DPMS Bull Barrel .22 upper

[shadow65]

I received the DPMS Upper today for T & E.
I have not had a chance to shoot it. Nasty day here.
My initial impression is it appears to be a well built, solid upper.
It is totally different from the Atchisson bolt system. This is a very simple, straight forward bolt system.
The upper receiver is designed for this bolt. It is not a standard AR upper receiver. Outward appearance does look like a standard receiver with the exception of a smaller ejection port.
The forward assist is a dummy plug, but is there.
The bolt will lock back manually using the existing bolt catch.
The bolt looks to be solid with a rod and spring leading to the rear bolt block.
When the upper is opened, the rear block will drop to the point where the actual bolt catches on the charging handle.
The lug on the top of the bolt keeps it from clearing the charging handle and falling out.
The charging handle has to be released to remove the bolt.
The rear block is also beveled so the upper and lower close easily without having to push the BCG in.
I really like the simplicity of the bolt system. The feed ramp is part of the barrel chamber. So it can't move which should aid in reliability.
The bolt itself reminds me of a 10/22 bolt.
Here are some quick pictures. Poor quality but I'll have time to get better ones when I do the review.
Upper as it came:

Bolt:

Ejection Port:

Rifle as I will test it






As suspected the upper ran flawlessly.
It was cold so I'm sure on a warmer day I could get better results. I also tried a different optic than usual. So, to be fair, I'll mount the optic I always test with and hit the range later in the week.
The rifle ran great!. I used the supplied BDM mag, a CMMG 1st gen mag, a CMMG Gen ll mag and a BDM X mag with steel feed lips. All mags ran 100 %
I shot several types of ammo:
Fed Champion
Fed 550 Bulk
Fed Auto Match
Winchester 555
Wolf MT
Here is the range and the rifle on a CMMG lower with Mid Length Free Float


Here are some targets using a 3-9 optic with adjustable AO
Wolf MT @ 25 yards 10 shots

Wolf MT @ 50 yards 10 shots

Winchester 555 @ 25 yards


Winchester 555 @ 50 yards

As you can see, the groups opened up at 50 yards. But as I said, it was cold and I did not have my usual scope.
I was pretty happy with the fact that the rifle would shoot the Winchester bulk as well as match ammo, at least at 25 yards.