Range Report: DPMS GII Bull

[novamark]

mtwarych
I talked to the gunsmith working on my gun yesterday and he says the headspacing is off on my gun. He is waiting for a barrel from dpms. I called dpms today and asked if they had a barrel for my gun and they do not. Dpms does not produce their own barrels. I don't know who produces the barrels for the g2 recons, but they are backlogged like crazy. Aaron at dpms said he wouldn't expect barrels for retail customers any sooner than 6 months. The repair facility has first priority on the barrels. So I guess I just have to wait and see what happens. Aaron did say he knew my gunsmith and that my gun would be right when I get it back.

 

[SabreCross]

Thanks for the great reviews. I've been following the DPMS Gen II Bull rifle. Very informative!

 

[mtwarych]

I got to shoot my GII hunter today with a 40 to 43 grain ladder.
After following the suggestion in this thread, I changed the gas block to a Oden Works adjustable gas block. What an amazing difference in rifle function.

I got good groups with 40 grains and 41.5 grains of H4895 behind a 168grn Nosler custom competition 308 caliber bullet. CCI number 34 primers.

I started getting pressure signs at 42 grains so I stopped there.

Both groups of 5 rounds each could have been mostly covered with a quarter at 200yds.

My sons rifle is still shooting 42.6grn H4895 5 shot groups just a little smaller than a quarter.

When I become a technical genius I will post pictures of the groups.

Now I will start fine tuning this rifle.

I will have it ready for bear and deer season this fall.

 

[mtwarych]

If anybody cares,

My son and I finally got off the valley floor to do some ridge to ridge shooting. It was an amazing day.

I was the "spotter" and my son was driving the DPMS LR308 Hunter. We got to use all the toys like rangefinders, kestrals, the shooter ballistic program, the shooting mats, etc. etc. etc.

We started at 480yds and if I could call wind, we would have had a first round cold bore hit on a small rock that was about 4X4 inches square. The second shot was taken a few minutes later and was a direct hit. May I say it is very cool to watch the bullet fly through a spotting scope?

Next was 585yds. Same thing, my inability to call wind resulted in a second shot to smash the rock.

750yds, first round hit of a 12X12 rock. Many more rounds to make a little sand.

880yds, Second round hit, we continued to smash a different 12X12 rock.

1040yds. This one was a lot harder due to shooting across a canyon that had 3 mouths to read. I suck. This one was a little later in the day and the wind was going everywhere so it took us 8 rounds to hit a rock that was 16X32 long.

I did fire my GII Hunter with rounds I knew were acceptable pressure in the rifle and could adjust into a hit pretty easily. I just got the barrel to the point that no copper fouls the barrel, we moly all of our slugs and season the bore with moly also.

I will say the 165 Nosler Ballistic tips were more accurate than the 168 Nosler CCs.

I have a gob of brass work to do and I need to work ladders for my rifle and we will go do it again, I am just overly impressed on how the good information in this thread and all the other info from other parts of this forum helped us with being able to hit targets at 1040yds.

Thank you to everyone and I will bore you guys when I get my GII up and running.

JW
Semper Fi

 

[novamark]

That is an awesome report. I have been working on loads for my DPMS G2 Recon also. Per your advice I installed the Odin works gas block also. Like you said, calms the gun down and my brass is reloadable. I have been working with the H4895 also with 42.7gr. and Sierra 168 at 100yds. I am thinking about moving out to 200 and 300yds.

 

[mtwarych]

My son bought a heavy buffer for me.
It is a 10 ounce buffer from HeavyBuffers.com.

I re-shot the upper rungs of the ladder again and the overall improvement is pretty exciting.

The "recoil" of the rifle is now an easy push back and a forward bump when the bolt rotates and locks.

At 42 grns of H4895 I was getting what I think were pressure signs on the brass when I shot the same ladder without the heavy buffer. With the heavy buffer I see no signs of flattened primers and no marks on the case head. I'm not sure why the 10oz buffer made that kind of a difference, but it did.

The better part, buffer induced or not, is I shot 1 three round group at 200yds that was about the size of a nickel. The load is 42grn H4895 under a Nosler 168grn CC set off with a #34 primer in military brass. Wednesday my son Carl and I will go back to the range and verify the load again and chronograph the load so I can start filling in the info in the shooter app.

In a couple weeks I will buy as many Nosler 165 BT and re-chronograph and set up the hunting side of this AR.

It has been a pretty crappy couple of years for me and having something go so right and is so enjoyable to do is a nice change.

I am really impressed with the DPMS GII line of rifles. When I become independently wealthy, I would have no problem buying another Hunter model in a different caliber.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone on this forum for all the help and knowledge shared.

JW
Semper Fi

 

[mtwarych]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me start with some pretty fowl words.

GOSH DASKITT!

I started having problems with my GII hunter. Punctured primer, head seperations on brand new FGMM 168's and marks on the caseheads.

After all that work I did with the rifle, I need to take everything off the rifle and send it in for warranty work.

The bolt face is eroded to the point I will pierce a primer on every shot. I have already ruined $85 worth of titanium firing pins.

My guess is bad headspace or a bad chamber.

This rifle is so accurate I am pretty bummed about sending it for service which may include a barrel change.

Fargin cork sucking icehole!

I will let everybody know what turns up.

 

[arrow]

I have had multiple multiple problems with my g2 recon. It's back for repair for the second time. I got it in January and it's been in repair for most of it. The smith said it is shooting good now and ships out today. I am curious to hear how yours turned out.

 

[crankbait]

I've had my G2 Recon since 2013 - about 5K rounds. A handful of FFE problems were related to magazines and ammo. Some pointers: 1. The factory DPMS metal mags work much better than PMAGS. 2. You'll need to make sure that your reloads use a taper crimp and that your brass necks have been chamfered. 3. Use a light coat of grease on your bolt carrier rails, bolt carrier, cam pin, and charging handle. Don't over-oil the BCG. Don't use steel case ammo.

It's made my G2 Recon run very consistently, and I love the gun. It's still sub-moa. PRI just came out with a gas buster charging handle specifically for the G2, and since you'll want to run a scope the larger latch handle is nice. I run a Leupold VX-6 1-6x Firedot.

 

[chad8369]

could u share your load data for the GII bull

 

[chad8369]

I have a DPMS GEN II that I brought a few months ago. I put a Vortex 6x24x50mm scope on it and changed the trigger to a Rock River match set at 4.5 pounds. I reload for it and I have shoe from the bench a .228 3 shot group at 100 yards using flags. I also added a Caldwell AR brass catcher. I am very impressed with this rifle.

would you mind sharing your load?

 

[crankbait]

For range shooting out to 200 yards, I buy Hornady 150 gr FMJBT by the gross - 1K at a time. For that load I like 39 grains of Alliant AR Comp. IMHO the reduced LC case volume keeps the more moderate charges at good velocity and pressure. For the Hornady 150gr FMJBT I use a COAL of 2.775 and a taper crimp right in the center of the cannelure ring. I get 1 MOA accuracy or better all day every day with this load - and I can do it for about 25 cents per round (or better).

I have had no issues with a Geisselle 4 pound trigger and CCI primers.

I use LC brass and RCBS small base full length sizing die. Lots of lube. The LC I use an RCBS military crimp remover and primer pocker uniformer. I also use the K&M Precision flash hole deburring tool and the RCBS ID and OD neck chamfering tools on my case prep center. Every case goes through a wilson gauge.

For the 1:10 twist G2 Recon 16 inch barrel - IMHO the 168gr AMAX is the most accurate round I have shot. I load it to a COAL of 2.800 and use a taper crimp. I like 41 grains of IMR 8208XBR in the Lake City Brass. For hunting this season I plan on using Lapua brass with 43 grains of IMR 8208XBR and 165 gr Sierra GameKing soft point boat tails.

I love the RCBS Chargemaster. Way cool.

The AR Comp I find everywhere, and I have not seen Varget in three years. You use what you can get. Buy what you need on the spot - because it won't be there in another few hours. I like the IMR 8208XBR because it packs a bit denser, and I found one 8 pound jug of it. Both AR Comp and 8208 seem to be very clean burning.

 

[crankbait]

200 yards, Sitting Position, fast(ish) fire complete 20 round mag. My 150gr FMJBT hand loads with LC brass and 39gr AR Comp, RCBS small base die, 2.785 COAL ( my range load ).

Absolutely no FFE issues and complete reliability. It runs and runs. IMHO, impressive accuracy from a 16 inch barrel.