These are some of the best quality low-cost AR 15 semi-auto rifles that come ready for optics and other accessories. It is a lightweight carbine that features a MIL-STD A3 upper receiver, a Pardus Stock that boosts the comfort of the user, a lightweight barrel, and other advanced features and capabilities.
All these are offered to you at a price that is not anywhere close to breaking the bank. Below is a detailed DPMS AR 15 review that will help any newbie as it will fulfill their thirst of knowing more about the gun before they can go ahead and buy it. After reading this review, you will be at a better position of making informed decisions. Read on…
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Overview
DPMS is a reputable brand that is credited for the production of very reliable, high-quality guns, with the DPMS Oracle being just one of their popular models. The Oracle suits both those who are buying the gun for the first time, as well as those who have been on the field for quite some time. One unique feature that comes to us as a paradox is the fact that though affordable, the accuracy of the gun can’t be matched.
It comes with some of the most durable materials, with the materials not compromising the weight of the gun. The main reason behind the cheap price of the product is the fact that they have ensured only basic features is featured in the construction. Some of the common accessories, including the gun sights are missing.
There are people who can never own an AR-15 if it lacks some important features. Such persons may first look down upon the Oracle. However, the common trend in the modern gun technology today is to build up your own gun. As a result, the best thing to do would be to buy a cheap gun, dismantle it and then reconstitute it using your most preferred parts and accessories.
The DPMS Oracle Specifications
- Length of Barrel: 16 inches
- Action: Semi-Automatic
- Safety: Lever
- Twist Rate: 1 in 9
- Trigger: Standard
- Finish: Black
- Stock type: Collapsible/adjustable
- Caliber: 5.56 NATO/ .223 Remington
- Weight: 6.3 pounds
- Magazine Capacity: 30+1
1. Construction Overview
The Barrel
The product comes with a barrel tip that has a standard A2 birdcage flash suppressor. This is a design that has been tested and proven to provide reduced muzzle rise as well as considerably suppressing the gun flash and the gun recoil.
Still, on the barrel, DPMS found it fit to use a lightweight 16” barrel that fires .223 and 5.56 NATO calibers. The Chromemoley barrel is one of the unique features of the gun, which can't easily be found on other platforms.
Security Guards and Features
The gun comes with a signature Glacier Guard, which is a DPMS proprietary handguard. This has been well designed and incorporated to ensure that the shooter’s hand doesn’t melt. The anatomy of the handguard is such that you will end up with a plasticky feel that is very distinct from what you feel when shooting with other rifles.
The good news is that if you do not like them, and would want them out, so as to create more room for gun optics and other accessories, the Guard is easily removable. Upon removal, replace it with the quad rail that will allow you more room for the above-mentioned accessories.
The Upper & Lower Receivers
DPMS Oracle LR-308 Upper Receiver Assembly
These important parts of the gun have been forged to boost their strength and durability. The upper lower receiver has been designed and constructed ready to receive any gun optics of the user’s choosing. And on the lower receiver is a pistol grip that has been attached. Though this pistol grip has the capacity of doing the job, it is never the best bet for the job as far as ergonomics are concerned. It will thus be well if you found a better replacement as there are many of them to choose from on the market.
DPMS AR-15 Partially Complete Lower Receiver, 5.56 NATO, Black
The Stock
At the end of this gun is an adjustable stock. This is a good design for its price but isn’t the best, and won’t be compared to that of other guns within the same platform such as the Magpul. It is thus prudent that you replace the stock with one of your choice and liking. The stock doesn’t come with any rotational or side to side play thus; you can still use it for some time as you plan to change this part.
At the bottom of the gun’s stock is included a sling mount, which is not a very useful part out of the box because there is no sling accompanying the gun in the package. You need to buy your own sling if at all you will have to use this feature.
The Magazine
The Oracle 5.56 AR-15 rifle features a 30 round capacity magazine. This is yet another selling feature of the gun. Try loading any 30 round capacity magazine of other guns and you will come realize that it isn’t a very smooth expedition. Some guns will require that you smack the magazine’s bottom for them to fit. This is not the case with the DPMS Oracle. The Oracle comes with a magazine that is very easy and smooth to load. There are virtually zero loading issues associated with the magazine. Chambering the first caliber isn’t also a tall order as is the case with other guns.
2. On the Field
Versatility and Flexibility in Performance
As mentioned earlier in this DPMS AR 15 review, the Oracle is capable of firing both the .223 and the 5.56 NATO calibers. Any gun user who is a legend in this field will tell you that most AR 15’s aren’t able to fire the 5.56 NATO calibers. This is because the 5.56 round comes with increased pressures that most of these AR firearms aren’t able to withstand. However, for a cheap gun such as the Oracle to be able to withstand increased pressures, it is a clear indication that DPMS took its precious time to design and even more time to construct this gun.
The Best AR-15 for Women
Women are today falling more and more in love with the Ar platform. Unfortunately, some of the AR rifles are quite too heavy for women to carry. Fortunately, this DPMS AR 15 review offers solace to our dear sisters. Women want something very lightweight as they lack the muscular endurance that men have. In the DPMS Oracle is a lightweight and very affordable Ar rifle for the women to make good use of.
Performance
The DPMS Oracle will run the compatible ammo and engage targets with precision and accuracy at all the common or rather reasonable distances without any issue. It is capable of shooting groups that are a bit larger than the Minute of Angle (MOA). Its minor inconvenience is featured in the lack of a chrome lined barrel. This means that during cleaning, you will have to give the barrel a little more attention as opposed to when the barrel would have been chromed.
Beginners or Advanced Shooters?
You may want to know if this gun is best for you at your level. My response is, whether a beginner, advanced or an expert shooter, this would probably be the best AR 15 firearm you can go for. What an irony? The good side of the gun is that out of the box, as we can see in this DPMS AR 15 review, the gun is just a skeleton product that has no appealing attribute to the more experienced shooters who fancy sophisticated products. This is an advantage to the beginner as they need something that is cheap, as well as something that is easiest to operate.
On the other side, out of the box, the gun will not be pleasing at all to the advanced shooters. The good news though is that this is one of the most customizable guns I have ever come across. You can change the stock, the trigger and have the capacity of adding almost any gun accessory to the accessory ready rails. It offers the best starting point for gun building and customization.
Price and Availability
The easiest way to get to know about the availability of the gun is, of course, to contact the manufacturer and make an inquiry. It is important, though, to know that most of the major online and offline gun stores do sell this product. And for a price tag that is in the region of just around $500, the quality and performance of the gun are worth every single penny you will spend on this gun.
3. Pros and Cons
Pros
- Price: This is one of the cheapest Ar 15 guns. Wade through any AR 15 stores and you will discover that most of the rifles within the platform cost &700 and over. This is opposed to the $500 that DPMS charges on the Oracle
- 3 Year DPMS Warranty: Though this is not the best warranty there is on the market, it is one of the best for such a lowly priced product. For three years, you will be using your gun without the fear of losing it to malfunction.
- Lightweight: This is yet another important selling point of the gun. You probably want to be walking around the woods with easy, while you have the gun on your back. The lightweight feature is among the most important portability aspects to go for if you want to achieve the above.
- Versatile and Customizable: It comes with an adjustable and replaceable stock among other parts. This makes it the best Ar 15 build starting point. You can easily customize it into whatever you want it to look like
Cons
- It doesn’t come with iron sights or front sling attachment points.
- The Glacier handle comes with a bit of cheap feel, with the handle also feeling quite rough upon pullback
Customer Reviews
A good number of the customers are happy with the product as can be seen in a number of the DPMS AR 15 reviews in some of the major sites. “Excellent rifle,” “An absolute preference Ar-15 for the buck,” Awesome great Ar 15 carbine for recommendation” and “Highly recommended” are some of the words and phrases used to describe the product.
Most of the users are amazed at how such a cheap gun can have so many great features and such a high-performance capability. Going through some of these reviews will make you end up with one conclusion: This is one of the best AR 15 for the buck. For many shooters, who have numerous guns to make this one their best, it only means that it is the best in the lot.
In a nutshell, if you hear the word DPMS being mentioned, it is either the customer is highly satisfied, or they are making a comparison between the expensive Ar 15’s that are full of flaws and the cheap DPMS Oracle.
Conclusion
All in all, there is nothing much we can negatively say about the gun. If we realize that the firearm has mainly been designed for customization and starting point of the gun building, we won’t look at the cheap parts as a con. In any case, where can you get such a cheap gun having so expensive parts? It is, therefore, the best bet for that shooter who is in search for a bare bone rifle. It guarantees the shooter reliability, is easily modifiable and is fun to shoot.
Bought a factory new Oracle in 2016 for a great price. Installed Magpul furniture and a Hogue grip. Flip up iron sights are Yankee Hill Machine. After the 200 round break in it shot a 4 round one hole group with 1 “flyer” that opened the group up to .625” at 50 yds from the bench. Ammo was my handloads. I’m an average shot, the rifle shoots GREAT!
This is a question not a comment. Can someone please recommend to me F&R iron sights that will work with the Oracle as the front mount is lower than the rear mount? After maxing out the adjustment on the front sight I bought, I was still shooting 7+” high. TY in advance.
You need a gas block sight UTG sells a useable one for about 20.00
I got MBUS flip up buis on my oracle. They performed pretty well to be honest. After 100 shot break in, that’s when I started to zero the sights in. I changed my glacier guard to a Magpul quad rail, and threw on a front pistol grip for my wife. The gun performs pretty well at ranges less than 100 yards grouping a cigarette pack every shot at 50 and 75 yards. All in all it is a decent rifle for the money.
I love the oracle but I want to change the Handguard and put a quad rail guard on it and I have bought two low cost guards and neither will fit on this rifle, and I am on a fixed income and cannot afford the expensive quad rail guards, so can I make these less expensive ones work,
I’ve put over 8000 rounds thru my DPMS Oracle in just over 11 months. Without one malfunction. Great rifle for the money.
A question for the DPMS folks. What’s the round life of your barrels? I’ll be over 10000 by year end.
Got my “Black Panther” from the pawn shop. VERY good condition. The bottom of the BCG was barely broken in! The hardened hex head machine screws were staked, and everything else was MIL-SPEC.
Came with a TruGlo red /green dot optic.
Switched out the Glacier guards for a very nice 6061 M4 carbine length floating quad rail two piece from AIM tactical that perfectly aligned with the top rail. And let’s her breathe MUCH BETTER, added rubberized spacer grips that popped right on the rail. Each rail holds 3.
Also added BUIS behind and on the edge of the top rail, no need to add anything to the gas block.
Added a 1,000 lumen LED with clear, red, green and yellow lenses. Pressure remote switch, but it’s easier just to press the back of the light with my left knuckle, as I mounted it on the bottom quad, full forward.
1″ groups @50yds, 75 yds; & within 2″ @ 100yds. That’s where this baby can drive tacks, it’s operator error, or I think I could make 1-1 1/2 groups from 100yds on a bench. A bit bigger groups with the ghost ring BUIS, which has two aperture flip rear settings, small and large. Easy 1° clicks for wIndage, and the front sight was dead nuts on. But adjustable for elevation, not needed once you zero hey in to 100yds.
Love the rifle! No jams, great for the price!
I bought one in 2016. Since then I’ve changed the hangguard for a quad rail. I’ve got a forgrip and a light on it . I also added a red dot. The thing is accurate and runs great. I shoot it quite a bit.