Looking at purchasing an LR-308B are there any issues with DPMS taking PMAGS?  Also are there anyknown issues with these rifles?

Thanks
Mharms

My brother just brought one(the DPMS) and it Jammed every third round. We lubed it and that hellped a little. I'm a Dealer and I've just got someone interested in a AR-10 and I'm going to try to sell them something else. I have two M1A's(M-14's) a FAL and a PTR 91. I"ve had A couple of Springfield M1A's and I'm not impressed with the "normal" M1A. but I still like the rifles.  I'm suggesting to my costumer a Match Springfireld or find a nice FAL.  Some one called the AR-10 a beast to shoot. I believe that. I'd buy just about anything before I'd buy a DPMS AR-10.
  Pat

I looked at the M1A but it seem a little out of my reach.  What seems to be causing the jamming issue is it the magagzine or the the ammo or feed ramp?

I like the A3 config a bit better, has the port door and forward assist...



i like my 16" Hbar, it eats everything i feed it and is an actual sub-MOA gun with good 168g :







100yd





500yd

I love my LR308B!  It functions great.

Ryan

Love my LR308B, no issues.  And, PMAGS ok.

Armalite AR10s seem to be more reliable magazine wise.  Although the price is going to be a bit steeper than DPMS/Bushmaster/ect varients that run a different pattern mags.  Then again Magpul mags seem to solve the reliability issue on the DPMS/Bushmaster guns, but they are nearly as expensive as armalite mags.   I am partial to armalite though...

Don't know about the Pmags, but here's your solution. Mine did then same thing until the now ex wife sent me dome Blue Wonder Disotech XFR from Afghanistan for my Bday. I lubed it up with the XFR and shot two full mags with no jams. I cleaned it and then lubed it with the old stuff ( CLP) and it jammed again. I cleaned it off and put the XFR back ion it and it was flawless. That stuff will stay put for  hundreds of rounds and months at a time. I'm trying out SLIP EWL right now on my 6.8 since I couldn't get any Disotech last time, and while it's better than everything else, it isn't nearly as slick, and it doesn't stay put nearly as long as the Disotech XFR. I will be switching back as soon as I run through the EWL.

Saying you are partial to Armalite doesn't need to be said after a post like that .  P-Mags run as low as $15.16 (botach tactical with magpul coupon) last I checked AR-10 mags were closer to $40.  Don't forget about C-Products sr-25/DPMS patterned magazines, I've got 5 and all run flawless just like the pmags and cost $13.5 (again botach tactical with stimulus coupon).

Anyway, I have two 308 DPMS/Bushmaster rifles and one 260 and all run flawless.  I had a 338 Fed that gave me issues but thanks to a couple members on the forum I should have that running smoothly before too long.  For the price I don't thing you can beat DPMS.  Just picked up Bushmaster's re-badged DPMS 16 308 ORC for 799 at Sportsmans.  Sure thats a great deal, an amazing deal, but not once have I heard of an AR-10 or any other 308 AR patterned rifle for anything near that price factory new.  As far as the LR-308B, my only complaint is the lack of a deflector, not for me but for those poor lefties that try and shoot these guns.  I could care less about the FA as mentioned by several others in many threads, you shouldn't have to use a FA with a 308 system.  Being able to find one of these new for close to $900 shouldn't be too difficult.  I would say if thats what is in your price range go for it, they are great guns and although they don't compare to LaRue or LMT, they get the job done and lets face it, 308's rule!

I have a left handed friend and he had no trouble with mine. Some may eject differently however. I bought all of my mags at 44mag.com, and they were much cheaper although they were DPMS mags. They have them at 24.99 right now. They were all flawless, and 44mag.com was great to deal with, and they are a sponsor of this site.

Agrees with Ryan. No problems here!

The pmags in general work better than the factory mags. There's been some that say if you insert them with a slap to the bottom with an open bolt that they will jam because they go in too far. I haven't tried to duplicate that on my DPMS so I can't say, I will say the three I have all work better then the stock mags.

There's been a few people on here with tight or slightly rough chambers and feed or extract issues (usually a polish job fixes it). When I got mine there was six other guys at work that got one around the same time, various configs but pretty much the same results, sub moa with good quality ammo. A couple bad DPMS mags but minor feed lip tweaks fixed them (DPMS knows about it and it's supposed to be fixed).

I love mine and feel it's well worth the price.

I have the DPMS AP-4 .308. The 2 mags that came with the rifle are little more than places to hold ammo neatly, or targets. I swapped them out with C-Products and P-Mags and have no issues what-so-ever. I did take the chamber brush and attach it to a drill and ran it around the chamber a few times on the suggestion of others here.

What does that do for the chamber?

I just got in a DPMS LR-308 A3 and 16" heavy bbl.

Using PMags (modded to 15 for NJ) I ran 85 rounds without any glitches.. was 40' F outside..

I used TW25B on the rifle bolt and such, and a few drops of Hoppes 9 oil.. thats it.. see video yesterday..

I start shooting at 20 seconds in..

DPMS_LR308_AR10

Rifle was $996... saw the LR-308 for about the same (maybe a little less)


Al

I'm actually on my second DPMS 308b right now.  The first one I bought about 3 years ago and barely had it broken in before we found out our first child was on the way, and I sold it to free up cash.  It was was a bone stock slick side 308B and the only thing I did was put in a Timney trigger and it shot sub 1/2" with both Federal GMM and Black Hills match 168gr factory rounds with the edge going to Black Hills.  I hated to see that rifle go.  I never had the slightest problem with how that rifle functioned, never a hiccup.

Recently I corrected the mistake of selling that.  This time I wanted it setup a little differently.  My current one has an A3 upper, a 6-position stock, different grip, and a RRA two stage trigger.  This one did have a tight chamber though.  The first couple times I took it out I really had to just have oil dripping out of the gun for it to function correctly.  Right now I've barely got over 300 rounds through the gun and everything seems to be 100% smoothed out and runnning fine.  I got the same results accuracy wise this go around except the edge went to the Federal ammo this time.  I just worked up a handload for it and I can get sub 1/2" groups with mine using 168gr sierra matchkings and varget.  

Bottom line, buy one!  Make it your own and enjoy.  Just make sure you oil the heck out of it before you go to the range the first time and you'll be alright.

+1 What Teddy12b said.  Good post.

Trigger was a big deal and Timney is worth it.  The other thing is Slash buffer (CAR-10).  Your DPMS will be smooth and accurate.

+2 of the above posts.  Absolutely reliable and accurate, even with surplus ammo.  Could easily be a tack driver.  It will weight around 9 pounds with the 18" bull barrel, fyi.   Mags?  I purchased mine from C-Products.  They work perfectly.  There were some issues with some of the DPMS mags that come with the rifle.  One of mine works fine, the other doesn't but will with a bit of tweaking.  

Finally, you will want to put a good trigger in it.  Stock AR-15 trigger just doesn't do this rifle justice.
Rome

I was pleasantly surprised with the trigger on my second 308b.  I had already ordered the rra two stage in anticipation of a bad trigger but the factory one really wasn't that bad.

I agree with you on that...

I was already to send to get the FCG smoothed out.. and low and behold the factory trigger feels fine for  me..

(if it isn't broken why fix it  )

I read this thread with interest because I'm also in the market for a 308 AR. I made the effort to read back through all the 24 pages of posts in this forum for any posts concerning 308 variants for info on DPMS, RRA and others. the pattern in these posts seems to be as follows:

- there are a lot of very satisfied DPMS owners, no complaints on function or accuracy.

- there are consistent complaints about issues concerning rough or tight chambers, issues that don't seem to be related to mags.

- there are a small but significant number of posts that relate problems with inaccurate (4-6 MOA) barrels that have to be replaced.

the verdict here on DPMS seems to be: most people are very happy with them, a small but significant number of folks have problems with function and/or accuracy. posters with these problems have related issues with customer service.

- RRA, Armalite and high end 308 platforms don't seem to report problems at a similar rate.

- I was able to spend the time reading all these posts because I am laid up with an on-the-job injury. I really do have a life.

I want to get a DPMS 308. I have an upper of theirs in 5.56 that runs well- how do you avoid a problem rifle?

I've had my LR 308B for about 4 years.  No problems, no failures, no worries.  It shoots 1 moa or better with my handloads
I ordered it from DPMS in 308 Win. with the cryo barrel, adjustable gas block,  Hogue pistol grip and a JP trigger.
If I were to order it today, I would not change anything.  The rifle has met or exceeded my expectations.   Current round count is
about 1500 & counting.  The rifle when I got it, was cleaned & lubricated, the bolt & BCG was lubed with moly grease.  The break in was
quick, like flawless from the start.  The fired cases re-size very easily, indicating a tight chamber, brass lasts through at least 4 reloadings.
I have 5 mags,  two DPMS 19 round, one DPMS 10 rd and two C Products 19 rds.   The only changes to all of the mags has been
deburring of the feed lips and deburring of the followers.   All have functioned flawlessly.
Overall; money well spent.

Roger

There's no way to be 100% sure you're going to get a perfect rifle from DPMS, but theres a pretty good chance it'll be just fine.

I don't know that you can do anything to avoid a problem rifle, but if you're unlucky I wouldn't fret too much about it.  One thing I learned, if you buy parts and assemble they are obviously less likely to help out even if their barrel chamber and gas port size are incorrect.  If you buy a complete rifle or just the upper complete they seem to have pretty decent customer service and are willing to help.  At least this has been my experience as well as what I've seen posted.  The DPMS 308 rifles are for the money IMO the best deal out there (I have 3 and will probably have more).  That being said I'm building a MA-TEN rifle using nothing but their BCG because I don't want to chance getting stuck with another barrel or something that doesn't function properly.

Lets not confuse the Armalite AR-10 with the DPMS LR308.
I shot a RRA LAR8 and it had less recoil then an ar-15 carbine (m-4 clone) it shot nice and smooth in my opinion, was much easier to shoot then a bolt action hunting rilfe in a similar caliber, the recoil spring and heavier weight reduces the recoil very well.
My 45-70 is a beast to shoot, the AR 308's are like a 10/22 next to the 45-70.

Yeah in the truest definition only the Armalite is a true AR-10, but in the non-dictionary world the term AR-10 is being used to describe any AR based 308.  The armalite boys are going to have to get over it.  My 308B has been called both by many people and I don't really get caught up on what people call it. I'd rather they just compared their groups with mine before judging the rifle.

This is off topic but there are a couple of guys in there with 308B's so I thought I'd ask.  I'm thinking of buying back up sights for mine and since there's the height difference from the front gas block to the receiver I think I'm pretty much stuck with the midwest industries flip up front sight.  

Have any of you guys put one of those on your 308b?  If so, did it fit on there right?

If yours looks like this (with lower gas-block)..





then yes.. mine went RIGHT ON...

You have to mount it reversed (per the included directions) to clear the FF Tube or Handguard..

Or you can GRIND half of it off to fit flush..

I like reading the name.. reminding me I spent $80 on it.. Lol


Al

Yes, that's the way mine is.  Where did you find the front sight for $80? Everywhere I've looked has been a lot more.

Oups.  Please ignore this post.

If that was a doubletap, you had a bit of a hang-fire there...



 

Yeah I know.  My "smart" is kinda "challenged".

I bought an LR .308 a few months ago (well its an LR.308 upper and California legal lower with DPMS parts kit) and I had a similar problem, but it turns out it is very easy to fix.  The DPMS comes pretty rough from the factory.  I guess that in order to keep the price low they don't do a lot of finish work on them.  This doesn't effect their ultimate longevity or accuracy but they do take a long time to break in and run smoothly.  All I did was to take the gun apart, polish every part of the bolt and bolt carrier, inside of the upper receiver, whatever, that needed to slide over some other part.  I used 2000 (two thousand) grit sandpaper and the whole process took about 15 minutes.  I went to the range and shot about 100 rounds of a wide mix of ammo, from surplus military to several different types of match ammo, and everything functioned perfectly.  I had zero jams, zero failures to feed, zero failures to fire.  I suspect that if I had just suffered through the once every 3 shot jams, firing the gun a few hundred times, I would have ended up with the same result, but it was embarrassing to have to keep manually feeding the rifle in front of everyone at the range.  Now the gun seems to be completely reliable, and very accurate.

I guess DPMS could raise the price a few tens of dollars and do the polishing themselves (it would probably help their image a lot) but for whatever reason they have instead chosen to let the customer save a few bucks and do the extensive break in themselves.  Whatever the case, once you break in the LR.308 it is a highly reliable and very accurate rifle.

At Midway..
Midway.. MI Flip-Up Front Site For Gas-Block.. $79.95


Al

Your link is to the AR-15 sight.  Was that the correct link or did you mean to post a link to the same sight but for the AR-10?  I appologize, but I get very confused on what parts can be used on both and AR-15 and DPMS 308 and what parts can't.