wjyarkiell

Hey guys, i came across the DPMS 308 sportical on gunbroker. Is this a good rifle? why is it so much cheaper than othe dpms models? This sportical doesnt have a Forward assist on it. What exactly does the forward assist do on an AR? is it a big deal to have or not have one? Has anyone played with one of these sporticals? Thanks.

wjyarkiell

And another question is: are these guns free-floated? I know that in some specifications or details it will say that the barrel is free floated. If its not could that turn into a potential accuracy problem or not?

Briman

Is this a good rifle?
Its a DPMS. Pretty much middle of the road on quality, good enough.

why is it so much cheaper than othe dpms models?
The sportical is pretty much a stripped down AR using the least espensive parts DMPS has and has no extra features. Its meant to be an entry level AR-15.

This sportical doesnt have a Forward assist on it. What exactly does the forward assist do on an AR?
A forward assist isn't necessary for an AR-15 to run right- its only on AR-15s because the military wanted it, it wasn't in Stoner's original designs!
One useful use for it is if you load a magazine to full capacity and there isn't enough spring tension on the bolt to strip the first round off the magazine. An even better remedy to this situation is to load your 30 round magazines with only 28 or 29 rounds- you won't need the forward assist and your reliability will go up considerably.
The use for a forward assist is to attempt to jam an out-of-spec (or dented) round into a chamber making a throwaway round into a chamber obstruction.

is it a big deal to have or not have one? Has anyone played with one of these sporticals? Thanks.

stalkingbear

I don't have a Sportical but I bought a couple DPMS 16" bull barreled AR15s that have no forward assist or dust cover. The 1 I've shot most wears a Burris 4.5x-14x scope and I replaced the "clamshell" forend with 1 piece free float tube & replaced the factory trigger with a Jard 1.5# trigger. It groups 1/2" at 100 yards and is THE yote rifle I grab for. I shot 3 yotes out of 1 pack 1 afternoon, just before dark. Before using my AR15 on yotes, the best I could do was 1 yote at a time.

Briman

That must have been awesome excitement

No. It has standard hanguards. You can buy an aftermarket free float foreend for under $100where you simply(its not that simple, but its not hard to do) replace the barrel nut, gas tube, and foreend to have a free floated barrel. The only downside is that you need about $70 worth of tools to do this (receiver vise and AR-15 wrench).

Accuracywise, a free float tube on an AR-15 can make a world of difference. I wouldn't expect a non-free floated AR to shoot much better than 2 moa, a free floated rifle should shootmoa or better.

eldeguello

Free-floated barrels don't guarantee accuracy! Some barrels need some pressure in the forend.

Pawildman

I've got a DPMS sportical in .223. It's currently wearing an old 3x9 Redfield Widefield. The gun shoots cheap factory ammo into 1.5" @ 100 yds. most of the time. It barks and it bites. I love it............

Briman

That's true with traditional bolt action rifles and I'm an advocate of pressure bedding some of them, but AR-15s are an entirely different paradigm.