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Posted: 9/27/2009 7:59:33 PM EDT
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Well I finally got my first AR, or AR-type weapon if you will. I know it's not one of those high-speed, low-drag types, but it serves my needs which are little more than plinking, maybe some light hog hunting and home defense from the bands of stray dogs that show up from time to time at my place. I picked up my DPMS Sportical on Thursday of last week and finally got a chance to put some rounds through it. I tell you, it was hard to not blast away and take my time to follow good barrel break-in procedures.
I wound up putting 60 rounds of PMC Bronze through with no problem. The last 20 were fairly quick with some double and triple taps. I've got a fair bit of experience with AK style carbines and the SKS, but this is my first time shooting a .223 and I can see why it's so highly favored. The recoil is almost nothing, accuracy is good (though I didn't have room to shoot past about 20 yards, and I wasn't focused on it today) and the light weight make it tons of fun. For now I just have a cheap Tasco red dot optic that I had laying around. I'm saving up for a better sight. I could use some spacers to raise the sight up a hair for slightly better eye/optic alignment, but it's functional for now. If anyone has a good suggestion for something that would work I would be very appreciative. Here's the pics that I know will be asked for. Also included is my EDC, my Springfield XDM .40. http://i873.photobucket.com/albums/ab295/chakra71/IMG_1321A-1.jpg http://i873.photobucket.com/albums/ab295/chakra71/IMG_1315-1.jpg http://i873.photobucket.com/albums/ab295/chakra71/IMG_1314-1.jpg |
| I liked last year's case better. You could put the gun and a pistol in it and only drag one case around. But to the OP. Nice DPMS. I have the AP4 5.56 and the AP4 .308 by them. Love them both. You may run into some haters on the "Sportical" aspect. (No sights & No Foward assist) You will most likely never use the foward assist. Look at www.sportsmansguide.com for some good optics. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on an optic to have fun. Look at a company called Barska. They make some good optics for around $100.00. Have fun and welcome to the family. |
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Don't let anyone bang on you for getting a Sportical. While they are not the "hot setup" for some they are a practical, simple rifle that will serve your needs quite well. I had one but my neighbor liked it and bought it from me. He loves it.
They are great for casual plinking and would make a serviceable field (hunting) rifle. There are a lot of optics you could put on it, just depends on what you want to do with the gun. Some don't like the lack of a forward assist. Truth is, most people never use the forward assist. As for the dust cover, same is true. For a true military rifle those items have far more value. The one thing I would change on the rifle is the stock. I like the Mag Pul MOE I have one one of my AR's for value. There are so many choices, its all in what you want. Enjoy your Sportical! |
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Trust me I get yelled at all the time. I bought a Ruger 22/45 friday and friday night was suppose to be date night, well... I cleaned my new gun. I got in trouble just like I always do. Its inevitable were men we love guns were going to get in trouble for it.  LOL. You cannot buy toys on date night man! You'll never hear the end of that! |
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You will be happy with that rifle and your next one and your next one.
For optics - take a look at Mueller. Good quality. You can get the APV on Ebay or other places for $115 shipped Also look at Burris P.E.P.R. for a mount. I really like it. MidSouth $69 I believe, if they still have it. You could try the regular risers first and see if they work for you. Enjoy! |
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Trust me I get yelled at all the time. I bought a Ruger 22/45 friday and friday night was suppose to be date night, well... I cleaned my new gun. I got in trouble just like I always do. Its inevitable were men we love guns were going to get in trouble for it. LOL. You cannot buy toys on date night man! You'll never hear the end of that! QFT. My gun buying time somehow correlates with when my wife is at work .
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I bought a Sportical about a month ago and haven't had any problems out of it yet. I've put about 500 rounds through it so far. The only problem I'm having is trying to decide what I wanna put on it. Congrats on your purchase and welcome to an upcoming empty wallet. 
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Trust me I get yelled at all the time. I bought a Ruger 22/45 friday and friday night was suppose to be date night, well... I cleaned my new gun. I got in trouble just like I always do. Its inevitable were men we love guns were going to get in trouble for it. LOL. You cannot buy toys on date night man! You'll never hear the end of that! Get her something from Tiffany's...they see that little blue box and all is forgiven! |
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I have three DPMS (no Sporticals, though) and love them. The best thing you can do is send the trigger to Bill Springfield (Google him) and have him clean up that crappy trigger for about $35 and shipping. What a deal! Have had all of mine done.
Have one low end Nikon scope that works pretty well. Others are high end Nikon. I use iron sights mostly and they are a great way to REALLY get to know the rifle. Never used a forward assist on any rifle that has it, and the dust cover is annoying anyway. My two LR308 DPMS are smooth sided and I really like that. Welcome aboard! |
| Nice rifle! For a good, cheap optic, i'd recommend Primary Arms. They have a nice little 4X and also some good red dots with cant. mounts so you can mount the magnifier behind it. |
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Armalite and RRA both sell inexpensive scope mounts designed for ARs that will get that scope up to a more reasonable height. http://www.armalite.com/Categories.aspx?Category=a14c8168-f1cf-4f11-8859-bafe17a66e1e If you get more serious about shooting ARs in the future you can ditch that upper and get something better easily enough. |
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If you get more serious about shooting ARs in the future you can ditch that upper and get something better easily enough. That is exactly the plan. I hope to be tweaking and upgrading this thing for quite some time. Thanks for all the feedback and pointers on the optic options. |
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I almost bought a sportical a few months back. They are nice rifles. I think they look cool without all the other stuff. Lean and mean.
As far as optics, if you want 1x red dot mid range price, look at Burris XTS-135. For cheap another brand is Truglo. I have a truglo on my hipoint carbine. It does just fine. And get the rings/riser after or at the same time as your optics to be sure they are compatible. |
Not to poop on someone's thread about buying their first AR , but there is nothing "mean" about the sportical. It is a budget AR with a lot of corners cut. Course if all you want is a plinking hunting AR with maybe getting a bravo co or lmt upper later if you like shooting it might be okay. |
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Not to poop on someone's thread about buying their first AR , but there is nothing "mean" about the sportical. It is a budget AR with a lot of corners cut. Course if all you want is a plinking hunting AR with maybe getting a bravo co or lmt upper later if you like shooting it might be okay.to each his own. |
| I got a Sportical early last year as well and like it alot...as was already mentioned mine came with the plastic/foam case as well, personally I like yours better, I have put many rounds through mine without a hitch, sure there are better rifles but for a starter rifle the Sportical serves its purpose. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Oh, check the staking on the gas key, dpms is pretty bad at that. Easy fix Yep, I did check it and the staking is pathetic. Almost zero deformation. It will be fixed before I go shooting again. Most of the gas keys from the big name places are like that. I was at an armorer's course last (?) year and all the Bushmaster/dpms/kit guns etc had terrible stake jobs. The rra looked like someone slapped something sharp across the top real quick. Easy fix though. |
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Hah, the targets I was using for the AR didn't get saved, but I did save this one.
My 10 year old daughter shot this group from 7 yards with a Smith & Wesson model 28 (Highway Patrolman) shooting 38 specials. It's enough to make a father proud.
http://i873.photobucket.com/albums/ab295/chakra71/IMG_1345.jpg Note, that's a tear to the right where the round bounced off the backstop. All 6 shots are in a fist sized group. This was also her first 6 of the day, and turned out to be her only ones due to having company show up for her birthday party. It won't be long she'll be rocking my 41 magnums! |
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Nice rifle, I had a DPMS in California before the registration scheme and we shot that carbine often.
I never had problems related to parts breakage and it shot my 52gr Sierra bthp reloads pretty well with a compact 3x9 Pentax on the carry handle. I sold it to a friend rather than register it and my friend is still shooting it. You might check at AIM Surplus (banner above) in the accessories and parts for AR 15's and look at the mounts & optics section to view the mount made by CAA that is for 30mm tubes. Adco in the Industry forum sells a Rock River rail that I believe raises your scope about .70 that the mount you have now will work with. ETA: Tell your daughter that's some darn fine shooting! You might want to keep those 41's away from her because when she finds out how well most 41's shoot she might want to keep one or two of them for herself. |
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i've had mine for a few months now and i'm very pleased. sure, the stock is kinda flimsy but a set of rails, grip and eotech some trigger work and it will run with my buddies tricked out RRA all day.....and it's a whole lot lighter.
most of the accuracy is in the shooter, second to ammo. i've seen an old guy with a 40 year WELL used old bolt 22 school a guy with a full bass pro shops "i just got a bonus and they saw me coming" special "shooter package" at 150+ yds....no optics. let me be clear, i am very grateful for this board and there isn't a single better place to learn what you need to learn quickly, efficiently and accurately but...i've been reading here for a while and all these guys have issue with anything that isn't super hi-end custom upper this, bcg that....most of it is "in the kool-aid the jones' are drinkin' this week". every hobby has it; motorcycles, car racing, electronics, power tools, lawn furniture....."hey bob....you got the new bla bla....no?....huh..." granted, you do get what you pay for so don't buy the super cheap (like sour cream...trust me on this one) but the fact of the matter is that 85% of them will a) never know the diff, b) ever be in a situation where it makes a difference (excluding those that get a paycheck for being in harms way of course!). the odds of you running that firearm past the limits of it's ability and leaving you stranded are slim and none.....and slim moved last week. don't get me wrong, i'm all about prepared (navy sar will sort that out double-time!) but honestly...when was the last time you heard of a pack of suburbanites drawing down in a full firefight. by my last check....and i'm not a history expert.....it was sometime near the turn of the last century when the word "wild west" wasn't a term most people used and "roughing it" wasn't the plot line for a reality show! love it, run the shitte out of it, clean it like a normal person (not like some OCD posterchild on meth), drop a few paper terrorist and maybe a few varmints, spend you money on your kids ...and switch to lemonade. |
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