If you’ve been to a major shooting event or trade show, chances are you have seen the DPMS Panther Arms truck and trailer. The graphics on the sides of both make them impossible to miss.
Indeed, DPMS has a large presence, both in marketing and in market share. To be honest, I had to do a little research on the web to learn that DPMS stood for “Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services.” The company was founded in 1985 by Randy Luth as a consulting company for government contracts. But what started as a small machine shop has grown into the second-largest manufacturer of AR-15 rifles. The company also sponsors a competitive shooting team that has been extremely successful.
DPMS offers a wide variety of rifles in a number of calibers. The company not only builds rifles in the traditional 5.56mm NATO and .308 Winchester/7.62mm NATO, but also offers rifles in .204 Ruger, .243 Winchester, .260 Remington, .338 Federal, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.8 SPC and, of course, 300 Blackout. DPMS offers eight different lines of rifles with multiple variants in each. Included in the gallery above are six ARs in particular that we like for tactical and hunting applications.
For more information about DPMS Panther Arms, call 800-578-3767 or visit dpmsinc.com.
This article was originally published in ‘Black Guns’ 2017. For information on how to subscribe, visit outdoorgroupstore.com.