AR Sponsor
Posted: 12/22/2010 9:36:03 AM EDT
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Before all you Armalite, POF and Mega Arms guys start in on the, "I told you so" line, I'll launch my pre-emptive defense and say, "yeah, yeah, yeah, I should have spent the extra $500".
Last year I bought an LR-308C brand new from DPMS. I bought the "C" model because I wanted the forward assist, dust cover and the 20" heavy barrel. I had plans to drop the A2 Hg's, add a FF tube, and add an optic. However, the handguard situation has become a nightmare. Upon reccomendations from several board members I bought a modular handguard system from JP Rifles. They had a great reputation and I felt perfectly safe with this system for my rifle. They made a model specifically for the LR308 that looked perfect for the job.They also offered a picatinny rail that bolted to the top of the HG for a BUIS or whatever else I might feel the need to mount. It all looked great, but that's as good as it got. The "long" and the "short" of it? The HG is too short for the DPMS gas system. There is a 3/8-1/2" gap between the front of the HG and the back of the gas block. Way too much for me, unsat! And the rail section that bolts to the top of the HG is too high to line up with the rail on the reciever. A call to JP finds that the HG is within spec but they have no answer why the rail wont line up. A call to DPMS turns up the fact that the 20" heavy barrel has a longer (1/8'+/-) gas system and NONE of the commercially available rails or free float HG's will fit properly with this barrel without being reworked considerably. The guy at DPMS claimed that this was done for the military (?????) and he's not sure how I got a hold of the rifle I did. My BS meter went off big time when I heard this. Needless to say, the rifle is being put back together into it's A2 configuration, the rail section is being returned to Brownells and the HG is being returned to JP. JP offeres a 15" length HG but I don't want that, DPMS has a full length aluminum tube but it's too short and I'm thinking this rifle is just better left with the A2 HG's rather than face another fiasco trying to upgrade them. I won't buy another DPMS 308 and JP's reputation has been seriously compromised in my eyes. The rifle is reliable and accurate and I'm sure it will contnue to shoot well even without being free floated, this whole goat rodeo has just pissed me off to a level I rarely reach. Rant over. |
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We told you so....you should have spent another $500.
Just kidding brother. Sorry you're having tough times with it. If it makes you feel any better....... My LR308 ran great. I sold it because I thought it wasn't good enough. I bought an LMT MWS......and had to send the bolt back in because the coating was flaking off. (pissed was I) However, if you fast forward, LMT made it right, replaced the bolt and I'm a happy SOB now. I spent an additional $1500 to feel happy about my 308 ebr. |
| It sounds to me like you didn't properly research your plans before you delved in. And it seems you should have just had an armorer custom build the rifle you want, the way you want it. Its well known that the Dpms recievers have a different height than some of the handguards out there. From the sounds of things JP hasn't done you wrong in anyway. I have changed my plans on several of my rifles because it just didn't look/feel like I wanted it to when I got it done. I didn't blame anyone, just chalked it up to the fact I made a wrong decision and then got excited about the new parts I was going to get. |
| Every time someone repeats DPMS' story about "the military wanted it" I laugh and cry a little inside at the same time. They did it so it would be proprietary and they could sell more of their own product. Stupid move as the market will invent new solutions to stupid problems. There are more .308s on the market that take interchangeable parts, diminishing DPMS' market share. Stupid business move. |
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DPMS changed the height of their upper rail recently. There are at least 2 different topics on this very board regarding this on page 1.
It sounds to me like you didn't properly research your plans before you delved in I blame myself for having not enough time to adequately research the project and not enough money for a better rifle but most of the blame falls in my assumption (yes I know the saying about "assumption being the mother of all F-ups") that everything would work as advertised. Doom on DPMS. |
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Quoted:
DPMS changed the height of their upper rail recently. There are at least 2 different topics on this very board regarding this on page 1.
It sounds to me like you didn't properly research your plans before you delved in I blame myself for having not enough time to adequately research the project and not enough money for a better rifle but most of the blame falls in my assumption (yes I know the saying about "assumption being the mother of all F-ups") that everything would work as advertised. Doom on DPMS. My friend and I built rifles on LR 308 stripped receivers about 2 1/2 to 3 years ago. They both have the new (lower) rail height. He used a DPMS float tube and mine runs a standard rifle handguard with front sight gas block. Took about a year to finish both do to the run on parts / uppers. |
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Quoted:
DPMS changed the height of their upper rail recently. There are at least 2 different topics on this very board regarding this on page 1.
It sounds to me like you didn't properly research your plans before you delved in I blame myself for having not enough time to adequately research the project and not enough money for a better rifle but most of the blame falls in my assumption (yes I know the saying about "assumption being the mother of all F-ups") that everything would work as advertised. Doom on DPMS. DPMS did nothing wrong. You messed this up not them. Stop blaming other people for your mistakes. Do better research next time. |
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You done messed up, son.... You made assumptions. The newer .308's from DPMS have a lower rail so that standard AR iron sighs and gas blocks can be used and still line up properly. You can supposedly get the thinner/lower top rail straight from JP for the lower receiver rail. You should have measured the gas system before ordering your handguard if you wanted it to be covered. 12" will not hide the gas block on a 20" barrel...  |
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Maybe I am not following your complaint.
JP and DPMS seem to not be at fualt at this This is my JP installation, all of which came from brownells 
You can buy a gas block that is the same height as the uppers but cannot remember who makes it. In all honesty it sounds like you didn't do your homework and now you have sand in your vag about it. |
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