DS Arms RPD Review Part 2
I received my DSA / Wise Lite Arms RPD back from warranty service so I decided to film part 2 of my review. Things didn’t go as expected, see the review to learn more.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
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@ScottHigh23 Why not, there’s no magazine, bayonet lug or folding stock. With a belt fed there’s no issue of magazine capacity.
can i own one of those rifles in upstate new york?
@dsainc
Thanks, I do appreciate the opportunity to reevaluate the rifle. Feel free to reach out to me any time, Taylor in Customer Service knows how to get a hold of me.
Yes that’s a great idea, we are back ordered slightly right now due to the new design but we are taking orders. I will look into a sample for review for Sturm it shouldn’t be a problem I do it for gun writers and this is the same thing really.
Dsa, maybe you should arrange to send sturm one of your new models so he can put your claims to the test.
Thank you for the kind impartial review. Yes, our first model was somewhat finicky, but we have addressed this issue fully. We have improved the designed significantly to match the quality DSArms is know for. We have also matched the reliability the original RPD was known for; buy with confidence.
@Sturmgewehre Sucks man!
I thought I heard something about bent recoil spring tubes being a problem. That’d be my guess.
@Sturmgewehre too bad, but I’m glad to hear they showed such good service. Have you heard of any other people’s experiences with the other couple semi-auto RPD builder’s versions out there (Project Guns LLC, etc.)?
What do you think the achilles heal is at this pt – conversion from open bolt to close bolt operation?
@TacticalGunGuy
I never got it sorted out. After the replacement gun didn’t live up to expectations, I returned it for a refund. Unfortunately I don’t believe these rifles are ready for prime time.
Did you ever get the RPD issues sorted out? I’ve been looking at a DSA built RPD and wanted to see what I was getting into when I found your vid series on it…
@Sturmgewehre Hi, stop using cheap ruski “conversion product”! Hard primers are responsible for malfunction. Never use WOLF! Don’t use soft point, hollow point. Switch to Yugo, Norinco, Golden Tiger, Barnaul. I have 2 RPD’s, I have two of my friends who have it, we had these problems before, just use surplus ammo and your problems–gone.
@Sturmgewehre
you have like no snow!
theres that much snow on the roads here!
That’s an unfortunate situation with the RPD, but it just goes to show what happens when they try to improve on an already wildly successful design (Universal Arms made the same mistake with the M1 Carbine). Fortunately DSA and Wiselite stand behind their products 100%, so there shouldn’t be any problem getting it fixed or replaced.
Thanks for the info, I live in texas and shipping a rifle back and forth is a pain.
@q0010010101
It might be another 2 weeks. I’ve sent it in twice but there are some ongoing issues with the rifle that can’t seem to be worked out. They are sending me a totally new rifle at this point. I’ll post a new video once I get the new rifle and let you know how things are working. But know this, DSA is a GREAT bunch of people. They have been very helpful throughout this process and I have no concerns what-so-ever that this will be resolved one way or the other.
Any word on when you will be getting your rifle back? I’m ready to buy one but want to make sure they get it fixed – for 2100.00 I want a rifle that works.
@reptile202
They are $2,100 from DSA.
@Sturmgewehre About how much would the price for these run for?
excellent video. I just wanted to commend you that in your finding you are not spouting off at the lip like some idiots would and provide very good information for the would be buyers, myself included. It lends much credibility to your findings. I hope DSA fixes your rifle.
DSA just called me.
Here’s the problem. The firing pin is in two pieces. They tell me it’s an “improved” version of the Vector design. The secondary striker pin wasn’t properly hardened which caused it to deform, hence the increasingly soft primer strikes. This makes sense to me. They have a new design for this pin which is made of tool steel and is sprung (original design isn’t). I’ll report back next week once I get the rifle back.
@SSSCLimitedTrademark
The trigger is very long and heavy. I can fire rifles pretty quickly even with bad triggers (watch my SLG31 and FS2000 videos) but the RPD’s trigger is so long with a long reset that rapid fire is far more challenging. But, if it worked, I would love it as the gun is just plain cool. Hopefully we get the kinks worked out.
Excellent review. I saw these advertised, but came across your videos and saw the issues described within. How is the trigger on the RPD? I’d like to know if she’ll bump fire nicely off the bipod. Perhaps you can give it a try off the bench once you’ve got the kinks worked out. Cheers.
@c0boy
This happens. What’s important is that they are extremely helpful in getting the issue resolved. They’ve been quick to take my calls, call me back, asking for info and working with me to figure out the issue. That’s why I ordered from DSA to begin with, because they have a great reputation for customer service. If it were anyone else, I might be concerned as to the outcome. But with DSA I’m sure we’ll get the issue resolved.