The DD4 RIII Upper Receiver Group is built around a 16" Cold Hammer Forged (CHF) Government Profile barrel, a GRIP-N-RIP Charging Handle, and a mid-length gas system. The upper looks good, feels good in the hands, and shoots with a smoother recoil, which adds to this upper's accuracy by allowing for quick but precise rapid fire. This Upper features a 12.5 inch lightweight RIS-III rail, which is thinner than earlier rails, and features M-LOK attachment or lighter weight while still offering M203 grenade-launcher attachment. This Daniel Defense complete upper receiver group come standard with an M16 profile bolt carrier group with DD logo.
The heritage of the DD RIS rail goes back to 2005, when SOCOM saw the need to get the handguards and all the accessories that had been piled onto the quad RAS rails off the barrel for better accuracy. The M4A1 Block 2 rifle with the Daniel Defense RIS-II rail become the first general use rifle with a free float handguard and a large platform for lights and lasers and whatever else could be thrown on a Picatinny rail. And, Lord knows, that the team at Charlie's makes a number of Block 2 uppers as well as the CQBR version and the Mk18 Mod 1, all based upon DD RIS-II rails.
So, fast-forward from 2005 to 2023, and the new RIS-III is the improved DD variant of a M4 rile and upper receiver group. The M-LOK platform allows for more modern and lighter weight rail with the ability to add accessories.
Manufacturer's Part Number: 23-004-01097-011
Note: Charlie's receives these as factory new, either as a rifle or as an upper receiver. May or may not ship in a factory box. The uppers from rifles are called new take-off and are 100% the same, but have been test fired, which is a good thing. New factory rifles are received by Charlie's and often separated between upper and lower, and immediately re-packaged. We do not add to, nor take away anything from the factory, other than popping two pins and separating. The only reason we would do this is we often get requests for DD lowers. Currently, as the volume of DD uppers sold is not significant, like our Colt uppers, we are not giving the take-offs and the new in box a different part number or price, as they are identical. In the future, if customers tell us they would like to pay more for one or the other, we might do that.
pictures courtesy of Guns and Ammo and Daniel Defense
Daniel Defense
Daniel Defense
Daniel Defense
Daniel Defense