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DPMS308 FEEDING PROBLEMS


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Hi all, new to the board here. I’m breaking in a new DPMS LR-308 per DPMS instructions and warranty info. I am into the first 70 rounds of the 200 round break-in process. In the first 25 rounds, fired one round and pause, clean the rifle then fire the next round, there were 2 FTE where the bolt locked back and the empty case was laying on top of the magazine. During the next 45 rounds (now being fired 10rds then clean the rifle, and not all 45rds fired on the same day) there were 2 identical FTE where the empty case was only drawn half out of the chamber, and the bolt had come back far enough to strip a round out of the magazine, jamming the new round up under the old case. All other cases are landing in a neat little pile aprox 5 feet out and at about the 3:30-4:00 position. I am new to AR style rifles, and I am running the BCG “kind” of wet. After doing some reading it looks like DPMS likes their rifles dripping wet, especially when they are new. Well…ok, I can do that. So for the next 130rds of the break-in process I’ll make sure I keep things very wet. The extractor looks good. I’ll try to get back with a update. The rifle is very accurate.

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DPMS rifles are notorious for having tight or rough chambers, as you have read here . A tight chamber may be OK for a bolt action , a semi auto will not like it very much , until its had a high enough round count to smooth things out . If its rough enough or too tight , it may never break in properly & cause stoppages , endlessly.

These chambers need to be inspected & head space checked , by some one who knows & can repair if necessary , if its beyond your expertise.

Flitz metal polish is lightly used to take roughness from the chamber( bore mop & battery operated drill ) & head space check will tell whats going on with the chamber dimensions.

Most of these rifles take several hundred rounds to assure a proper break in . If you want a rifle that has "0" failures out of the box , you need to buy the high dollar ones or have one built to your spec's.

DPMS rifles are in the most part very good rifles , in both accuracy & dependability . They are by far the most prevalent AR 308's out there & are mass produced, so the attention to detail in some cases , is not there .

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

@145 rds with 7 fte total. Shot 20 rds last weekend without any fte, but then went out and shot 20 rds this weekend and had 2 fte. Shooting Win Super X, 150gr. Spoke with a DPMS rep who said I was more than likely going to have to send it in, but to go ahead and shoot at least 200 rds through it. <sigh> Has anyone started playing the violin for me yet?

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Has anyone started playing the violin for me yet?

Nope, not yet, man.  It takes a few hundred rounds to break in a semi-auto.  Seems like the bigger the semi-auto, the more rounds it takes to break it in, too.  It's kinda painful to see threads started, where guys are talking about problems with their gas gun, then see them say they have 50 rounds through it - it takes more than that to get everything "meshing" together.  <<<  No ding on you with that statement, just saying that it's brought up alot.

Like the manufacturer said - get a couple hundred through it and see what it's doing after that.  <thumbsup>

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  • 1 month later...

I bought a pmag lr20, and have been using that instead of the mags that came with the rifle and have had no fte. Of course I'm at 200+ rds now, so maybe things have loosened up? At some point I'll use the original mags again to see if that was somehow causing the fte, or if it was just my impatience with a new rifle. I'm all  ;D at the range.

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For ErikS:

Most of these mass produced factory rifles come with a trigger because most folk will not buy them otherwise.  The makers,  DPMS is high on the list along with all the other companies owned by that holding company,  expect you to replace the trigger first thing.

Buy an RRA NM trigger.  Excellent trigger,  one of the less expensive.  While you have Brownells on the line,  get a CAA grip,  too.  And if you can afford it,  add a B.A.D ambi safety selector.  These will make it seem like a new (high-dollar,  custom) rifle.  You can put these items into the rifle quickly and easily yourself.

For tayronachan: 

Yep!  Loosening up.  Also,  magazine lips are critical.  MagPul magazines in molded polymer are going to be right and stay that way.  Steel mags are subject to many woes.  I have had FTF and FTE in an AR 5.56 but only with very long bullets with plastic spitzer points loaded to maximum OAL.  Factory and shorter OAL handloads do fine.  It would be interesting to know if OAL or nose  design was a factor with your AR-308 feeding troubles?  Just something else to look at.  And I prefer a dial caliper.  No battery to replace.

My experience with double feed may be powder charge too hot for my rifle;  the powder charge was taken from a magazine article.  If the pressures are high and the chamber is still rough,  the casing will be expanded to a tight fit for too long. The extractor might pull free leaving the fired case partly in the chamber and a few milliseconds later the bullet nose of the next cartridge is rammed into and partly beside the left-behind case.  For my rifle and my problem the cure is to reduce the amount of powder slightly and not press my luck with OAL.  Your solution might be to need to polish the chamber slightly.  No promises.  Get more opinions.  Get some Kroil and add a little (~20%) to the Mobil One Full Synthetic.  The Kroil will remove any sticky deposits in the chamber.  May well be all that is needed.

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I had a feeding issue with my DPMS AR 10 in 6.5 Creedmoor when I first started shooting it. I don't know if my problem is the same as yours or not. My problem was when the new round started up the feed ramps the mag follower would tilt allowing the bolt to over ride the base of the cartridge and hit the side of the case. Making that round bent and unuseable. I found the solution in C-product 10 round Mags, however when I first tried them they did the same thing. The solution that I found to make them work was taking the spring out of each mag and bending the spring. I bent the very last half coil at each end only, not any coils in-between. When the spring is new the last coil is not long, i mean length wise like all the coils in-between. This half coil when new is parallel with the follower and the floor plate of the mag. I bent these two short coils at an angle like all the other coils. When I re-assembled  the mags, my feeding problem was fixed. However, there has been one catch ever since I could not fix. If the cartridge for the 6.5 creedmoor was OAL of 2.790 to 2.800 in length it would feed fine. Hornady 123 ammo with an OAL of 2.700 would not feed. I only had 2 boxes of ammo to try, once done I never bought any more of it, I just hand load ammo to 2.795 OAL.

Hope this helps you. 

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He's right. Saying "DPMS AR-10" on a website dedicated to that style of rifle, is like going on a car forum and writing about your Chevy Mustang. Major faux pas.

Only Armalite makes an AR10. DPMS makes the LR-308. KAC makes the SR-25. Mega Arms makes the MA-10. JP Rifles makes the LRP-07. Noveske makes the N6. Rock River Arms makes the LAR-8.

There are very large differences between all those rifles. Some are compatible. Some are not. Some have a completely proprietary design... But only one of them is an AR-10!

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Wow, now I'm so corrected. Never thought this was such a big deal.

It's a bit of a pet peeve around here... We try to show respect to the brands who support our forums, which means we try to prevent the AR-10 (or any other brand) from being inadvertently marred by association with manufacturers that offer less reliable or lower quality products. It's not necessarily life-and-death for everyone, but a good reputation is a firearms manufacturer's bread and butter, and we try to keep that in mind.

On the other hand, it's not an uncommon mistake, but keeping the community informed and knowledgeable is a primary goal here.  <thumbsup>

Carry on!  8)

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  • 4 weeks later...

use high speed axle grease and it will fuction much better as for the ar-10 crap who really cares their just peed off they spent more money than you my dpms out shoots most other brands and it does not jam either so to say its not as superior as their armalites is total bull call it what you want

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use high speed axle grease and it will fuction much better as for the ar-10 crap who really cares their just peed off they spent more money than you my dpms out shoots most other brands and it does not jam either so to say its not as superior as their armalites is total bull call it what you want

Trust me, we aren't mad about what he spent, the great part about the .308ar is we can have what we want,you may have missed the part of where manufacturers are the ones who care, as it differentiates their products from others…. unless you are one of those guys who is ok with liking chevy mustangs and ford barracudas…. maybe you see the point in different context. it's their name, their products.

unless you've owned both or have range time on both, you really can't bash the other,and we aren't bashing DPMS. I own a LaRue, but couldn't tell you if it stands up to or over a LWRC, DPMS, or an Armalite. all I know is what I can shoot with my rifle.

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use high speed axle grease and it will fuction much better as for the ar-10 crap who really cares their just peed off they spent more money than you my dpms out shoots most other brands and it does not jam either so to say its not as superior as their armalites is total bull call it what you want

I think reading the thread so far would be pretty useful to you as far as what point is being made regarding differentiation between brands. It wouldn't do for this forum to be responsible for some poor guy buying an "AR10" gas system for his DPMS SASS barrel, and then finding out that in fact it does matter. Not to mention the 100% valid points that have already been made about manufacturer reputation.

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I have had time with springfield, Fl, dpms, armalite my friends all have different 308 variants take good care of your weapon and it will take care of you, I have a real close friend who money is not an object,but and this is not to put him down, he does not take the  best care of his equipment and there for he has problems with the best of the best. He just laid out 7000.00 on new rifles and didnt blink an eye. I was just saying axle grease worked for me and this isnt grade school dont be so negative to someone asking a question or seeking help. Yes there are right ways and wrong but you learn that in time not by being put in your place for asking for help in the end can you shoot is the question and how do you take care of your weapon. If I paid 3000 for a rifle I would hope its better than The one I paid a 1000 for if not I was a fool. But money isnt everything nor is a name

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  • 3 weeks later...

Back on topic. I've had no more FTE after switching to the 7.62 Pmags. At some point I am going to try the mag that came with the lr-308 again, to see if it jams. i'll get back with a report. @ 250+ rds now. today shot my first 3 rd group @100 yd that i could cover with a quarter. off to post a pic of my target  ;D

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