DPMS Dedicated 22lr Upper

OldTurtle

OldTurtle

Moderator - Deceased
I had planned on holding off on the publication of this project until it was completed, but after reading about several members that are interested in acquiring a 10/22 when tax refunds come in, I thought that you might want to consider waiting a little bit, as the cost on these uppers, when compared to a new 10/22, might be more inviting, if you happen to own an AR..

Test and Evaluation
DPMS Dedicated .22lr Upper

I was contacted by Steve Esping of DPMS, enquiring if I would be interested in doing a T&E on their new Dedicated .22lr Upper and giving a write up for Predator Masters...I didn't have to think twice about the project..

During the follow up phone call on Dec 20th, he indicated that DPMS had been working on the Upper for eight months and their testing had been with the dirtiest ammunition that they could find and it had performed flawlessly.. Needless to say, I was really excited to get my hands on it..

Technical Specs, per DPMS:

16 inch Bull Barrel 4140 Chrome-Moly steel
Dedicated 1x16 twist barrel
Chambered in 22 Long Rifle
DPMS A3 Picatinny Rail Upper Receiver for 22 only. Forged Mil-Spec 7075 T6 Upper Receiver, With Functional Dust Cover
Uses Standard Size Carbine Free Float Tube (Yes The Hand Guards On These 22 Uppers Can Be Changed To What Ever After Market AR Style Free Float Tube That You Want)
All New Melonite Coated Stainless Bolt Group, With Blowback Operation
Fits Right On To Your Existing AR Small Frame Style Lower Receiver, Will Not Work on 308's Large Frame Lowers
Ships With One 10 Round Black Dog Magazine
No Upgrades Available

DPMS currently offers two styles...This one with the Bull Barrel and a Free Floated Barrel and this one in the AP4 configuration..Description:

16 AP4 4140 Chrome-Moly steel 1/2 by 28 Thread Barrel (Per-Ban) With A2 Flash Hider and A2 Front Sight Base with Bayonet Lug.
Dedicated 1x16 twist barrel
Chambered in 22 Long Rifle
DPMS A3 Picatinny Rail Upper Receiver for 22 only. Forged Mil-Spec 7075 T6 Upper Receiver, With Functional Dust Cover
Uses Carbine Length Two Piece DPMS Glacier Guards (Yes The Hand Guards On These 22 Uppers Can Be Changed To What Ever After Market AR Carbine Length Hand Guards That You Want)
All New Melonite Coated Stainless Bolt Group, With Blowback Operation
Fits Right On To Your Existing AR Small Frame Style Lower Receiver, Will Not Work on 308's Large Frame Lowers
Ships With One 10 Round Black Dog Magazine
No Upgrades Available

As you can see, the one I'm getting to work with has the bull barrel and free floated hand guard, sans front sight. There is a $26 difference in MSRP between the two.. Two days later, the UPS man shows up at my door with a nicely boxed .22lr dedicated upper..Initial observation indicate that the upper is almost identical in looks and weight to my bull barreled .223 upper and has a non-functioning forward assist button, functioning dust cover over the ejection port and an active charging handle...The fit and finish on the upper is exceptional..The upper was sent with two dedicated "Black Dog" .22lr magazines, one with a 10 round capacity and the second with what appears to be a 20 round capacity...The free floated barrel tube is equipped with a sling swivel and stud.

DPMS22lrUpper.jpg


Having done some ammo testing previously for one of my own rifles, I have a substantial supply of .22lr ammo of different brands and bullet weights... Some expensive, some not so much...Some is designated as "Match Target" , some is "high velocity", some is "hyper velocity" and then there is the common "plinking" utility ammo... The alphabetical list is as follows:

Aguila 'Centurion' 38gr Lead Hollow Point
Aguila '22 Interceptor' 40gr Copper Plated Solid (flat) Point
Aguila 'Super Extra' 40gr Lead Round Nose
Aguila 'Super Extra SE' 38gr Copper Plated Hollow Point
Aguila 'SuperMaximum' Hyper Velocity 30gr Copper Plated Hollow Point
Blazer 40gr Lead Round Nose
CCI 'Velocitor' 40gr Copper Plated Hollow Point
CCI 'Mini-Mag' 40gr Lead Hollow Point
Eley Club Extra 40gr Lead Round Nose
Eley Silhouex 40gr Lead Round Nose
Federal 36gr Copper plated Hollow Point
Federal 40gr Lead Round Nose
Peters 'Victor' 40gr Lead Round Nose
Quik-Shot 32gr Copper Plated Hollow Point
RWS Target Rifle 40gr Lead Round Nose
Remington/Eley Club Extra 40gr Lead Round Nose
Remington 'YellowJacket' 37gr Lead Hollow Point
Remington/Eley Match EPS 40gr Lead Round Nose
Remington/Eley Target Rifle 40gr Lead Round Nose
Remington 'Target' 40gr Lead Round Nose
Winchester 'Super X' 37gr Copper Plated Hollow Point
Winchester 'Super X' 40gr Lead Round Nose
Winchester Wildcat 40gr Lead Round Nose
Wolf 40gr Lead Round Nose - Match Extra

I attached a 3-12x Sightron scope and LaRue mount, and getting the unit sighted in using Utility grade ammo and using that period for fouling the barrel, before any testing is done...The bore will be wiped one time with a .22 caliber bore snake between ammo brands.

Upper attached to my DPMS lower..Fit to lower was nice and snug, with no 'slop' or movement between the two when pinned in place..

DPMSUpperInstalled.jpg


Once the scope is zero'd to the upper, no adjustments will be made, as I am interested in where the POI will fall relative to the point of aim, as well as how they function in the unit...Since the upper comes with a ten round magazine, the testing will initially involve one magazine of each brand with an eye to:
1) function,
2) accuracy (group ability), and
3) point of impact change from "Zero"...

Initial testing will be at a range of 50 yards and if any two or more brands of ammo show exceptional grouping, another set of tests will be at 100 yards for the purpose of separating each brands ability..After running the accuracy test, it is my intention to load the 20 round magazine for some rapid fire testing for function.. Again, several types of ammo will be used; standard, high velocity, hyper-velocity, and "match" grade...

Targets will consist of a blank 3"x5" index card with a 1" bull dot in the near center at 50 Yards and, if needed, the 100 yard target will be a piece of blank paper with several 1" bull dots. I like using the index cards as it allows me to list the ammo info on the back for future reference and also allows me to concentrate on just that individual target while shooting..

Shots will be made with the rifle supported on a Harris bipod, from a bench.

Due to length and photos to come, this will be published in several parts... I'll be heading to the range in a couple of hours, after I get some targets together...
 
I don't know what retail would be through a dealer, but DPMS had a MSRP of about $450 +/-..What little time I've been able to spend at the range, it functions flawlessly and is extremely easy to take apart for cleaning.. Very similar to a standard AR, but with less parts..

AROpen-1.jpg

22lrBoltGroup.jpg


The bolt functions much like the one in a 10/22, but with less problem removing or reinserting it..
 
Originally Posted By: 1badsheeLooks exactly like the bolt out of my Nordic 22 upper, Wonder if they are building them for DPMS?

I have a nordic NC22 and the DPMS AP4 the bolts are both the same. I have been told that Nordic is machining the upper reciever, bolt, and charging handle for dpms the rest of the upper is all panther. I put over 1000 rounds through each of them with out any FTF, FTE, or OBDs.
 
Originally Posted By: BowfisherWhats the accuracy like? PA?
The Nordic is a 20" .750 ss and will shoot .750 @ 50yds. It seems to like mini mags and remington goldens the best out of all the ammo I tried. The DPMS I got for the wife, she is just learning the AR platform, we only have a fakepoint 3moa red dot on it right now so the groups havent been great 2.0" @ 50yds. Hope to get a decent scope on the dpms to see the true potential.
 
I own one of DPMS' old-style .22 LR uppers, which they completely abandoned providing any support for several years ago. I don't know if this 'new' design has any parts commonality with the old style upper or not, but would be curious to know. Fortunately, mine is still running along just fine. If no repair parts are available for it, I guess I'll just use it for a trotline sinker when it does eventually break.

What I DO know is that I will NEVER again buy anything proprietary from DPMS. Burn me once, shame on you...
cursing.gif
 
Obvious question Terry...Have you personally contacted DPMS about the problem??

Other than being a customer and having shot competitions in which DPMS was a sponsor, I don't work or have any other function with the company, other than this project, but various websites always seem to get comments of dissatisfaction on the internet and come to find out that no one has really been given the chance to correct the problem...
 
I just seen this post. I bought one of these DPMS 22 uppers as a Chrismas present to myself. It's allready paid for itself in ammo savings over 223. It's a boatload of fun for sure.
 
OT, I would vote for a temporary sticky on this subject so we don't have to go digging. I'm looking forward to the range reports to come on your different ammo.
 
DPMS .22lr Dedicated Upper T&E
Part Two

My trip to the range today with the upper and a variety of ammunition left me with several initial observations...

1) The unit functions flawlessly with every type/brand of rounds that I put through it from a bench with a bipod and a three pound trigger...

2) Initially, I would have to say that this is not a "Match" grade unit, but that may improve with some more rounds down the new barrel..While I had groups that, under less than :"Benchrest" conditions, it exhibited the ability to be more than reasonably accurate, .5" at 50 yards, I also had groups that were extremely open in nature...I'm talking 3.5" at 50 yards...But in all fairness, those were some of the early groups and with questionable ammunitiaion as to reputation.

Target2.jpg
Target18.jpg


The lower that I was using was from my DPMS .223 action match and hunting rifle, so it doesn't have a trigger measured in ounces as do my other .22lrs that are used in matches and I was shooting from a bipod rather that a set of bags...

My initial impression is that this upper likes to be shot dirty, rather than clean... In my opinion, this is good as it does not lend itself to a one shot hunting situation as much as it does to an action competition type or just plain fun, "let's go out and burn some ammo", type situation...

3) When it comes to cleaning the unit, most people will love the simplicity of the chore...Pivot the upper up as you would on a standard AR, pull the charging handle out about half way and then extract the bolt, action spring, and recoil block (fits against the recoil buffer), run your rod/patch/brush through the barrel, spray off, and wipe down the bolt, and reinstall as you would the normal AR and your are done...

22lrBoltGroup.jpg


4) When I initially started this evaluation, I ran a bore snake down the barrel between each brand/type of ammo and I'm thinking that may have cause problems I observed in the accuracy, as it was not uncommon for the first round to impact at one point on the target and the subsequent rounds to go to a different point... The only ammuncition that really showed much consistence was the Remington/Eley Match ammo and this was on targets 17-19 and after there had been approximately 100 rounds fired...

I think my next range session is going to be one that eliminates the bore snake, to see how groups progress with a 'dirty' barrel...

The one negative thing that happened with the upper was that the free float tube to which the bipod was attached came loose about half way through the session and allowed the whole rifle to rotate past the amount allowed by the Harris bipod...and had to be continually tighened by hand... Not a big thing and a drop of Loc-Tite will probably solve the problem..
 


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