Be an informed consumer!

[Doc. Holiday]

Tagged for future. Thanks Grant.

[das Gewehr]

Thank you for the great info. I haven't read every single post on this thread as I am new, but perhaps someone would be kind enough to answer a question that nags me.

Living in NY, I've been stuck with the "post-ban" version of the AR carbine, a Bushmaster in my case. eg. No collapsible stocks, no bayonet lug and no flash hider (just a cut and crowned barrel that creates the fireball from hell).

Now that my son is a Marine and is in flight school in Pensacola, he was easily able to find me a carbine I really wanted. He got me a flattop DPMS, with the A2 flash hider, a Mil-spec Magpul 6 position stock etc. I had & will continue to use an EOTech 552 with Magpul BUIS front and rear. I got an aircraft grade aluminum quad rail and the Magpul AFG, which I like better than a vertical grip.

My question is about DPMS. I hear the name all the time, but have never owned one and don't know much about the quality of the rifle. My Bushmaster went through cases of ammo beautifully and worked well clean and dirty, if you can believe it.

Thing is, I don't have the DPMS, as it is not legal under my states AWB, although I sold my house and we are closing in the next couple weeks. Haven't even decided where to move yet! Anyway, without being able to give it a good working over, I don't know what I have.

What's the consensus on what I have and are there things (e.g. parts) I should change on it?

Thanks guys, in advance, for your advice.

[William B.]

Thank you for the great info. I haven't read every single post on this thread as I am new, but perhaps someone would be kind enough to answer a question that nags me.

Living in NY, I've been stuck with the "post-ban" version of the AR carbine, a Bushmaster in my case. eg. No collapsible stocks, no bayonet lug and no flash hider (just a cut and crowned barrel that creates the fireball from hell).

Now that my son is a Marine and is in flight school in Pensacola, he was easily able to find me a carbine I really wanted. He got me a flattop DPMS, with the A2 flash hider, a Mil-spec Magpul 6 position stock etc. I had & will continue to use an EOTech 552 with Magpul BUIS front and rear. I got an aircraft grade aluminum quad rail and the Magpul AFG, which I like better than a vertical grip.

My question is about DPMS. I hear the name all the time, but have never owned one and don't know much about the quality of the rifle. My Bushmaster went through cases of ammo beautifully and worked well clean and dirty, if you can believe it.

Thing is, I don't have the DPMS, as it is not legal under my states AWB, although I sold my house and we are closing in the next couple weeks. Haven't even decided where to move yet! Anyway, without being able to give it a good working over, I don't know what I have.

What's the consensus on what I have and are there things (e.g. parts) I should change on it?

Thanks guys, in advance, for your advice.

Reading here https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7376 and here https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7009 would be a good start. Good luck with your new AR and welcome to the forum!

[chungdae]

Wow very informative.

[GunBugBit]

Something must be very wrong with my non Mil Spec rifles, like my SKS, my AK-47 and my non Mil Spec AR-pattern rifles. They all work. Oh, right right right, they are non Mil Spec so of course I should never trust my life to them. They are to be treated as garbage, plinking toys at best. I get it. So happy to see the light now.

[C4IGrant]

Something must be very wrong with my non Mil Spec rifles, like my SKS, my AK-47 and my non Mil Spec AR-pattern rifles. They all work. Oh, right right right, they are non Mil Spec so of course I should never trust my life to them. They are to be treated as garbage, plinking toys at best. I get it. So happy to see the light now.

[Iraqgunz]

Please don't attempt to show your ass by making an ignorant post.

1. AK's do have problems, especially ones that have a mixture of parts from U.S/ foreign sources.

2. Most SKS rifles are in fact surplus and MILSPEC. I have seen very few of them that didn't run.

3. Comparing AR's to the above weapons is silly.

Something must be very wrong with my non Mil Spec rifles, like my SKS, my AK-47 and my non Mil Spec AR-pattern rifles. They all work. Oh, right right right, they are non Mil Spec so of course I should never trust my life to them. They are to be treated as garbage, plinking toys at best. I get it. So happy to see the light now.

[Doc Safari]

1. AK's do have problems, especially ones that have a mixture of parts from U.S/ foreign sources.

I have enough experience to vouch that this is FACT. Truth be told I had so many problems with 922(r) compliant AK's that I no longer consider the civilian version of the AK to be a viable platform.

I also have had enough issues with non-milspec AR's to want to believe every caution spouted by a knowledgeable member on this site.

I can't calculate the thousands of dollars M4Carbine.net saved me by steering me away from junk.

I'm proud that I believed people with greater experience than me and I went right to the "best": BCM, Aimpoint, Daniel Defense, Surefire, MI, Vltor, Vickers Tactical--but you get the idea.

Strange: none of it has failed me yet. I cannot say that about Bushmaster, Streamlight, and other lesser brands I've owned.

Sometimes people really do know what they're talking about on the untrustworthy innernetz.

[Iraqgunz]

I saw AK's in Iraq and Afghanistan that were used and abused beyond imagination. I remember seeing the mismatch of parts, some AK's had parts from 3+ more countries mixed into them. Most of them ran, but not always.

The ones that never seemed to have real issues were those that were still ORIGINAL and used proper mags and ammo.

Very few AK's on the U.S market are worth a shit. Based on experience alone the only ones that come to mind are Arsenal.

I have enough experience to vouch that this is FACT. Truth be told I had so many problems with 922(r) compliant AK's that I no longer consider the civilian version of the AK to be a viable platform.

I also have had enough issues with non-milspec AR's to want to believe every caution spouted by a knowledgeable member on this site.

I can't calculate the thousands of dollars M4Carbine.net saved me by steering me away from junk.

I'm proud that I believed people with greater experience than me and I went right to the "best": BCM, Aimpoint, Daniel Defense, Surefire, MI, Vltor, Vickers Tactical--but you get the idea.

Strange: none of it has failed me yet. I cannot say that about Bushmaster, Streamlight, and other lesser brands I've owned.

Sometimes people really do know what they're talking about on the untrustworthy innernetz.

[Doc Safari]

Very few AK's on the U.S market are worth a shit. Based on experience alone the only ones that come to mind are Arsenal.

Unfortunately, not even them. If you got an early milled 922(r) compliant SA M7 they were every bit the legendary civilian-legal AK that was famed of song and story. And around 2002-2003 you could get one for around $650. Sure you had to tolerate the shark-gill muzzle brake and no bayo lug, but the fit and finish was nearly handmade. I loved mine.

As Arsenal's costs went up and quality went down, I watched internet gripes that included: canted sights, MIM hammers that would shatter, unreliable feeding in .223 offerings, mag wells machined off-center (in guns converted from Bulgarian single-stack rifles), paint jobs that would melt with any real powder solvent, and other problems. I even quit following the internet problems with them around 2008.

The sad thing is the $650 rifles were better than the $1,400 rifles.

I sure wish I had my ban-era SA M7 back, but I wouldn't give you the cost of a DPMS rifle for any current Arsenal even if they worked the bugs out.

I am convinced that the only really well-done civilian-legal AK's were the IMI Galils. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone having a problem with one--maybe because there were so few.