DPMS Panther Arms GII Hunter .308 Part I

We don’t write about AR types very much these days because there are a few brands that represent an actual manufacturer of quality firearms. Many “brands” are no more than lowest bid purchased parts assembled into finished goods and marketed in a comic book – video game vernacular. DPMS is an actual manufacturer and their new GII offers significant improvement over other many other .308 caliber ARs.

Brief company background…

DPMS, Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, has been in business for approximately nineteen years. The company’s founder Randy Luth managed the business from a military contract parts supplier into the second largest manufacturer of AR-15s serving military, law enforcement and civilian markets.

DPMS developed full manufacturing capability very early on, inclusive of receivers and barrels. DPMS was acquired by the Freedom Group in 2007, its founder retired in 2009. Five years later, DPMS is still charging ahead as a leading AR manufacturer, under the Freedom Group’s prestigious umbrella.

The DPMS GII 308 design is quite a departure from the company’s LR-308; closer to an AR-15 in weight and size than an AR-10 and with an upgrade or redesign of many parts and assemblies. The following highlights some of those changes, probably in the order that they came to mind.

The GII bolt’s improved geometry relieves stress lines while increasing strength and lockup. The design  permits the use of a smaller diameter barrel extension. The GII’s firing pin is made of forged Titanium. 1) The GII has twin ejectors for additional reliability. The extractor coil spring present in most ARs and is prone to fatigue and failure has been replaced with a 2) solid elastomer spring. 3) The extractor is made from a stronger alloy. In combination, this new design assures extended life and reliability, while allowing reduction of  upper receiver size and weight.

Monolithic Bolt Carrier

In the 1957 low budget thriller, The Monolith Monsters, monolithic rocks from a meteor threatened a sleepy Southwestern desert community. I was never sure quite how as they had no feet and they were too rigid to move in a serpentine fashion. None of which has anything to do with DPMS’s GII monolithic bolt carrier which is more associated with the Monolithic definition – An organization or system that is intractably indivisible and uniform.

DPMS reduced the bolt carrier’s mass while increasing its strength and machined it to accommodate forward assist. The carrier has an integral gas key tower with a removable gas key extension. The carrier is made of 8620 steel. The bolt is Carpenter 158. The reduction in mass mean no heavy reciprocating assemblies, which means a sharp reduction in felt recoil. the GII has soft recoil.

Upper/lower receiver

The GII has a pinned steel double scalloped feed ramp that offers improved feed of a wide variety of bullet types. Above, an upside down, but right side out picture of the smaller, stronger barrel extension.

The GII upper and lower forgings are made from 7075 Aluminum alloy, Level III anodized and Teflon coated. The upper and lower receivers have been reduced to near AR-15 size and strategically reinforced (1) for greater strength. The distance from top of Picatinny rail to bore centerline has been reduced to a little over an inch. The brass deflector has been redesigned for improved function and the ejection port length has been increased. The distance aft of the magazine well to the face of the buffer is the same as an AR-15, 4.5″. Overall the GII receiver is 1/2″ longer than an 5.56mm AR-15 and 5/8″ shorter than the LR-308. 

The trigger guard (3) is integral to the lower receiver for additional receiver stiffening. The magazine well is 2) flared to speed loading and to provide a good gripping surface for folks who like a mag well hold. The GII accepts many standard AR-15 components; M4 type stocks, A2 pistol grips, AR-15 fire control components, etc. The GII utilizes  AR-15 standard takedown pins and a redesigned AR-15 type barrel nut facilitates the use of AR-15 floating handguards. I know, :Blah, blah, blah… blah, blah, blah”. My point is that the GII has the heft and feel of a compact AR-15. Very light and very well balanced and able to use many standard parts and accessories.

Handguards

The GII Hunter’s light weight, but very strong carbon fiber handguard is 5.56 MSR standard. MSR=Modern Sporting Rifle. Two weeks ago 5.56 MSR was referred to an AR-15 or M-4 standard, but I took a nap and the whole world changed. I think the label makes sense and, going forward, we will use that terminology. The gas tube and the aft portion of the gas block fit nicely inside the tube.

There are other model GIIs that features a variety of handguard types. For a hunting rifle, I appreciate the absence of cheese grater quad rails, lights, sights and miniature rocket launchers found in some of the more highly accessorized G.I. Joe spec rifles.

The MagPul MOE rifle stock is fixed length. It does have a sling loop, and a flip open anti slip recoil pad that covers a storage compartment. Pull length is approximately 13.25″. It does support my pumpkin sized noggin and I can get line of sight with a moderate riser under medium height rings.

Take down and reassemble is easy, just like other ARs. After numerous disassemblies and quite a bit of shooting, the seam between upper and lower stayed tight. No loosening or rattling and no rubber bumpers required inside.

The new GII family…

As a anticipatory measure for the folks who will lose their respective minds over magazine capacity, handguards, buttstocks, chromed lined barrels and other nuances of AR wacky, the DPMS GII Hunter is only one of six core models. Each version is configured for a different popular application. For those who want more diversity, as I noted previously, the GII takes 5.56 MSR aftermarket stocks, handguards, triggers, etc.

Part I bookmark

Enough time has been spent on what it is, so it is probably time to shift to what it does. That will be covered in Part II. I can say that we did mount a couple of different sight systems and ran some factory ammo through the GII to collect velocity data and to get a feel for recoil and handling. Remington Core-Lokt 150 grain ammo, rated at 2820 fps when fired from a 24″ test barrel, clocked a confirmed 2799 from the 20″ barrel GII Hunter. The resulting performance would look like this…