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Finally Did it! DDm4 V7!

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Takem406

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Jan 30, 2013
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Finally just said to heck with it and bought a Daniel Defense V7 then went to Cabelas and bought 500 rounds of SHTF ammo and mags.

I still need sights, sling, home defense ammo and I'd like thoughts on a trigger upgrade. Just not sure what accessories to buy.

Planning on dual using this rifle for defense and hunting (224 cal is legal for big game in Montana) especially with gophers starting to come out.

Anyone else shoot a DD? How's accuracy with the 16“ barrel. I have an old 3-9 Leupold I'll throw on it right off for gophers.

I was thinking of a red dot for defense with the XS Big Dots to the side for a backup. Then a Streamlight or Crimson Trace light/laser system.

Anyone care to share pictures.

Really concerned about choosing the right home D ammo. With a smaller home and neighbors.
 
I would slow down and take some time. research every purchase and spend your money very wisely.
The V7 is a fine rifle and you'll be happy with it. The accuracy potential can only be appreciate with a fine set of iron sights and some good optics. I reccomend Troy Industries BUIS and Leupold Scopes.
 
I have a m4v5. It's got DD fixed irons and an aimpoint pro co witnessing them. Magpul handstop. I think it's more comfortable and helps gives more control than the angled foregrip. For a light I use a streamlight that's rechargeable in a DD mount. It's mounted where I can set the rifle against a wall and snap the charger on the light. My trigger smoothed out a lot after a few hundred rounds. It's very lightweight also. The complete setup with a full mag weighs just a tad under 9 pounds. If I went with a smaller aimpoint it would weigh even less. Accuracy is good but I wouldn't expect sub moa groups. Most any fmj (xm193) type round will work good even in a home. At that close of a range the bullet will fragment and yaw. If you want a polymer tip hd round I use tap and winchester with the black polymer tip. I have had to shoot anyone so I'm not really sure there all that much better. Especially for over a dollar a round.
 
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For home defense ammo Winchester soft points (sold as 55 gr Pointed Soft Point and 64 gr Power-Point under the Super-X and Ranger labels for both types) is impressive in testing. Here's one article showing their excellent fragmentation against drywall - http://how-i-did-it.org/drywall/ammunition.html. The 64 gr Power-Point also performs quite well on deer, which is usually a good indicator of terminal ballistic performance.
 
I definitely don't want to buy something especially as expensive as these accessories are to end up reselling them.
Anyone use Eotechs? The smaller ones look like they would be about perfect for what I'm looking for.
 
I've used an eotech but never owned one. They are nice I chose the aimpoint pro cause the battery lasts way longer and it comes with a transparent rear cover and you don't have to open the front cover to use it. It's designed for both eyes open. Plus it's less expensive and is waterproof and superbright even on the sunniest days.
 
Good to know!
How do you break in the barrles on these? Just like a bolt action, which ever voodoo superstitious method you prefer? Shoot five clean it and repeat a few times?
I'll be buying a dedicated varmint upper in the future. But as is I already have a way too heavy 22-250.
The DD's are some of the lighter rifle right? I didn't get the LW model. The few oz you save didn't seem that important. But the rifle still is under 7 pounds.
With the 1-7 twist, how light of a bullet can you go with? I have a lot of 52`s and 50`s I load for my 22-250. Will these be fine?
 
Takem406 said:
How do you break in the barrles on these??
Click to expand...

It is Chrome lined and IMO you would just be wasting time going by any shoot clean shoot clean procedure...

I have a 16" DD barrel and I have to this point only shot it with YHM flip up sights which are pretty much like A2 sights. My sight radius is probably about that of a mid-length. I can shoot ~2"-3" groups at 100 yards with 55 grain Hornady FMJ-BT over about 24.5 grains of H335. I would assume using a decent scope would shrink those groups.
 
My four basic needs on a general purpose/home defense carbine are sling, light, irons and an optic.

For home defense ammo you don't have to put too much thought into it. Any of the rounds touted for home defense or big game hunting are going to work. Even the varmint rounds are going to work but give you less penetration which you need to be mindful of.

Im a fan of the heavy rounds like M262 or Hornady's 75 grn loads. These are consistent yawing bullets and fragment well. One of my Academy instructors was a SWAT guy and shot a hostage taker with Hornady 75 grn TAP from a 11.5 inch barreled Colt Commando. Even out of that short barrel the 75 grn bullet worked fantastic and killed the suspect instantly.

Accuracy should be pretty good. While the barrels that Daniel Defense makes are not specifically geared towards accuracy like a good match grade stainless, they still are hammer forged. My friends Daniel Defense has no problem hitting my 2/3 sized IPSC steel silhouette at 500 yards using M855.

In my opinion you bought one of the best ARs on the market. Enjoy it.

Edit:
As for triggers Id look no place other than Geissele. Combat proven match grade triggers. If you don't want to spend 200 bucks on a trigger look at ALG, the sister company of Geissele, who make tuned up milspec triggers for around 80 bucks.
 
I have the DD V7 LW. I went with the LW model due to it having better balance in my hands. Mine has printed several 1" groups @ 100yds with 77gr handloads after breaking it in.

I took an ALG trigger group ($45 on sale) and sent it to Bill Springfield (another $45) and got a very nice trigger for less than $100.
 
Congrats on your new Daniel Defense. I have the V5 model and have been very happy with it. To start, I would get iron sights and begin shooting it. I prefer Troy fold down sights but everyone has their own favorite. The next thing I did was to change the trigger to a Geissele SSA-E. Again, there are a number of triggers available including just modifying the factory trigger. While factory triggers are fine for combat, they are too heavy for me to use well at the range. When ready you can add an optic and or scope. I use an Aimpoint T1 which adds virtually no weight to the rifle on a QD mount for short distances. Because of eyesight, I use a Leupold scope on a QD mount for 100 yards or more. I can switch back and worth without losing zero.
 
I'm shocked at all the recommendation for Troy products. They may make a good product, but their hiring actions show that they don't support my individual right to own firearms. I regret the one purchase I made from them. There are too many other companies with comparable products who don't hire gun grabbers and accessories to the murder of innocent women: http://www.thebangswitch.com/the-hiring-follies-of-troy-industries/.
 
I have a DDM4 V3 lightweight and think you'll be very pleased with it. And its accuracy. I'm not a bench shooter but it's around a 2.5 MOA rifle with me behind it and NATO like 5.56. From a rest it should do better but I haven't bothered.

Your 1/7 twist should easily handle 55 grain and higher with no problem. Maybe even 50, you'll have to test it as individual barrels and ammo perform differently. It wouldn't be recommended for super light varmint rounds but 50-52 probably will be fine.

The LW or pencil profile barrel is about 4 or 5 oz lighter than a standard government profile. It is noticeable.
 
I've been wanting one of those for some months, but I haven't convinced myself to spend the money yet. Perhaps a trip to the LGS this weekend will change my mind.
 
Sam Cade said:
Yup.
I've got quite a large amount of Troy products. All of it top notch.

I'll never buy another piece.
Click to expand...

I thought about buying their battle sights...but thought "why?" When YHM and Midwest Industries are nearly half the cost...my YHM sights are great
 
Im finally about to be in a position, financially that is going to allow me to purchase another Daniel Defense. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was selling mine. But as soon as I'm done with my first hitch offshore I'm gonna put one order.
 
The only thing I've done to my DD V7 LW is add a grippy rubber pistol grip and a set of Magpul sights. I'll probably leave it at that.

Nice rifle!
 
Thanks for the feed back. I do plan on getting a carbine class for the wife and I.
I'll probably just end up getting flip up sights for the moment to get me going and mounts for my old 3-9x40 Leupold.

Anyone use the XS sights?

I like the looks of the Eotech EXPS-2. Will this cowittness with flip ups?

What kind of light and laser combinations work good? How are the CT pistol grips.
 
You're getting a red dot, so you don't need a laser that only ads expense, complication, weight, and something else to break. The EoTech XPS2 will work, but but a Aimpoint Micro will give you much better battery life. You could also go with dual illuminated Trijicon RMR if you don't want to worry about batteries and you really want to keep the weight down. Any of the three will co witness with iron sights with the correct height mount.

Since you want a non-magnified, illuminated sight you don't need flip up sights to tuck under a magnified optic. Since you want to cowitness anyway, fixed sights will be more durable, and less expensive. I'd skip the XS sight inserts because you don't need the white outline cluttering up the sight picture.

As already noted you can load lighter bullets for your 1:7 twist bbl. If the jackets are thin you may not back off the velocities slightly so they hold together.
 
Wow! I didn't know that about Troy. They will never see a dime from me, period! That's an absolute disgrace. Both the sniper and spotter are murderers. They should both be on death row awaiting execution for their crimes (or already in the ground) not working for a gun company.:eek:
 
Takem406 said:
Thanks for the feed back. I do plan on getting a carbine class for the wife and I.
I'll probably just end up getting flip up sights for the moment to get me going and mounts for my old 3-9x40 Leupold.

Anyone use the XS sights?

I like the looks of the Eotech EXPS-2. Will this cowittness with flip ups?

What kind of light and laser combinations work good? How are the CT pistol grips.
Click to expand...

DD's are great rifles.

First of all, do you have (or think you might have) an astigmatism? Astigmatism's will cause you to see dots in Aimpoints and Eotechs as a smudge. This is an individual thing and is unbearable for some folks and a minor annoyance for other people. Also, the dots in the Aimpoint Comp and PRO units are a little more dot-like whereas the Aimpoint Micro's (R1/H1/T1) tend to appear more as a point of light. I think this is also a bit subjective.

If you do have an astigmatism, you might want to consider a 1-x scope or an ACOG instead of a RDS.

Okay, back on topic... The EXPS Eotechs have a QD riser, so they will cowitness bottom 3rd - the iron sights will be below the eotech reticle. If you want absolute cowitnes, you need one of the XPS models.
 
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