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Posted: 11/26/2013 10:39:20 AM EDT
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Hey guys, Wally World has a DPMS flattop for $617.00. They have a Colt 6920 or 6940 for $1200.00, twice the price. Now I know the Colt is better, but just how bad is the DPMS? What am I giving up?
For information purposes, in the past I have owned a pre-ban (pre '94) Bushmaster, several Colts, and a Rock River Arms AR-15. Those have long been sold, and now I am thinking about getting back in to AR's without spending a lot of money. I don't want to get into building one, so what's the word on the DPMS? Thanks all. |
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Quoted: Hey guys, Wally World has a DPMS flattop for $617.00. They have a Colt 6920 or 6940 for $1200.00, twice the price. Now I know the Colt is better, but just how bad is the DPMS? What am I giving up? For information purposes, in the past I have owned a pre-ban (pre '94) Bushmaster, several Colts, and a Rock River Arms AR-15. Those have long been sold, and now I am thinking about getting back in to AR's without spending a lot of money. I don't want to get into building one, so what's the word on the DPMS? Thanks all. They have a great customer service department, its frequently given good reviews. I wouldnt pay $1200 for a 6920, no way. That must be the 6940, a 6920 should be under a grand. |
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You have honestly asked that question in the wrong forum not many around here will show love for DPMS.
For the average shooter most people will never experience any difference between the DPMS and Colt. Colt does have a better warranty than DPMS and Colt does more extensive testing and higher standards for the parts they use when comparing the 617 DPMS to the 1000 Colt. What do you intend to do with the rifle? |
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The quality is fine... it's not mil spec.
DPMS, Bushmaster, and Remington are all under the same corporate umbrella now. The quality is about on par with about a half a dozen other companies, it's not terrible, it's not perfect. May be a sliver under the entry level RRA. About the same cosmetically as the low end Colts. The real thing to notice is that I think that's the Sportical they are selling, so no dust cover, but the receivers are aluminum, the stock and forearm are kind of cheap. |
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Quoted:
The quality is fine... it's not mil spec. DPMS, Bushmaster, and Remington are all under the same corporate umbrella now. The quality is about on par with about a half a dozen other companies, it's not terrible, it's not perfect. May be a sliver under the entry level RRA. About the same cosmetically as the low end Colts. The real thing to notice is that I think that's the Sportical they are selling, so no dust cover, but the receivers are aluminum, the stock and forearm are kind of cheap. The Colt is not true mil-spec neither is the DPMS. The Colt is a commercial mil style rifle where as the DPMS is a commercial rifle. True mil-spec would be a M4 select fire rifle the Colt is just to closest you will get to mil-spec. |
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Go on youtube and watch TCarmorys video on AR15 quality and what your money is getting you.
He does a very good job covering the difference from entry level AR's 600-700 dollar price range, mid range AR's like 900-1500 price range, then high end AR's like 2 grand and up what you get ultimately depends on what kind of person you are, how often you shoot, and what you want. Im the type of guy who likes to have the best I can afford. Buy what you want to begin with. |
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Quoted: You have honestly asked that question in the wrong forum not many around here will show love for DPMS. For the average shooter most people will never experience any difference between the DPMS and Colt. Colt does have a better warranty than DPMS and Colt does more extensive testing and higher standards for the parts they use when comparing the 617 DPMS to the 1000 Colt. What do you intend to do with the rifle? There is an exception to every rule ... My first Ar-15 was the Colt 6940. Like a lot of people on here, I feel it hits an optimum VALUE point at the intersection of price and inherent accuracy. It is also one of the lighter rifles - coming out of the box at 6.9 pounds. My second AR-15 was a DPMS. It does not meet the same specifications as the 6940. It is not as inherently accurate as the 6940. It did not COST anywhere near as much as the 6940. It absolutely will hit a "minute of man" at 100 yards every time. If you are only going to punch paper and have it for a SHTF scenario, I'd recommend the DPMS over the Colt. If you are looking for a "hunting grade" AR-15 AND a rifle you can take to ANY training course without worries, I'd recommend the Colt over the DPMS. I LOVE my Colt. I love my DPMS. There are many rifles like them, both of these are mine.  |
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I paid 570 for my DPMS Sportical a couple year's ago and after a few 1,000 rounds of brass, tracers and steel she still runs like a Timex. It can rock a 8" gong at 220 yards all day long with a 4 power scope. Heck I even ran over twenty 550 bricks through it with .22 conversion bolt. Best money spent for me plus I like the looks of the slickside so I built a slickside 7.5" 7.62x39 pistol too.
What ever you get just lube it up good and shoot the crap out of it 
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Hit the range today and the Sportical was nailing the gongs at 220 yards again with 60rd's of steel ammo and the scope isn't dial in yet
After I got warmed up it was time to breakout little boy and fat man AR pistol's  The 7.62 was knocking spent cases off the tops of metal awnings in the pistol pit due to the concussions and blasting a coke can's and plastic bottle's 20 feet up in the air. Man it's fun day when it's raining case's and can's !
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My first AR was a DPMS quite a few years back. It always ran as it should. The only reason I sold it was because I had an itch to do some buying/selling/trading. My LGS sells various stripped lowers and while a lower works just fine as long as everything is in spec, the DPMS lowers have really nice finishes and in my experience, have been easy to build with.
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Quoted:
One of our best sellers! And yes it has a c258 bolt. Also we have a mail in offer for 4 30rnd mags and a really nice cleaning kit (not the cheap ones)! OP sounds like he's had different flavors before now looking for a different one.  When did you guys start using C258?! Sounds like some strong stuff. 
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| Those have long been sold, and now I am thinking about getting back in to AR's without spending a lot of money.http://goo.gl/FD5Gqx |
| they are fine, over the past 2 years or so we've had a hell of lot more threads on other makes problems than dpms. Remember, 99% of users will never need to use it combat which seems to be the 'go to button' for alot of detractors. DPMS is usually more accurate than the shooter, lots of people on these boards talk about excellent reliability, and generally people who own them like them. I'll bet most of the detractors never owned one |
| If you want a more mil=spec rifle, go over to PSA and order a rifle. If you want to pick this one up, it's not a bad rifle at all. I picked up an Oracle nearly two years ago, swapped barrels, handguards, bcg, and stock/buffer tube set up, and it has been a great rifle. Very accurate, no malfunctions through 3000 rounds, and I didnt have to pay 1500 bucks just to get the rifle. I think I paid around 550 dollars for the rifle. |
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My DPMS would not run steel ammo at all.. not the brown or silver bear ammo either.. :( Sold the upper.. bought PSA upper :) Other options would be Spikes 16" rifle from PArms (on sale now), or maybe Windham Weaponry, or S&W MP15 rifles. Brass vs. Steel Results Which Ammo Was Most Reliable? The data which will probably be most interesting to everyone who reads this article is how often each rifle malfunctioned. To satisfy that particular thirst, here are the basic results: Federal: 10,000 rounds, 0 malfunctions. Brown Bear: 10,000 rounds, 9 malfunctions (5 stuck cases, 1 magazine-related failure to feed, 3 failures to fully cycle) Wolf: 10,000 rounds, 15 malfunctions (stuck cases) Tula: DNF (6,000 rounds in alternate carbine, 3 malfunctions) From : http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/#bookmark3 |
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Quoted: My DPMS would not run steel ammo at all.. not the brown or silver bear ammo either.. :( Sold the upper.. bought PSA upper :) Other options would be Spikes 16" rifle from PArms (on sale now), or maybe Windham Weaponry, or S&W MP15 rifles. My DPMS runs steel (the one with chrome line barrel and ejection port), both Tul Ammo and Wolf, everything I run through my BCMs work just as fine in my DPMS |
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I had two DPMS ARs I built from kits from FAC, man that was a long time ago. They ran fine, very accurate, neither had a chromed bore. One had an issue with bending the firing pin retaining pin, not sure if it was a problem with the BCG or the hammer I was using. I just replaced them when they got too bent to go back in, eventually replaced the notched hammer with a rounded top hammer, problem went away.
OP if money is an issue you would be better off building, its stupid easy and you can save a hell of a lot of money. |
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My friend has a dpms with an A2 upper. His was the first AR I ever shot. But it did have problems. It didn't like any Russian ammo constantly had stuck cases and FTF oh and pmags get stuck in it. I thought this was normal at first but it wasn't until I came to these forums learned how to maintain ARs and what the difference was between low end rifles like dpms and something like BCM. After learning a bunch I disassembled his rifle and found broken gas rings the extractor was worn to a nub and he had never cleaned the chamber.
Once those were all fixed it runs fine but the build quality, the materials just don't equal that of colt or my preference BCM. I personally wanted a rifle that I could trust my life to be it zombies or a bump in the night that might be zombies. He just wants to punch paper once in a while |
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I loved my dpms oracle, I had over 8000 rounds through it in a little over a year, 4" groups at 200yds with my p223 scope. Used it for coyote hunting when not at the range. Never one hiccup ever.
Wish I hadent sold it. While I love my windam I'll be buying another dpms as well, or two... |
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