My New DPMS .308 AP4 Carbine

[billt]

[img width=810 height=318]http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/DPMSPantherAP4Carbine006.jpg

[img width=810 height=607]http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/DPMSPantherAP4Carbine003.jpg

[img width=810 height=607]http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/DPMSPantherAP4Carbine005.jpg

I just picked it up this morning. It had everything I wanted, and the price was right. Removable carry handle with A-2 sights, plus a free floater foreend. It came with 2, 20 round mags and the dealer threw in a 20 round Mag-Pul P-Mag which I really like. I'll be picking up a few more. I won't get a chance to crank it up until Monday, weather permitting.

This is my first .308 AR. I have a couple of Springfield M1-A's, and I'll be glad to see how this one stacks up. It seems like a nice, solid, well made rifle. Fit, finish, and overall feel look good, and I really like the sights. I'm still not used to the big magazine! When he handed me the Mag-Pul P-Mag I did a double take because I'm so used to .223. This thing looks like it's going to get shot a lot! Does anyone have any ammo recommendations? I've been running 42.0 Gr. of Varget under a 168 Gr. Sierra Matchking in all of my other .308's, and it's more or less been my "go to" round in that caliber because it runs well in all of my rifles. Anyway,I'm looking forward to lighting it up!

[edgecrusher]

give it a go, make sure you run it real lubed up.

[unforgiven]

Welcome brother billit,good looking rifle have fun.

[MikedaddyH]

Very nice ! Looks just like my LR-308B. Enjoy it , after its broken in it will be a reliable weapon. <thumbsup>

[Robocop1051]

That looks like a lot of fun.  <thumbsup>

[rhinegarten]

Nice! I want one - oh wait! I already have one. Well I want another one then.  :)

[billt]

I went to the range this past week with the new .308 DPMS, and overall had a very good range session. The gun functioned flawlessly. No FTF or FTE's. The gun ate everything it was fed. I tried both DPMS magazines that came with the rifle and both fed 19 rounds each of Magtech 150 Gr. FMJ without a hitch. I then switched to the Mag-Pul P-Mag I had for all the rest of my shooting, because that is the magazine I will be purchasing several extras of. It ran fine with everything I stuffed in it.

At 8.25 pounds empty, the gun has very manageable recoil. Much less than a light .308 sporter like my Winchester Model 88 does. It was LOUD! Much louder than any .223 AR-15. Ejection was positive, but it did not damage or ding any of the brass. I don't have any optics on this rifle, and really don't intend to mount any. The standard A-2 sights were pretty close at 100 yards, where all my shooting was from. I had to adjust about 2 inches up and about 2 to 3 inches to the left, and everything after that was well central on the targets.

After about 50 rounds I switched to some handloads I had brought that were loaded with 42.0 Gr. of Varget under a Sierra 168 Gr. Matchking bullet. My eyes were getting used to the sights, and using the small aperture shooting off the bench it was not difficult to get groups that could be covered with a drink coaster. For my 59 year old ageing eyes I'll call that good. I switched to some Hornady 168 Gr. A-Max bullets loaded with the same 42.0 Gr. of Varget. They grouped just a bit tighter, but I would of had to have a scope mounted to really establish which was the better load as far as accuracy.

After taking a break and BS'ing with some of the guys there I tried some informal offhand shooting on the 200 yards steel plates. It was very easy to achieve steady hits. This rifle is very easy to shoot accurately. Much more so than my Springfield M1-A's are offhand. It being shorter is far less muzzle heavy and less tiresome to shoot from an offhand stance. All in all I ran a total of 220 rounds through the gun. More .308 than I normally would shoot at a single range outing.

Before I left I heavily lubed up everything, and after every 30 rounds or so, I gave the bolt and bolt lugs several drops of Mobil 1 to keep everything good and slick. After I got home the gun cleaned up effortlessly. Everyone has their own method of lubricating AR's. For me more is better. I disassembled the bolt carrier group and washed everything in clean Kerosene, then blew everything dry with compressed air. I then re oiled and greased everything, and the gun was as spotless as before I took it out of the case.

I used Bore Tech Eliminator in the barrel, and it cleaned up much easier than I had expected. I didn't get the barrel very hot, and gave it plenty of time to cool off between magazines. It was mostly cloudy and cool out with almost no wind at all. Overall I'm very pleased with this rifle. The gun ran perfectly, shot where it was aimed, and was easy to handle doing it. I wished I hadn't waited so long to get into the .308 AR game. These guns are a lot of fun, and I couldn't be more pleased.

[mariodesmo]

I went to the range this past week with the new .308 DPMS, and overall had a very good range session. The gun functioned flawlessly. No FTF or FTE's. The gun ate everything it was fed.....My eyes were getting used to the sights, and using the small aperture shooting off the bench it was not difficult to get groups that could be covered with a drink coaster. For my 59 year old ageing eyes I'll call that good. ..... This rifle is very easy to shoot accurately. Much more so than my Springfield M1-A's are offhand. ......Overall I'm very pleased with this rifle. The gun ran perfectly, shot where it was aimed, and was easy to handle doing it. I wished I hadn't waited so long to get into the .308 AR game. These guns are a lot of fun, and I couldn't be more pleased.

I picked up the sister rifle to your DPMS, the Busmaster LR-308 MOE and got the exact same results. In fact, I'm 59 years old as well.  I posted my pics and results elsewhere on this board. 

These are some really nice shooting rifles for the money.  They seem to be well made and shoot accurately, much better than my M1A Socom 16 did out of the box.  It was actually terrible until I accurized it.

Anyway, good luck with your DPMS.  These are good shooting rifles IMHO.

<thumbsup>

[sgtspike]

billt welcome fine shooter you got there. noticed your a hand loader. if your like me you hate them on the ground might get a brass catcher about 12 bucks midway. also found panther mags dig brass up solved it by stoning feed lips, a little work but smoother feed. again welcome

[rhinegarten]

I guess this is a generational thing billt and mariodesmo. Just turned 58 here, and my AP4 I've found was also easy to shoot. Had to grab an old 3x9 Tasco that was lying (flat top upper and picatinny gas block) around to slap on it for now until I can afford something decent. I still was able to put 4 of 5 rounds in about an inch with a flyer - which went through the bull. That was with American Eagle 150 gr FMJ. Haven't tried any of my handloads in it yet.

[billt]

Maybe it's just me, but i'm finding a lot of the older guys, (50+) are more drawn to the .308 AR platform for some reason.

[rhinegarten]

Maybe 'cause they're just plain fun. I also have a couple of Bushy ARs that I built 20 or so years ago that are still good shooters.

Welcome to the board. I'm still a noob here myself. This is a great bunch and very helpful if you have any questions.

[billt]

Does anyone know if the Vltor E-Mod stock will fit on the standard buffer tube DPMS supplies with this rifle? I measured the diameter and it's 1.170". That is the same as my 5.56 MM Bushmasters, and I have Vltor E-Mod stocks on 3 of them. I just wondered if the gun being a .308 changed anything as far as length? Or if not will the standard commercial buffer tube model fit like on my Bushmaster 5.56 MM guns?

[98Z5V]

Does anyone know if the Vltor E-Mod stock will fit on the standard buffer tube DPMS supplies with this rifle? I measured the diameter and it's 1.170".

If you pick up the Commercial-sized E-MOD, it'll go right on there.  Don't buy the mil-spec-sized stock, it's not going to fit.

[billt]

That's what I thought. I was just concerned about the length of the .308 being the same as the .223 / 5.56 MM models.

[unforgiven]

Jezz I'm 57 how the hell did that happen? <dontknow>... <lmao>

[seasprite]

Hey guy's new here to just got the Oracle version of this rifle put 60 rounds through it last weekend seems to be a pretty sweet rifle. After I save up enough brass and get some dies among other things for loading bottle neck cartridges plan on working up some loads for this rifle. Want to try that new powder Alliant came out with called AR Comp. have you guy's heard anything about it yet? Buy the way I'm 45  <laughs> Buy the way nice looking rifle.

[billt]

Want to try that new powder Alliant came out with called AR Comp. have you guy's heard anything about it yet?

I was reading about it. I think it has a burn rate at or near Varget, but has a formula that is supposed to cut down on copper fouling. I'm currently sitting on about 10 pounds of H-335 at the moment. So I'll shoot that up before I decide if I should give this new stuff a try. I might just try a pound and load a couple of hundred rounds before I start production style reloading with it. Right now I really like Varget for .308, and H-335 Spherical for .223 / 5.56 MM. H-335 flows through a powder measure like water. That's really nice when you reload on a progressive machine. I find that it also burns quite clean as well. Very nice rifle, by the way.

[billt]

Here it is after I installed A Vltor E-Mod Stock on it. I absolutely love this stock. I have long arms and it gives a full extra inch to the length. It also provides an excellent cheek weld as well. Since I took this photo I also added a Ergo AR-10 Grip from Falcon Industries. It really improved the feel of the rifle.