DPMS - Common Problems?

[Asmodeus6]

You want a black insert, and a o-ring or "d-fender".

If you already have an H-buffer, it will say it on the face of the buffer. If it says nothing, you don't have an H-Buffer.

The standard carbine length gas system puts A LOT more pressure in the gun than rifle or mid-length systems. A carbine gas system on a 16" barrel has 9" of bbl past the port (pressure builds up as bullet travels 9")... the action will cycle reliably with the same gas length, on a 10.5" barrel (3.5" of bbl for the pressure to build).

In addition to this, most DPMS gas ports are bigger than mil-spec ports...so you are getting even more gas into the system than with a Colt M4 or the like.

So yes, your DPMS is overgassed....and so is just about every carbine out there. The midlength gas systems are great, and so are piston guns. If you're going to use a carbine length gas system, you should try and reverse as much of the over-gassing as you can...and if for some strange reason the gun starts to short stroke...then you can lighten up the carrier/buffer some.

Well as per picture. Buffer says nothing. Is it marked on the face or elsewhere on the buffer itself? I already knocked the pin out to replace the OEM hard clear stop with a poly one from black jack. Maybe its why I'm not noticing any heavy hits? It has a rounded nose instead of the flat taper. It could be absorbing some of the impact of it being over gassed? While I had the nose off, one of those discs fell out. I put it back in as it came out and didn't look at the rest of it - in fear of maybe messing up some orientation of the way it all sat. I guess I should have looked at it. But I didn't for fear of not having it go back as it was. (To be honest I didn't know what was in there, could have been something sprung, or situated a certain way.) So when in doubt. I pack things back up exactly the way they were. Learn what I'm doing, then proceed accordingly if I need to. I didn't see a need to dump it out and risk the unknown. Now that I know its just a stack of weights. I can knock that pin out in 3 seconds and replace if need be. So I should start with the H and move up until it won't cycle? Then move back down to the last one it cycled on?

Yeah, what he said. Basically don't start with an H3 buffer. What I meant by SRB is a side release or Fastex buckle. it will provide a quick release in case your rifle gets caught on something you can quickly release it. You might also want to check out the DD endplates, the Burnsed Loops are supposed to be of exceptional quality.

This is the sling I have. It has a break away buckle built into it. Again, it would be nicer if it was a 2pt or something more useful. It will get relegated to sitting in a box when I have a provision for something else.

This is the end plate I have now.

This, is similar to the one I took off due to -horrid cut my fingers off in the way of the charging handle WHO THE FUCK DESIGNED THIS? Minus the center button looking thing. Imagine it flat like the other.
Horrible! It split my finger right down the center of the nail into the white meat. I swear they sharpened every possible edge on it.

Looking at the DD sling adapters I see the same problem. The loop is too high on the buffer tube - and again gets in the way of your fingers that pull the charging handle. Although they at least radius it so it doesn't lop fingers off. That's a friendly touch.

Here is a link to an extractor kit. It will show what we are talking about.

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-E...%20upgrade.htm

I think I saw that before. I will pull the bolt assembly down in a little and check it out. Or maybe I'll just buy that shit because its $5 and then take it down. Then just replace it while I have it apart. Depends how curious I get in the next hour or so I guess. Pretty curious...

[Legion_Prime]

Ok, I hadn't seen the buckle in the sling. I do see what you mean about that endplate though. The DD one situates the loop further down on the endplate though but you are really the only one who can judge what will work for you. You might want to take a look at the BFG Wire Sling Loop Mount that might be an idea for attaching the front of a two point sling, you can wrap it around or possibly through the handguards depending on it's length.

[Asmodeus6]

K well, I'm a sucker for investigations. I broke that bitch down on the excuse of finishing cleaning it which I did not do the last time I shot it a few days ago.

Here is what I found.



I cleaned this all out pretty well. Q tips work really well.


All the misc parts and pins. ?Extractor? spring has black insert. No O-ring.


Closer up. Now should it come with an O-ring? Or is that a mod? It has the black insert already. Like I said, it appears to extract fine? But precise clarification of exactly how it should extract may be in order? Should I look at the casings for hard hits or deformation (or something?) ?



Don't worry. I got this all sparkling clean. Even the pin holes, gas key hole, etc. Pulling the cotton off the Q tips lets them slide through all the pin holes with just enough fabric left to push out any gunk left in the holes. Anyway.


The buffer I mentioned. Buffer body has no markings of any kind on it. I didn't take this apart to verify what is in it. I'll just trust all of the available info that says if there isn't anything on it. Its not a heavy buffer.


And a final one for clarification of how I like this kind of loop for the sling. It stays well south of my finger tips and doesn't pose an eminent health risk. lol!



All in all I'm feeling a little better. So far, this DPMS is scoring a little better than it's supposed to.
Staked right: check
Black extractor insert: check (The spring on this looked a little eh)
--But the actual ejector pin spring was about as serious as I've seen in a spring that small.

So I drop an H buffer in it, and shoot it until I have a problem then.

Anything else?


---I thought I posted this? Guess I didn't hit the button. Luckily a back on my browser and it was still there.---

[Legion_Prime]

Looks like you're GTG. The black insert is correct for a carbine length gas system. The black Oring is an upgrade, if you see it at a gun show grab it but there's really no reason to go out of your way to get one. If you don't have any extraction problems I really wouldn't worry about it. As long as it's functioning properly a H buffer probably won't be necessary unless you are going to shoot the higher pressure 5.56 milspec loadings, for your standard .223 remington ammo it should be fine. I say shoot it, let the bolt carrier and upper burnish in their bearing surfaces and enjoy it!
I do hate when an errant button push or mouse click costs you a post, my mouse just closed a window full of tabs a bit ago and I have no idea what all the tabs were. Some of them I know because they're always open but the others on the end are gone. Glad your response was saved in cache.
Qtips are a godsend for cleaning arms, I go through them like they're going out of style. The other most handy tool I find is a scribe, it gets in everywhere and gets those stubborn carbon deposits out of corners and crevices like nothing else and helps grab any errant Qtip fluff. I went through probably more Qtips than I ever believed possible and ground and reground probably a good quarter inch of wire hanger cleaning my Colt for Period four inspection. An old bore brush is also a big help in getting the carbon off of the tail end of the bolt and cleaning inside it where the firing pin rides as well. The chamber brush is also just the right size to clean the pivot pin hole in the bolt and a denuded Qtip shaft will clean out the smaller firing pin channel in the forward channel of the bolt going in through the extractor cutout. I got bores squeaky clean (seriously, they would squeak) by wrapping a borebrush with Hooah strips. I realize you guys may have fancy compounds and solvents and ultrasonic chambers and such, but when none of that is available a GI cleaning kit, a hunk of coathanger and a couple hundred Qtips will get a rifle spotless with the liberal application of elbow grease.

[Asmodeus6]

I try to clean them when I am done shooting. This keeps junk from building up, or hardening. Little bit of cleaner, and basic paper towels, and brushes and its usually a very easy job that I kind of enjoy doing. Its also a good way to monitor the components in the rifle. As you see how they change condition each subsequent time it goes out.

Before this was the AK. Which, yes mine is clean, all the time. Its not an expensive gun, or some high $ arsenal. But like anything I expect to work, I do my share. My vehicles are the same way. Expect my engine bay to be surgical clean, and the outside relatively clean. The parts that do the hard work take precedence. I do watch ferociously cleaning the bore. But everything else I try to keep as clean as possible.

I may do the buffer for good measure. Mainly because I shoot steel case, and the consistency of the loadings is not always there. I have encountered higher pressure mix in's with the Russian 7.62. So I expect it with the .223 as well. If the H buffer will cycle the every day stuff. There's no point in not having it. We're not talking $300 parts here. Cry foul if you like. But I go through it, and I do not reload. Financially, I could replace extractor's and ejectors with every case of ammo and still be far far ahead.

Anything else I need to be aware of or otherwise get ahead on? The help so far has been greatly appreciated. Sincerely and to all of you.

[JDePietro]

Perhaps I am the only one to notice this, but...

You had a problem and fixed it, rather easily from your text. Now you are ripping your rifle apart to find a problem that you are only being told you have and are not finding.

Stoner was originally an Armalite engineer, he later left Armalite and was hired by Colt. Armalite was the Adam of AR's. What does this have to do with anything? Opinions are like ---holes.

If it shoots, groups, extracts, loads, clicks, pops, and works as your would expect why worry? My first AR was a Colt, I hated it! It was a jam'n' piece of excriment, I have yet to encounter the same issue with my DPMS, but I guess because a few people on the internet said I own junk I should get rid of it...

[Asmodeus6]

No if you read my first post - I just figured I'd hang it out there. I already said I'd be able to take it with a grain of salt. Its new to me. I'm not aware of any of the common problems. Or little fixes etc. And tearing the entire rifle down took about 5 minutes. It was no big deal honestly.

And I learned how some of this other stuff comes apart. (Extractor, ejector etc) Which I had not taken down before until then.

I learned a little bit. Which is far more important to me than having any kind of brand pride. In the end the little DPMS didn't do to bad. A lot of the internet pissing about it came up short. Which is good. Had it not been. I would have just taken care of it. But otherwise I wouldn't have known. Now I know where to look if I DO have problems down the line. And that was worth it.

I'm still an AR newb. So any time I can learn something its good.

[synergy]

I'm surprised you actually disassembled the buffer itself. I don't know what spurred you to do that....I've never seen or even heard of people doing that.

I would leave the factory clear part on, and replace the whole assembly with an H buffer when you get the chance to.

Like you said, now you know more about the platform, and where to look should a problem arise.

Also, be sure to stake your castle nut if you're all done messing with sling plates. You don't want that thing rattling loose.

[Asmodeus6]

I'm surprised you actually disassembled the buffer itself. I don't know what spurred you to do that....I've never seen or even heard of people doing that.

I would leave the factory clear part on, and replace the whole assembly with an H buffer when you get the chance to.

Like you said, now you know more about the platform, and where to look should a problem arise.

Also, be sure to stake your castle nut if you're all done messing with sling plates. You don't want that thing rattling loose.

I'm sure my logic is flawed. But, the buffer tip replacement was a carry over from the AK. And even on that side of the fence there is a bit of controversy between using a buffer or not. It goes about as follows;
Side arguing it prevents harsh hits to the rear trunion by the bolt carrier.
Side arguing it increases the likelihood of contact by reducing the available room in the receiver.

My opinion is light hits on the buffer do not ring through the stock into my face. I cannot begin to explain how this goes from uncomfortable, to painful after a couple boxes of high powered ammo. (whether intentional or just inconsistency of Russian ammo)

So the same logic applied. I bought one for the AR a few days after I bought the rifle. Controlability was increased as well in the AK. As a rear trunion hit typically sends the muzzle north with quicker and greater force. So it was a defacto no brainer to me.

The round nose is like a progressive wound spring. Instead of hitting and coming to an abrupt stop with all of its surface area at once. It hits in a smaller area and spreads to a larger one as it encounters the back of the tube and deforms under impact. Its also a softer material. So it has more ability to cushion and absorb more of the impact than the original taper flat tip buffer striking end.

Outside of its own failure, I cannot see this as being anything but more forgiving to the components of the rifle. And they are rated to thousands of rounds of automatic fire. Being a polyurethane construction, they do not degrade from petroleum based oils or cleaners either.

This was my motivation for taking apart the buffer assembly. Although I do not see it as needed in an AR given the nature of heavy steel parts not slamming together like in the AK. It worked on that rifle. I didn't see the harm in trying it in this one. Due to the lack of recoil in the AR... gains were not profound like in the AK. Maybe a 10-15% decrease in felt recoil. As opposed to 30-40% plus no heavy hits being transferred into me. This increases accuracy. If you don't want to put your face on that stock tight to the cheek because its hammering you. You aren't going to be as accurate as you could be.


I had planned to stake the castle nut after I was sure everything was staying where it was. That is the one thing I was holding off on in case I would need to remove the buffer tube in the near future. It is most certainly, tighter than shit at the moment. But that is definitely the plan.