shooter until I bought a new in the box DPMS Oracle LR308 in Dec 2015. I came here and after swabbing the site for information I feel comfortable with the platform and it is marked the same as yours .308 Win on mag well and 7.62x51mm on the 16.5 inch barrel. First I bought a Geissele 2 stage trigger but latter changed it out for a 3# single stage trigger from a site member special deal. and a Bushnell 4.5x18 BDC scope, still have the OE six position stock and handguard. Do a good cleaning job on the innards, chamber and bore, lube it up till the innards are sopping wet (except chamber and bore) It needs to be broke in wet with lube. I used Mobil One 10W30 Motor oil. I followed the break in dirrections in the DPMS manual with new Remington 140 grain .308 Win.ammo first 40 rounds and now I am shooting Federal Mk 319 7.62x51mm ammo. You got a super good deal, I have $1000 in mine now. Edited May 16, 2016 by mrmackc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planeflyer21 Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 (edited) Welcome from Arizona! Edited May 16, 2016 by planeflyer21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikedaddyH Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Welcome from AZ ! I started off with a similar DPMS LR308. Great gun it should eat pretty much any ammo. 150gr to 168gr works best. Try to stay away from the steel case stuff but it will work. Do the break in with Mobile1 or CastroGTX and run it wet.... Really wet !! Clean the barrel with patches every couple rounds through 20. Have fun and ask questions when you have issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Welcome from southern Wisconsin, what's the barrel marked? That's what you should go by Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 (edited) You should be fine to shoot both .308 & 7.62 from your DPMS LR-308. I had a DPMS SASS and it was the same thing...308 on the receiver and 7.62 on the barrel...I confirmed with someone from DPMS back then that both were fine. Although after hearing your story about getting two different answers from two different employees of DPMS I can't help but wonder if the person I spoke with then was giving out bad info as well...LOL. For what it's worth I always shot .308 through my DPMS and never had an issue. I have an Armalite AR-10 which is chambered for 7.62 (and of course marked 7.62 on the barrel)...the Armalite owner's manual states that the gun will fire all standardized US Military spec 7.62 as well as any factory loaded .308 Win. That is not to say that what Armalite does necessarily holds true for DPMS of course, but clearly there are exceptions to only being able to shoot what your barrel is marked for with these .308/7.62's. Edited May 16, 2016 by Fletch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COBrien Posted May 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Thanks for all the info! I found some info (opinions?) on Fulton Armory's website re: 7.62 NATO vs. .308 Win. Essentially, if the bolt won't close on a .308 Field headspace gauge, it will be safe to fire .308 from a 7.62 chamber. I went ahead and ordered a No-Go gauge and a Field gauge from Brownell's, they should be here later in the week. I figure it's worth the $28 each just to be sure. Plus I have a friend who's building a .308 AR now, and probably several others in the future. I'll sell/semi-permanently loan them to him if nothing else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 31 minutes ago, Fletch said: You should be fine to shoot both .308 & 7.62 from your DPMS LR-308. I had a DPMS SASS and it was the same thing...308 on the receiver and 7.62 on the barrel...I confirmed with someone from DPMS back then that both were fine. Although after hearing your story about getting two different answers from two different employees of DPMS I can't help but wonder if the person I spoke with then was giving out bad info as well...LOL. For what it's worth I always shot .308 through my DPMS and never had an issue. I have an Armalite AR-10 which is chambered for 7.62 (and of course marked 7.62 on the barrel)...the Armalite owner's manual states that the gun will fire all standardized US Military spec 7.62 as well as any factory loaded .308 Win. That is not to say that what Armalite does necessarily holds true for DPMS of course, but clearly there are exceptions to only being able to shoot what your barrel is marked for with these .308/7.62's. Mine is the same I shoot both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtallen83 Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Welcome from Iowa, via North Carolina! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 7 hours ago, COBrien said: Thanks for all the info! I found some info (opinions?) on Fulton Armory's website re: 7.62 NATO vs. .308 Win. Essentially, if the bolt won't close on a .308 Field headspace gauge, it will be safe to fire .308 from a 7.62 chamber. I went ahead and ordered a No-Go gauge and a Field gauge from Brownell's, they should be here later in the week. I figure it's worth the $28 each just to be sure. Plus I have a friend who's building a .308 AR now, and probably several others in the future. I'll sell/semi-permanently loan them to him if nothing else. Give this video a look if you haven't seen it already... You can save some time by jumping to the 8:00 minute mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
survivalshop Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 308/7.62x51 ammunition dimensional spec's are the same, its the Chambers that are slightly different, with the 7.62 Nato chamber made with a little more room for a Combat rifle that will likely see cleaning less frequently , so it can function ( in Combat ) with a slightly dirtier Chamber & continue to function reliably . Try different ammo to see what the rifle & you shoot the best with ,308 & or 7.62x51 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmackc Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 You won't really know what kind of rifle you have (load, fire, extract, eject and chamber from a magazine, and hit the target) until you go to a range and shoot a hundred rounds or so and get the rifle broken in. But in the meantime we can have a lot of friendly gun talk! Auugh, what did you say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washguy Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Welcome from Texas nice rifle..put in the RR two stage match that you bought from him...its a nice trigger if its the two stage RR it will work fine no mods Wash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngrBob Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Howdy from the Texas side of the border. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rsquared Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 20 hours ago, COBrien said: I know these threads are worthless without pics, so here's one: You're gonna fit in just fine around here. Welcome aboard my man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82HALO Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Welcome from Pennsylvania! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoff Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 welcome from WI! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malig8r Posted May 21, 2016 Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 Welcome from Michigan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted May 21, 2016 Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 Welcome from Indiana brother Chase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COBrien Posted May 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Thanks for the warm welcome, fellas! I dropped in the RRA 2-Stage last week. Man, what a difference! I tore the rifle down on Saturday, gave it a good cleaning, and familiarized myself with the internal parts (again, this is my first AR-pattern rifle). Cleaned the bore, disassembled the BCG, and gave it all a healthy coating of Mobil 1 15W-50, even the interior surfaces of the upper. I also got out to the local PD's range on Saturday and began the process of sighting in the Weaver Kaspa scope and breaking in the rifle. Running Federal XM80CL and PMags, the rifle performed flawlessly. Well, except for one shot -- I was resting the rifle on some bleachers (why they have bleachers at the range, I'm not sure...) and inadvertently pressed the magazine up against the "seat" while firing. This resulted in the next round not chambering. User error... Started from 50 yards with a good bench (actually a picnic table...) and bipod. First several groups (2-shot) were rather large. I chalk this up to the rifle being brand new and me getting used to the trigger. After about 20 rounds, the groups tightened right up -- 3-round groups could be covered by a quarter, and 2 of the 3 shots in each group were touching. Backing out to 100 yards (this is where the bleachers came into play), things got ugly. I'm attributing that to not having as good a rest as I did at 50, as there were no benches at 100, only bleachers, which left me standing behind the rifle (not good for "precision work", I've found). I proned out at 100, and, with a bipod, the groups were, well, okay. Of course, I was lying right in the middle of an ant colony. I followed DPMS's break-in instructions (mostly), firing 2 rounds and running a BoreSnake down the tube for the first 20 rounds, then fired another 10 and packed it up, cleaning when I got home. Overall I'm very pleased with this "little" rifle so far, and I can't wait to get it out to my place with a good rest at 100 to see what it'll do. Then stretch it out to 200 and see where I'm at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoff Posted May 23, 2016 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 I gotta say you made a good decision going with a RRA trigger. I find mine to be really good, a great trigger that is light and consistent with a clean break. I am sure there are better triggers out there, but I am happy with mine and can easily stay under an inch at 100, with factory ammo. Now, if you want to really feel great about your rifle run two boxes of federal gold medal match 168 grain sierra matchking BTHP through it. not very pricey, but you might be down to .5-.75 inch at 100, or better. If your gun likes it, FGMM is great ammo with vicious terminal performance on whitetails or hogs. The xm80 is great ammo for longer range days, and stockpiling. I was surprised by how accurate it is for a FMJ. Happy shooting sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfgang1952 Posted May 24, 2016 Report Share Posted May 24, 2016 Welcome from LA. Like others have said shoot both 762 and 308. The only time I shoot 308 is for hunting and the rest of the time I shoot 762. I mostly shoot the cheapest 762 I can fine, but I stay away from steal case. I don’t like the polymer coating. I run all my AR’s wet using a mix of 60% Mobil One Synthetic with 40% Marvel Mystery Oil. Wolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COBrien Posted May 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2016 21 hours ago, Hoff said: I gotta say you made a good decision going with a RRA trigger. I find mine to be really good, a great trigger that is light and consistent with a clean break. I am sure there are better triggers out there, but I am happy with mine and can easily stay under an inch at 100, with factory ammo. Now, if you want to really feel great about your rifle run two boxes of federal gold medal match 168 grain sierra matchking BTHP through it. not very pricey, but you might be down to .5-.75 inch at 100, or better. If your gun likes it, FGMM is great ammo with vicious terminal performance on whitetails or hogs. The xm80 is great ammo for longer range days, and stockpiling. I was surprised by how accurate it is for a FMJ. Happy shooting sir! My wife was with me when I picked up the rifle. When the seller mentioned he had one RRA 2-stage left, my wife said, "Buy it!" The seller is a friend of one of her coworkers, and the two of them had recently built a rifle for the coworker with the RRA 2-stage. She tried it and loved it. Now I may be buying another one for her personal rifle... I'm still trying to find FGMM locally. I'd rather buy local, even if it is a couple dollars more. 12 hours ago, Wolfgang1952 said: Welcome from LA. Like others have said shoot both 762 and 308. The only time I shoot 308 is for hunting and the rest of the time I shoot 762. I mostly shoot the cheapest 762 I can fine, but I stay away from steal case. I don’t like the polymer coating. I run all my AR’s wet using a mix of 60% Mobil One Synthetic with 40% Marvel Mystery Oil. Wolf I don't run any steel-cased ammo in any of my weapons. Yeah, it's cheaper, but the real cost is much higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoff Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Me too I dont use steel cased ammo at all. If you bargain shop, brass can be found for fair prices. Cabelas has sales from time to time on XM80LC .308 for as cheap as $13.49 a box, probably cheaper but that's the least I have paid. If you have not tried it, I order ammo in bulk from gunbot.net. If you scroll through you can find a nice price on most anything. Its usually cheaper with shipping by a bit than a good sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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