Hi All,
I bought a DPMS G2 Recon this last June and I am finally ready to write my review. I have not read too many reviews online, there appears to be a shortage in my opinion. Here is one more review for anyone interested in DPMS' new AR10/308 design. I would also hope that DPMS would read this and decide to integrate some or all of my critiques of the weapon.
I bought the Recon version because I liked the short 16" barrel and the adjustable stock. Believe it or not, I intend to use this rifle for long range shooting, up to 1000 yards. There were a couple of things I did not like at first and I changed. I also added a scope and rings.
Accessories and Gripes
Quad rail - The rail on the G2 is short and rough. I'm personally not a fan of quad rails, i had one on my rifle in the military and I think they're heavy and bulky. I also don't use a PEQ2 anymore, so I don't need to rail space. I'm a huge fan of the BCM Keymod rails but they wont fit the G2 receiver. However, Midwest Industries makes a keymod rail for the G2 and it's as narrow as the BCM, $100 less too. The only issue with the rail is that I had interference between the gas block and a Keymod adapter for my Harris bipod. The 13" rail I ordered put the end of the rail just past the gas block. I wanted to place the bipod as far forward as possible but the keymod bolts interfered with the gas block. Stoning the nuts down about .020" so they cleared the gas bock easily solved this. But if you don't want to do the work, maybe consider the 15" rail instead.
Butt pad - The Recon comes with a Magpul MOE buttstock and it has a hard, thin rubber pad. Keep in mind, this rifle weighs only slightly more than an M4. The recoil after 20 rounds or so was uncomfortable. The rifle does not have a big kick, but the narrow and hard butt pad focuses that energy on one small spot and it become irritating, especially in prone. Luckily, Limbsaver makes a pad for the Magpul that is as soft as the rest of their pads and is about 3 times the thickness of the orginal. Magpul also makes a soft pad now and it's $10 cheaper than the Limbsaver.
Muzzle Brake – The Recon comes with an AAC 51 flash hider and I like this because I am also getting an AAC 762 SDN 6 suppressor. But the recoil issue caused me to change it to an AAC muzzle brake instead. This did an amazing job at reducing the felt recoil and increasing the noise!
Scope Base – I went with a Larue mount because they're high quality, one piece and they have about the correct height over rail that I wanted. I'm used to shooting AR15s with Iron sights. It's how I was trained and I shoot high power competitions with Iron sights. I have a good cheek weld with the irons and a standard stock. So, to keep from having to buy an adjustable comb stock, I wanted to mount my scope at the same height at the Iron sights, 1.4". This is a much more difficult task than I expected. Everyone makes their rings 1.8" or taller for the most part to allow for the humongous objective lenses everyone buys nowadays. I only have a 40mm objective so I'm ok with 1.4". The closest I could come and meet my criteria was the Larue SPR-S LT158. It has a ring height center of 1.5" over the rail, only .100" over my needs. The rail has worked out wonderfully.
I also had some malfunctions and general annoyances with the rifle.
Malfunctions and Gripes
Magazines - The rifle came with one steel magazine, 20 rounder. I had no malfunctions caused by this magazine. But, the DPMS mags are heavy and expensive. I bought 4 magpul magazines instead. The rifle began to have bolt hold open issues and I realized it was only happening on the magpul magazines. Some research led me to understand that the magpul magazine follower did not sit as high as the DPMS follower does. It has to do with the thickness of the plastic feed lips on the magpul's. I also learned that you can remedy the issue by removing some material from the top of the follower. I modified one magpul this way and I have not had any issues yet. Again, if you don't want to do the work, consider this issue.
Trigger – I would say the one thing I am disappointed in most, is the trigger. It's an innovative design but it doesn't provide the feel that a precision rifle needs. I know, I bought the Recon model, but as fas as I know, the SASS also comes with this same trigger. The trigger is gritty, creepy and about 8 lbs as my calibrated finger tells it. I also had trigger reset issues for a while. The trigger would disconnect from the hammer, the gun would cycle, I would release the trigger and nothing would happen. The trigger was getting stuck on the disconnector because of how rough the surfaces were. After 30 or so more rounds and some Remington CLAW lube, the issue went away and I haven't had it since. I also attempted to polish the mating surfaces of the trigger but because of its design, this is very difficult. BTW, I have never seen a trigger like this before. Does anyone know it's origins or history? I would think that DPMS adopted the design from another gun. I just can't imagine why they would not put a standard AR15 trigger in this rifle.
Sharp Edges – This is just a gripe but for $1500 I would figure they could de-horn the receivers. On the back of the lower, where the buffer tube screws in, the diameter of that section is larger than the mating surface of the upper. So this means the lower creates a lip around the back of the receiver. DPMS chose to leave this edge sharp and it catches your finger if you charge the rifle like a cool operator with your left hand, as a right handed shooter. I would like to round this edge but I don't want to refinish the receiver. They also could have rounded out the front of the magwell a bit. The corners are a bit sharp.
Bolt Release – Another gripe is that the bolt release hits the upper receiver and leaves a scuff. The upper also stops the bolt release from traveling it's full distance. I remedied this by grinding a chamfer on the top back of the bolt release. I removed enough material so that the release lever and the receiver don't interfere.
Take Down Pin – The front pin is about .050" too short. The rear pin sticks out a generous amount, about the same as an AR15, and the pin is easy to remove. The front pin is almost flush with the receiver and is more difficult to remove. If you're going to redesign a rifle from the ground up, these are the small things you have to think about.
Dust Cover – The dust cover doesn't always open when you pull the bolt back, although it opens most of the time when the bolt is released. During live fire I have never had the dust cover cause an issue. I think the distance between the bolt and the dust cover is just slightly too far and it causes a malfunction when manually opening the bolt. This is not a functional issue.
Accuracy
I am currently working on load development for this rifle and I should be able to report on it's potential accuracy in a few weeks at most. I will edit this post to include the info on accuracy when I finish testing loads. So far, 1.5 MOA is what I have achieved but I think I can do better.
Summary
Overall, I am impressed with the G2 Recon. For $1500 you get a lot of gun in a little package. I just wish they would put a better handguard on the rifle. After I worked out a few bugs, and I'm not sure how much was solved by break in, the rifle functions quite well. Most of all, I love how light and handy this rifle is. Even with a 10X scope, the rifle is several pounds lighter than my naked HK91. If I had it do over again, I would still buy the G2 Recon. Even though my review sounds like the rifle has a lot of problems, that's just because in my short experience with the rifle, these are the things most on my mind. Other than these small issues, the rifle functions and handles well.
Well, Hope this helps someone make a decision and just entertains the rest of you. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Ryan
I bought a DPMS G2 Recon this last June and I am finally ready to write my review. I have not read too many reviews online, there appears to be a shortage in my opinion. Here is one more review for anyone interested in DPMS' new AR10/308 design. I would also hope that DPMS would read this and decide to integrate some or all of my critiques of the weapon.
I bought the Recon version because I liked the short 16" barrel and the adjustable stock. Believe it or not, I intend to use this rifle for long range shooting, up to 1000 yards. There were a couple of things I did not like at first and I changed. I also added a scope and rings.
Accessories and Gripes
Quad rail - The rail on the G2 is short and rough. I'm personally not a fan of quad rails, i had one on my rifle in the military and I think they're heavy and bulky. I also don't use a PEQ2 anymore, so I don't need to rail space. I'm a huge fan of the BCM Keymod rails but they wont fit the G2 receiver. However, Midwest Industries makes a keymod rail for the G2 and it's as narrow as the BCM, $100 less too. The only issue with the rail is that I had interference between the gas block and a Keymod adapter for my Harris bipod. The 13" rail I ordered put the end of the rail just past the gas block. I wanted to place the bipod as far forward as possible but the keymod bolts interfered with the gas block. Stoning the nuts down about .020" so they cleared the gas bock easily solved this. But if you don't want to do the work, maybe consider the 15" rail instead.
Butt pad - The Recon comes with a Magpul MOE buttstock and it has a hard, thin rubber pad. Keep in mind, this rifle weighs only slightly more than an M4. The recoil after 20 rounds or so was uncomfortable. The rifle does not have a big kick, but the narrow and hard butt pad focuses that energy on one small spot and it become irritating, especially in prone. Luckily, Limbsaver makes a pad for the Magpul that is as soft as the rest of their pads and is about 3 times the thickness of the orginal. Magpul also makes a soft pad now and it's $10 cheaper than the Limbsaver.
Muzzle Brake – The Recon comes with an AAC 51 flash hider and I like this because I am also getting an AAC 762 SDN 6 suppressor. But the recoil issue caused me to change it to an AAC muzzle brake instead. This did an amazing job at reducing the felt recoil and increasing the noise!
Scope Base – I went with a Larue mount because they're high quality, one piece and they have about the correct height over rail that I wanted. I'm used to shooting AR15s with Iron sights. It's how I was trained and I shoot high power competitions with Iron sights. I have a good cheek weld with the irons and a standard stock. So, to keep from having to buy an adjustable comb stock, I wanted to mount my scope at the same height at the Iron sights, 1.4". This is a much more difficult task than I expected. Everyone makes their rings 1.8" or taller for the most part to allow for the humongous objective lenses everyone buys nowadays. I only have a 40mm objective so I'm ok with 1.4". The closest I could come and meet my criteria was the Larue SPR-S LT158. It has a ring height center of 1.5" over the rail, only .100" over my needs. The rail has worked out wonderfully.
I also had some malfunctions and general annoyances with the rifle.
Malfunctions and Gripes
Magazines - The rifle came with one steel magazine, 20 rounder. I had no malfunctions caused by this magazine. But, the DPMS mags are heavy and expensive. I bought 4 magpul magazines instead. The rifle began to have bolt hold open issues and I realized it was only happening on the magpul magazines. Some research led me to understand that the magpul magazine follower did not sit as high as the DPMS follower does. It has to do with the thickness of the plastic feed lips on the magpul's. I also learned that you can remedy the issue by removing some material from the top of the follower. I modified one magpul this way and I have not had any issues yet. Again, if you don't want to do the work, consider this issue.
Trigger – I would say the one thing I am disappointed in most, is the trigger. It's an innovative design but it doesn't provide the feel that a precision rifle needs. I know, I bought the Recon model, but as fas as I know, the SASS also comes with this same trigger. The trigger is gritty, creepy and about 8 lbs as my calibrated finger tells it. I also had trigger reset issues for a while. The trigger would disconnect from the hammer, the gun would cycle, I would release the trigger and nothing would happen. The trigger was getting stuck on the disconnector because of how rough the surfaces were. After 30 or so more rounds and some Remington CLAW lube, the issue went away and I haven't had it since. I also attempted to polish the mating surfaces of the trigger but because of its design, this is very difficult. BTW, I have never seen a trigger like this before. Does anyone know it's origins or history? I would think that DPMS adopted the design from another gun. I just can't imagine why they would not put a standard AR15 trigger in this rifle.
Sharp Edges – This is just a gripe but for $1500 I would figure they could de-horn the receivers. On the back of the lower, where the buffer tube screws in, the diameter of that section is larger than the mating surface of the upper. So this means the lower creates a lip around the back of the receiver. DPMS chose to leave this edge sharp and it catches your finger if you charge the rifle like a cool operator with your left hand, as a right handed shooter. I would like to round this edge but I don't want to refinish the receiver. They also could have rounded out the front of the magwell a bit. The corners are a bit sharp.
Bolt Release – Another gripe is that the bolt release hits the upper receiver and leaves a scuff. The upper also stops the bolt release from traveling it's full distance. I remedied this by grinding a chamfer on the top back of the bolt release. I removed enough material so that the release lever and the receiver don't interfere.
Take Down Pin – The front pin is about .050" too short. The rear pin sticks out a generous amount, about the same as an AR15, and the pin is easy to remove. The front pin is almost flush with the receiver and is more difficult to remove. If you're going to redesign a rifle from the ground up, these are the small things you have to think about.
Dust Cover – The dust cover doesn't always open when you pull the bolt back, although it opens most of the time when the bolt is released. During live fire I have never had the dust cover cause an issue. I think the distance between the bolt and the dust cover is just slightly too far and it causes a malfunction when manually opening the bolt. This is not a functional issue.
Accuracy
I am currently working on load development for this rifle and I should be able to report on it's potential accuracy in a few weeks at most. I will edit this post to include the info on accuracy when I finish testing loads. So far, 1.5 MOA is what I have achieved but I think I can do better.
Summary
Overall, I am impressed with the G2 Recon. For $1500 you get a lot of gun in a little package. I just wish they would put a better handguard on the rifle. After I worked out a few bugs, and I'm not sure how much was solved by break in, the rifle functions quite well. Most of all, I love how light and handy this rifle is. Even with a 10X scope, the rifle is several pounds lighter than my naked HK91. If I had it do over again, I would still buy the G2 Recon. Even though my review sounds like the rifle has a lot of problems, that's just because in my short experience with the rifle, these are the things most on my mind. Other than these small issues, the rifle functions and handles well.
Well, Hope this helps someone make a decision and just entertains the rest of you. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Ryan
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