The project began in early December when I picked up a stripped lower receiver, and was completed today when the brown truck dropped off my upper from ADCO. The parts:
DPMS LR308 lower w/ stock parts kit.
KNS Precision anti rotation pins.
DPMS LR308 A3 upper, stock charging handle w/ PRI oversized latch.
Fulton Armory complete BCG.
Vltor AR15 milspec carbine tube, LMT SOPMOD stock.
Slash’s short AR10 buffer and spring.
SI Defense M4 contour stainless 14.5" 1:10 twist barrel in 308.
YHM-3302A flash hider, permanently pinned by ADCO Firearms.
Daniel Defense AR10 12" Lite rail.
Usually I am a fan of single stage factory triggers but this particular one is atrocious. It will be replaced with a Geiselle non adjustable DMR model whenever funds allow. The XPS 2-0 EOTech will stay for now, to be swapped for a 1-4x Accupoint in a LaRue mount sometime soon hopefully.
The last picture shows my wife’s 14.5" AR15 for size comparison. BUIS shall be added at a later date also, one thing at a time…
This is my first attempt at getting half decent pictures so please bear with me, I know they are not the greatest.
I really like the way this turned out, I just finished building my own 308 lower and I wish someone would offer a complete upper just like the one you have because I don’t know enough on how to make one myself. This is the best dpms 308 carbine set up I’ve seen yet! I am super jealous.
The hardest part to find was an appropriate barrel for this carbine build. Most offerings seem to be thicker and longer tubes. Fortunately SI Defense makes the perfect barrel, in both 14.5" and 16", here: http://shop.si-defense.com/Barrels_s/49.htm
Make sure you find one of the older DPMS A3 uppers, as the newer ones have a slightly lower top rail. This causes them to not match up with the freefloating rail. Or simply go with a Fulton Armory A3 upper.
Its the CMMG MK-3 DPMS compatible billet stripped lower. Picked it up at a gun show for around $300. In case your curious It’s coated with Duracoat’s Magpul Flat Dark Earth. It actually matches the buttstock quite well, the camera flash makes it look weird in the picture for some reason.
I’ve been hoping for cmmg to come out with their own upper so I can have a matched set.
Just out of curiosity Mac, how does she shoot? When you get to the range let us know. I’m interested in getting that 14.5" barrel now but I wonder if it will shoot as well as a 16".
Time to finally update this one. I got a chance to shoot the rifle last weekend, 100 to 300 yds on paper and steel targets. I didn’t shoot for groups past zeroing since these were 2 matches I participated in, but the rifle ran very smoothly with zero problems of any kind. I used surplus 147gr FMJ as well as 175gr BTHP ammo, and both types worked 100% of the time. I was able to hit a 9" plate at 300yds fairly reliably, though it was hell to see. The thing was rust colored against a dirt berm, with the sun shining at just about the right angle to make both appear the same color. An ACOG would have been a huge improvement there.
Overall I was actually surprised by the lack of recoil, having never fired a carbine-size 308 rifle before. Even standing offhand wasn’t an issue.
I’d definitely advise anyone running a carbine length gas system in their 308 AR to very seriously consider using Slash’s extra heavy buffer (the one meant for suppressed use) and spring, as this seems to be the ticket for reliability with a standard AR15 buffer tybe.
I did put a Geiselle 2-stage DMR trigger in there, and replaced the stock charging handle with BCM’s 7.62mm gunfighter one. The new trigger makes a world of difference. Hopefully next time there won’t be a match going on so I’ll actually have time to shoot some groups and take pictures.
EDIT: Forgot to add that I ended up changing the upper receiver out for a Fulton Armory one. Newer DPMS uppers have a lower top rail, which was quite a bit off from lining up with the Daniel Defense rail. Now that the Fulton one is on everything is peachy. Luckily I didn’t have to do anything to the pinned flash hider since the rail could slide right over it, while the gas block and barrel nut do not have to come off the barrel at all if simply swapping uppers.
I have a very similar setup DPMS-308 and I too think the factory trigger is worse than a factory .556 Where did you get your new trigger and how much? I’ve been wanting to do a trigger mod for a while now.
