Although a dizzying array of AR-style rifles is available today, many of them range from simply pricey to extremely expensive. At odds with this trend is DPMS Inc.’s Panther 5.56 Sportical, an AR-style carbine that retails for just under $700. In fact, the 5.56x45 mm rifle’s unique moniker presages its intended purpose—namely bridging the gap between the sporting and tactical markets.
The Sportical is something of a hybridization of two of DPMS’ previous carbine designs, namely the Panther Lo-Pro Classic and the Panther Lite 16. The former is a bull-barreled rifle with a slab-sided, flat-top upper that is generally intended for precision shooting, plinking and competition. The Lite 16 is a more traditionally configured AR-style rifle, featuring a fixed carry handle and a light contour barrel.
The heart of the 5.56 Sportical is the flat-top upper receiver it shares with the Lo-Pro Classic. Rather than a more conventional 7075-T6 alloy upper receiver, the Sportical’s hard-coat anodized upper is made from more cost-effective, extruded 6066-T6 aluminum alloy. In addition to the differences in material and construction from a more conventional upper, the Lo-Pro-style upper also features a Spartan slab-sided exterior with no forward assist, shell deflector or dustcover on its right side. Also, it features a larger exterior diameter of just over 1½" as compared to a slimmer 7075-T6 upper.
As cost effectiveness is a key concept of the Sportical, the rifle does not come with sights. DPMS recognized that most users plan on equipping the rifle with some sort of optic and would not want to pay for parts they would just remove later anyway. The Sportical also shares another feature with the Lo-Pro Classic—a flat-topped gas block with a strip of Picatinny rail.
Rather than employing a heavy bull barrel like the Lo-Pro, the Sportical instead features a phosphated 4140 chrome-moly steel light contour 16" barrel similar to that of the Lite 16, contributing to the Sportical’s feathery-light weight of 6 lbs., 5 ozs. The barrel has an exterior diameter of 0.642" along its length and is topped off with an A2-style flash hider. The barrel’s button-rifled bore has six grooves with a 1:9" right-hand twist.