I'm looking for a little advice a out my DPMS. It has been very inconsistent in the accuracy department. I bought this upper to shoot in local tactical matches that get out to the longer ranges. So far, the inconsistent grouping has hurt me in matches, and cost me a lot of money in ammo trying to get it figured out. I think the issue may be heat related, but I'm not positive. I'm shooting at pasters at 100 for load dev. It will shoot about 4 groups of 5 shots, that are usually under an inch, in the .6 to .9 range, which is ok, then it starts having super crazy odd ball fliers that open groups up to 2 plus inches. Once in a while it will go over three inches. I don't shoot it fast, I mark each shot for my records, and take my time loading the next five so it doesn't get too hot. Sometimes I take another rifle and shoot 2 groups from the CM, and 2 groups from my 308 to keep it from getting too hot. I'm shooting 3" from the CM and .3 from the 308. Sometimes it literally starts shooting back and forth, every other shot, left right left right. I will end up with two groups two inches apart. It did this Saturday and the 3 shot group was .11, and the 2 shot group was .08". I can't flinch good enough to do this on purpose! I have tried 120s and 140s, and have some winchester with 142 smk to try this weekend. I have pulled the scope off and shot it on another rifle with good results so I don't think it's my scope. (Bushnell elite tac 6x24 with a G2 ret in a Larue mt). I have shot it clean and dirty with the same results. I called DPMS today and talked to their rep, and I may as well been talking to someone at bed bath and beyond. Guy had no clue, could give me no ideas why it would do this. He did say that I could pull it down and re torque the barrel nut and it will not void the warranty. After that I could send it back, but they are out of barrels and it would literally be months before they get more in. I have put over 350 rounds through it,trying to figure it out and it is driving me crazy! Has anyone out there had this happen with their big gas guns before or am I just going nuts? I could really use some advice.
- Thread starter 502Chevelle
- Start date
i recently bought a DPMS lr65 with the heavy stainless barrel. I started to noticed the same thing but i havent shot it enough to firmly say for sure...i took it to a match this past weekend at RO for the first time and in a match scenario i had no problems hitting targets at each stage, shots per stage were 5-10. It ran awesome. It was hot but with 30ish shooters u have long breaks. At the range on 2 different occasions i have noticed my groups opening up slightly when i get close to 20-30 rnds fired (i shoot pretty fast, especially with a semi)...the last time out i was testing the new Winchester 140 bthp match ammo...i sat down and fired 1 rnd each at 2 different 1" dots w/ Hornady 140 amax loads to check my zero and test my cold shooter shooting and hit both at 12 o clock...then i shot 2 5 rnd groups w/ the new Win ammo and it shot consistently at 3/4", same zero as the Hornday. After that, i shot a 10 rnd string with the Win ammo, first 5 slowish and the last 5 fast as i could get off good shots. The last couple of rnds opened up to just over 1", which i just figured was me. Just to check before i left i loaded in 3 more of the 140 amax ammo and shot a 3 rnds that were around 1.5"...i thought it was pretty weak shooting to end on, so i loaded another 3 and same thing...never had a problem grouping my DPMS...then i grabbed the barrel and it was smokin hot lol so i packed up and left cause i didnt have any ammo left...wont be able to say for sure if it was a heat issue until i get back out and shoot it cold, but it seems so...
I should probably add that is a 24" stainless bull barrel on an iron ridge lower, magpul PRS stock with a cmc trigger.
I can also say that if you shoot non factory loads, DPMS will void your warranty, so I would never try H4350, IMR4350, Varget or Rel 17 in it. I would also never try Lapua 123s, 140 Amax's or 123 Nosler CCs. But I bet if I did, it would do the same thing with every load I ran through it. I mean, you know, I'm just sayin........
I can also say that if you shoot non factory loads, DPMS will void your warranty, so I would never try H4350, IMR4350, Varget or Rel 17 in it. I would also never try Lapua 123s, 140 Amax's or 123 Nosler CCs. But I bet if I did, it would do the same thing with every load I ran through it. I mean, you know, I'm just sayin........
Took the rifle to the range today with an 18x Leupold on it. Put a shot down range at 100, adjusted the scope and put the next four rounds into .290. The next 9 groups shot really good with the largest being just over an inch, but most were in the .6 to .9 range. Was a big eye opener for me because the Bushnell was almost new, and had really shot great before. It was just bad luck that it went bad at the very same time that I put it on a new rifle. That camouflaged the problem and I about went nuts trying to figure out what was wrong with the rifle. Bushy will be on the way back this week.
I am in the process of tuning an LR260 for matches now. I havent noticed the 2 group problem yet. I am on the tail end of load development now. I have been very happy with the promise the gun shows thus far. I have a JP captured spring, PRS, RRA match trigger, Idaho brake from the group buy, and Bushy G2DMR.
Ryan
Ryan
What load did you settle on? I have the same gun and mine loves the 123 smk and 139 scenars. The 139 scenars shoot really well around 2750 fps using lapua brass & 2000mr.
DPMS 6.5 CM inconsistency
I havent tried 139 scenars. I went through 130 & 140 gr Berger VLDs, 123 & 142 gr SMKs, H4350 & 4350. Mine likes the 142 SMKs with H4350 and 140 VLDs with 4350. The 142s are going 2800 fps with 44.6 gr in RP brass. The 140s are moving 2650 fps with 42.5 gr. The Bergers shoot a tad better but the SMKs are faster and i have more of them so they are my main load.
Ryan
I havent tried 139 scenars. I went through 130 & 140 gr Berger VLDs, 123 & 142 gr SMKs, H4350 & 4350. Mine likes the 142 SMKs with H4350 and 140 VLDs with 4350. The 142s are going 2800 fps with 44.6 gr in RP brass. The 140s are moving 2650 fps with 42.5 gr. The Bergers shoot a tad better but the SMKs are faster and i have more of them so they are my main load.
Ryan
Last edited:
I also did the Tubbs Final Finish system on this barrel. It really helps fouling.
Ryan
Ryan
All of my rifles (all calibers) are zeroed at 100 meters. ELR rifle has a 40-MOA base. No problem with reaching far, other than operator errors.
Mouse
NRA Life Member Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free
Mouse
NRA Life Member Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free
Incidentally, did you use the same mount to rule that out as the problem?
The mount is a Larue that was lapped and the rings torqued to 25 inch pounds. The throw levers were down nice and tight. I did a check by pushing and trying to move it, but it was on tight, and the scope was tight in the rings. I know that isn't very scientific, but the mount was pretty secure. I don't like that I'm having problems, but I'm relieved that it's not the rifle. There are a lot of variables there. I do have a long range match on Sep 13, so I have to get this scope out. Not sure if I'll have it back in time. This other scope is a Leupold 6x18 with fine crosshairs and a target dot, so I'm screwed on range estimation, which there will be on several stages. It does have target knobs, so at least I can dial up some elevation. All my dope is in mils, so I've got more work to do between now and then. I was hoping to move up a few notches on the scoresheet this match, so I'll have to keep my expectations real.
