I'm not sure why my last message didn't go through....

Checking the quality of the DSA complete uppers?  I recently heard someone praising them as under-rated and really don;t know anything about them.  What do you think?  Decent?  Quality and durability there?  Anything purchased will be stowed away for a future build or long-term as back-ups/long-term builds.

I appreciate your thoughts.

I bought a 16 inch upper w/ Midlength gas system from them during the Christmas sale a couple years back. It actually feeds more reliably than the Armalite 20 inch upper it replaced. It has a fluted heavy-barrel, so the weight on it is nice.  The one gripe I had at the time is that they don't use F-marked FSBs, so you may have trouble getting your BUIS sighted in if you are buying a flat-top, but I think that has been addressed.  My solution was a $6 front sight post, and it was quickly perfectly sighted in.  

I have a Primary Arms M3 Multi-Reticle red dot on mine, and a Magpul MBUS rear.  This is NOT an expensive set-up at all, but it has worked well for me so far. But, I have to add the caveat that I don't run my rifles nearly as hard as some other folks here. This upper MAY have 700-800 rounds through it in a couple years - if it has 1k, I would be surprised. I have, however, fired a couple strings through it quick enough to really heat it up, and there was no change in function, so it worked like I expected.

If you want a working upper for not a ton of coin - go for it.  

-shooter

I've got probably 1.5k - 2k through my ZM4 upper I got a couple years ago. Not a single failure of any kind, I've used XM193 all the way down to Brown Bear. Fit and finish are decent. I'd buy again...

Thanks for the input.  Any others out there have experiences to share?

Their Buffer tube kit sucks. well at least replace the spring. So much Twang and Ping

I purchased a ZM4 complete upper from them in February.  I have only put about 100 rnds through it since I got it so I cant talk about long term yet.. But for now I have had no issues and quality seems pretty decent.  They NOW have F marked FSB as mentioned previously.  My only gripe with them is their customer service.  I had to wait 4 months to get my upper.  You can see a ton of other peoples gripes in their industry forum.  I would buy from again as the current prices if their customer service improves,..

I have one I like a lot, but IMO there are better options available for the money.

What do you recommend?  

Thanks.

I would say for the price its similar to others in the same area. I purchased an A3 upper receiver and a 10.5" barrel. Both have over 2k rounds and running great. No hesitations with those products. Enjoy!

I have shot and sold a couple of the AR's using ZM4 barrels and DSA uppers with no problems. They are accurate every time I go to test fire them, they always get on paper first shot every time using iron sights. I have purchased their stripped uppers and no problems with their buffer tubes fitting the mili spec stocks. About ready to purchase several more barrels and uppers tomorrow. Just waiting on the BCG's to come in. Customer service has been great. Quality has been always been as good if not better than, RRA, DPMS, Del-ton, Model 1 sales, Palmetto, and Satern barrels I have used on other AR builds.

This one from stag http://www.stagarms.com/product_info.php?cPath=14_24&products_id=241

This spikes from AIM http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=XSTU5025MOE&name=Spikes+Tactical+16%22+M4+5.56%2f.223+Upper+Receiver&groupid=586

This one from BCM http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-M4-16-Upper-Receiver-Group-p/bcm-urg-m4-16.htm

And I cant find their industry partner button, but PSA makes a good upper for the money as well. DSA is decent, but comes without a charge handle, BCG and any sort of rear site. Once you buy all that you are up into stag and spikes price range. Now the BCM comes without a BCG or rear site, similar to the DSA just without handguards. However the BCM uses higher quality barrel steel than the DSA.

Again, I like my DSA upper, I probably shoot that AR more than any of the four I own. It has been 100% reliable, accuracy with cheap wolf and tula runs about 4 to 5 MOA or so. But I already had an extra charge handle and BCG. If you have to add those parts, you are IMO better off with the spikes upper for $500, or the stag for $535. And the stag comes with a decent BUIS.

I will say this, I just went to DSAs site, this http://www.dsarms.com/DSA-ZM4-A3-Upper-Receiver-With-16-Barrel––PARKED––M4––-ZM4CBUM4PARK/productinfo/ZM4CBUM4PARK/ is the upper I have. My wife bought it for me when they first came out for $265 IIRC. They are now $240. If the quality is the same, that makes the decision a little harder, but if you figure what you pay for a decent BCG, the $500 spikes up is still probably a better deal.

My first DSA upper had a badly canted fsb.  The replacement upper had the barrel extension come loose recently.  Not to mention that they have serious wait times, check their industry forum.  Additinally, you will not find any negative threads in their forum because they delete threads.  I would look elsewhere if I were you.

Was your upper one of the nitrate coated uppers? The reason I ask is that they had some issues with the barrel extention coming lose on those. I have not heard of the issue though with the chromed bore and plain bore uppers.

Thanks

Yes, mine is a nitrided barrel.  I now plan on using it with a .22lr conversion kit.  I wouldnt bet my life on that upper.

I believe there were some issues with their early batches of nitraded barrels. I think it had to do with nitrating the barrel with the extention on there, which caused them to come loose. I think that has been corrected now.