Departed402
New member
I recently purchased a Daniel Defense V5 LW (free-float quad rail with 16” light barrel). I hadn’t had a chance to take it to the range, but being a lefty I decided to put some aftermarket parts on it to make if more lefty-friendly. One of these parts was an ambidextrous safety. I had swapped out my friend’s A2 grip for a Magpul grip, and messing with the safety was only one step further, so I figured I knew what to do, but I watched a guy on YouTube install the same part to be sure. It was to go as I expected. So the first step is removing the pistol grip. Simple, right? Wrong! I went about trying to unscrew the pistol grip screw, and it wouldn’t budge. I used a pair of pliers and a screwdriver, and I got it to turn about an eighth turn. Already, I had marred up the screw head, and the screw hadn’t broken free. It was still stuck. Go ahead and look at attachment #1. I checked the owner’s manual to make sure it’s not reverse threaded or had any hidden set screws holding it, and it said nothing about it, so I assume it’s normal. So I cranked on it some more, got it to a quarter turn, and… look at attachment #2. It still wasn’t broke free, and by this time I was very concerned. I looked around online, and I could find nothing like this. Flabbergasted, I took the lower to my LGS to have the smith take a look. He said, “Well, you just unscrew it,” as if I hadn’t tried that. He cranked on it with pliers and a screwdriver that filled the slot both length and width-wise, and see attachment #3. The smith concluded something was definitely wrong.
With the screw head pulverized, I called Daniel Defense. I spoke with a nice woman (Caroline, maybe? I’m not good with names) on the phone. She didn’t offer a definite reason for the issue other that it must not be built to spec, but in less than 4 minutes she told me she would be emailing me a UPS shipping label. She said they will take a look, and decide if it can be repaired or if it needed to be replaced. She said they warrant the gun for defects for the original owner (which I am), but she didn’t require any sort of proof of original ownership. I even asked if she needed any proof, and she said no. So there is a silver lining if you bought a DDM4 used.
As requested, I have shipped the whole rifle off to Daniel Defense. This screw issue has been rather disconcerting, especially since I have only ever heard good things about Daniel Defense. Obviously, I prefer to not have to experience any company’s customer service, but here we are! Feel free to ask questions, and I’ll update this thread in the future to let you know how this goes.
With the screw head pulverized, I called Daniel Defense. I spoke with a nice woman (Caroline, maybe? I’m not good with names) on the phone. She didn’t offer a definite reason for the issue other that it must not be built to spec, but in less than 4 minutes she told me she would be emailing me a UPS shipping label. She said they will take a look, and decide if it can be repaired or if it needed to be replaced. She said they warrant the gun for defects for the original owner (which I am), but she didn’t require any sort of proof of original ownership. I even asked if she needed any proof, and she said no. So there is a silver lining if you bought a DDM4 used.
As requested, I have shipped the whole rifle off to Daniel Defense. This screw issue has been rather disconcerting, especially since I have only ever heard good things about Daniel Defense. Obviously, I prefer to not have to experience any company’s customer service, but here we are! Feel free to ask questions, and I’ll update this thread in the future to let you know how this goes.
