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Thread: DM-4 Rifle - First Impressions
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14-01-2022, 13:20 #1
- Join Date
- Jan 2012
- Location
- Ruimsig, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Age
- 52
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- 367
DM-4 Rifle - First Impressions
Hi All,
Thought I'd share my first impressions of the DM-4 rifle.
I was in the market for a second Semi-Auto rifle in 223/556. Due to my budget, the locally manufactured Diplopoint DM-4's fell right into the budget gap, but I was apprehensive. I had heard from people that the DM-4's were unreliable, had feeding problems and that the fit and finish left a lot to be desired. Many, however, also said that these issues were related to the earlier models. I thought I'd investigate and find out for myself.
I had a look at the DM-4's at Waterfall Arms and was impressed with the overall finish for the money. I liked the fact that the barrels were hammer-forged, bolts and buffer-tube nut was staked, and the keymod fore-grip was sturdy. The trigger-pull was heavy but crisp.
I purchased the 12" version as I wanted a shorter AR (I own a Colt LE6940 with a 16" barrel). I originally wanted a 10" version, but the general consenses is that the 12" barrels are more reliable due to the extended dwell time.
Only real gripe I had was that I was supplied with a commercial stock on a mil-spec buffer-tube. The stock wobbled around and I replaced it with a Magpul SLK stock. I fitted a Holosun ACSS red-dot, Magpul MOE grip, ALG single port brake, ALG mil-sim trigger and QD mounts.
A 1000+ rounds in, here's my initial impression:
Reliability: I have fed the rifle different loads and bullet weights. Have not yet had a single failure to feed or cycle different ammo types.
PS: The rifle does however not consistently feed from a fully loaded magazine when the bolt is dropped due to the spring tension in the magazine. Hoping that this gets better as the rifle "loosens up".
Accuracy: At 25m - 50m, the rifle does really well with the Holosun ACSS red-dot, but I was curious as to how accurate the rifle would be out to 100m with the 12" barrel. I dropped a Vortex 4-16x scope and a Numenor supressor on the rifle and tested two different bullet weights from the bench.
I tested with my own reloads which consisted of 55gr Federal bullets with 24gr S321 and 69gr Nosler CC bullets with 23gr's of S321.
The best four-shot groups of the morning were the 55gr Federal's, printing at a MOA consistently. The 1:9 twist barrel naturally would prefer the quicker/lighter loads as the 69gr Nosler bullets printed consistently at 1.5 MOA.
Overall, at this stage, I am impressed.
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14-01-2022, 15:25 #2
- Join Date
- Jun 2011
- Location
- Cape Town
- Age
- 35
- Posts
- 7,152
Re: DM-4 Rifle - First Impressions
I still can’t unsee that from the first picture it looks like you are using a Kydex glock holster as a buttstock :p
Nice write up
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14-01-2022, 15:32 #3
- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Location
- Pretoria
- Age
- 34
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- 839
Re: DM-4 Rifle - First Impressions
Cool review
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14-01-2022, 15:37 #4
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Location
- Pretoria
- Posts
- 3,327
Re: DM-4 Rifle - First Impressions
Following this. At one stage they advertised uppers, I was keen on either a 300 BLK or 10" 223 upper.
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14-01-2022, 15:39 #5
- Join Date
- Aug 2014
- Age
- 35
- Posts
- 634
Re: DM-4 Rifle - First Impressions
Great review for someone looking at 1 of these.. also good to hear the local ARs doing well
Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk
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16-02-2022, 09:58 #6
- Join Date
- Mar 2020
- Age
- 34
- Posts
- 398
Re: DM-4 Rifle - First Impressions
Luckily its his side arm in a OWB Kydex holster
Very cool display and wright up and glad you are actually enjoying it. I know many happy rifle owners with locally manufactured & assembled rifles.
As other mentioned, thanks for contributing with reliable first hand experience
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03-04-2022, 19:23 #7
- Join Date
- Mar 2021
- Location
- Randburg
- Posts
- 52
Re: DM-4 Rifle - First Impressions
Cool review Lawdel! I also have a DM4 and I have to admit that had my fair share of issues with it however, Diplopoint sorted me out rather quickly and I think it's safe to say that the newer models are reliable. I also like the fact that there is a life time warranty on the DM brand.
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