D9Firearms

As we discussed before, we have been special ordering all of our rifles because we found was our clients wanted customized rifles.  However, the lead time has been taking 3 – 4 months.  So we analyzed what the most common requested options and style were and then combined them.  Although this is a little risky in terms of anticipating the market and if it will pay off in terms of profitability, and customer interest, satisfaction, and needs.  There have been a few that we’ve ended up holding onto for a little longer than we liked but that’s part of the deal.  We’ve listed a couple on the consignment page if you’re interested.

Regardless, one of the rifles we ordered was the DPMS quasi SASS, but we never had a chance to list any these.  We would receive a call and start talking with one of you and soon the topic turned to what specifically they were looking for and it so happened was we hit the mark on what we special ordered.  What we had ordered was the DPMS LR-308B 18” stock rifle with flutes, threaded barrel, and a Miculek compensator.  After that we stepped it up a notch with some JP trigger and hammer action, grips, tac latches, 4 rail free floats and the next thing we all knew was we had a rifle that would make a liberal wet his pants and a real man, well you guys know what a real man does so no need explaining. 

We sent the first one out to our good friend in Nevada the first one.  We appreciate the comments Earl has given our work and it’s what we work to provide to everyone.  Since I already know these things, I was interested in the performance and his opinion.  Thanks for using us Earl.

Hi Darrel & DPMS guys,

Thanks again,

LR-308B with: JP trigger/speed hammer, Hogue grip, ACE Ltd. skeleton stock, Leatherwood M600 range finding optic, 4 rail free float, fluted and threaded bull barrel with Miculek compensator. (Don’t Mess with Texas.)

This last month has been very busy with customizing DPMS rifles. Our goal has been to provide excellent customer service, quality work on any rifle we modify, at a reasonable price. After this month, we will be doing a little more scheduling up front with our clients. First, to let everyone know, we will not advertise a rifle we do not have. (There was an exception, but as you will see in the pictures, it worked out to Chris’s benefit.)

Typically, on DPMS rifles that we customize we try and stock the standard upgrades our clients are requesting and we are ordering rifles in small batches of 2 – 4 every month to keep a constant flow of rifles on hand. We do get request for options we don’t stock and look forward to bringing in new items. What we are finding during these peak times is that about a two week turn around gives us enough time to get the parts in (if we don’t have them), put them in a work flow, get the rifle built and out to you.

We also learned a few more things in the last few weeks of options that just won’t work with certain configurations. By the time, the parts arrived and we were into the assembly we uncovered that the standard length 4 rail free float hand guard would not work on the LR-308B. Although it will work with the standard round free float hand guard as with Earl’s rifle. I can only express how disappointed I was in myself for not seeing it sooner and the fact that I had to call a new client Tao and explain to him. I can only say he was very understanding, albeit disappointed, that we weren’t able to deliver. We are still working with Tao and are doing everything we can to make it right.

However, after looking back at last month we did build a couple of awesome rifles and were very pleased with the results as were their recipients.

Close up of the JP adjustable and speed hammer. The speed hammer is about half the mass of the standard hammer. You can feel, hear and see the difference with this trigger. When dry firing, you will observe a minimal shift off the target compared to the standard hammer. You will hear and feel the difference as well.

The building process. The Leatherwood is an interesting optic. This was our first experience and didn’t have much of an opportunity to get it out during day light and get the adjustments. It has built in range finding, the glass was very clean, and came on a frame ready to mount. We hope to get some feedback on this optic.

This is a little CAR that we built up originally for the KCPD for a demo model and added a few extras like a two stage trigger, Hogue grip, 4 rail free float hand guard, tac carrier release, tac mag release tac bolt release, collapsible stock, and a fabio compensator (shown below).

If you are a varmint you will not appreciate this rifle.

This is a menacing little varmint destroyer. This is a LR-260 with a JP trigger and speed hammer, Hogue grip, tac carrier release, 4 rail free float hand guard, fluted 24″ SS bull barrel, and Harris bipod. This was for a local client who will be bringing back to add a CAA 6 pos collapsible stock. (We had to order a different buffer tube and assembly.)

This kicked off our month. It was a neat little conversion of the LR-243 and included the JP trigger with speed hammer, tac carrier release, 4 rail free float hand guard, a Miculek and standard flash hider, ARMS 40 rear flip up and Yankee Hill front flip up sites. We received an email back from Mike and confirmed this is a tack driving machine. I think it makes an excellent all around small varmint to deer rifle. Mike confirmed sub MOA and several touching and overlapping holes at 100yd with factory ammunition.

This was a neat little deal we did and ended up doing on another rifle which was remove the A2 post gas block and replaced it with a picatinny rail gas block to be outfitted with a front flip up or put an optic.  This is an AP4 w/Miculek and is headed to Alaska and I’m sure some miscreant wild animal will be served for dinner.  Shown on the rifle is a new 3×25 IOR valdada QRT illuminated reticule.  I tested the optic out one night and for a 3x this is powerful.

This was another nice little project.  It is a LR-308B with fluted barrel and we added the 4 rail system, CAA collapsible stock, JP trigger and speed hammer, and the Tasco Super Sniper optic.  Another friend of ours sent his in from Ohio to let us test it and the owner of this rifle happened to be over and I can say for the money it’s rugged, the glass is very clean, mil dot reticule and target knobs.  They are priced at $300 and it is a great fit for the rifle and will serve well in the 0 - 300 range.  (It may be good beyond but that was all I was able to test it at.)  Shown with Ontario Knife and HK USP Expert.  This hard hitting, punch you in face trio would surely quell any restless natives thinking about causing mayhem, civil unrest, looting, or any other kind of violence.

If you are looking for a heavy duty rear flip up site we can recommend the ARMS. Also, on just about every rifle we add a tac carrier release shown on the left of the charging handle. This is a must for a gun with optics which eliminates trying to straddle the optic when charging your rifle.

Notice the standard hammer in the bottom lower receiver compared to the JP speed shown above.

Different upper receivers we start with.

Some optics we have and that go nicely with these rifles. Top to bottom: Springfield Armory 2nd Gen 4×14x56 very cool, Sightron 4×16x44 excellent optics very crisp, and our favorite IOR Valdada 10×42 SF with MP-8 it’s hard to use anything else after using these.

After is was all done we took a day to go camping down near where we plan to do a little hunting this fall and winter.

If you are interested in a DPMS and would like us to provide customized upgrades please contact us here at D9. Thanks

A good friend of ours Ben who lives nearby, only on the Missouri side has recently built himself an AR-15 rifle. (Sorry to say he didn’t buy the parts from D9Firearms and they weren’t DPMS, where’s the loyalty? As we’ve stated before, we can’t be all things to all people, and we still like Ben since he is an ardent believer in annihilating, through the aggressive use of force, hostile prairie dogs.)

However, Ben has been working up a load for his new AR-15 to take deer hunting. In Missouri you can legally hunt with a 223 caliber round. As a general rule, we here at D9Firearms recommend a minimum of a .243 for deer hunting, just in case the hunter didn’t get the cleanest shot. However, our favorite local deer hunting round would be the .270 which has a nice flat trajectory and will take down most Midwest game.

But if you’re interested and know the inherent issues with hunting deer with a small caliber Ben has provided some data on his findings. We know Ben is a responsible hunter (since we’ve hunted together before) and will not take the shot unless he knows he’s going to get the kill.

Did some ballistic testing on some .223 deer loads this weekend with barnes triple shock bu!!ets. These are a 62 grain hpbt, solid copper projectile. At .60 apiece they are pricey but they seem to be worth it. I fired 2 into phone books at 50yds. They penetrated about 7” and turned around backwards before stopping. Both bullets made perfect little 4 petal slugs that retained 100% of their weight and expanded to .455”. Barnes states that due to the expansion rings there is less surface area in contact with the case neck causing lower pressures and can be loaded up to two grains over max.

If you are interested in more of Ben’s findings please email us and we will forward your questions on to Ben. We also expect Ben will be forwarding us some more results for those of you who hand load and would like to try the .223 for deer hunting.

Thanks Ben for the information. Deer season is almost here and let D9Fireams outfit your next deer rifle.