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.
