JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.
This is probably a dumb question but if the issues is a mismatched bolt, how would installing a different random bolt help? Is the idea that it couldn't be worse but might be better?
Not a dumb question.

Some manufacturers will match bolts to barrels by test fitting them together to find the tightest fitting combination. Mostly for precision reasons. Tighter tolerance equals tighter precision.

In your case. It's the opposite. Lower tolerance, could be causing the bolt to unlock poorly.

I'm purely speculating however. ARs have many moving parts that need to work together for proper function. Determining which part is not working to its best ability is a PITA really. So you go through and take one part out of the equation at a time until it works right.

In your case, one lug clearly shows uneven wear. Which leads me to believe it isn't quite a good fit for the barrel extension. It could be restricting movement.Key word there is "could" as I don't truly know.

However, swapping just the bolt, is an easy thing to do and test. If it helps reduce short stroking with a new bolt, easy fix!
 
I already have a lighter recoil spring coming. I'll go ahead and get a new bolt to try before swapping in the spring. Any suggestions as to brand? I don't need one that will last 20,000 rounds but don't want to get one that is equally low quality to what I have now.
 
PSA makes good stuff. I'd get one that's shot peened if you can and nitrided instead of phosphate. Phosphate is ok but nitrided will be more corrosion resistant. That or a M&P10 bolt, for the price I'd go with one of those two brands.

I'd get a new barrel extension for your upper because like someone mentioned it could be out of spec or/and improperly heat treated.
 
Last Edited:
Replacing the extension would require some lathe work to set the headspace and the receiver pin to gas port alignment, right? Or is there a tight industry spec that makes it a remove the old one and torque the new one on process?
 
I didn't see any videos on replacing the extension but I probably need to look a little harder. I'm not ready to abandon this thing yet and also would prefer not to replace the entire barrel. This rifle is actually very accurate when it shoots.
 
heres after about 1000rnds. lr308 recon.
F12ABB84-F4B5-43AF-A47F-7FB13B36D832.jpeg 822CD16F-A423-4ADE-9A0C-2143DA1F6012.jpeg 1D721B5C-B3D4-4B2F-81D3-2B6E92C865A7.jpeg 4BBD89AC-F495-4818-B3CA-385074B8DA25.jpeg

should be able to click on the pics and zoom in pretty far. they're large pics
 
Your bolt definitely looks better than mine. You can see a little wear but it looks pretty evenly distributed on all the lugs.
 
I just sent them an email. We'll see where that goes. I don't remember the specifics, but I called them a couple of months after buying the rifle and they weren't very helpful. I came away from the conversation feeling like I was on my own.
 
2020-02 12 20.08.40.jpg
No way, IMHO is that right. That's too much metal damage due to.... just guessing here...
  1. mis-matched bolt & barrel extension
  2. possibly a bad bolt heat treat
  3. bad mfg. machining
We built 3 of these. (2 in .308/1 in 6.5)
1-.308 with a 16" barrel & other 2 with an 18" barrel. The 16" worked perfect but the 18" required drilling the barrel gas port hole about 3 sizes larger to get enough gas to stop short - cycling. 2 have/use Superlative Arms adjustable gas blocks tuned to the rifles. Personally, I wouldn't using a lighter buffer spring because I don't believe that's the problem.
Our BCG's & barrels were all Aero Precision
Our bolts look a lot better then yours after +/-500 rds.

Dan
 
IMG_1426.JPG
IMG_1425.JPG

this is 200 rounds on a bad heat treat. Perfect running rifle . If your extension/bolt interface is not "matched" then you will be able to tell through headspacing tests.

When you have a "mismatch " you get headspace problems . When you have gas issues or heat treat issues then you see damage on the lugs or broken lugs . You have a lot of things to check before you go thinking about extension replacements......not at all common . And sometimes over gas looks almost just like under gas .Sorry to muddy the water but your getting some interesting advice , a lot to think about lol, good luck !
 
I stopped and talked to one of the guys at Oregon Rifle Works. He thinks the barrel extension is probably indexed wrong and said to send it back to DPMS. He also said that if the extension is out of whack, it means new barrel time because they are pinned in place. Hopefully I'll hear back from Remington. By the way, it looks like DPMS has been dropped by Freedom Group/Remington. The only information on the DPMS site is contact info for Consumer Service.
 
Dpms is great with warranty work. They will send you out a new bolt or you can send it in where they will go over the entire thing. I have 5k + rounds thru my LR308 with no issues and just ordered a new barrel for the DPMS AR15 after 10k+ rounds as I didn't want to send it back. They offered but I declined. DPMS has always taken care of issue's after purchase. Not sure about now with the take over but definitely talk with them. Probably a 2 week turn around to send it back in to have it fixed properly.

James
 
By the way, it looks like DPMS has been dropped by Freedom Group/Remington. The only information on the DPMS site is contact info for Consumer Service.

Remington got a new CEO in 2015 or 2016. He announced that he's correcting all the problems they had during the "freedom group" years. We'll see, but it sounds like DPMS is under Remington's new CEO now:

"As of January 2020, the DPMS website forwards to the website of Remington Outdoor Company, the parent company of DPMS.[5]"

Quote taken from:

History
Randy Luth founded Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services (DPMS) in 1985 in Osseo, Minnesota as a precision machine shop for manufacturing M203, M14 and M16 parts for U.S. military contracts. In the later 1990s, the company employed 30 people selling Colt 1911 and AR-15 parts and accessories and moved the company to Becker, Minnesota. DPMS later began producing AR-15 style rifles.

DPMS moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota in 2004. In 2007, the firm was named one of The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal's "50 fastest-growing privately held companies". DPMS doubled its revenue between 2004–2007 and employed 65 people in 2008.[1]

Freedom Group purchased DPMS Panther Arms on December 14, 2007, the same year it purchased Marlin Firearms. Freedom Group is a consortium of firearms manufacturers and part of Cerberus Capital Management, a New York private equity investment firm. Cerberus combined DPMS with Bushmaster Firearms International, Remington Arms and Cobb Manufacturing to form the Freedom Group.[2] Remington is the company's immediate corporate parent.

On December 20, 2012, Cerberus announced they were selling their Freedom Group brands, including DPMS, based on pressure from a California pension board.[3] This transaction has failed to occur as of May 2014.[4]

As of January 2020, the DPMS website forwards to the website of Remington Outdoor Company, the parent company of DPMS.[5]

Products
220px-DPMS_AR-15.jpg
DPMS AR-15 style rifle with 20- & 30-round magazines
The company manufactures AR-15 style rifles chambered for the .223 Remington/5.56×45mm NATO, and AR-10-pattern rifles for the .308 Winchester and .260 Remington cartridges, among others.

The company attracted attention within the firearms industry with its version of the AR-10, the Panther LR-308, earning the NRA Publication's magazine Shooting Illustrated 2005 Golden Bullseye Award for "Rifle of the Year". In 2006 the "Panther LR-308AP4" earned the NRA Publication's magazine American Rifleman Golden Bullseye Award for "Rifle of the Year".[6] In 2008, DPMS introduced the LR-338 chambered in the .338 Federal cartridge.[7]

Production relocation
DPMS's St. Cloud production facility with 115 employees was closed and production has been moved to Remington's new non-union facility in Huntsville, Alabama. Remington's Ilion, New York production facility closed down two production lines for their Bushmaster-branded AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle and R-1 1911-pattern pistol and moved them to Huntsville. In 2014 Remington moved production of two gun lines and 150 jobs from New York to Alabama because of New York state's gun laws which banned the sale of those products in the state,[8] and consolidated its production from six locations into Huntsville in order to increase efficiency, and reduce production and labor costs.[9][10][11] The six companies being relocated were: Advanced Armament Corp, of Lawrenceville, Georgia; Montana Rifleman, of Kalispell, Montana; TAPCO; LAR Manufacturing, of West Jordan, Utah; Para USA (formerly Para-Ordnance); and DPMS.
 
Last Edited:
I didn't get a response to the email I sent Remington so I called them. They referred me to Ahlman's, who apparently does all of their warranty work. Contacted Ahlman's and they said they would take a look at it but I didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling that it's likely to be covered by warranty. I sent it in anyway and will report back when I get further communication. By the way, I can't find any working web site for DPMS today. I wonder if the brand is going to be sold or mothballed?
 
I sent it to Ahlman's for warranty assessment per the DPMS customer support instructions. I sent a follow up email to Ahlman's and copied DPMS with the tracking number and explanation of everything discussed prior. DPMS responded and their response included, "You may send the firearm for evaluation but that firearm has a 3 year warranty and will not be covered under our warranty." I responded to that with, "Are you kidding me? Why didn't the person I talked to on the phone tell me that before I spent $50 on shipping?" They followed up with a phone call and explained that I must have heard wrong.
 
Well, this story has a happy ending. Ahlman's looked at the bolt wear and said that it is typical of Gen 1 LR's, as the upper receiver was looser tolerance to the bolt carrier. They did identify that it was not cycling properly due to being under-gassed and opened up the gas port. I received it yesterday, took it to the range this morning and put 75 rounds through it with no malfunctions at all. Before, I couldn't get 4 rounds out without a malfunction.
 

Upcoming Events

Tillamook Gun & Knife Show
Tillamook, OR
"The Original" Kalispell Gun Show
Kalispell, MT
Teen Rifle 1 Class
Springfield, OR
Kids Firearm Safety 2 Class
Springfield, OR

New Resource Reviews

New Classified Ads

Back Top