I received the DPMS Upper today for T & E.

I have not had a chance to shoot it. Nasty day here.
My initial impression is it appears to be a well built, solid upper.
It is totally different from the Atchisson bolt system. This is a very simple, straight forward bolt system.
The upper receiver is designed for this bolt. It is not a standard AR upper receiver. Outward appearance does look like a standard receiver with the exception of a smaller ejection port.

The forward assist is a dummy plug, but is there.
The bolt will lock back manually using the existing bolt catch.
The bolt looks to be solid with a rod and spring leading to the rear bolt block.

When the upper is opened, the rear block will drop to the point where the actual bolt catches on the charging handle.
The lug on the top of the bolt keeps it from clearing the charging handle and falling out.
The charging handle has to be released to remove the bolt.
The rear block is also beveled so the upper and lower close easily without having to push the BCG in.

I really like the simplicity of the bolt system. The feed ramp is part of the barrel chamber. So it can't move which should aid in reliability.
The bolt itself reminds me of a 10/22 bolt.

Here are some quick pictures. Poor quality but I'll have time to get better ones when I do the review.
Upper as it came:

Bolt:

Ejection Port:

Rifle as I will test it


Dave N

This should be good. My Spikes ST-22 is fun but could some improvement when running cheap soft bullet ammo. Are you guys going to do function tests with different ammo?

Testing has been done

Runs with all "bargin ammo"

Have not found any ammo yet that will not function, we have tested every readily available cheap 22 ammo on the market.

Awesome this may just go on the list!

My wife had the opportunity along with about 100 other women to shoot this sweet 22LR from DPMS at a Diva-WOW event in Tx.
She loved it and of course wants to know when I am getting one ! It was topped with Nikon's new 2011 ProStaff Rimfire BDC 150 scope.
The ladies and guys who shot really liked this rig!

Lucky for my wife Christmas is right around the corner.

http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd363/bman940/KathyDPMS22.jpg

Hi All....

DPMS AP4 .22 LR Update:

I finally made it to the gun club today, but since it was -6F up here in Duluth, I opted for indoor testing, so, I was limited to a 25 yard maximum range for my unspophisticated testing and evaluation session.

The configuration I used was as follows:



DPMS AP4 22LR upper sitting on an RRA lower with a NM 2-stage trigger and Operator A2 stock.
Primary Arms Micro-Dot (non-magnifed) with an absolute co-witness to the Magpul rear MBUS and A2 front sight base.

I sighted it in with Federal Auto Match ammo, and once zeroed I was able to get this 10-shot grouping off-hand at 25 yards with the iron sights:


I then ran 300 rounds total through it utilizing the included 10-round Black Dog magazine and loaded with Federal Bulk, Winchester 333, CCI Mini-Mag, CCI Select, CCI Standard velocity, Federal Premium Target, Wolf Match Target and Wolf Match Extra. Everything performed flawlessly - not a single hiccup. I did drills engaging multiple targets from 7 yards, 15 yards, and 25 yards with double taps and head shots - I am very pleased with how the upper handles identically to a 5.56 M4gery.

Just for shiggles, I rested the rifle on a Caldwell bag and shot a 5-round grouping with Wolf Match Extra.... I was astonished at the accuracy.
The grouping was low as the red dot was sighted-in with the higher velocity Federal Auto Match, but, you can see the results.



Nice job DPMS! Looks like I have my training rifle!!!!

Another feature I found is the DPMS can be dry fired without worrying about damage to the firing pin.
It uses basically a shortened AR15 firing pin.

You can dry fire the upper all you want. The firing pin will not hit the barrel....it will come about .015" short of hitting it. And because the design is like a std AR15 firing pin, the head of the pin hits the back of the bolt. Dry fire it all you want.

Dave N

DPMS uses a lot of Blazer .22. I have not found any ammo it would not run with. I like Winchester bulk. It's much more consistant than Federal bulk.
This rifle will shoot cheap ammo nearly as well as other uppers shoot match ammo.
Dave N

I would buy a box of several different .22 ammo. See what it likes.
I still like coper wash ammo. It just leaves less gunk in the chamber.
Dave N

No reason it shouldn't.
Dave N

Are these in stock at DPMS currently? I guess you need to call to verify?

Thanks

i called last week, they said a 2-3 month wait.....

We are simply "sold out" and building more.

The 22 uppers are "first in first out" regardless who orders and in what quantity.

First in first out.