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R1 gone - The Panther Has Landed!


tucker301

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Here's what the funds from the sale of my R1 brought me yesterday.

 

It weighs about twice what the R1 weighed, but I don't do a lot of long-range walking anyway, so that's no biggie.

 

Mostly, I just wanted a more accurate and more durable semi-auto deer rifle.

 

Nothing wrong with the R1. It just wasn't for me.

 

423620-big.jpg

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DPMS Panther Arms .308 Long Range.

24" bull barrel, free float handguard, 2 20 round clips.

3-9 X 40 Leupold on QR rings.

 

I'm a southpaw, so I've got an ambidexterious safety and brass defelctor on the way.

 

These babies are known for shooting sub 1/2 MOA groups pretty consistently, so I am hopeful.

 

She's a bit heavy at 12 lbs., so I may do some tweaking to take the weight down a bit.

Got a friend who has just recently opened a machine shop with all kinds of new toys, so it's no telling where this thing will end up by deer season :cool:

 

I'm already thinking that I'd like to cut the barrel down by an inch or two in length, maybe trim her girth down by about .20 and give her a slight taper with flutes.

 

A carbon fiber handguard will look nicer and feel warmer too.

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Nice rifle Tucker301,

 

I'm also very interested in the AR10 and it's clones for hunting here in Maine. But I can't find one anywhere near 7 lbs.. Thought about building one on an Eagle Arms lower, add a nice fluted 20" tube, and maybe I could get it down under 8lbs.? Where I hunt here in Maine I do a lot of tracking and need a light weight semi auto for hunting the mountains and cedar swamps. I've seriously considered the R1. I've been checking them out at some local shops and they are nice. The trigger on the ones I've handled were decent so maybe Benelli is getting their act together on the R1 trigger? But all things being considered, trigger, accuracy, price, etc.. I'm going to go with a Browning BAR .308 ShortTrac Stalker. At only 6 lbs., 10 oz. it's the lightest semi auto out there. Also has a nice trigger and from the people I know who own BAR's they are real shooters. Plus it's over $400 cheaper then an R1. alakso

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Tucker, Have just swapped my BAR for the R 1 and am alarmed about your durability comment and wondered if you could expand on same.

 

Must say that I have only fired about 20 rds so far but its accuracy does not compare. The BAR at 100yds found all 5 rds in basic contact.

However the jury is out until I have tried some more makes of ammo.

 

The Winchester supreme groups very badly compared to the Federal Shok.

Incidentally its a 300WSW.

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Originally posted by tucker301:

Here's what the funds from the sale of my R1 brought me yesterday.

 

Beautiful! It looks very compact, but compared to ammo boxes, it must be at least… 42”? If not the state laws, I probably would like to have one too, but not instead. Hope this one will meet your expectations, traitor ;) . I’ll be waiting for your target posts.

 

[ 08-01-2006, 06:08 PM: Message edited by: garren ]

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Currently:

Trigger is in Colorado being reworked by a young genius named Bill Springfield.

He can turn a factory set into a near match grade set for about $28.

 

Barrel and handguard are at my office, which happens to be shared with a machine shop.

I'm going to trim the barrel length to 20" from 24" and turn the girth down to .75 from .93.

We may also add fluting just for kicks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So Tucker,

 

How is your new rifle shootn' for ya? You got us all on the egdes of our seat here.

 

I have an M4 copy in .223 by Rock River Arms. I'm using it to hone my shooting skills before my deployment to Iraq later this year. I bought for a very serious reason; however, it turns out the thing is just darn fun to shoot!

 

Still ... I wouldn't trade in my Walnut stocked R1 though. She owns my heart!

 

Enjoy,

 

Glenn

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I took it out once and it shot well with Federal Fusion, but I'm still working on it.

 

Trigger work's been done.

 

Waiting on a barrel nut wrench from Texas, then the barrel comes off for some time on the lathe.

 

I've got a bunch of SA surplus ammo to burn up for fun, and then I'll be tweaking her in for deer season.

 

Check out Aimsurplus.com for good deals on .223, 7.62 x 39, .308 and more.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I like it very much, Tucker. I did not want to tell you before to not upset you, but I did not like the aesthetical look of the original stock. This looks much better, though I don’t know about pistol grip. Is there any functional differences?

Patiently waiting for range reports.

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Tucker,

 

Got a Harris BIPOD on my Rock River Arms M4 .223 copy and I love it -- a bipod is a must have at the range, Harris or whatever else. Best part is that it is it is detachable, adjusts to un-even surfaces, and helps holds your aim dead-on. Plinkity - Plink, Plink, Plink!

 

BTW - I Don't envy the deer on your sights! Please post photo's when you knock'em dead! And yeah, the new stock is MUCH better.

 

Good Hunting,

 

Glenn

 

P.S. The R1 goes into the gunsmith for tirgger work on Monday.

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  • 1 month later...

Finally got out and did some shooting with the beast today!

 

It eats SA surplus just fine, but they group around 2" at best.

 

It really likes the Federal Fusions I picked out as my deer load for this year :D

 

442024-big.jpg

 

This is with the factory trigger re-worked by Bill Springfield.

I'm still hoping to improve on it with a match trigger from Rock River.

 

The scope is a Leupold VXII 3-9X40.

 

[ 10-15-2006, 08:25 PM: Message edited by: tucker301 ]

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Very good.

Is it consistent? I would like to compare this one with your worst result (with same ammo used, and same rifle of course).

I checked your R1’s target post with results at 100 yard. They are quite comparable. Can’t help myself not to bite you tongue.gif

The closest range to me (20miles) is closing its doors in December. Another open range is almost 40 miles away. No joy at all :confused:

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Tne afore posted R1 group was a three shot group, whereas this one a five shot, but they're close.

 

I also had to wade through a bunch of ammo before I found something the R1 liked.

 

This is the first name brand ammo I've tried in the AR, so I'm sure there's room for improvement.

 

Mostl of Sunday's shooting was just for fun, using the cheap SA surplus stuff.

 

I cleaned the rifle yesterday, and I have to tell you, it's easier than the R1, but that SA stuff is pretty nasty.

 

I wouldn't want to even see an R1 after 100 rounds of that!

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  • 5 weeks later...

Tucker,

 

I just bought one of these babies myself. I LOVE IT!... Except... I spent a day lugging it through the woods looking for a deer to shoot (never found one) and my shoulder was killing me at the end of the day. It's HEAVY.

 

How much weight were you able to drop by the modifications you made?

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