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Posted: 12/19/2004 3:54:34 PM EDT
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I'm considering purchasing this, but I dont know if I want the 24" or the 18" barrel. I'll use this for target shooting and for hunting. I would like to be able to shoot out to 400-500 yards with good accuracy either from a blind or stalking. I know the 24" is heavier, so my question would be can you still achieve the same accuracy with the 18"(Chrome Moly) as you can with the 24"(SS) Any info will be greatly appreciated Bigant |
| My 16" consistently puts 5 rds of quality ammo into 1/2" at 100 yds from the rest. The 24" I had would shoot a teeny bit better, but I'm talking small fractions here. The 18" is a bull barrel (like the 24") where the 16" is an HBAR. Weight difference between the 18" and the 16" is somewhere close to 2 lbs. My 16" is easily more accurate than my 24" Win 70 bolt gun. I don't think you'll have ANY problems making accurate hits with ANY of the DPMS 308 family. With DPMS, I've heard of feeding and extraction problems, but NEVER an accuracy problem. As always, YMMV, but I'm pretty damn satisfied with mine. |
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Bigant, I have the 24" LR .308 and it is about as accurate as my REM700PSS .308, but I have heard of other Panthers with the shorter barrel that are very accurate as well, as Colt45guy stated. As far as the FTF and FTE problems...well, unfortunately they are true. The good news is that these problems are mostly, if not completely, due to the plastic magazines, which are no good. DPMS knows this and has a new design steel magazine. The bad news is that DPMS has been promising the steel magazines for months, but nothing to show for yet. As of today, I have not received the steel replacements for my two plastic magazines that DPMS asked me to send them a month ago for exchange. If I were you, I would not buy a DPMS .308 unless it was delivered to you with the steel magazines. That is, unless you are willing to pay around $110 for SR25 magazines... Just my 2ยข - Alex |
I am pretty sure they are shipping with steel mags, I think DPMS wants to put this plastic mag thing as far behind them as possible. And if you get plastic mags they will exchange them, and yes they are shipping to us who sent them in, but they are only getting so many in per week. Matt Carper |
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Matt, I sent my plastic mags to DPMS, with a check, and they received them four weeks ago, but so far all I have received from DPMS have been 'next week' promises. Did you send your plastic mags in to be replaced, and did you get the replacements yet? If so, do the new steel mags work???? Thanks! Alex |
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STEEL .308 MAGAZINES UPDATE Talked with Joe at DPMS at 04:40 PM CST. He gave me a tracking number for the magazines they sent me. I tracked the shipment, and it had been returned to the shipper on 13 December. I called Joe again at 04:45 PM. He said that they had shipped a number of magazines, but upon further on-going testing at DPMS, realized that the springs were not working properly, so they called UPS and recalled the shipments they had sent out. I didn't ask him why he gave me the tracking number in the first place, as getting into an argument now won't serve a purpose. I told him the stories I had been told, and that all was interested in was the true story, and, of course, getting magazines that work for my Panther LR .308. He said that they had received a few magazines bodies, and were now experimenting with the springs, but had not come up with any yet that worked reliably for more than a few rounds. The bottom line, according to Joe, is that they have not yet had any successful, reliable magazines to offer. He said they wil be having some soon, but couldn't tell me when they would ship because they still don't know. Alex |
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