Official (DTA) SRS, HTI, Covert, Hunter Thread

Interested yes, but like Roger said,, I'm very concerned about barrel life. I'll let a few others figure out how short the life is before I consider it. But with 6.5-284's burning barrels up in 1000-1500 rounds, I don't know how the Nosler could be any more nice to a barrel, with its faster speeds, and even more powder.

I really think the Nosler will appeal more to hunters who shoot 100 rounds per year and only need 1-2 MOA vs target/match shooters who shoot more and want groups much smaller.

Although with the ease of barrel swaps on the DTA perhaps someone will come out with a bulk deal, where you can buy a 10-pack of 26 Nosler barrels on the cheap.
 
Hey Nukes you are more than welcome to come shoot my DTA 6.5 SAUM barrel any time, we appear to be in the same neck of the woods. The barrel life gained is worth the 100fps lost!

How does it feed? What % And which mag do you use? 2.950" OAL from the 308 mag is limiting I would say and case length being that short for the long mag... Well that's another issue.
 
How does it feed? What % And which mag do you use? 2.950" OAL from the 308 mag is limiting I would say and case length being that short for the long mag... Well that's another issue.

It feeds about 90% out of the 300 win mag, but it is only the first round that gets hung up. I wanna give the .308 mag a shot, next. I am fine with 90%. It gives me something to blame my slow shots on :)
 
If you are running an HTI 375CT, HEADS UP!

I've been working with a customer that has an HTI in 375CT. He has been having sizing issues. His Jamison brass was working fine, but bertram brass was becoming deformed. I finally got an opportunity to get over to his house to see what was happening.

5srGMtM.jpg


Notice the massive crimp in the total FL-sized piece. That is with the die setup so that full contact with the shell-holder is made. The one on the right was with the die adjusted so that there was no contact with the shoulder and only sized the neck. As soon as any shoulder contact was made, the crease began showing up.

The customer purchased their 375CT dies from CheytacUSA.

It is very clear that Cheytac is using an entirely different chamber reamer than Desert Tech is using in their HTI's. Completely different dimensions in the shoulder area. The HTI chamber is more modern in appearance with it's defined shoulder and precise shoulder/neck/body junctions. Clearly, any attempt to resize HTI once-fired brass with a CheytacUSA die will be met with undesirable results. Not having a SAAMI spec for 375CT is clearly not good for the cartridge.

In short, do not buy your dies from CheytacUSA and expect them to work with your HTI.

SOLUTION:
Buy some DTM factory ammo.
Fire it in your HTI.
Order 375CT die set from Whidden Gunworks.
Arrange to have the die custom made, and send in 5 pieces of 375CT brass which has been fired in your HTI.
 
Do the HTI 375 Cheytac barrels have the same muzzle thread as the HTI 50 BMG barrels? I built a suppressor for a friend that fits on the muzzle brake for the 50. He wants to use it on the 375 but for some silly reason the muzzle brake is a lot smaller so it won't fit. So the question is whether we can get a brake for the 50 and use it on the 375 so the can will work with both.

Thanks
Frank
 
If you are running an HTI 375CT, HEADS UP!

I've been working with a customer that has an HTI in 375CT. He has been having sizing issues. His Jamison brass was working fine, but bertram brass was becoming deformed. I finally got an opportunity to get over to his house to see what was happening.

5srGMtM.jpg


Notice the massive crimp in the total FL-sized piece. That is with the die setup so that full contact with the shell-holder is made. The one on the right was with the die adjusted so that there was no contact with the shoulder and only sized the neck. As soon as any shoulder contact was made, the crease began showing up.

The customer purchased their 375CT dies from CheytacUSA.

It is very clear that Cheytac is using an entirely different chamber reamer than Desert Tech is using in their HTI's. Completely different dimensions in the shoulder area. The HTI chamber is more modern in appearance with it's defined shoulder and precise shoulder/neck/body junctions. Clearly, any attempt to resize HTI once-fired brass with a CheytacUSA die will be met with undesirable results. Not having a SAAMI spec for 375CT is clearly not good for the cartridge.

In short, do not buy your dies from CheytacUSA and expect them to work with your HTI.

SOLUTION:
Buy some DTM factory ammo.
Fire it in your HTI.
Order 375CT die set from Whidden Gunworks.
Arrange to have the die custom made, and send in 5 pieces of 375CT brass which has been fired in your HTI.

Interesting.

My dies from Dave Viers resize my Jamison fired brass with no problem, but I've only test run a few cases, so it may take a while for this problem to manifest itself.

CheyTac is really getting a lot of grief on these forums. I was thinking today about that. Even though I was ripped off with their loaded balanced flight projectile loaded ammo to the tune of several hundred dollars, and even though some of their SMK loads blew holes in the cases....

I was still thinking - without them, we would not have this round, which is really really cool. And I would probably not be able to get brass had they not presumably commissioned a huge run of Jamison - it's always in stock and today I just got my second batch of new cases from them - shipped quickly and received quickly, no complaints there.

I also surmise that they commissioned Sierra to run a large batch of the SMKs, which I'm pretty fond of. I have just over 900 stocked up.

Anyway, not wanting to be an apologist, I'm glad they came up with this round, even if you have to be careful what you buy from them now a days.
 
What's that saying...? You can be the pillar of the community, doing nothing but good for 60 years... but you molest one child and... ;)

That post wasn't meant to ostracize Cheytac. It was meant to educate people that clearly Cheytac uses a different chamber than DTA, and thus their dies are not suitable for the "rest" of us.

Do you know if Dave uses dies mated for Cheytac's chamber, or the PTG chamber used in the HTI's?
 
What's that saying...? You can be the pillar of the community, doing nothing but good for 60 years... but you molest one child and... ;)

That post wasn't meant to ostracize Cheytac. It was meant to educate people that clearly Cheytac uses a different chamber than DTA, and thus their dies are not suitable for the "rest" of us.

Do you know if Dave uses dies mated for Cheytac's chamber, or the PTG chamber used in the HTI's?

That's a good question and we should ask him. I emailed him back and forth when I ordered these, and I don't recall there being a discussion about chamber differences. Indeed I just checked, and there was no mention of different chambers. Can any machinist/gunsmiths weigh in here about differences in 375CT chamber dimensions?
 
It feeds about 90% out of the 300 win mag, but it is only the first round that gets hung up. I wanna give the .308 mag a shot, next. I am fine with 90%. It gives me something to blame my slow shots on :)

We have done 2 6.5 SAUM barrels for the DTA so far. Goatsie, and propulsionclimbing. I know that propulsion is running 308 magazines with the feed lips slightly bent. He claims excellent feeding. I am going to ask him to post up some pictures of his mag, and am curious if he can still run 308 out of the same mag. I have been meaning to turn one for myself, but am currently side tracked with 6 Creedmoor. More to follow on that.

Nukes, I'd be happy to turn a .26 Nosler for you, and have a 6.5 blank in stock. We would just have to wait on the reamer. I really don't know anything about it, so you would have to pioneer the magazine set up, but it might be fun and as with your 6.5 Creedmoor I'll be happy to help you find a load.

Also, I have a new 7 SAUM barrel that I can't get rid of. I understand the concern is feeding, and posted a video of it feeding. However, I no longer care and just want to get rid of it. Any reasonable offers will be considered.

I can tell that I have the same sickness that you all have. The endless possibilities of cartridges that the SRS offers.

Ty
 
  • Like
Reactions: Farmerbrown32
We have done 2 6.5 SAUM barrels for the DTA so far. Goatsie, and propulsionclimbing. I know that propulsion is running 308 magazines with the feed lips slightly bent. He claims excellent feeding. I am going to ask him to post up some pictures of his mag, and am curious if he can still run 308 out of the same mag. I have been meaning to turn one for myself, but am currently side tracked with 6 Creedmoor. More to follow on that.

Nukes, I'd be happy to turn a .26 Nosler for you, and have a 6.5 blank in stock. We would just have to wait on the reamer. I really don't know anything about it, so you would have to pioneer the magazine set up, but it might be fun and as with your 6.5 Creedmoor I'll be happy to help you find a load.

Also, I have a new 7 SAUM barrel that I can't get rid of. I understand the concern is feeding, and posted a video of it feeding. However, I no longer care and just want to get rid of it. Any reasonable offers will be considered.

I can tell that I have the same sickness that you all have. The endless possibilities of cartridges that the SRS offers.

Ty

The barrel that Ty did for me is quite the shooter! I too would be interested in propulsionclimings mag modifications!
 
Fireguyty asked me to post up a pic of a 308 mag modified to feed the 6.5 SAUM (or any SAUM family cartridge for that matter). All I did was take some pliers and proceeded to bend the feed lips until I got the cartridge sitting high enough out of the mag to be caught by the bolt and with a slight upward slant. After I did the bending, I took some fine grit sandpaper and buffed out any scratches or burrs. It is a super simple modification, and I can tell you it feeds 100%. My only initial reservation with the 6.5 SAUM in a DTA was the potential for feeding issues. My concerns were unfounded, and the results I have achieved with the 6.5 SAUM Ty spun up for me prompted me to sell off the 260 Rem conversion which I initially anticipated would be my go to barrel conversion.

Bottom line is that with a slight modification to the 308 mags, the 6.5 SAUM feeds like a dream as in 100% of the time. I can't feel any difference between feeding 6.5 SAUM cartridges vs. feeding 308, 260 or any of the conventional short action cartridges.

As a caveat, I would not recommend using a 6.5 SAUM in the 300 Win Mag or 338 Lapua magazines. I have been down that road before, and the length of the feed lips is not sufficient. The cartridge pops up out of the feed lips before the bullet tip gets into the chamber opening thus causing a major hang up. You can avoid this occurrence most of the time by making a very smooth, even bolt push; however, I was never happy with the results. If you must run a 6.5 SAUM in a long magazine, the only way to achieve excellent feeding would be to remove the spacer from a 308 mag by dremeling out the spot welds and swapping out the 308 internals with long action internals. The feed lips are longer on the 308 mags which avoids the problem of the case popping out of the feed lips prematurely. I did this with good results for a 284 Win. conversion I had.

However, this is all not necessary with the 6.5 SAUM. The current reamer most people are using (including the one Ty has) was designed to be run in a short action with a COAL of 2.880" when running the 130 Berger VLD and 2.905" when running the Berger 140 Hybrid. I have had superb results with both of these bullets along with H1000. A 62.5 grain charge of H1000 propels the 130 VLD to 3225 fps MV (as measured from a Magnetospeed V2 chrony), and a 60.5 grain load of H1000 propels a 140 Hybrid to 3084 fps MV. Both bullets have the same POI at 100 meters, and are easily 1/4 MOA accurate. I have shot both loads out to 1700 yards with excellent results. The 6.5 SAUM is the real deal and works exceptionally well in the DTA with very few modifications.

I have owned rifles with the very best components from the very best gun builders available including multiple custom DTA conversions from all the usual sources, and the 6.5 SAUM barrel that Fireguyty spun up for me shoots as good or better than them all. I would look to Fireguyty for all of your DTA conversion needs. He will treat you right and provides a superb product.

As an aside, you can see from the pics that my bending skills could be improved upon. But the mags work perfectly!
 

Attachments

  • dtamag1.JPG
    dtamag1.JPG
    82.4 KB · Views: 51
  • dtamag2.JPG
    dtamag2.JPG
    92.9 KB · Views: 62
Last edited:
Fireguyty asked me to post up a pic of a 308 mag modified to feed the 6.5 SAUM (or any SAUM family cartridge for that matter). All I did was take some pliers and proceeded to bend the feed lips until I got the cartridge sitting high enough out of the mag to be caught by the bolt and with a slight upward slant. After I did the bending, I took some fine grit sandpaper and buffed out any scratches or burrs. It is a super simple modification, and I can tell you it feeds 100%. My only initial reservation with the 6.5 SAUM in a DTA was the potential for feeding issues. My concerns were unfounded, and the results I have achieved with the 6.5 SAUM Ty spun up for me prompted me to sell off the 260 Rem conversion which I initially anticipated would be my go to barrel conversion.

Bottom line is that with a slight modification to the 308 mags, the 6.5 SAUM feeds like a dream as in 100% of the time. I can't feel any difference between feeding 6.5 SAUM cartridges vs. feeding 308, 260 or any of the conventional short action cartridges.

As a caveat, I would not recommend using a 6.5 SAUM in the 300 Win Mag or 338 Lapua magazines. I have been down that road before, and the length of the feed lips is not sufficient. The cartridge pops up out of the feed lips before the bullet tip gets into the chamber opening thus causing a major hang up. You can avoid this occurrence most of the time by making a very smooth, even bolt push; however, I was never happy with the results. If you must run a 6.5 SAUM in a long magazine, the only way to achieve excellent feeding would be to remove the spacer from a 308 mag by dremeling out the spot welds and swapping out the 308 internals with long action internals. The feed lips are longer on the 308 mags which avoids the problem of the case popping out of the feed lips prematurely. I did this with good results for a 284 Win. conversion I had.

However, this is all not necessary with the 6.5 SAUM. The current reamer most people are using (including the one Ty has) was designed to be run in a short action with a COAL of 2.880" when running the 130 Berger VLD and 2.905" when running the Berger 140 Hybrid. I have had superb results with both of these bullets along with H1000. A 62.5 grain charge of H1000 propels the 130 VLD to 3225 fps MV (as measured from a Magnetospeed V2 chrony), and a 60.5 grain load of H1000 propels a 140 Hybrid to 3084 fps MV. Both bullets have the same POI at 100 meters, and are easily 1/4 MOA accurate. I have shot both loads out to 1700 yards with excellent results. The 6.5 SAUM is the real deal and works exceptionally well in the DTA with very few modifications.

I have owned rifles with the very best components from the very best gun builders available including multiple custom DTA conversions from all the usual sources, and the 6.5 SAUM barrel that Fireguyty spun up for me shoots as good or better than them all. I would look to Fireguyty for all of your DTA conversion needs. He will treat you right and provides a superb product.

As an aside, you can see from the pics that my bending skills could be improved upon. But the mags work perfectly!

Nice Jed, what are the spec's on that barrel?
 
Fireguyty asked me to post up a pic of a 308 mag modified to feed the 6.5 SAUM (or any SAUM family cartridge for that matter). All I did was take some pliers and proceeded to bend the feed lips until I got the cartridge sitting high enough out of the mag to be caught by the bolt and with a slight upward slant. After I did the bending, I took some fine grit sandpaper and buffed out any scratches or burrs. It is a super simple modification, and I can tell you it feeds 100%. My only initial reservation with the 6.5 SAUM in a DTA was the potential for feeding issues. My concerns were unfounded, and the results I have achieved with the 6.5 SAUM Ty spun up for me prompted me to sell off the 260 Rem conversion which I initially anticipated would be my go to barrel conversion.

Bottom line is that with a slight modification to the 308 mags, the 6.5 SAUM feeds like a dream as in 100% of the time. I can't feel any difference between feeding 6.5 SAUM cartridges vs. feeding 308, 260 or any of the conventional short action cartridges.

As a caveat, I would not recommend using a 6.5 SAUM in the 300 Win Mag or 338 Lapua magazines. I have been down that road before, and the length of the feed lips is not sufficient. The cartridge pops up out of the feed lips before the bullet tip gets into the chamber opening thus causing a major hang up. You can avoid this occurrence most of the time by making a very smooth, even bolt push; however, I was never happy with the results. If you must run a 6.5 SAUM in a long magazine, the only way to achieve excellent feeding would be to remove the spacer from a 308 mag by dremeling out the spot welds and swapping out the 308 internals with long action internals. The feed lips are longer on the 308 mags which avoids the problem of the case popping out of the feed lips prematurely. I did this with good results for a 284 Win. conversion I had.

However, this is all not necessary with the 6.5 SAUM. The current reamer most people are using (including the one Ty has) was designed to be run in a short action with a COAL of 2.880" when running the 130 Berger VLD and 2.905" when running the Berger 140 Hybrid. I have had superb results with both of these bullets along with H1000. A 62.5 grain charge of H1000 propels the 130 VLD to 3225 fps MV (as measured from a Magnetospeed V2 chrony), and a 60.5 grain load of H1000 propels a 140 Hybrid to 3084 fps MV. Both bullets have the same POI at 100 meters, and are easily 1/4 MOA accurate. I have shot both loads out to 1700 yards with excellent results. The 6.5 SAUM is the real deal and works exceptionally well in the DTA with very few modifications.

I have owned rifles with the very best components from the very best gun builders available including multiple custom DTA conversions from all the usual sources, and the 6.5 SAUM barrel that Fireguyty spun up for me shoots as good or better than them all. I would look to Fireguyty for all of your DTA conversion needs. He will treat you right and provides a superb product.

As an aside, you can see from the pics that my bending skills could be improved upon. But the mags work perfectly!

So after modding this mag, does .308 or .260 cartridges still feed fine out of the same magazine?
 
Kahles K624i | DT-AMR Reticle

5OMkDF1.jpg

qPUNmVk.jpg

RmlF8by.jpg

fCSAQTn.jpg

I was finally able to install my Kahles K624i DT-AMR (thanks Greg!) in the DTA mount (40 MOA) on my SRS-A1 and thought I'd post some pics of it. Fireguyty was right... it's worth the wait and that AMR reticle is ridiculously sharp and granular! I really love that it gives .05 mil increment!!

I haven't got the chance to actually zero the scope yet as it was stormy today but I'll make sure to post more pics once I do!!
 
Last edited:
TheBelgian I was finally able to install my Kahles K624i DT-AMR (thanks Greg!) in the DTA mount (40 MOA) on my SRS-A1 and thought I'd post some pics of it. Fireguyty was right... it's worth the wait and that AMR reticle is ridiculously sharp and granular! I really love that it gives .05 mil increment!! I haven't got the chance to actually zero the scope yet as it was stormy today but I'll make sure to post more pics once I do!![/QUOTE said:
looks clean, hay let me know what you zero it at with that 40moa base.
 
Finally shot my first reloads for the 300 WM.

Started off with the off the shelf Winchester 180 grn Power Point ammo (2860 fps) that I had used to get around 200 rds of DOPE on out to 500 yds. Confirmed my zero and began with my newly constructed rounds. They were all made from once fired Winchester brass that was neck sized only. I used IMR 4350 powder and Winchester Large Rifle Primers. All bullets were seated to a 3.5" OAL. Confirmed the distance to be 214 yds for this test.

First batch:
68 gr of powder
200 gr Berger Hybrid Target bullet
These grouped 4" higher than the stock Winchester 180 grn bullets

69 grns using the same bullet
settled in at 3.5 higher than the stock Win stuff

70 grns grouped at 3 inches higher and was the tightest grouping of 1" with two of the 5 touching

The next bullet I used was the Berger 210 grain Hunting VLD. I dialed down the scope 1.5 MOA for these.

68 grns of powder netted a 4" grouping on the correct elevation.

69 grns of powder brought the grouping to within 2"

70 grns of powder brought the group inside an inch with three shots touching of the 5 shot group.

I need to figure out how to back calculate the speed difference on these basing it off of the speed of the stock Winchester stuff. Looks like the 70 grns of the IMR 4350 is what it likes.
 
Hi all,

Long time reader, first time poster. I read the ENTIRE DTA thread before ordering my Covert with an 18” .308 Win and 26” .260 Rem barrels, both from SAC. Much thanks to everyone for all the great info that helped inform my decision.

I’m a long time shooter with all manner of plinking, hunting, skeet and 3Gun style rifle comp experience. I’ll be using the DTA as an all-around rifle for target shooting/load development, pig and antelope hunting and starting to get my feet wet in the long-range discipline – possibly some comps in the future.

Question on scope mounts – I’m using a loaner scope until I can locate a Kahles 624i with AMR reticle. I have one on backorder but am trying to line up a scope mount in the meantime. My checklist includes:

- I’m thinking 20 MOA of cant will be about right for my usage (100 yard zero, 1,200ish yard max).
- I typically like such low scope height that many guys can’t even shoot my rifles! I know DTA says 1.5 high for rings but I want to go as low as I can without the Kahles’ 56mm ocular bell touching the rail and of course some room for scope covers as well!
- I wouldn’t mind the occasional convenience of quick disconnect as long as I’m giving up almost nothing in stability

I’ve ruled out DTA HTI mount and SPUHR as low ROI for my needs and have ID’d these options:

- American Rifle Company M10 QD-L is 1.37 high with 20 MOA – Is it a good design? Will scope hit rail?
- Badger Unimount is 1.3 high with 20 MOA – Will scope hit rail at 1.3 high?
- Eurooptic Unimount is 1.4 high with 28 MOA – Great price and possibly a good compromise height. Is the quality there?

Does anyone have any info on minimum ring height for 56mm bell? Any other insights on pros/cons of these mount designs or any that I've missed? Thanks
 
Bigsur,

First thing is first. Congrats and welcome to the community!

Next thing, the DTA is not a traditional Bolt rifle with a drop comb stock which requires .8-1.1"ish rings. Rather it is a flat top design like an AR. That is the reason that it runs 1.5"ish ring/mount.

Also, you say that you got a new covert. I assume that it is an A-1? If that is the case, as you know, it has an adjustable cheek piece. Due to this, my suggestion is to not reinvent the wheel. You will just cause yourself unneeded stress.

With a 30MOA canted DTA mount, I was able to mount a 58mm USO 5-25 with the sunshade. That scope is probably the most massive and long piece of glass currently out. I would think that with a traditional height mount you can fit any 56mm objective even with a 40 MOA cant.

As far as a QD mount goes, My favorite is the American Defense Mount. However, you said occasionally remove, which makes me think Addmount. The only issue with that is that is I am unsure if they make a 34mm mount.

I am sorry that I am not giving you what you asked for, but this is my best advice.

Ty
 
Tag because I love DTA and don't even own one....yet. As soon as my medical school bills are paid off I am getting myself my dream rig! Fireguyty.... You better be around in a few years because I will be buying barrels from you! Orkan has always been great to me so he's also getting my business!
 
Thanks much Fireguyty,

My MATEN monolithic with Nightforce F1 and NF Unimount is 1.375 high and I still have the cheek rest on the PRS cranked up about halfway up. Also, I'm using a buddy's Leupold Mk 6 3-18x in GDI mount on my A1 Covert until I get my scope. Even with cheek rest maxed out I still put a thin piece of foam on top to get the weld I like.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong but I just need a really low weld.

I'm thinking the Eurooptic house-brand mount at 1.4 might be a good compromise height. It's a bit of an unknown since I haven't found a lot of reviews on the unit. I guess I'll be the guinea pig and report back to the forum in case anyone else is in my situation.
 
That is most interesting. Any mounts lower than 1.4", I've found too low for myself and all of my customers. They can sometimes just "barely" work... but are usually too low. The 1.5" height seems to be about perfect and most customers don't have to raise their cheek piece up more than 1 or 2 notches. Most certainly never have they been half way up.

Could you share a picture of your head on the rifle?
 
Thanks, that was the sanity check I'm looking for as that's pretty much inline with my expectations and QL prediction.

I'm nearly 2 grains higher and 150fps slower in Lapua brass at a COAL of 2.85" with temp at 45F.

Lots of variables there I know but a long way from what appears to be the norm.

I'll look in to temp variation on rl17 and cross check H2O capacity.

Accuracy is very poor at lower velocities.

There is something odd here.

Tony

I'm getting 2932fps with 140gr Berger hybrid and 42.8gr of RL17 in my 26.5" 6.5 Creedmoor
 
Put 50-rounds of 338LM through the covert this weekend during load development 250gr Berger Tactical Hybrids with 96.5gr Retumbo loaded .030" off the lands. Is it me or is 338LM not so bad through the SRS? Didn't beat me up at all.

Here's my best 300yd group. Need to work on loading the bipod and tightening up the groups.

12957259505_825780c25a_o.jpg