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Posted: 11/9/2009 5:34:54 PM EDT
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Just got my new DPMS Panther Lite 16 A3 last week. I took it out to the range on Saturday and put about 120 rounds through it. I couldn't be more thrilled. I should mention that my sole experience with a non-.22 rifle up to this point was my SKS. So the accuracy was obviously a pleasant surprise.
I did all of my shooting prone, since there were no benches, tables, seats or anything else available at the time. After I got my sights adjusted, I put 30 rounds in about a 5-inch group at 50 yards (would've been about 3.5-4 without 1 outlier), shooting fairly quickly (1-2 seconds per shot). Since I didn't have a bench, I was more interested in just tossing lead downrange with reasonable accuracy than shooting the best groups I could. I probably couldn't have done too much better prone, with 30 rounds, but maybe a little. The trigger had some creep, but wasn't too heavy. Overall, the DPMS appears to be a very good value. I may send the trigger off to Bill Springfield, but I'm not sure yet. I shot a Rock River once about a year ago, and I think the trigger was a little better on that one, but I don't think the creep really affected accuracy much on my DPMS and for $35 I think my trigger will be just as good as that RRA. Other than that, I don't think there was any noticeable difference between shooting the 2. 80 of the rounds I shot were reloads and 40 were PMC Bronze, and I think my accuracy was a little better with the PMC than the reloads. Just an FYI to anyone who might be looking at a DPMS, get off the fence and pick one up. |
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I have a DPMS Lite 16 A3 also. Love how light this thing is.
Threw on a rear sight and CAR hanguards and headed to the range. Quite pleasantly surprised with the trigger and the accuracy. On sandbags at 100m no trouble at all getting 1 MOA with UMC 55gr. More work on my part may yield even better results! |
| glad you are happy with yours as well. i have a panther lite and shoot it more than my others because its lighter and fun to shoot. i got a 22 conversion for mine and its more than paid for itself in ammo savings. bought the rifle a few months ago and paid 150 more than it listed for on dpms web site, but i dont feel like i was ripped off because it is a good rifle. |
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I know, the accuracy surprised me. The reliability did not. Next time when I'm in less of a hurry, I'll get 200-300 rounds through it during a session and I'll get more evidence about how reliable it's going to be over the long haul. For now, I'm thrilled with my purchase. It's so light and easy to handle and comfortable to shoot.
Yeah I could see dropping more money on a supposedly "higher quality" rifle than the DPMS if I was going to run it to death, but this is a weekend plinker and occasional bench shooter that I might not put more than 1000-1500 rounds a year through at the very most. And for those purposes, I'd rather have a DPMS and $400 of accessories and/or ammo than a bare-bones Colt or something else. I don't think DPMS gets the respect they deserve on this website anyway. I guess if you're going to put $1k worth of extras on it, an extra $400 on the rifle isn't that big of a deal. But if I really want an AR-15 and I'm not going to run it in the ground, I'm not going to spend 150% of the cost of the DPMS for a gun with "extra features" that will never make a tangible difference for me. |
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Quoted:
glad you are happy with yours as well. i have a panther lite and shoot it more than my others because its lighter and fun to shoot. i got a 22 conversion for mine and its more than paid for itself in ammo savings. bought the rifle a few months ago and paid 150 more than it listed for on dpms web site, but i dont feel like i was ripped off because it is a good rifle. Rguns.net and rrarms.com are both really good for DPMS uppers, parts, and complete rifle prices... They will definitely kick the crap out of DPMS' suggested prices. Honestly I think DPMS has gotten out of the old price point niche that they used to dominate so well, and are now competing with S&W, Stag, RRA among others. I've owned a few, and I'm not sure they are really in that league quality-wise yet... An example is their M4gerys... They have risen in price in the past couple years to almost exactly the price of the M&P15, yet are not spec'ed as well. They do make a very nice lightweight rifle though, and offer a lot of no-frills options that the other makers don't seem to want to bother with... |
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Hmm,
OP bought an AR––check. It's reliable and accurate for him––check. It fufills it's intended purpose––check. OP is happy––check. Sounds like fun to me! 
Full disclosure, OP: I don't own a DPMS, but I've never owned a Colt, either. I really like the Lite carbine, though. I could've bought one at a great price but passed. Now I could kick myself because it would be easy for the wife to handle and a lot of fun at the range. Congrats dude! |
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