Desert Tech MDR

#101
Got an 18" 338BR barrel done up for my rifle last week. I had to make a new gas block for it since the pressure available is much lower than the 308 or most of the others. It works really well and cycles reliably. Haven't had much of a chance to put it on paper yet but I'm happy its working with the subsonic 300 gr matchkings. I fired 10rds of supersonic 180gr loaded to 2400fps in the 18" barrel. Worked fine too. My gas adjuster has holes around the edge and I cut a slot in the handguard to reach them with an allen key or other small probing device. No need to pull the fricking handguard off to adjust. Thats the way it should have come from the factory. Can't use a screwdriver down the handguard with a can on.....stupid to be putting you're hands up front even without one installed.

This week I got the 6.5X47 Lapua barrel done using the gasblock I took off the 308 barrel. Haven't had much time to do anything but run a few through it with the can on it. Mostly its working but occasional hangups in the ejection port mess the feed up. Looks like the detent in the ejection port is dragging things. With the cover off its ejecting plenty far so the gas is fine. I'd like to keep my brass a little closer where I can find it though and that means making the cover work. According to others on various boards a little polish should take care of it. This barrel will be fired suppressed mostly but should also work unsuppressed.

I'll post more when I get to shoot it more.

Frank
 
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#102
biffj said:
Got an 18" 338BR barrel done up for my rifle last week. I had to make a new gas block for it since the pressure available is much lower than the 308 or most of the others. It works really well and cycles reliably. Haven't had much of a chance to put it on paper yet but I'm happy its working with the subsonic 300 gr matchkings. I fired 10rds of supersonic 180gr loaded to 2400fps in the 18" barrel. Worked fine too. My gas adjuster has holes around the edge and I cut a slot in the handguard to reach them with an allen key or other small probing device. No need to pull the fricking handguard off to adjust. Thats the way it should have come from the factory. Can't use a screwdriver down the handguard with a can on.....stupid to be putting you're hands up front even without one installed.

This week I got the 6.5X47 Lapua barrel done using the gasblock I took off the 308 barrel. Haven't had much time to do anything but run a few through it with the can on it. Mostly its working but occasional hangups in the ejection port mess the feed up. Looks like the detent in the ejection port is dragging things. With the cover off its ejecting plenty far so the gas is fine. I'd like to keep my brass a little closer where I can find it though and that means making the cover work. According to others on various boards a little polish should take care of it. This barrel will be fired suppressed mostly but should also work unsuppressed.

I'll post more when I get to shoot it more.

Frank
Click to expand...

Keep us posted! Could you send a link about polishing the ejector, I get brass hung up all the time in the forward ejector. It's annoying
 
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#104
I fired about 50 rds of each type of ammo....6.5X47 and 338BR to see how it worked. I was pretty pleased. I ran the suppressor on both cals....same can on each. I had it set for suppressed on both as well. The ports in the 338BR gasblock and adjuster plug are much larger and less sensitive. I don't know if it will operate without the can but I don't care since the cal is intended for suppressed use primarily. Groups were in the 1.5-2 in range at 100 yds using my red dot sight and shooting on a wobbly bench. I loaned the barrels to a friend who has a good range at his house and is a careful loader and shooter. He is going to work up loads and get velocity and accuracy info for both cals. Hoping to hear from him soon. The 338BR barrel is heavier because I built my own gas block so I could up the diameter of the barrel much easier. Watching some slow mo video of the standard 308 barrel shows some flopping around of the thin barrel. I figured bigger is better and I'm not concerned about the small amount of weight added. I think they were trying for a lightweight and handy rifle and I'm more interested in seeing if it can be more accurate with a little more weight and length. Barrels are 18" length in both 338BR and 6.5X47.

The ejection port detent can be a problem sometimes. I found that mine was a bit sharp and it caught the cases occasionally in a way that kept them from being pushed all the way into the channel for ejection. Because of that it interfered with the loading of the next round. If you boost the gas pressure a little it usually fixes this but it seems to be beating the crap out of itself too. I found when working on the 338BR barrel that if you pop the cover off its pretty easy to get reliable ejection out the side with a much smaller port than if you want to use the cover and forward eject cases. Once I installed the cover I had to open the port up a lot to get reliable function. When I finished the 6.5 X 47 barrel I ran into the same issue. The fix was to gently polish the top inside edge of the detent and to only remove enough material to round the edge and get rid of any burrs. I also found that oiling the pivots helped too. The spring is pretty stiff which I'm guessing is necessary due to the case being slammed into the channel. It could easily bounce back into the gun if the spring were too soft. So don't overdo things there....too much polish might mean insufficient retention of the case in the channel.

I have no idea what else is going on. I looked into getting one of the new gas port adjuster plugs but I have no interest in registering with their website to do so. I can make my own if necessary and since I pulled the gasblock off the 308 barrel I don't think I'll need it anyway. I made the gasport in the 6.5 barrel a little smaller to start with so its not banging things around so much. This thread has been pretty slow for a while and sales on gunsmoker have pretty much stopped from what I can see.

Frank
 
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#106
Been sitting on the sidelines watching and waiting as the bugs are being worked out. Been wanting one since announcement in 2014 and wanted to pre-order but decided against it. Found a great deal on Gunbroker this weekend for a new Black MDR 308Win so I made the move and purchased. Should be here on Monday. Hope that it has the 6-position gas plug and the flashhider is easy to remove. Will run it unsupressed for the first 50 or so rounds just to make sure everything is working before I go and slap on the silencer.

Hope to be able to contribute to this thread real soon.
 
#107
They aren't shipping, and DT has no plans to at this time, with the 6 position but it's available for $80. I've been lucky and no issues with match ammo, 200 rounds, in mine but no suppressed shooting yet.
 
#110
Zero issues with mine but I've run a single ammo type, FGMM, at 200 rounds un-suppressed. I've switched ejection ports back and forth throughout those sessions with zero issues. Once I've got my QD mount for the can I'll run it suppressed and see how it does. If the above post is accurate they are providing customers with the 6-position valves. That's a good thing. I think a lot of shooters are waiting for the Tavor 7 to hit the streets, delayed due to accuracy concerns, as a potential competitor and at ~$1k less it may give this bullpup a run if it's a solid weapon. Time will tell but I'm happy with the MDR thus far.
 
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#116
Shot my MDR for the first time this last weekend using 168gr FGMM off of a Atlas bipod and bagged rear. Wiped it down and oiled it before going to the range. First 10rds were shot on Adverse, next 10rds shot on Normal, and last 30rds shot on Suppressed with a SilencerCo Saker. No FTE's or FTF's. The MDR is a bit gassey so hopefully when I get a 6-position gas plug this can be fine tuned.

Trigger is heavy but manageable as I was able to get a 3/4" group at 100yds. The other groups hovered around 1" to 1-1/2". This is due to me getting use to the recoil impulse and cheek weld. The angular shape of the comb put the highest point right on my cheek bone with little side support. Will need to get a cheek pad from Hoptic as my cheek is a bit tender.

Pushing on the take-down pins required a punch but everything else was easy to disassemble. All in all I'm pleased with my MDR as it did not have any of the issues other owners identified. Trigger return spring could be lightened which would make it more like a two-stage feel and a trigger creep screw similar to the SRS could help eliminate the take-up.

BTW - Last four of my serial# is 19xx.
 
#117
Do the OSS BPR cans still fit under the hand guards of the final MDR? I’m tempted to grab one but want to make sure my can will fit. Also, what’s the consensus on the trigger?

Thanks.
 
#118
They made a special handguard for suppressors but not sure why you'd want it or the OSS can. The trigger on mine and the others I've fired have been pretty agricultural....draggy, heavy and not very crisp.

Frank
 
#119
biffj said:
They made a special handguard for suppressors but not sure why you'd want it or the OSS can. The trigger on mine and the others I've fired have been pretty agricultural....draggy, heavy and not very crisp.

Frank
Click to expand...
Thanks. I happen to have one of the OSS cans on an AR10 that’s set up as a DMR rifle, I like that it keeps the rifle short as it ticks under the PRI hand guard. It’s not a deal breaker though. Desert Tech was really pimping that can for the MDR one of the years I was at SHOT.

That’s too bad about the trigger though. I was really disappointed in the ones on the prototypes they would have at SHOT, I was hoping the final rifle would be better.
 
#120
SharpsNitro said:
Do the OSS BPR cans still fit under the hand guards of the final MDR? I’m tempted to grab one but want to make sure my can will fit. Also, what’s the consensus on the trigger?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Yes, but a pretty tight fit. You have to screw the BPR on with out the outer jacket, then put the outer jacket on and the endcap.

QL2JxLe - Imgur.jpg
 
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#125
Reviving this older thread to let everyone know my FDE Mantis handguard with integrated bipod was just delivered. While I was hesitant to order it at first based on price, seeing it in person changed my mind. It is a very nice piece of gear. I had a Harris bipod mounted on mine and this is so much nicer. Feels great to hold the rifle, and of course the bipod is always available when you need it. Very happy so far - now I have to get it out to the range and see how it works.
 
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#126
davesa said:
Reviving this older thread to let everyone know my FDE Mantis handguard with integrated bipod was just delivered. While I was hesitant to order it at first based on price, seeing it in person changed my mind. It is a very nice piece of gear. I had a Harris bipod mounted on mine and this is so much nicer. Feels great to hold the rifle, and of course the bipod is always available when you need it. Very happy so far - now I have to get it out to the range and see how it works.
Click to expand...

Is there MLOK on the bottom? Do you think if you put a short ARCA rail on the bottom that it would interfere with the bipod at all? Does it feel more rigid than the plastic handguard it normally comes with? I've been thinking about getting this handguard
 
#127
ChidJ said:
Is there MLOK on the bottom? Do you think if you put a short ARCA rail on the bottom that it would interfere with the bipod at all? Does it feel more rigid than the plastic handguard it normally comes with? I've been thinking about getting this handguard
Click to expand...
It has the same 3 slots that the original hand guard has. It does feel more rigid, since it is metal vs. plastic

On the ARCA rail - Mantis is nice and flat with about 1.2" of room to mount something. The RRS Arca rail I have is for picatinny and seems to be 1.4" wide and not very tall, so can't give you a definitive yes. The legs swing out so it depends on the Arca Rail attachment you have. I could see one working but it would have to be a little tapered at the mounting point, to allow the leg of the mantis to swing out.
 
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