Anybody use them ? Any Issues ? are they good ? Who makes them ? or are they in-house made ?
Thanks Guy's.....

Good question. Ameetec Arms said their upper kits are going to start using DPMS barrels. I don't know what they're using right now. I was considering using an Ameetec upper kit for the Ameetec lower I just bought.

I had one once, overall not a bad barrel but my biggest bitch was the cast front sight tower which just looked weird. I ended up selling the rifle that the barrel was mounted on though and no longer have it. I'm not sure if they're still cast or not.

I have read that their bull barrels are incredibly accuate.

Wilson makes their bull barrels.  I don't know who makes their other barrels.  Oly made all of their barrels back about 8-10 years ago, then DPMS started getting the bull barrels from Wilson and I don't know who they get the others from now.  I know they don't make their own though.

DPMS buys barrel blanks from wilson and green mountain / they do there own turning and chambering . The front sight bases I've seen in the last few years have been forged. There military contoured barrels are offered with or with out chromelining and are chambered 5.56, there bull and super bull barrels are stainless steel and  chambered 223.

Quoted: DPMS buys barrel blanks from wilson and green mountain / they do there own turning and chambering . The front sight bases I've seen in the last few years have been forged. There military contoured barrels are offered with or with out chromelining and are chambered 5.56, there bull and super bull barrels are stainless steel and  chambered 223. hr

No, DPMS does not chamber and crown, in house.  They buy barrel blanks and have other machine shops do the profiling, chambering, crowning ect.  DPMS does have a lathe but they only use it on a rare occation where a barrel needs to be shortened or something minor.  I deal with DPMS quite regularly and this information came directly from them.

Actually I never said they did in house and yes they do have a lathe in house along with a bridgeport and a CNC bridgeport for prototyping purposes. But the machine shop that is used is held to the specs dictated by DPMS, final inspection is done at DPMS in house along with any assy and test fire. This also directly from them.

This is the way almost all mfg is done these days.  You farm out certain operations to those that can meet your specs and price.  You CAR is just a parts car.  The components are all farmed out to other businesses.  Ditto your stereo, your computer, etc.

Quoted: DPMS buys barrel blanks from wilson and green mountain / they do there own turning and chambering . . hr

Ya, that is EXACTLY how I would have phrased the fact that they DON'T do it in house, but they check the specs when they get back from the machine shop.

I rifle my own barrels and forge my own receivers too.  Well.....I check them when I get them to make sure they are to spec. anyway.......that's the same thing, isn't it?

I've have multiple DPMS Barrels and they are very accurate, the Bull Barrels are something else. I would reccomend them to anyone


Just my $0.02

Yes, Wilson normally makes very good barrels.  I have one of the 1:9 bull barrels that is a fantastic "tack-driver"  I got another one for one of my sons and it was just so-so, about the best it would do was .700 no mater what I did.

By my post, I was certainly not trying to put DPMS down, I have done and still do a fair amount of business with them.  I have delt with some of the people there for years.  I was an industrial Consultant in manufacturing engineering up until I retired.  I know that certain parts or procedures are often out-sourced to stay competitive, but there is a difference between "manufactures" and "assemblers".

quote]Originally Posted By A_Free_Man:
This is the way almost all mfg is done these days.  You farm out certain operations to those that can meet your specs and price.  You CAR is just a parts car.  The components are all farmed out to other businesses.  Ditto your stereo, your computer, etc.

Yes, take a car for instance, many of the parts are produced by a "third party" and brought on-site for assembly.  But if you go to the Ford plant, you will find "True manufacturing".   Sure the starter or the alternator was not manufactured on-site but the "manufacturing facility" is buzzing with robotic welders, computerized balancers, overhead assembly lines and so on.  That's a big difference than what you will find at some of the AR manufactures.  I have been in several of them before I retired and some of them are "manufactures" with huge amounts of machining centers and turning centers, some of them just assemble.  If you think that a few guys siting at a bench with a soft-faced hammer and a set of roll-pin punches  constitutes a "manufacturer"....you should get out more.  It doesn't mean they don't put out a good product, just they don't "manufacture" it.

Actually your ford plant is just an assembler which uses a welder instead of a hammer to put body parts together that are stamped at an outside source, along with the motor ,drive train and the rest of the parts yet they still call themselves a manufacturer.Semantics aside the only manufacturer I know of that makes its own barrells in house is Colt and even then there extensions are out sourced yes they machine there own uppers and lowers but yet  they still buy there forgings from an out side source along with alot of there other parts which are brought in complete and raw to be finished in house. Yet there considered a MFG.Gee I always wondered why they keep going broke.

I bought one of thier superlight barrels, I am much more impressed with it than I thought I would be. Absolutely no complaints ... its a very high quality, accurate barrel ...

Mardwell wrote If you think that a few guys siting at a bench with a soft-faced hammer and a set of roll-pin punches constitutes a "manufacturer"....you should get out more.

What constitutes a "manufacturer" IS a little fuzzy these days.  When a "manufacturer" buys an item from a vendor, and puts his name on it, he is saying in effect, "this is us."  Whether he got it from vendor A or vendor B should not matter to the buyer, only that it meets the quality of product that expect to get when we pay that manufacturer X dollars.  If that item meets those expectations, it does not matter if it were made inhouse or not.  And this is how "manufacturing" is done these days.

And I do get out quite a bit, thank you for your concern.  

Quoted: .Semantics aside the only manufacturer I know of that makes its own barrells in house is Colt hr

Oly makes their own barrels, they both broach and button IN HOUSE.  I don't realy know if there are others that do or not.  It seems that it's just to tough for you to swallow that there are "manufactures" and there are "assemblers"  and DPMS is an assembler, I like them, I do business with them, I have product that they have assembled in my gun cabinet, but they are assemblers none the less.

True, manufactureing is all to a certain degree.  I did some cunsulting for a major "manufacturer" about 10 years ago.  At that time they were making a form of an ATV.  They made everything, in house, except for: Tires, light bulbs, batteries and a few other minor items.  Since then they have out-sourced quite a bit of the plastic end of the product......They are still a manufacturer.