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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - DPMS .22 upper quality? (Page 1 of 4)
Posted: 11/6/2011 3:44:28 AM EDT
| We just got a couple of them in the shop and wondered if anyone had some experience with them? Upper comes with bolt and one ten round mag. |
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16 AP4 4140 Chrome-Moly steel 1/2 by 28 Thread Barrel (Per-Ban) With A2 Flash Hider and A2 Front Sight Base with Bayonet Lug.
•Dedicated 1x16 twist barrel •Chambered in 22 Long Rifle •DPMS A3 Picatinny Rail Upper Receiver for 22 only. Forged Mil-Spec 7075 T6 Upper Receiver, With Functional Dust Cover •Uses Carbine Length Two Piece DPMS Glacier Guards (Yes The Hand Guards On These 22 Uppers Can Be Changed To What Ever After Market AR Carbine Length Hand Guards That You Want) •All New Melonite Coated Stainless Bolt Group, With Blowback Operation •Fits Right On To Your Existing AR Style Lower Receiver •Ships With One 10 Round Black Dog Magazine •No Upgrades Available $425 |
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The jury is out on the DPMS .22 uppers. This is not their first go-around on .22 they had their own design some years back but dropped it. What they show looks interesting but who is going to be the "Beta Tester" and drop their money on one to find out? I am sure someone will and hopefully we can get a full report. DPMS is a small part of a big company owned by a group of investors. (The Freedom Group) That worries me as they look only at the next quarter's profit, not long term business. If their .22 doesn't make enough money will they orphan it again? Will we be able to buy parts for it? Will they do continuous improvement on it like CMMG or just let it linger on the vine like Tactical Solutions? That all said, they do have that nice heavy barrel gun listed at a fair price.
I am sitting back watching this one. Meanwhile I love my CMMG's and feel with the number of units they have out there and given the size and nature of their business (family owned) that I trust them more than the corporate giant. JMHO |
| I read a old thread here in the archives awile back on the first version and it was not promising...If you look up Gunblast DPMS dedicated 22 on the net you will find a guy that reviewed them...His review is way more promising than the ones I read here but there are some pics of the older style including one of the Bolt...His review was way back in 2005 I believe..Personally I would not take a chance on one of the new offerings till atleast they have been out for awhile and let others do the testing first..For now CMMG is the way to go..They have proven theirselves to me anyway and have not given me any reason to stray from them as of yet and more likley they will not.....Thanks |
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My only interest is the bull barrel.......I could care less about another .22 AR offering, but I would like to build one with a bull barrel.
I build all my dedicated .22s.........I now only use CMMG conversions and barrel, does CMMG offer something like an 18" stainless bull barrel? Maybe flutted? |
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I believe it's the same as Nordic's. It has a different hand guard and I believe barrel.
It has a bull barrel but don't know the manufacture. Nordic 16" barrel uses a .920 OD under the hand guard and quickly tapers down (under hand guard) to .750 past the hand guard, and is threaded with flashider. Nordic also has bull barrels that are .920 OD that are 17" and 20" Pictures of the DPMS unit are in a magazine, "AR Rifleman", (winter 2011 #89) looks just like Nordic's. I think they got the wrong year because it says "display until March 14, 2011." Probably Winter 2010. On page 114 it has a picture and three paragraphs. |
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I believe is the DPMS is just a another Achissesson, like Ciener, TargetMaster , Model 1 Sales, Spike's, CMMS.
Clearly, the old DPMS the same a Colt, but there no mags, not parts. Nordic in novel, supposed, I have tried, but, only shares mags the all uppers in there. It has similarity with the that 10/22 bolt. |
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Picture from Midway.
Doesn't the bolt area look like Nordic? If the mag picture is correct, it does look like standard CMMG/Ciener, etc....... $399 doesn't suck, if it is an accurate barrel. I would change it out to a rifle or specter length YHM Diamond railed FF forearm.... 
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To answer some questions,
Our new .22 uppers are completely different that our previous design. We developed and built the new upper in cooperation with Nordic, however it is not a Nordic upper. These uppers have been rigorously tested and refined for over a year, based off a proven design. Benched we have seen .5 MOA groups at 50yds with match ammo. Our uppers are professional grade (no plastic), forged receiver, stainless bolt carrier assembly melonite coated. Uses the popular Black Dog mags. 
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Thank you for all the asnwers.......
I assume I know this, but can the handguard be changed out by the end user? Will any style work that doesn't need a front handguard cap? Do you have any close up pics of the bolt, etc?? What is the bull barrel diameter? .920? Thank you! HK_DUDE |
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Quoted:
Can use any car handguards and the bull barrel is .920 Working on the pics Why would it be limitted to CAR length handguards? I assume the handguard that comes installed (I am talking the bull barrel model) is a 1 or 2 piece free float tube....and any AR free float handguard could be used, be it CAR, midlength or rifle length? |
| There are 2 different uppers for sale from DPMS. 1 upper is AP4 style which is basically an M-4 with 16" barrel CAR handguard flat top with fixed sight tower. The second upper is a 16" bull barrel with DPMS metal float tube with no front site or gas block but a flat top upper receiver with forward assist and dust cover. It appears the AP4 sight is pinned on like most centerfire sight towers. DPMS website states these are the only configurations available at this time. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Can use any car handguards and the bull barrel is .920 Working on the pics Why would it be limitted to CAR length handguards? I assume the handguard that comes installed (I am talking the bull barrel model) is a 1 or 2 piece free float tube....and any AR free float handguard could be used, be it CAR, midlength or rifle length? I too am curious about this. I've been planning a 22lr build for sometime and this upper seems like it may be a great starting point. Although, I'd prefer to put rifle length FF tube on. |
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There are people interested in this upper, especially the bull barreled one. Accuracy will be of prime importance to many so some field testing will be in order. Right now we have more questions than answers. Hopefully we will see and hear more about these uppers soon.
The response "we have worked with Nordic" and the bit about it being a proprietary design makes me wonder. Soon as we have one apart we can compare parts and see what's inside this thing. I have used a lot of DPMS parts over the years and have not found fault with any of them. So, hopefully this new series of .22 uppers will live up to their past performance. |
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I spoke with Jason at DPMS this morning. 16" Bull barrelled .22 upper on the way!
Sounds real promising. .5 at 50 yards with Blazer ammo, working bolt catch (Manual lock back, not automatic) which is a nice feature at the range. To answer a question, yes, the hand guards can be changed out for a longer set. Standard AR free float hand guards will work Looking forward to this evaluation. Dave N |
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Quoted:
I spoke with Jason at DPMS this morning. 16" Bull barrelled .22 upper on the way! Sounds real promising. .5 at 50 yards with Blazer ammo, working bolt catch (Manual lock back, not automatic) which is a nice feature at the range. To answer a question, yes, the hand guards can be changed out for a longer set. Standard AR free float hand guards will work Looking forward to this evaluation. Dave N Do it quick, my credit card has me waiting for them to get back in stock at midway 
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Damn guys
I received it today. I have not had a chance to shoot it. Nasty day here. My initial impression is it appears to be a well built, solid upper. It is totally different from the Atchisson bolt system. This is a very simple, straight forward bolt system. The upper receiver is designed for this bolt. It is not a standard AR upper receiver. Outward appearance does look like a standard receiver with the exception of a smaller ejection port. The forward assist is a dummy plug, but is there. The bolt will lock back manually using the existing bolt catch. The bolt looks to be solid with a rod and spring leading to the rear bolt block. I'll post pictures so you know what I'm talking about here. Dave N |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - DPMS .22 upper quality? (Page 1 of 4)
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