DPMS Panther Sportical

I've yet to find any fault with DPMS products. My LR308 has a vaiable scope so I'm don't believe this will apply to your question. Have fun shooting.

DPMS rifles in general don't tend to do well. They are known for a number of problems including bad chambers, out of spec parts, and overall bad build quality. If you are not going to shoot a lot then it will probably be fine. However if your intention is to use it for anything except shoot paper then I would suggest selling it and replacing it with something better.

If you just want to shoot paper once in a while then it will probably be fine.

would you say with reasonable certainty that the same can be said for bushmaster?

Given my personal experience and the experience of others you know that I would Bryan. Bushmaster is especially bad in the out of spec chamber and oversize gas port department.

I know yours have been great for you. But that doesn't mean that as a whole they are a good AR company.

lol, i feel like we share a dorm room in college and when i come in from class my mouthwash is filled with head and shoulders, and when you come in from class your shampoo is filled with nair hair remover.

i know your intentions are to serve the buying public, and protect us from the slackers in the firearms industry, but this guy isnt buying. he owns it.

we see many who purely love their purchases, albiet ones we agree/disagree with..... i would think an approach that might be recieved as less abrasive, might be to issue a challenge of reliability with cautious optimism,,,,,, and then maybe report back with round count etc, etc,,,

there are just so many positive reviews of them here that i think it warrants at least giving one a chance, especially since this guy aint asking "what should i buy",,,,,,, he is telling us what he has spent his money on already.

just the simple search term "my sportical" reveals at least some telling information right here on this website...... notice i didnt cite the search term "sportical",,,, because that would likely expose opinions of those that might not actually own the one they are discussing, but feel like they might be in a better position to grade one, having bought something more widely accepted by the experts.

they are actually adored by those that are giving their reports.
http://www.thehighroad.org/search.php?searchid=10102736

ive done some research here of threads posted later on down the road, in an attempt to see if issues arose from the owners after some time in the field by these guys, and you just dont hear much else out of them in many cases. there are of course cases where problem arise, but there are with pretty much every brand we see here, and we see a lot of dpms rifles here.

(i do not own a dpms product, and never have. ive owned 2 brands. colt and bushmaster, neither of which are mentioned here by anyone but me. i dont have a dog in the pit)

ps: i know you probably know that already. im just sayin' it to the op and others that dont

Head and shoulders? I prefer a bit of food dye. :-D. Funnier for much longer.

lol, food dye in the head and shoulders you put in there knowing your thorough tendencies

The only maddening issue I had with DPMS involved shooting steel cases. Actually it seems to be especially predominant if going back and forth between steel and brass. Other than having to jam ye ole cleaning rod down the muzzle to dislodge said stuck case, it ran well and was reasonably accurate. Doubt you'll have any issues if you shoot brass. Have fun with it!

Hope it works out well for you. Did your rifle come with any sights at all? If not, then you have pretty much the world out there to pick from. Red dots are really a lot of fun to use on one of these, and they are available priced to suit just about anyone's budget, but if you were in the military and shot an A1, then you might want to put some irons on there and try it out with the sights you remember.

Speaking to the DPMS reliability/spec parts issue: When I built my AR, I did it on a DPMS lower. I'll admit, I don't shoot as much as some, but the only problems I've had were bad mags. The parts all assembled into the lower perfectly, indicating that it was very much in spec, and it runs right next to some pretty expensive guns when I take it to some fun practical/tactical shoots. No problems.

you got some opinions from guys who dont own them and havent even shot them. Heres one from someone who owns one. there a nice little rifle. Lighter then most ars. Mine shoots moa with good ammo and has been a 100 percent reliable with probably 5k of mixed ammo through it. Hard to beat for 700 bucks. I actually sold mine to a buddy and missed it, mostly for its light weight, and bought it back. Sure it isnt a colt but at about 500 bucks less it shouldnt be. thing is though i have a colt and a stag, a bushmaster, a smith and an alexander arms ar and this gun is just as reliable and shoots better then any of them other then the stag. I also bought a dmps ar10 and its been a dammed good gun too and its also a tack driver. Probably the most accurte rifle i have in the house.

If the amount of negative feedback vs the amount of people who own them and like them are a good measure of the guns reputation than you have a good gun. I have two, a sporticle and oracle neither of which have ever given me a single problem.

And Kwelz, when someone owns something and you continue to put it down that is rude and insulting. You can get away with that to some extent when someone has not yet purchased the gun, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what your intent is other than to put someone down when you say what you said knowing they have just spent their hard earned money on this gun.

I own a DPMS in .260 Rem. Of the several AR type rifles I've owned and tested it is by far the most accurate and utterly reliable as well.

It all depends on what you spend for it. For 650 to 700 a dpms is fine but you have to watch out which is where a lot of the criticism comes in. Manufacturers skimp on quality and then want to sell for close to the same price as the top brands. My local shop had a s&w optic ready for 960 plus tax and background check yet a Daniel defense m4v5 with magpul stock and free float rail and a couple other things from the same shop was 1280. The s&w M&P 15ts was over 1300. Not that s&w or stag or many others are bad it's just that there is not always enough price difference to make it worth skimping. A stag for 775 new is fine not 950.

My Two Cents

I have a DPMS that I bought to replace my SGW (which worked well, too) in the midst of the Obamination for ~$900. Choked on it, swallowed & though pricey, it has never had a FTFire/Feed/Eject/nothing - some GI ammo, good bit of reloaded fare with 55 gr Hdy FMJs & H335 or 748 and it's the Energizer Bunny. I run it "damp" & not sloppy wet, use commercial MIL 46000-B & clean it after every shoot. I haven't had it in the mud or sand, or covered in ice, but I don't see why it wouldn't work as well as the GI M16s I've used over the years. I, too, heard all the sophisticated and knowledgeable nay-sayers (not those who simply voice a reasoned opinion) who pontificated over the dire shortcomings of DPMS/Bushmaster/whichever brand fell short of their standards, and why theirs was the Holy Grail of rifles. I don't have a problem with anyone who likes his stuff, and I take what they proclaim with a dose of salts (and not just a grain). Remington, Benelli, Ruger, Smith & Wesson, FN, SIG, Mattel - we all have our favorites, and I support it wholeheartedly. But my DPMS has never hiccuped or failed, so what I would say you is shoot yours & enjoy it - it if faills, address the problem, and if the sky falls, get out the danged way!
"The proof of the pudding is the eating thereof."
Cheers,
George J.

Take any advice you get on the internet with a grain of salt, including mine. From years of reading and posting on various forums I've found that at least 50% of the posts I read report different information than I've personally experienced. You can post a poll on "Brand A vs Brand B" on 2 different forums and brand A will be the overwhelming choice on one and brand B on the other.

Lots of negative comments about DPMS, but my experiece with them has been positive.

Hey congrats on your new purchase and I hope it does you well.

Figure out what kind of BUIS you want and how they will co-witness with your Vortex or are they to be mostly back up sights? You can spend well over $200 or as little as $69 for BUIS or iron sights.

( I have the Sparc and Strikefire, both good to go) however a couple of things to consider; what range will you be mostly shooting and how are your eyes? Any type of astigmatism will make the dot on a red dot appear weird and for some unacceptable. I run about 50/50 with red dots and scopes but my red dots are used for pig popping @ less than 150/100 yards; it does not matter what brand of red dot that is about the max range I will use them for hunting.

The market at times is flooded with scopes and you can pick up a surprisingly good scope for $100 to $200 bucks; again just depends on what you want to do with your weapon.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=608749 is a thread dealing with cheap red dots that many here at THR have. There is also a thread about some of the cheaper scopes but I need to run so you will have to find it yourself.

Again, welcome back to the kingdom of the "Black Rifle"!

Quote from BillyG1956 'Last time I shot an AR platform was 1978...and it was called an M-16 A1...forestock was stamped "MATTEL TOY COMPANY".'

Click to expand...

Really? Mattel? I have heard that was a bunch of urban legend mythology based on the looks of the A1 next to an M-14...plastic and all.

Did a real one actuall say Mattel? Has anybody seen a real picture of a real M16 that said Mattel?

Has anybody seen a real picture of a real M16 that said Mattel?

Click to expand...

No, because there isn't one.

Mattel had absolutely nothing to do with building Colt M16-A1's during Vietnam, or at any other time.

There may be some truth to the rumor they did supply handguards under contract to Colt.
But I never saw one of those either when I was in the service 1964-70.

rc

here is a picture of a mattel m16


also kentucky fried chicken made them near the peak of the war effort. below is a pic of one. note fire selector: safe, semi, crispy.

also kentucky fried chicken made them near the peak of the war effort. below is a pic of one. note fire selector: safe, semi, crispy.

Click to expand...

No wonder they run better with chicken fat!!

In my experience, DPMS does a better job on their .308s than they do on their poodle shooters. I like the Sporticals. They are decently light weight, unlike most of the rifles DPMS makes... for whatever reason, they are very fond of the super-heavy-under-the-handguards layout.

I think one of those Sporticals would be an ideal candidate for a suppressor.

I know of several outside of my family that have been perfect over several years and my son has one that has been the same. I would buy one at that $700 point and never look back.