New Here a few questions to start

[HallieKinIA]

Hi, I'm Hallie and I have my first AR.
I've been shooting my husbands guns for a while,
and recently started adding my own to the safe.
My question is why did my husband ( known here as exiledto IA )
seem surprised when I bought a DPMS instead of a Colt?
I handled the only Colt the gunshop had and it's balance wasn't
as good for me as the DPMS ( Classic Sporter with a 16" barrel ).
The Colt had a 20" on it.
I'm not very big and the longer guns don't fit me as well.
Joe has always told me that if a gun isn't comfortable you won't shoot it enough
to do any good, so why the surprise that I went with what fit me.
besides his rifle sling pokes me when I shoot his rifle.

[Jay Cunningham]

Probably because the Colt is a much higher quality rifle than the DPMS. Colt rifles are also available in 16" barrel models, BTW.

[Thomas M-4]

Dpms doesn't have the best reputation for building a quality AR-15 rifles.
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=6642
Read the linky it will explain the technical differences between the brands.
Also the AR-15 rifles are modular meaning that you can get any brand to balance the way that the DPMS is balanced out as. Or any accessories that the DPMS came with that you liked.

[6933]

Better choices for not much diff. in price. Many options for slings.

[bkb0000]

i'll just add evidence- DPMS doesn't make a very good rifle. they cut every corner they can get away with, essentially, and it leaves their rifles extremely hit-or-miss. even if you get a good shooter, you're probably going to have limited durability with it..

i'm guessing you havent fired it? is it possible to return to the store you bought it from?

otherwise, i'd strongly suggest selling it and getting a DD, LMT, Sabre, BCM, or Colt, or even Noveske if money isn't an object.

[HallieKinIA]

i'll just add evidence- DPMS doesn't make a very good rifle. they cut every corner they can get away with, essentially, and it leaves their rifles extremely hit-or-miss. even if you get a good shooter, you're probably going to have limited durability with it..

i'm guessing you havent fired it? is it possible to return to the store you bought it from?

otherwise, i'd strongly suggest selling it and getting a DD, LMT, Sabre, BCM, or Colt, or even Noveske if money isn't an object.

Actually it has alittle over 500 rounds thru it.
Only problems were from a bad magazine, once we took that magazine out of the
stack no problems.
joe was with me at the shoots and kept an eye out for anything.
the Colt at the gunshop didn't seem to fit together as well as the DPMS, it rattled.
Joe's Colt doesn't rattle so I wasn't sure if there was something wrong with
the one in the shop, and i wasn't going to spend an extra $400 on something
he would have to fix before it would work.

By the way thanks to all, I guess Joe was right when he said I should come here
if he wasn't available and I had questions.

[andy t]

Don't worry about the slight "rattle" loose fit does not affect function at all. There is play in my rifles as well.
Comparing a 20" rifle to a 16" carbine is apples to oranges. It's a shame that they did not have any other 16" barreled AR rifles.
With that said, you may get lucky or by not subjecting it to extreme use, there may not be any issues with it. Only time will tell.

[HallieKinIA]

Don't worry about the slight "rattle" loose fit does not affect function at all. There is play in my rifles as well.
Comparing a 20" rifle to a 16" carbine is apples to oranges. It's a shame that they did not have any other 16" barreled AR rifles.
With that said, you may get lucky or by not subjecting it to extreme use, there may not be any issues with it. Only time will tell.

Well to be honest this one will be a learning rifle. I didn't expect to get things
perfect my first try.
I'll shoot this one and Joe's and anyone else's I can get my hands on and get
a better idea of what I want.
If we can't find it locally Joe says there are people here on M4 that can help.
Again, thanks to all.