Hello all I am a new guy here but have been reading a bit on this sight . Heres my situation,I have been shooting local club CMP for a few yrs now,mostly with mil. surp bolt rifles and have gotten fairly good with them and have caught the competition bug!  I shot the clubs AR15 last month and shot a 460 first time i ever shot it,So have decided to upgrade and get an AR15 . But which onehink#1 a Colt Hbar competition Model  (used)
#2 DPMS DMC model (used)
#3 RRA standard A2 - New
#4 bushmaster standard A2-  New

There maybe some others and i am sure there is ,Maybe you all have some other ideas .The ones i have listed are all about the same price range ,Ok so lets hear which one you would recomend ,I am alos interested in which one would hold its value best BTW i am not a complete NewBe to an AR15 i have shot and owned one in the past 16 yrs ago. which one would be best for comp.  Thanks in advance.  Tim

None of your choices are optimal, but the best of the four is the DPMS DCM Model.  All the others lack two stage triggers, a free float tube under the handguards, and the finer sight adjustments of the DPMS.

Get the DPMS if that is what you can afford.  Shoot the piss out of it, and upgrade as time and funds permit.

Thanks, So i am assuming that with the AR sling pressure affects accuracy and or POI alot more than other rifles? thus the need for free float tubes? I forgot to also ask what kind of accuracy i could expect with commercial mfg ball. which is prob. what i would be using out of any of these rifles

Bushy DCM has a 20" that looks stock but is a FF tube with a great trigger !

              Invisiblesoul

Quoted: Thanks, So i am assuming that with the AR sling pressure affects accuracy and or POI alot more than other rifles? thus the need for free float tubes? I forgot to also ask what kind of accuracy i could expect with commercial mfg ball. which is prob. what i would be using out of any of these rifles

You are right in your assesment for the need to float the barrel.  If you were able to apply the same exact sling pressure each and every time, you wouldn't need a float tube.  But you can't, so you do.

A decent NM rifle will not limit you in the accuracy department.  Your limitation will be with the ball ammo itself.  Be aware that if you shoot in a club with a 600 yard range, neither M855 nor M193 is going to cut it.  M195 will probably be subsonic by then, with atrocious accuracy.  If you shoot at 300 yards or less, I would suggest sticking to M193 and being really good at reading and adjusting for the wind.

M855 sucks for accuracy compared to M193.  I would expect that you will not get better than 2 to 2.5 MOA with M193.

I've got a Bushmaster DCM rifle that I recently bought used.  It's three years old.  And I've just started NRA High Power competition practice (my first match is this saturday, actually it'll be a CMP course of fire in prep for this summer's NRA match series at my local range), so you can take what I have to offer with those huge grains of salt...


My rifle is whole lot better than I am.  It's also heavy (a good 13 lbs).  It has counterbalencing weights in the stock because without them the heavy barrel makes the gun decidedly front-heavy.  Mine has a two stage Bushmaster NM trigger that wasn't original issue the year the gun was made.  It's an incredible trigger!!!   About a 4lb first stage with a second stage in the 1 to 1.5 lb range - measured with a Lyman trigger pull gage.   The trigger itself is such a huge improvement over the armory M-16's I shoot for qualification (I'm in the USAF) that I figure I'm probably ruined for life when it comes to military qualification.

Between the trigger, the free float barrel, and the heavy weight of the barrel, I'm fairly sure that I won't ever get better than the rifle is capable of.

I guess I don't have any specific advise on the models you mention - other than my impressions on the features I find remarkable.

My advice to you would be to buy:

1. a lower receiver with the internal parts, stock and a stock weight ($270 or so)
2. an RRA match trigger ($100 or so)
3. a whole upper, designed for highpower rifle, either from RRA or (better) companies like White Oak armament or Compass Lake.    

Quoted: My advice to you would be to buy: 1. a lower receiver with the internal parts, stock and a stock weight ($270 or so) 2. an RRA match trigger ($100 or so) 3. a whole upper, designed for highpower rifle, either from RRA or (better) companies like White Oak armament or Compass Lake.

White Oak is definitely the best value for the money IMHO, plus if you buy a RRA trigger through WOA, John will do a little trigger job on the RRA Match trigger for $115.00  

Tim, what's your budget?  

You might be able to buy more than you think.

Quoted: My advice to you would be to buy: 1. a lower receiver with the internal parts, stock and a stock weight ($270 or so) 2. an RRA match trigger ($100 or so) 3. a whole upper, designed for highpower rifle, either from RRA or (better) companies like White Oak armament or Compass Lake.

That's $1050 plus some change.  Based on the rifles he's listed within his budget, $1K is not going to cut it.

Quoted: Tim, what's your budget?   You might be able to buy more than you think.

Well I have about $800 to spend and want to maximise it on the best bang for my buck!  I am fond of the DPMS   DMC model i saw since it has all the bells and whistles already.But am not sure of there reputation for accuracy and realibility?   one question about it i know it has a 1-8 twist rate is that too fast for 55-62 gr. bullets  ?

My advise to you would be to come up with another 160.00 and go with the Rock River NM, no additional trigger work is needed here and it is without a doubt the best value for your money. 1-8 twist is not too fast for 52 gr and up, in fact exceptional accuracy is seen here with these weights and is the hands down choice for reduced 100yd course.

                                                       Good luck.