Hello all.  I am not sure where best to put this post- my apologies.

I purchased an AR over the last weekend, finally!  It is a DPMS, RFA2-Bull20-A3.  For starters I am VERY impressed with it.  I looked at several Bushmasters and an Eagle Arms and found this DPMS to have the nicest looking finish as far as metal work.  I was equally impressed upon opening the box and finding 2 mags, a sling and swivel stud, a thank you card signed by the president of the company, a manual and plenty of literature about the rifle and its care.

But, I have some questions that I hope someone can help me with.  First, although I will be installing and using the swivel stud for a bi-pod, I think I read somewhere that that stud, being installed in the free-floating forearm, is not to be use for attachment of a sling.  Now, maybe it is just S.O.P. for DMPS to pack the rifles with a sling, but can someone give me an idea of where I can attach the sling to my new rifle?  While not terribly heavy, the bull barrel is going to make for some weary arms when huffin’ it across these Iowa cornfields after ‘yotes.

Second, I like to be able to periodically disassemble my firearms completely for maintenance.  I inquired the dealer about removing the free-floating forearm and he advised me that it just “unscrewed”.  When I got it home and inspected it I see that it does not just “unscrew”.  The gas tube goes through the receiver end of the forearm and it appears that I have some dissembling to do, as well as the need for the special FF wrench…??  Can someone tell me the process for removing the FF forearm?

I also purchased “The Wedge”.  I understand the benefits this part will instill.  My question is should I actually install it now, or wait until I actually have some play in the receiver.  I am just not sure if the additional pressure on the parts involved (it is quite hard to join the receivers with the wedge installed) will cause accelerated wear when the wedge is installed.

And finally,  can someone suggest a scope mount and rings, either separate or integral, that will get a scope with a 50mm objective down low, closest to the bore centerline.  I would like to find something that is detachable and if it is 30mm with 1" adapters all the better.

Thank you.

[beer] Enjoy your rifle.[:)]

Welcome to the addiction.

As for the Wedge, as far as I know only people who need it install it. If you don't have any play, Forget about it.

Look forward to seeing Pics.

                                  KZ

Thanks KZ45 and VA-gunnut.

I hope to borrow a friends digicam soon to get some pics up. Sometimes I get mod-crazy with my guns and my trucks, but may keep this one simple and functional for a while.  Maybe.

I expected as much for the wedge- thanks for the info.

If anyone can give me insight on my other questions I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks again

Weird; the whole purpose of a free-floating forend is so the pressure exerted on the forend by tightly slinging the rifle for target shooting does not transfer onto the barrel, affecting point of impact. Hence the sling stud.Look to see if it's a two-piece forend (barrel nut-which is the part the gas tube goes through, and the forend tube itself, which screws onto the barrel nut); there should be a seam where the two pieces join together about an inch and a half (give or take) from the rear. I almost forgot: most FF tube-type forends have some method of locking the tube in position, once it's indexed (can be either a set screw of some sort, or a lockring). If you'te going to disassemble the tube, make sure you've loosened it. But for normal maintenance, you shouldn't really have the need to remove it. You can't go wrong with a set of ARMS #22H rings, in my completely honest opinion.

P.S. The best thing you can do to improve your accuracy with the rifle is to install a quality trigger. I like the Rock River Arms 2-stage, myself, but there's also the JARD, the KAC, JP Enterprises, the Jewell, the Accuracy Speaks, and...well, you get the idea.



Enjoy the rifle!

Congrats on your rifle Wantone! Can't help ya out with the free float question. I did put a wedge in one of my rifles when it was fairly new and really not needed. I trimmed the bottom of the thing a bit to lighten the pressure a little. It's an experiment to see which of my rifles gets loose first, I'm betting it's gonna be the one without the wedge installed. Time will tell. As far as the scope mount I bought an Armalite one piece mount. I believe you can get one in 30mm or 1". I'm not sure if you can get 30mm to 1" adapters or not. Go to Armalite's site and see. I have found this mount to be excellent. It's very well made and rugged. Fits my top rail perfectly and returns to zero everytime I remove and replace it. It has large heavy duty tightening knobs that so far for me have not vibrated loose when firing the weapon. Enjoy your new buddy and good shootin'!!

Shabo

Congrats on the new toy--no turning back now. Not familiar with DPMS FF tubes.
Use the wedge only if you need to. Most ARs are tight enough you don't need it but a good thing to have in the parts box.
I'm with [b]Zardoz[/b] 100%! ARMS Mounting systems and rings all the way. The ARMS 22 are a throw lever base and ring combo that are guaranteed to return zero. I have 3 sets and have removed them a number of times and they do return to zero. You may want an ARMS 36EX for proper cheek weld. Maybe I have a long face but the rings alone weren't quite high enough to see through my scope comfortably.

Thanks for the info guys.  I expected as much for the wedge, and will put it on my bench for a later date.

I am not sure where I saw the info about the sling swivel.  I understand it is to remove the pressure from the barrel.  When the bi-pod is utilized, the weight of the rifle alone is nil.  But, if slung over the shoulder, I think there might be additional pressures and strains on the forearm attachment.  Only thing I can figure.

I do see the seam toward the rear of the FF forearm, but am not sure how much pressure to apply to remove the tube.  When I got the rifle home, before I realized the gas tube went through the end, I “tried” to remove the forearm as the dealer had said.  It didn’t budge.  And I do not see any “set screw” or other restrictive device.

I did purchase an “American Spirit Arms” base with integral rings, but I want to get the centerline of the scope as low to the centerline of the bore as possible, and wondered if anyone knew of something better.  I have now looked at the A.R.M.S. 22’s and will probably switch to those after I get some measurements from my setup.

Anyone else able to help with the forend and swivel stud?

All info appreciated!