DANIEL DEFENSE
DDM4 V11 By James Tarr
With its slim handguard profile and distinctive furniture, this is a great looking and good-shooting rifle.
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Lead Photo by Mike Anschuetz
D
aniel Defense has been making quality, dependable rifles for years, but perhaps the incident that has gotten them the most publicity in the history of the company was the NFL refusing to air their TV commercial during the 2013 Super Bowl. Nothing will garner the love and support of AR fans and politically active gun owners like getting unfairly treated by the mainstream media. Media drama aside, Daniel Defense has continued to turn out quality rifles, and one of their most recent models is the DDM4 V11. That name admittedly doesn’t flow off the tongue, and may be hard to remember, so let’s simplify it. Every rifle Daniel Defense (DD) makes (except their Mk18 series) they refer to as an M4 (hence the DDM4), and they currently make a number of different models. This is the V11 model. There are in fact a number of different versions of the V11, with the only difference being the finish. The gray
V11 finished in Tornado Cerakote looked very intriguing, but for this article I secured their basic black model. Cerakoted models cost an additional $130. The standard V11 sports a 16-inch barrel made of chrome moly vanadium steel. It is cold hammer-forged, with a 1:7 twist and a mid-length gas system. It is MP tested and phosphate coated. The barrel sports DD’s “government profile”—in fact a pseudo-M16A2 profile. The tortured process by which this barrel design came about is typical for the military, as is the less than ideal result. The 20-inch M16A2 barrel is thicker in front of the gas block than behind, and the 16inch Daniel Defense barrel replicates its dimensions, only switching from a rifle-length gas system to a mid-length. The last place you want to add extra weight on a barrel is near the muzzle, and as a result, this barrel profile will give you more muzzle whip (decreasing accuracy), espe[Cont. to page 9] cially when hot.
ON THE
COVER The Daniel Defense DDM4 V11 sports a slim fore-end that is a lot more comfortable than previous generations of quad rails, but fits plenty of accessories with the KeyMod system. Photo by Mike Anschuetz.
DANIEL DEFENSE DDM4 V11
ELFTMANN TACTICAL TRIGGERS
I
The DDM4 V11 was not helped by a heavy trigger and a government profile barrel, but Tarr says accuracy was more than acceptable, and reliability was 100%. The Daniel Defense V11 features a 15-inch handguard, buttstock and pistol grip of DD’s own design. The skeletonized handguard makes it lighter than it looks. [Cont. from page 5]
Most people won’t notice the difference, however, and those who love GI stuff on their rifles will be very happy. For those of you who will notice the difference, check out the DDM4 V11 LW (light weight), which is identical to this rifle but for a lightweight profile barrel. This is a direct gas impingement gun, which I prefer to piston ARs. I also prefer mid-length gas systems. Compared to a carbine-length gas system, a mid-length gas system reduces pressure at the bolt, which reduces wear/bolt speed. As a result of this reduced pressure/bolt speed, felt recoil in a mid-length gas system AR will be slightly less than that of a carbine-length gas system gun, all else being equal. The DDM4 also sports an H buffer to further help reduce felt recoil. The Daniel Defense flash hider is slightly longer than the standard A2. It has a solid bottom and five slots. It is constructed of 17-4PH (precipitation hardened) stainless steel, the same steel used to make the Vulcan cannon. It is salt bath nitride finished, and I like the looks of it. It seems to be at least as effective at reducing flash as the A2. The bolt carrier is M16 profile. The carrier is chromelined with a properly staked gas key, and both the carrier and the bolt are MP tested. The upper receiver features M4 feed ramps. One of the more distinctive features of the DDM4 V11 is the 15-inch SLiM (Slim Lightweight Modular) Rail. This is a KeyMod handguard, with a continuous MILSTD 1913 T-marked rail along the top and KeyMod attachment points along the length of the handguard at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions. There are also two QD sling swivel attachment points at the back of the rail at the 10:30 and 1:30 positions.
I can tell you all day long that the SLiM Rail is light, but the proof is in the numbers—even sporting a 15-inch SLiM Rail, the rifle only weighs 6.28 pounds. The rifle is not anywhere as heavy as it looks. With the stock fully extended, it balances over the front takedown pin. Most manufacturers have gotten away from quad rails because they are square and sharp, and are designing modular handguards that are slimmer and smoother to the hand. Daniel Defense’s SLiM Rail is very light and strong and provides a bounty of attachment opportunities. But of all the KeyMod and M-Lok and similar rails/handguards I’ve seen and tested, it is the closest in look and feel to a traditional quad rail. It feels very square in the hand, and is not nearly as narrow as a lot of the modular rails on the market at 2.125 inches tall (including the MIL-STD 1913 rail) by 1.75 inches. While there are no sharp edges, there are a lot of corners. The people who worship at the Tactical altar rarely waste an opportunity to badmouth competition guns and gear….but the fact of the matter is all of the cool “new” things I’m seeing on tactical guns, like the 15-inch handguard on the DDM4, were being tested and proven on competition rifles years if not decades ago. I hope no one has so many accessories to attach to his rifle that they need 15 inches of rail space to fit them all on. No, the real benefit of handguards this length is enabling the shooter to get his support hand as far out on the gun as possible.
It’s hard to make an AR look different these days, but the Daniel Defense buttstock and handguard make the V11 a distinctive and recognizable package.
Shooting in this manner (a technique developed by competition shooters 20 years before Chris Costa was demonstrating it in Magpul Dynamics videos) allows the shooter to drive the muzzle of his gun from target to target. Also, there is the matter of leverage—the closer your hand to the end of the gun, the easier it is for you to control it if someone tries to take it away from you. I am 6 feet, 1 inch tall and have very long arms for my height—in other words I have the build of an orangutan. The DDM4’s 15-inch handguard is so long that with the rifle shouldered I can extend my left arm and lock my left elbow and still not run out of handguard. Apart from the long handguard, the other eye-catching features on this rifle are the unique buttstock and grip. They are designed by Daniel Defense and made of glassfilled polymer with textured rubber overmolding. Most adjustable carbine buttstock levers pivot from the rear, but the DD version pivots from the front. It has rubber molding on either side of the cheekpiece, and the rubber at the rear of the butt is aggressively ribbed to reduce slipping. The buttstock has QD and traditional sling attachment points accessible from either side. The front of the buttstock’s “toe” is curved enough to push it back into your shoulder using your off hand, if you’re shooting off a bench or prone. At first I didn’t like the look of the DD [Cont. to page 12] buttstock, but it’s growing on me.
[Cont. from page 9]
The pistol grip has rubber overmolding on the lower two-thirds of the grip, so the rubber won’t rub on your thumb when you’re working the safety. It is all one piece with the oversized curved trigger guard, which is smart. One thing I don’t like about the grip is that it provides the same trigger reach as an A2 pistol grip. One reason aftermarket pistol grips (like the Magpul) are so popular is they provide added material to the backstrap, increasing distance to the trigger (and thereby making it easier to shoot with the pad of your trigger finger instead of the joint). The rifle model is very clearly marked at the left rear of the receiver. One neat feature on Daniel Defense rifles I really like is the QD socket at the rear of the receiver extension, easily accessed from either side of the rifle. The magazine well is slightly flared beyond GI to facilitate smoother reloads. A lot of people worship at the altar of Mil-Spec, but most of those people seem to be selective. They want Mil-Spec steel in their bolts (even though there are better steels now)….but then they waver, as a lot of the true MilSpec accessories are ugly or out of fashion. Daniel Defense rifles have always been popular with the Mil-Spec crowd, and this rifle probably will be as well, but much of it isn’t GI approved. The handguard, pistol grip, stock, flash hider, even the mid-length gas system are different or better than what the government spec requires. So I’m not entirely sure why Daniel Defense went with a Mil-Spec charging handle and trigger components. The rule of thumb is that the trigger pull on a rifle should be no more than half of the total weight of the rifle if you want to be able to shoot it accurately. The trig-
Tarr’s sons enjoyed shooting the rifle as the midlength gas system gave it a very soft recoil impulse. For some speed drills, they used a Steiner 1-5X scope.
While the 15-inch SLiM rail looks nearly as square as a traditional quad rail handguard, it is much lighter. Fat quad rail handguards have become passé.
DANIEL DEFENSE DDM4 V11
ger pull on the DDM4 was typical GI, which means gritty and heavy at 8 pounds, on a gun that weighs 6.28 pounds. A smooth 8-pound trigger pull would be excellent for a double action revolver. For a rifle—no matter brand, type, or price—a gritty 8-pound pull is a severe handicap. The only people who like Mil-Spec AR trigger pulls are the people who don’t know any better. A good trigger would probably be wasted on them anyway. But will those people be buying a $1,599 AR from Daniel Defense? I doubt it. But Daniel Defense has a problem, which is this: there is no Mil-Spec or “gold standard” for aftermarket/match triggers. I presume because there are so many choices (with no clear victor) they have decided to just stick with standard GI trigger parts. I suppose that’s why they’ve retained the original GItype charging handle on a non-GI gun, even though the standard against which all improved charging handles are judged is the BCM Gunfighter Mod 4 Charging Handle, a far superior design. Note to Daniel Defense—you’re already designing your own flash hiders, handguards, sights, grips and buttstocks. Time to design your own oversize charging handle and improved trigger components. Trust me, if you build it, they will come. This rifle does not come equipped with any sights or optics, but for this article I secured a set of Daniel Defense fixed sights. When it comes to fixed aftermarket sights, these are pretty much the standard against which all others are judged. They are machined out of alumi[Cont. to page 16] num and finished to match the rifle.
DANIEL DEFENSE DDM4 V11
never share funny cat videos, and am not much of a “social” person, but I find myself on Facebook quite frequently—for business. Because of being asked to “Like” certain companies, I have become aware of some firearms-related businesses and products I might otherwise never have known about. The first was San Tan Tactical’s product-improved AR receivers. The most recent are the match triggers from Elftmann Tactical (www.elftmanntactical.com). Elftmann started out making a two-finger trigger similar to those found in paintball guns that allowed a close to full-auto rate of fire. I’ve heard that all the serious “tactical” types hated them…until they actually tried one. Since then Elftmann Tactical has begun making more traditionally-styled triggers, and I recently had a chance to try two of their triggers—a Match unit as well as a 3-Gun trigger.
The Elftmann Tactical Match trigger’s hammer and trigger rotate on aircraft grade needle bearings inside the housing, and provide a crisp trigger pull.
The hammer on the Elftmann Match trigger features a simple notch that prevents the hammer from contacting the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled.
Unusually, both the hammer and trigger rotate on aircraft needle bearings for one of the smoothest trigger pulls you’re ever likely to find. The hammer spring is full power, not reduced like you’ll find with some match triggers. The hammer in the Match trigger is solid, whereas the one in the 3-Gun trigger is skeletonized for faster lock time. Other than that, the trigger units are internally identical, although the Match has a traditional curved bow and the 3-Gun sports a flat trigger. Elftmann triggers are cassette-type triggers. These seem to be the most popular type of replacement triggers for AR-15s, as all you have to do is drop the whole unit into your receiver. The problem most cassette triggers have is walking receiver pins. Because the springs are contained within the housing, the hammer and trigger springs are not exerting any pressure on the receiver pins…and those pins can start to drift out of the receiver much more often than with a standard trigger group. The traditional solution? Anti-walk pins, such as those made by KNS. Elftmann’s solution? Two screws in the body of the cassette. Once it is installed, just tighten those pins down and they bind against the aluminum floor of the lower receiver (check with Elftmann if you’ve got a polymer lower). Any pins can walk if you shoot enough, [Cont. to page 16]
THE HI-LUX MICRO MAX B DOT —OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE AIMPOINT KILLER
[Cont. from page 12]
but after several hundred rounds, I hadn’t noticed any drifting with the Elftmann properly tightened down. The trigger bows themselves are skeletonized, and it took me a while to warm up to their looks. All of the triggers they make are available with either traditional curved or flat faces. I know a lot of people are getting to like the flat triggers, but I’ve just never liked the way they felt under my finger. These triggers are user-adjustable for pull weight through the use of a single Allen-head screw at the rear of the unit. Unscrew it to lighten the trigger pull— unscrew it too much and the disconnector won’t. Screw it in to make the pull heavier, and if you screw it in too far, the hammer won’t fall. Which pretty much makes it idiot proof (at least until they begin breeding better idiots). This can all be done without removing the unit from the receiver if you decide you want to change the pull weight you initially dialed in.
W Long handguards allow the shooter to get his hand as far toward the muzzle as possible, the better to muscle the rifle from target to target quickly.
The 15-inch SLiM handguard with KeyMod attachment points also sports QD sockets at the 10 and 2 o’clock positions near the receiver for sling mounting.
The pistol grip has rubber overmolding and is one piece with the oversize trigger guard. Tarr wished the pistol grip had more material at the backstrap.
Trigger pull can be adjusted using the screw behind the disconnector hook without removing the unit. Screws in the trigger housing tension the receiver pins.
Tarr wasn’t sure at first if he liked the skeletonized appearance of the Elftmann trigger, but he found he really liked the crisp, light trigger pull.
At first Tarr didn’t care for the looks of the DD buttstock with rubber overmolded sections, but it grew on him. It was very solid and functional.
At the rear of the receiver, a great location for singlepoint slings, you’ll find a QD socket. The full name is long, but “V11” will identify it.
[Cont. from page 12]
Elftmann advertises that both their Match and 3-Gun triggers have pulls adjustable between 2.5 and 4 pounds. With the adjustment screw on my Match trigger set in the middle of its travel the trigger gave me a clean, crisp 3-pound break. These are single-stage triggers, with no take-up and as close to no overtravel as you can get. As much because of the reduced amount of trigger travel as the 3-pound pull weight, I was able to easily do .14–.16-second splits between shots—and I do not have a fast trigger finger. That equates to 400 rpm for those of you looking for quick double-taps or simulated full-auto. All of the Elftmann triggers are completely dropsafe, because of a stupidly simple ledge they machine into the bottom of the hammer that catches on the front of the trigger bar if the trigger is not pulled when the hammer falls. If 2.5–4 pounds seems a bit light to you, Elftmann also makes a Service Trigger with a pull weight adjustable from 4–7 pounds. Triggers start at a very competitive $259.
DANIEL DEFENSE DDM4 V11
The front sight is a fixed post with a serrated front. How much glare the front of the non-serrated front sight post gives off I don’t know, but the serrations look very cool. The sight post itself is standard GI and adjustable for elevation, protected by ears. The rear sight tower is very skeletonized, and only weighs 2 ounces. It offers pure GI features—two apertures, adjustable for windage by a dial on the right side that has to be worked with the nose of a cartridge. With the long handguard on this rifle, sight radius was excellent and allows for very precise shooting. Fixed sights are great if you want to be able to immediately transition to them from your optic. Even if you’re using a red dot, a fixed front sight doesn’t seem to get in the way. But you don’t get pluses without minuses…a fixed rear sight tower only works with certain kinds of optics—usually the non-magnified kind. Most fixed and variable power optics have to be set so far back on the receiver rail there is no room for a fixed sight tower—and even if there is room for it, the tower usually obscures too much of the optic’s field of view for either to be useful. Both front and rear sights are secured to the rail by screws, so they do not have a QD capability. Shooting the rifle brought no surprises. Recoil was soft and mild, and with the provided Magpul PMag, the
hen it comes to red dots, the model currently on the most wanted list by the tactical crowd is the Aimpoint Micro. This small optic does everything the larger Comp M series sights do, only using a more commonly available battery and in a smaller lighter package. The only drawback? The Aimpoint Micro sells for about $600, not including a flat top AR-15 mount. While I’m a firm supporter of capitalism, in my opinion there is no way a small red dot should cost the same as a brand new iPhone (a handheld multimedia computer with more memory and processing capability than NASA used to put men on the moon). But they can charge that much…because people are willing to pay it. And while there are less expensive small red dots on the market, none of them has earned the reputation for reliability that the Aimpoint has. That may have just changed. Hi-Lux Optics has gotten some attention in the last few years with some of their scopes, whether it is the repro models for vintage sniper rifle matches or the highly regarded yet inexpensive 1-4X CMR, and now they’ve entered the red dot market with the Micro-Max B-Dot. The B-dot is roughly the size of the Aimpoint Micro (2.5x1.4x1.4 inches), and is designed to fit on any mount made for the Micro. It is a tube sight with a 2 moa dot, with all the lenses multi-coated for maximum light transmission. There are 12 brightness settings, with the bottom three being NVG compatible. At its top setting, it is more than bright enough for use in direct sunlight. The sight provides 100 moa adjustment (1/2 moa per click) for both windage and elevation. The windage/elevation caps have wire keepers to help prevent losing them. The dot is turned on and off by rubberized controls on the top of the aluminum sight. Hit either the “+” or “-“ button and the sight turns on at its last brightness setting. Hold both buttons down to immediately shut off the sight. If you forget and leave it on, it will automatically shut off after 8 hours (default factory setting). The auto shut-off time is user programmable from 2 to 12 hours, although it will reset to the factory default 8 hours whenever you change the battery. The sight is powered by one CR2032 battery, and there is room for a spare battery under the cap. Bat-
rifle ate every type and brand of ammo I fed it without a hitch. Accuracy wasn’t bad, although I suspect the groups would have been smaller if I’d dropped in a match trigger instead of struggling with the GI trigger pull. Daniel Defense is a trusted name when it comes to ARpattern rifles. With the V11 you get features not available from any other manufacturer in a dependable, soft-shooting rifle suitable for just about any application.
tery life is 55,000 hours (roughly 6.2 years) at medium brightness setting. Yes, you read that right, the sight has a battery life equal to if not superior to the Aimpoint. The sight is fully submersible (waterproof) with solid state circuitry. Weight with the low mount is only 3.8 ounces. The sight comes from the factory with a honeycomb killflash and flip-up lens covers, all for only $249. An AR flat-top riser is also available from Hi-Lux for $29. Yes, you read that right, a flattop mount that will fit the Hi-Lux (or the Aimpoint Micro) with a 1/3 co-witness for only $29. There is no doubt that the Micro-Max B-Dot is designed to compete directly with the Aimpoint Micro. Think that’s laughable, or a joke, or that it must be a piece of junk because it’s “made in China”? So is your iPhone, buddy. Think about that for a minute. Apple chooses to manufacture their products in China because of the cheap cost of labor, but they have no concerns about the quality of the product. Economists estimate an iPhone made in the U.S. would cost at least three times as much. Aimpoints are made in Sweden, where in 2014 the labor costs were 10.2% higher than in the USA so imagine what a $600 Aimpoint Micro made in China would cost.($179.60 for those of you too lazy to do the math). You want to talk torture testing, two B-dots were clamped to the receiver rail of an Alexander Arms Ulfberht—a semi-auto .338 Lapua Magnum. The rifle was then cooled down to -65°C (that’s -85°F) and fired repeatedly. Cold can kill a lot of scopes, and an Aimpoint Micro tested that day failed at -40. Not only could the cold not kill the Hi-Lux scopes, they survived the recoil of the .338 without any problems. The rifle/optics were then heated up to 75°C (167°F) and fired some more. The Hi-Lux red dots survived without a problem. There are only two things I don’t like about the optic. The first is the screws attaching it to the mount. They aren’t as beefy as I’d like, and I’d recommend using LocTite on them. The second is the white lettering on both the “tactical” sight and flattop mount (but I do understand advertising). However, both of those are minor issues, and I can recommend this red dot sight wholeheartedly.
Some of the most well-respected fixed iron sights on the market come from Daniel Defense. Their rear sight tower is very light and features two apertures. [Cont. from page 16]
A black rifle company producing an ad aimed at the Super Bowl crowd is an indicator that AR ownership is trending mainstream in this country, no matter what the gun haters would like to believe. Personally, I want everyone to own an AR- or AK-type rifle…that way when they come for one, they’ll have to come for us all.
.223 REMINGTON Load
Bullet weight (grs.)
Velocity (fps)
SD
Avg. Group (ins.)
Black Hills TSX
50
3243
19
1.59
Wolf Gold FMJ
55
3009
55
1.87
Wolf steel case SP
55
2810
42
2.03
American Eagle FMJ
62
2778
26
1.95
Black Hills HP
77
2566
22
1.32
Accuracy results are the averages of four 5-shot groups at 100 yards from a sandbag rest. Velocities are averages of 10 shots measured with an Oehler Model 35P 12 feet from the muzzle.
The Micro-Max B-Dot from Hi-Lux optics is designed from the ground up to compete with the Aimpoint Micro. It’s $249 including lens covers and killflash.
SPECIFICATIONS DANIEL DEFENSE DDM4 V11
The AR Riser for flattop rifles from Hi-Lux is simple and durable. While it is not a QD mount and clamps with a Torx screw, it retails for only $29!
[Cont. to page 18]
The front sight is skeletonized and features a standard front sight post adjustable for elevation. The flash hider is slightly longer than an A2 model.
Manufacturer: Daniel Defense www.danieldefense.com 1-866-554-GUNS (4867) Caliber: 5.56x45 NATO Overall length: 32.25 inches (stock collapsed) 357⁄8 inches (stock extended) Barrel length: 16 inches Weight: 6.28 lbs empty
The magazine well is beveled and flared slightly more than you’ll find in a standard GI rifle. This will be a popular feature among competition shooters.
Two Micro-Max sights are mounted in series on a .338 Lapua Mag. The sights and rifle were cooled to -65°C (that’s -85°F) and fired repeatedly. No problems.
Even at -65°C (-85°F) the HiLux Micro-Max functioned flawlessly. Cold can kill a lot of scopes, and an Aimpoint Micro tested that day failed at -40.
Trigger pull: 8 pounds Sights: None Accessories: One 30-round magazine, full latch plastic case MSRP: $1599
DANIEL DEFENSE DDM4 V11