Small Range Review: DPMS LR-308

After a few trips to the range now figured I'd give a small report.

The model I got has the 24" Bull Barrel, no forward assist, no port cover. Basically a bare minimum to build on.

Things I have added:

DPMS LR-308 Quad Rail
Magpul PRS "Precision Rifle Stock"
Simmons Whitetail Classic Scope
UTG Bipod ($20 version of Harris Bipod)
C-Knights 10 Round Metal Mags
Magpul 20 Round P-Mags

I never fired it stock, I had all of the parts already purchased before the rifle arrived, so I suppose my review may be a bit tainted, but not by to much I imagine. I have now put 400 rounds down the pipe.

1. Initial Trip to Range

Talk about fustrating. No failure to eject but failure to feed every 3 rounds or so. Really disappointed. I was using steel cased WOLF ammo. Fear not, more or less ended up being operator error (see below).

2. Follow Up Range Trips

Turns out the feeding issue was simply a lube problem. I guess the rifle I had bought had been sitting in a warehouse a while and was just dried out. Once I lubed the bolt carrier up nicely and put a bit on the feeding lips of the mags all failures ceased completely. I have since fired everything from brass to cheap steel Russian loads with no problems what so ever.

3. End Report

a. This gun HATES to be run dry. It seems to run best with a coat of oil before every range trip and just to be sure a fresh coat every 100 rounds (for those all day range trips)

b. The UTG bipod is top quality. Shows no signs of wear or breakage, so those who don't want to pay for a name (cough harris cough) this $20 bipod is the same style, all metal, awesome is all I can say. I got the lo-profile model from Cheaper than Dirt dot com.

c. I absolutely love the Magpul PRS butt stock. Adjustable cheek weld and end plate. Expensive, but as always, Magpul has some top quality parts. All of the internals of the stock are metal, not plastic. Good weight, I can see it as a positive plus with a heavy 24" stainless steel bull barrel.

d. The rifle is a tack driver - I primarly use it to shoot small orange clays at 125+ yards - paper just isnt any fun. As a bench rest gun there is zero barrel rise (very heavy rifle) and minimal kick back. I wanted to use this as a hunting rifle, but unless you are in tip top shape lugging this heavy thing around in woods, I dont see it being very practical. Im more than happy to regulate it to fun time @ the range.

e. Cheap Scope vs. Expensive Scope - I got my Simmons WTC for $109.99 (6.5x20x50mm) and thing is more than enough for long range shooting. Even after taking the rifle apart for cleaning it has held zero perfectly. I've yet to own a scope that cost more than $200 - I'm still quite unsure of the need to pay for $500-$1000 scopes. Anybody feel free to chime in.

f. Brass vs Steel - DPMS says not to fire any imported ammo, which is fine and all, clearly I have ignored this. Not here to get in a debate about wear and tear of steel casing, just wanted to say with proper lube this thing gobbles up cheap ammo (and fires just as accuratly) as brass american made ammo.

g. Cool Factor - Dunno about where you shoot, but everytime I bust this big boy out of its case I get lots of questions and "Im jelous" comments from the other range goers. I think they are more interested in the .308 it fires than anything as most people are use to see 5.56 AR-15s. I notice the trend of positive comments come mostly from people firing things like AKs, SKS and rifles of that nature. The old fogies there to zero in their scopes for hunting season also are highly impressed with the accuracy of it, being semi-auto and all. They get a little flustered seeing me pop little orange clays when they are having trouble zero'n in on a paper target. lol(?) So just a little horn tooting, expect to be approached and asked questions depending on the demography of shooters in your area.

I also usually get them hooked on the .308 AR concept by letting them shoot a few rounds @ the clays

h. Weight - not a light gun even before add-ons - lugging it around on your back could get very tiresome.

i. Cleaning - Easy Easy Breakdown, typical AR, just bigger


In the end I would recommend this as a .308 platform for anyone inquiring.

ps: ok maybe that wasnt so short...

 

You read my mind - I heard Fort Gorden will allow me to test it for real.

Is there any info I can read on web about their on sight ranges? Like days and hours open to public and stuff.