Beyond its handling characteristics, the gun shoots quickly.
A lot of this is due to the short barrel and reduced weight up front. Looking down the scope, you can easily hold the rifle on target and make clean and precise shots. The gun stops promptly when moving from target to target. Moving away from the accuracy based shooting and stepping inside of the 50-meter mark, the DD5 continued to impress. With tuned hand loads or Hornady high end target or hunting ammo, I think you could dial this gun into much better. This may not seem impressive to some, but for those who have tried to shoot tight groups with a semi automatic rifle, you will understand that this is actually quite remarkable–especially with ZQI M80 ball. When the planets weren’t perfectly aligned, I was still able to shoot sub 2 inch groups. The 2 stage Geissele trigger is easy to shoot well, and I was able to produce sub 1 inch groups at 100 yards shooting ZQI M80 ball ammunition. With this grade of ammo, under these shooting conditions, I found that the rifle is at least as precise a shooter as am I. Now that I’ve made my disclaimer lets move on. 308 and you will be experiencing more noise and recoil than found with an AR-15.įour representative targets shot with the DD5V1. I’m not saying the DD is uncontrollable or uncomfortable to shoot. The only noticeable difference in the shooting experience is the amount of recoil and noise. The weight is very close, the length is very close, and the ergonomics are nearly identical. Shooting the DD5V1 is a lot like shooting an AR-15. Beyond its mounting capabilities it also does a great job of keeping the heat away from your hand as you fire the gun.
Running the full length of the barrel, it offers mounting positions for accessories in all possible locations. Lastly you will notice the thin Key-Mod hand-guard. It adds a new level of strength as well as a slight reduction in weight. It works by running the bolts through the hand-guard, then through the barrel flange, and then lastly into the receiver. Instead, the DD5V1 uses a 4 bolt locking system. DD has moved away from the standard barrel nut and clamp style hand-guard. Moving forward on the gun you’ll find an unconventional method for attaching a hand-guard and barrel to the receiver. Though it appears to be the same as the previous DD pistol grips, this one is just a bit different as it doesn’t have an integral trigger guard, but this is actually an improvement as the trigger guard is built into the receiver of the DD5V1.Ĭheck out how DD is connecting the forend to the receiver. The angle of the grip and the bulge of the pistol grip allow for more leverage than a standard grip and make firing with out the support hand much easier. Following suit with the stock, it is made of polymer and has a rubber section for added comfort and grip. Next we have the standard issue Daniel defense over-molded pistol grip. The stock adds a lot of comfort to the shooting experience, no mater the conditions or situation. One of my favorite features is the over-molded check rest which creates an oddly soft connection between the rifle and the shooter. The stock is adjustable and locks in tight to the buffer tube. The club style stock design allows the shooter to wrap their hand around the front of the rifle and keep it steady and tight to their shoulder during prone or supported shooting. Starting at the back we have the Daniel defense club foot stock with an over-molded check rest. Looking at the furniture of the DD5V1, you can immediately see it is designed for comfort as well as customization. In my testing I found it to actually shoot better than most of the standard 18-20inch barreled variety.
It shaves a little bit of weight off of the front end while only sacrificing around 100fps in velocity. 308/7.62 rifles in this style on the market is the use of a 16-inch barrel and low profile hand-guard. It has an integrated trigger guard, ambidextrous controls, over-sized mag-well and a monolithic hand-guard that set this gun apart from the crowd.Īnother notable difference from most. This gun has a different set of components than the standard AR-15. The DD5V1 is Built around a CNC machined 7075–T6 aluminum receiver-set. Do you get what you pay for with the DD5V1? If it is like the rest of the DD rifles I’ve shot, the answer is an unequivocal yes. Daniel Defense guns are hardly the most expensive, but they’re not the cheapest either–which brings us to the question of value. The big question for a lot of you reading this will be price. It is designed to be light, accurate, and (most importantly) reliable. The DD5V1 is built from the ground up to meet the exacting specifications Daniel Defense is known for.