My New DPMS .308 AP4 Carbine

[billt]

I just picked it up this morning. It had everything I wanted, and the price was right. Removable carry handle with A-2 sights, plus a free floater forend, dust cover, and a forward assist. It came with 2, 20 round mags and the dealer threw in a 20 round Mag-Pul P-Mag which I really like. I'll be picking up a few more. I won't get a chance to crank it up until Monday, weather permitting.

This is my first .308 AR. I have a couple of Springfield M1-A's, and I'll be glad to see how this one stacks up. It seems like a nice, solid, well made rifle. Fit, finish, and overall feel look good, and I really like the sights. I'm still not used to the big magazine! When he handed me the Mag-Pul P-Mag I did a double take because I'm so used to .223.

This thing looks like it's going to get shot a lot! Does anyone have any ammo recommendations? I've been running 42.0 Gr. of Varget under a 168 Gr. Sierra Matchking in all of my other .308's, and it's more or less been my "go to" round in that caliber because it runs well in all of my rifles. Anyway, I'm looking forward to lighting it up!

[billt]

I went to the range this morning with the new .308 DPMS, and overall had a very good range session. The gun functioned flawlessly. No FTF or FTE's. The gun ate everything it was fed. I tried both DPMS magazines that came with the rifle and both fed 19 rounds each of Magtech 150 Gr. FMJ without a hitch. I then switched to the Mag-Pul P-Mag I had for all the rest of my shooting, because that is the magazine I will be purchasing several extras of. It ran fine with everything I stuffed in it.

At 8.25 pounds empty, the gun has very manageable recoil. Much less than a light .308 sporter like my Winchester Model 88 does. It was LOUD! Much louder than any .223 AR-15. Ejection was positive, but it did not damage or ding any of the brass. I don't have any optics on this rifle, and really don't intend to mount any. The standard A-2 sights were pretty close at 100 yards, where all my shooting was from. I had to adjust about 2 inches up and about 2 to 3 inches to the left, and everything after that was well central on the targets.

After about 50 rounds I switched to some handloads I had brought that were loaded with 42.0 Gr. of Varget under a Sierra 168 Gr. Matchking bullet. My eyes were getting used to the sights, and using the small aperture shooting off the bench it was not difficult to get groups that could be covered with a drink coaster. For my 59 year old ageing eyes I'll call that good. I switched to some Hornady 168 Gr. A-Max bullets loaded with the same 42.0 Gr. of Varget. They grouped just a bit tighter, but I would of had to have a scope mounted to really establish which was the better load as far as accuracy.

After taking a break and BS'ing with some of the guys there I tried some informal offhand shooting on the 200 yards steel plates. It was very easy to achieve steady hits. This rifle is very easy to shoot accurately. Much more so than my Springfield M1-A's are offhand. It being shorter is far less muzzle heavy and less tiresome to shoot from an offhand stance. All in all I ran a total of 220 rounds through the gun. More .308 than I normally would shoot at a single range outing.

Before I left I heavily lubed up everything, and after every 30 rounds or so, I gave the bolt and bolt lugs several drops of Mobil 1 to keep everything good and slick. After I got home the gun cleaned up effortlessly. Everyone has their own method of lubricating AR's. For me more is better. I disassembled the bolt carrier group and washed everything in clean Kerosene, then blew everything dry with compressed air. After that the gun was spotless. I then re oiled and greased everything, and the gun was as spotless as before I took it out of the case.

I used Bore Tech Eliminator in the barrel, and it cleaned up much easier than I had expected. I didn't get the barrel very hot, and gave it plenty of time to cool off between magazines. It was mostly cloudy and cool out with almost no wind at all. Overall I'm very pleased with this rifle. The gun ran perfectly, shot where it was aimed, and was easy to handle doing it. I wished I hadn't waited so long to get into the .308 AR game. These guns are a lot of fun, and I couldn't be more pleased.

[inchr48]

Sounds like fun! Thanks for the review.

[spectr17]

Very nice Bill. We can't own a Panther here in CA since it's named on the ban list. We can buy the same rifle without the evil Panther name though, lol. Dang, I just blew a wad on a 5.56 and now you got me wanting a .308. Great info on the lubing, all that oil doesn't attract the sand and silt in the desert? How did you do your barrel break in? Just crank all the rounds through or did you swab the barrel at all during the shoot?

[billt]

Very nice Bill. We can't own a Panther here in CA since it's named on the ban list. We can buy the same rifle without the evil Panther name though, lol. Dang, I just blew a wad on a 5.56 and now you got me wanting a .308. Great info on the lubing, all that oil doesn't attract the sand and silt in the desert? How did you do your barrel break in? Just crank all the rounds through or did you swab the barrel at all during the shoot?

I gave the rifle a complete cleaning after the range trip, so there wasn't any foreign material in it, other than the usual carbon and crud. The heavy lubrication allowed that to wash right off. I didn't "break in" the barrel per say. I was very careful not to overheat it however. I have always believed in the old saying, "if it's too hot to touch, it's too hot to shoot." I see a lot of guys get their barrels smoking hot with a lot of rapid fire. I have never believed in that. I feel that it greatly shortens barrel life.

[henmar77]

308 looks weird as a carbine, but i bet it was fun to shoot

And technically speaking we "Panther Arms" is whats banned. There were some "DPMS Panthers" shipped to California until they just decided to go with straight "DPMS" to make it easy.

[billt]

This is how she looks after I changed out the stock to a Vltor E-Mod Stock. It gives me a full inch extra length of pull. It also produces a much better cheek weld.

[henmar77]

This is how she looks after I changed out the stock to a Vltor E-Mod Stock. It gives me a full inch extra length of pull. It also produces a much better cheek weld.

much better