DPMS Panther Arms

History

Randy Luth founded Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services (DPMS) in 1985 in Osseo, Minnesota, as a precision machine shop for manufacturing M203, M14 and M16 parts for U.S. military contracts. In the later 1990s, the company employed 30 people selling Colt 1911 and AR-15 parts and accessories and moved the company to Becker, Minnesota. DPMS later began producing AR-15 style rifles.

DPMS moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota, in 2004. In 2007, the firm was named one of ''The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal'''s "50 fastest-growing privately held companies". DPMS doubled its revenue between 2004–2007 and employed 65 people in 2008.

Freedom Group purchased DPMS Panther Arms on December 14, 2007, the same year it purchased Marlin Firearms. Freedom Group was a consortium of firearms manufacturers and was part of Cerberus Capital Management, a New York private equity investment firm. Cerberus combined DPMS with Bushmaster Firearms International, Remington Arms and Cobb Manufacturing to form the Freedom Group. Remington was the company's immediate corporate parent.

On December 20, 2012, Cerberus announced they were selling their Freedom Group brands, including DPMS, based on pressure from a California pension board.

DPMS was purchased by JJE Capital Holdings LLC on September 29, 2020, during the Remington bankruptcy proceedings.

Products

The company manufactures AR-15 style rifles chambered in .223}} Remington/5.56×45mm NATO and AR-10 style rifles chambered in .308}} Winchester and .260}} Remington, among others.

The company attracted attention within the firearms industry with its version of the AR-10, the Panther LR-308, earning Shooting Illustrated 2005 Golden Bullseye Award for "Rifle of the Year". In 2006, the Panther LR-308AP4 earned American Rifleman Golden Bullseye Award for "Rifle of the Year". In 2008, DPMS introduced the LR-338 chambered in the .338}} Federal cartridge.

Production relocation

DPMS's St. Cloud production facility with 115 employees was closed and production has been moved to Remington's new non-union facility in Huntsville, Alabama. Remington's Ilion, New York, production facility closed down two production lines for their Bushmaster-branded AR-15 style rifle and R-1 1911-pattern pistol, and moved them to Huntsville. In 2014, Remington moved production of two gun lines and 150 jobs from New York to Alabama because of New York state's gun laws which banned the sale of those products in the state, and consolidated its production from six locations into Huntsville in order to increase efficiency, and reduce production and labor costs. The six companies being relocated were: Advanced Armament Corp of Lawrenceville, Georgia; Montana Rifleman of Kalispell, Montana; TAPCO; LAR Manufacturing of West Jordan, Utah; Para USA (formerly Para-Ordnance); and DPMS.

Criminal use

2015 San Bernardino attack

On December 2, 2015, Tafsheen Malik used a DPMS Panther Arms A-15 chambered in .223 Remington during the 2015 San Bernardino attack.

Attempted assassination of Donald Trump

On July 13, 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks used a 16" DPMS Panther Arms model DR-15 M4 rifle chambered in 5.56x45mm/.223 during an attempted assassination of Donald Trump near Butler, Pennsylvania during a campaign rally being held at the Butler Farm Show Grounds during his bid for the 2024 United States presidential election.

References

References

1. (May 16, 2014). "St. Cloud gunmaker moving to Alabama". St. Cloud Times.
2. "DPMS Acquired By Cerberus. Joins Bushmaster and Remington. « Daily Bulletin".
3. Lattman, Peter. (December 18, 2012). "In Unusual Move, Cerberus to Sell Gun Company".
4. Rupp, J. Scott. (October 1, 2020). "The Remington Sell-Off".
5. "NRA 2006 Golden Bullseye Awards".
6. (March 30, 2013). "DPMS LR-338: An AR-Style Rifle Chambered in .338 Federal For Serious Hunting".
7. (May 16, 2014). "Remington Arms moving two assembly lines from Ilion to Alabama because of NY Safe Act, senator says". Syracuse.com.
8. "Remington to move production of two gun lines from New York to Alabama".
9. (May 15, 2014). "St. Cloud-based gun maker DPMS Panther Arms moving to Alabama".
10. Allenspach, Kevin. "St. Cloud gunmaker moving to Alabama".
11. "Thomas Crooks' rifle as recovered at shooting site.". FBI.
12. "Revealed: First pics of AR-15 that Thomas Crooks used to shoot Donald Trump, as FBI reveals how he concealed it in backpack". Chris Nesi.