DPMS Panther Arms GII Hunter .308 Part II

The DPMS Panther Arms GII Hunter is approved for use with either 308 Winchester or 7.62×51 ammunition, the ammo is nominally different. 308 Winchester MAP is 62,000 PSI, the 7.62 NATO is 60,191 PSI with the standards utilizing different test equipment and methods. The 308 Winchester utilizes an external conformal transducer, the 7.62x51mm is checked with a transducer exposed to the inside the cartridge case. The 308 Win, with thinner brass walls and is listed as having 56 grains of H2O capacity compared to the 7.62’s 52.0.

The non-adjustable, direct impingement gas system utilized in these type of firearms represents a bit of a balancing act; buffer weight, action spring, bolt and bolt carrier mass, gas port diameter and location, barrel length, muzzle pressure… Sort of a complicated 1911 that burps. While velocity of indicated handloads vary, predominately tracking to bullet weight, maximum pressures are relatively uniform. No problems were experienced in regard to reliable cycling.

The two stage trigger remained a bit on the heavy side, but devoid of creep and let off was crisp. Recoil was light with all loads. As is the case with most MSRs with a greater than 16″ barrel, the GII feels a little heavy at the forearm and light at the buttstock, but it is comfortable shooting, steady on target and fast handling.

I don’t like the term “cheek weld” when referencing the spatial and or geometric arrangement of buttstock, line of sight and noginal position. It suggests that if your face isn’t clamped to the stock the hold is improper… a condition that would apply to just about every rifle made with open or optical sights since the beginning of firearms… cartridge type or muzzle loading musket. That said, the Panther Arms GII provides proper support and it affords a natural eye – sight alignment.

Performance

The following data table represents the best performance from a population of handloads with a variety of powder types and load densities. As noted previously, they all cycled reliably and I felt the accuracy within this group was very good. Powders tried that yielded larger group sizes were RamShot BigGame, Win 748, IMR 3031. More than likely just the combination of bullets selected and charge density attempted and I don’t believe the GII is finicky. Factory Remington Core-Lokt shot 0.9 to 1.2 regardless barrel temp.

Because the initial groups were shot from a new barrel, and because I felt we weren’t doing the firearm justice, approximately 100 more rounds were put through the GII, the bolt and bore were scrubbed and groups were reshot this AM. The results were…

I am sure there is more potential to extract, however, we have to work within time constraints and some of my favorite handloads have taken a a year to nail down. That said, the DPMS Panther Arms GII is an accurate and consistent shooting firearm.