# DPMS Prairie Panther Review



## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Bought a DPMS Prairie Panther from Gerrell's here in Devils Lake and I thought I would share my initial impression and shooting results.

There is a dizzying array of makes & models of ARs on the market today and I want to thank Kevin Smith at Gerrell's for helping me wade through all the info to make sure I got one that best meets my needs. Absolute top shelf customer service, thanks Kevin!

What I wanted was an AR for coyote hunting so accuracy and light weight were the top two needs on my list. I am a bolt action guy first last & always, so that is the standard the AR had to measure up to. MOA or better. In my experience really accurate ARs tend to be heavy, my AR needed to be about the same weight as my walk around varminter bolt rifles. Seemed like mission impossible.

the rifle we settled on was the DPMS Prairie Panther, which has a free floated 20" medium weight fluted barrel. Mine was ordered in Mossy Oak Brush as that is my favorite pattern for hunting in ND. It is the lightest full sized AR I have ever handled.

I added a couple mods. I replaced the stock grip with a BG-17 by Tangodown which is more hand filling and increases the distance to the trigger. I dropped in an accu-wedge to eliminate the upper/lower play common to ARs. Lastly I had Kevin replace the stock 2 stage 6 lbs trigger with a Timney drop-in. I am an admitted trigger snob and demand a trigger of 2.5-3.5lbs. The Timney is 3lbs on the button and breaks clean. Instant sweet trigger.

To save on weight I used a 2 piece riser than a one piece. From my optics stash I grabbed a 4.5-14 Nikon side focus and mounted it with medium height Warne QDs.

I don't need a 20 round magazine to hunt coyotes as I rarely carry more than 10 rounds. I also didn't want the magazine to get in the way when calling from prone or at the bench. The answer was the DPMS 10 round poly mag. It protrudes just beyond the mag well, is light, and is clear so keeping track of loaded rounds is a snap. It also has functioned flawlessly.

Using Ultra Max factory loads with 50 grain Ballistic Tips, my first 5 shot group after sight-in measured .763" center to center. As the barrel has a 1"-8" twist, it should be even more accurate with 60 or so grain bullets. That being said if I can get sub-MOA with a factory load using my favorite coyote bullet in my preferred weight that can be found anywhere, I'm not going to complain.

After shooting for group I took a bunch of fist sized rocks and scattered them in the field behind my barn from about 200-300 yards. Turning the scope back to 8X I dropped the bipod, went prone, and shattered rocks shot after shot. I hope the coyotes who were howling up north last night were watching.

So if you're looking for an AR for coyote hunting, I suggest you start by giving the DPMS Prairie Panther a close look...


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## Savage260 (Oct 21, 2007)

And to think AR snobs say DPMS is junk. I am thinking just because it doesn't cost $1500 or more they don't think it is worth while! I have had/have 7 different DPMS rifles and have 2 extra upper assemblies, and only one of them didn't shoot to my standards. That was the 5.56 Sportical. They are good, decently priced rifles!!!


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Hey Chris. Well, you know me & ARs, but this particular rifle is moving my opinion to the "favorable" side of the ledger. No question it shoots well. I would go so far as to say I think I can shade that .76" group a touch yet, using the same ammo. Either way I can say that if I'm carrying the Panther and call a coyote into 300 yards there is a pretty good chance he won't be leaving...

Not putting a better trigger in a rifle optimized for accuracy & coyote calling is a bit lost on me, or at least offer it as a factory option...


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Terminator I have had much the same experience as you. I didn't take them serious as hunting rifles. I started out with the bull 20 DPMS. That was to heavy for an old geazer like me to haul around. So I went with a light 16 which lost 300 fps and lost coyotes with 50 gr VMax. So then I bought a 20 inch heavy sporter with a 1/8 twist. I also have the spacer and the Timney trigger. I had the JP with speed hammer, but bought the Timney anyway. Actually they were about the same, but I am not going to take the Timney out. Then Timney has a lower mass hammer than the factory too. It helps a lot when shooting offhand.


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## Savage260 (Oct 21, 2007)

Jon, don't they offer the JP adjustable from the factory? I know it would probably be a "special order" and take an extra 3 months or 2 years to get! I would take my 4 timneys over the JP trigger DPMS puts in any day. Going to see how Timney's CS is this week, had a 3lb solid shoe that is about 10lbs and doesn't work half the time. Just put it in my DPMS 300blk. The told me it was contacting the front of the receiver since DPMS receivers are not milspec? That was not the case, so I sent it back. I will see if they try to pull any funny stuff by saying I messed up the trigger or some such. Hopefully the CS is as good as most of their triggers!!!


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## specialpatrolgroup (Jan 16, 2009)

I've used a few DPMS parts in my AR's, bolt carriers, bolt parts, receivers, parts kit (minus triggers) I cannot tell the difference in a firing pin made by DPMS or those made from Colt. Of course their mil spec triggers are crap, but for the price they make a good product, the only reason I say for the price, is some of the furniture they use are not my favorites.


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

I didn't see anything about an option trigger on this model. They had a couple of these in MO Brush in stock & ready to ship, so I figured a bird in the hand. I had read a review on line where the test rifle had a 3.5 lbs trigger. I didn't have that luck and Kevin had the Timney on hand.

I decided it would be a better plan to buy a rifle optimized for dog hunting and secondarily for defense, rather than buying a tactical rifle and spending the money to try to get it accurate enough for coyotes & such. I considered having Kevin put on a tactical block & adding fold down battle sights but decided to just turn the scope down when it is serving as a house gun, and putting the money into the trigger instead. I made the correct decision. To both ends I may see if I can find a bit more compact & lighter weight scope with a 2 to 3.5X bottom end in my optics stash. I won't need a 14X top end to kill coyotes...


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## Savage260 (Oct 21, 2007)

I really like this Burris MTac on my 300blk. It has the Fast FireII(I think it is called) for up close and the 1-4X with 4 dots in the reticle. It worked great from 25yds out to 253yds on PDs. Not normally a fan of vert hand grips on the front, but it was a good price, so I gave it a shot. Worked pretty well, but I had to set it back farther than I would have liked to put the bipod on the front of the float tube. I think I am going to try to take this tube off and put on a mid-length tube.


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