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

[Dogtown]

Yup, the large tennon on the SRS means you can go pretty long and still save decent rigidity. This started out as a 37" .338 1:13-1:9 gain twist 5R blank from Bartlein. I had it chambered with a .338LM Improved 40 degree reamer and then step & straight fluted to take some of the meat off of it. This was back in 2012 or so.

It shoots 300gr bullets at around 3100fps.

 

[Badfinger]

I supposed you shoot ducks with it

 

[biffj]

Wow, 36" is pretty good. Nice to see you're still kicking too. Haven't seen any posts for a while.

I'm running a heavy 32" barrel for my 33XC in a covert gen 1, or at least I was til I ended up with a gen 2 A1 chassis. With the bipod mounted at the rear end of the rail the rifle still tips back on the monopod. The idea that long barrels aren't good for the rifles is silly. I normally run my bipod at the front of the rail to keep it out of my way. Works fine. Its stable, not tippy at all despite my 10lb 32 inch heavy barrel. Shoots damn good too. On the other hand I can run my short 510 whisper and 338BR barrels without having to try and swap out the handguard. The SRS requires a minimum 22" barrel where the Covert allows 16". Still the same rifle regardless of barrel length.

So you may not like long barrels which is fine and dandy as we all have our little idiosyncrasies but long barrels work fine in the rifles with any type handguard. Short barrels need a short handguard and swapping them is a bitch. Trying to decide now if I want to chop the handguard on my new A1 and sell off the gen 1 or just keep them both. I'll probably keep both and use the shorty for the short barrels and the other for the long stuff.
The Gen 1's are a tough sell anymore and don't bring as much as they're really worth. I've had the rifle 10 years and its been great the whole time.


Frank

 

[cro789]

Dogtown what is the name of the bipod you are running?

 

[Dogtown]

It's a custom bipod made back in 2009 by Lloyd Desantis of RND Precision - almost a one of a kind. I'm a huge fan of bipods located at or above the bore axis, and back then Lloyd was making some interesting bipod experiments (and rifles).

 

[pinhead]

I wish I never sold my Gen 1. If I had it now I would just keep it as my hunting rig.

 

[Lupercal]

Ok, question for A2 owners; how is the trigger? specifically the creep. I used to have an A1 and sold it a couple of years back and am thinking of buying an A2 but I hear the trigger is no longer adjustable for creep. Not a fan of creep and was able to adjust all the creep out of the trigger on my A1. How does the A2 compare?

 

[Keens]

Ok, question for A2 owners; how is the trigger? specifically the creep. I used to have an A1 and sold it a couple of years back and am thinking of buying an A2 but I hear the trigger is no longer adjustable for creep. Not a fan of creep and was able to adjust all the creep out of the trigger on my A1. How does the A2 compare?

My single experience:
I’m not happy with my trigger. It will not go below 2.8lbs to the 1.5 advertised by DT. Collin even verified on the phone to “expect around 2.5lbs”. It has a significant amount of overtravel- much more than the A1 I became familiar on. The A1 trigger was superior in every single way. Weight, zero creep, clean break and very little overtravel.
The A2 trigger has a slight amount of creep. For me it can only be felt if I wrap my whole finger around the trigger while dry firing and squeezed my hand, feeling every aspect of the mechanism. It has a slight “roll” with zero pre travel and then a ton of overtravel after the break.

I have better gas gun triggers than the A2. The Larue MBT 2 stage for 80$ has a better break and much less overtravel.

 

[Georgedubya]

Ok, question for A2 owners; how is the trigger? specifically the creep. I used to have an A1 and sold it a couple of years back and am thinking of buying an A2 but I hear the trigger is no longer adjustable for creep. Not a fan of creep and was able to adjust all the creep out of the trigger on my A1. How does the A2 compare?

I will echo in part what others have said--I own the A1 and A2 and kind of like the A1 trigger better. The A2 trigger is, however, quite good in my view. Mine has maybe 1mm of creep and then breaks at 1.5 lbs. There is no doubt that it's inferior to a TriggerTech diamond, or even the LaRue MBT2S, as one poster said, but I have zero trouble shooting it very accurately.

 

[12B.Ryan]

Ok, question for A2 owners; how is the trigger? specifically the creep. I used to have an A1 and sold it a couple of years back and am thinking of buying an A2 but I hear the trigger is no longer adjustable for creep. Not a fan of creep and was able to adjust all the creep out of the trigger on my A1. How does the A2 compare?

The trigger on the A1 is much more adjustable. You can move the trigger back and forth in the trigger guard, adjust creep, and adjust trigger weight. The A2 trigger is more robust. The marketing guys at DT call it a "field trigger". It feels great for a bullpup and you can still adjust the trigger weight. The creep and trigger position adjustments are no longer there on the A2. The A1 adjustments were also problematic where if the the end user didn't adjust them correctly it would cause problems. If blue lock tight wasn't used on the creep adjustment screw it could fall out which would then lock up the safety. Same for the trigger weight adjustment crew. I took a few calls from customers when I worked at Desert Tech where their trigger fell off after they adjusted it position in the trigger guard while they were out in the field. Most pf the time it was because the owner didn't torque it down enough or they didn't use blue lock tight. So after seeing some of these problems customers had with the A1 trigger the engineers decided to make some changes to the A2 trigger.
It still feels crisp and clean with a good break. There is almost no creep in the trigger with not too much over travel. With the A2 trigger you do need to open up the front of the stock panels to get to the trigger weight adjustment screw. Basically undo the the bolts in the front of the stock panels to to wedge them apart and you can see the screw. Desert Tech also added a compound to the trigger weight adjustment screw to keep them in place. It looks the same kind of compound Magpul uses on there MLOK bolts to keep them in place.
Basically my 2 cents is the A1 trigger can be adjusted more to fit the user. It can be more finicky if not adjusted correctly but if you follow the instructions you should never have a problem. The A2 is simpler and less adjustable but still feels great. To be fair it's no Trigger Tech, Timney, Jewell, or other top tier aftermarket trigger but it still feels really good for a factory trigger.

 

[Sericus]

I didn't like having my extra barrel naked and flopping around so thought about making a thin barrel sleeve out of some sort of fabric. Got lazy and just got the Tab Gear barrel sleeve.

Well made. It's actually padded in between the material, which I felt is overkill since I just wanted a thin sleeve. Fits the 26" 338 barrel perfectly and the bolt pocket has extra space for other things. Would be nice if it had some molle so that I can attach it outside of my pack.

Happy with it so far.

 

[srt-4_uk]

If you have to get another one, this one gets good reviews

Accessories - Barrel Bags and Bolt Pouch

Barrel Bag .. ( lengths ) are made to each individual members needs for Barrel length. .. And it is the Same price for Barrel Bags Length .. be it 16" barrel bag, or a 36" length Barrel . Bolt Pouches .. are either a ( Standard rifle Bolt ) or a ( bullpup, DT Bolt ) with also: DT, HTI...

www.snipershide.com

 

[Lupercal]

Thanks all for the info on the trigger, thb the A2 trigger sounds like a bit of a downgrade from the A1 so will I probably not pick up an A2. Too used to that TT diamond now.....

 

[Georgedubya]

Thanks all for the info on the trigger, thb the A2 trigger sounds like a bit of a downgrade from the A1 so will I probably not pick up an A2. Too used to that TT diamond now.....

I have to say — I have a couple guns with TT diamonds. Although those are my fav triggers, i shoot the DT a lot more. It’s a great system.

 

[mountainman308]

I have to say — I have a couple guns with TT diamonds. Although those are my fav triggers, i shoot the DT a lot more. It’s a great system.

Clearly the answer is that we need to petition TT to come out with a DT trigger. Supply and demand, right?

 

[st1650]

My tuned DTA trigger is just as good as my Trigger Tech special - zero creep, zero overtravel, clean break at 1.2 lbs.

 

[goosed]

My tuned DTA trigger is just as good as my Trigger Tech special - zero creep, zero overtravel, clean break at 1.2 lbs.

That's awesome, cherish it!!!

Mine isn't, not really close.

Don't get me wrong it is awesome for a bullpup trigger. Now that it's tuned it's even a fairly good precision rifle trigger. It's just not as good as my TRG, 54:18 or TT. To be fair though my factory AX trigger isn't as good as those three either.

 

[srt-4_uk]

Dont be afraid to do a trigger job. You can get it under a 1 lb.

 

[M289]

If you have to get another one, this one gets good reviews

Accessories - Barrel Bags and Bolt Pouch

Barrel Bag .. ( lengths ) are made to each individual members needs for Barrel length. .. And it is the Same price for Barrel Bags Length .. be it 16" barrel bag, or a 36" length Barrel . Bolt Pouches .. are either a ( Standard rifle Bolt ) or a ( bullpup, DT Bolt ) with also: DT, HTI...

www.snipershide.com

I had multiple barrel bags and bolt pouches made for the SRS bolt and barrels.
They are excellent and the maker is a great guy. Shipping to Europe was no trouble at all.

Also a nice thing about the barrel bags that @softcock makes is that he makes them to your specification.
Meaning those 28” or 32” SRS barrels with large muzzle brakes fit perfectly!

Can’t recommend him and what he makes enough Good stuff!

 

[mountainman308]

My tuned DTA trigger is just as good as my Trigger Tech special - zero creep, zero overtravel, clean break at 1.2 lbs.

I’m guessing it’s an A1 rather than an A2? If it’s an A2, then I would love to hear the secret. My A2 trigger is superior for a bull pup but is still in need of improvement, especially the overtravel.

 

[st1650]

I’m guessing it’s an A1 rather than an A2? If it’s an A2, then I would love to hear the secret. My A2 trigger is superior for a bull pup but is still in need of improvement, especially the overtravel.

It’s actually an older covert Gen 2. I’m not even sure it’s the same as a A1 because I had to use a M3 set screw to remove all the pretravel and I think the A1 uses M4 or M5.
But yeah I did Orkins trigger mod (filling the safety tab) and some of my own bubba engineering, i also bent the trigger rails more or less on purpose after adjusting the shoe for my pull length because it the past I had issues with the trigger shoe moving even with the screw tight and locktited, now it’ll never move. It feels and fits me perfectly but at the end of the day, it’s not a bench rest rifle and I totally understand why some would prefer the robustness of the A2 trigger and some people hate to bubba their own 3500$+ rifles and want to keep their resale values. For me I have a lot of free times lately so I enjoy squeezing a bit more juice out of my computers, cars, rifles and pistols.

 

[st1650]

The overtravel can be removed by taking off the skins and looking at the trigger tab’s relationship to the skins. What I did was put a small piece of metal to wedge in between the skins and the trigger tab to prevent it from moving after striker release. Once you find the right thickness to allow for a bit of tolerance then you can simply jb weld/glue it to the skins. Super bubba but works great.

 

[Lupercal]

I have to say — I have a couple guns with TT diamonds. Although those are my fav triggers, i shoot the DT a lot more. It’s a great system.

Yeah it is a good platform, wish I had kept my A1

 

[TheLurkingKnowItAll]

Is there a good resource for techniques and tactics specific to the SRS? Classes, online training, etc.?

 

[Dogtown]

TRAINING - Desert Tech Tomorrow's Weapon

The Desert Tech Trainig Facility is the largest premier training and shooting facility in the west, located on 25,000 acres in northeastern Utah.

deserttech.com

 

[sixstrings101]

Just completed a 3 day LE Sniper class with my srs covert in 308. Aside from the funny looks and “what the hell is that thing”, it rocked and rolled. It def drew alot of attention. No pics as the instructor didnt allow any. But overall the ES tactical 16” xcaliber barrel was rock solid from the jump. Barrel had 30 rounds before the class and held sub in groups under speed drills with ease. Couldnt be more pleased with how much faster i was able to run the gun and maneuver it against full sized rigs.

 

[Georgedubya]

Just completed a 3 day LE Sniper class with my srs covert in 308. Aside from the funny looks and “what the hell is that thing”, it rocked and rolled. It def drew alot of attention. No pics as the instructor didnt allow any. But overall the ES tactical 16” xcaliber barrel was rock solid from the jump. Barrel had 30 rounds before the class and held sub in groups under speed drills with ease. Couldnt be more pleased with how much faster i was able to run the gun and maneuver it against full sized rigs.

Badass. Whenever LE guys see my SRS at the range they always remark that it would be perfect. And I usually rock a 22” 6.5 creed out of the SRS A2. Not as compact as your rig.

 

[sixstrings101]

For LE work it really doest fit the bill for in and out of car maneuvers. I had my can on it so it was right around that size with a 22” barrel. Didnt want to be a dick with the hellfire blowing everyone away as we were all on line shooting. However the RPR next to me with the brake wasnt too awesome. Gota be super aware of where that muzzle is while moving down range as a group. Im more used to a longer rifle in carbine type classes.

 

[Dogtown]

Also with most LE precision engagements inside of 100m, a short 16" barrel is more than sufficient.

 

[sixstrings101]

Also with most LE precision engagements inside of 100m, a short 16" barrel is more than sufficient.

Agree! Plenty of anger behind that bullet from a 16”

 

[Badfinger]

 

[mountainman308]

Badfinger makes a fair point. Here is my almost complete A2 Covert. Just saving up for the NX8.

 

[Hondo1]

What

Badfinger makes a fair point. Here is my almost complete A2 Covert. Just saving up for the NX8. View attachment 7354864

length barrel is that?

 

[mountainman308]

What

length barrel is that?

20 to the end of the Cherry Bomb break. ES Tactical did the work.

 

[mountainman308]

20 to the end of the Cherry Bomb break. ES Tactical did the work.

Rounds 76-80 through the barrel. 5 shots at 100 yards. It could be much better but I was also using the only ammo the range had, American gunner 140 grain. 25 FPS sd, so it’s not match ammo by any means. I’m just glad to burn powder today.

 

[TheLurkingKnowItAll]

Rounds 76-80 through the barrel. 5 shots at 100 yards. It could be much better but I was also using the only ammo the range had, American gunner 140 grain. 25 FPS sd, so it’s not match ammo by any means. I’m just glad to burn powder today.
View attachment 7355322

Is that the button rifled or cut rifles from ES? I’d like to see some groups from the button rifled ES barrels while I‘m waiting for mine to come in.

 

[sixstrings101]

Barrel that i shot in my class was a button barrel. I was shooting 155gr hornady tap precision. Easily getting 3/4 and less during zero confirmation groups over the three days. The SDs for that ammo were relatively high. Im sure gold medal would have done better. No complaints whatsoever.

 

[mountainman308]

Is that the button rifled or cut rifles from ES? I’d like to see some groups from the button rifled ES barrels while I‘m waiting for mine to come in.

It’s a button rifled barrel. 6.5 CM, 1-7 twist, medium Palma, spiral fluted. I’m confident I can get much better groups if I had some Hornady ELMs or similar.

 

[TheLurkingKnowItAll]

It’s a button rifled barrel. 6.5 CM, 1-7 twist, medium Palma, spiral fluted. I’m confident I can get much better groups if I had some Hornady ELMs or similar.

Very nice, I have a ton of the american gunner I plan on shooting through. I bought a 22” 1-8 6.5 CM.

 

[Georgedubya]

I have a 22” Proof barrel in 6.5 creed (1:7.5 twist) from ES Tactical, and I love it. Here some velocity data using American Gunner. I bought thousands of rounds of it a while back and although I like the 147 ELDMs better of course, AmGunner works quite well.

 

[mountainman308]

I have a 22” Proof barrel in 6.5 creed (1:7.5 twist) from ES Tactical, and I love it. Here some velocity data using American Gunner. I bought thousands of rounds of it a while back and although I like the 147 ELDMs better of course, AmGunner works quite well.

I’ve got 2558 out of my 20 inch barrel, so that lines up. Your SDs across 19 shots are better than mine across 5. That being said, my barrel has 80 rounds on it.

 

[Juggerxxx]

My ES Tactical Proof barrel has reached 2000 rounds and is still shooting tight groups and holding the same velocity (2830) with single digit SDs. It’s the top left group.
The rest of the groups are from a second ES Tactical Proof barrel during brakein. It’s crazy how the first few shots are 3MOA high and as more shots are fired the groups keep coming down and end up ~1MOA high. I wonder if the point of impact will be the same after 200 rounds?

 

[Keens]

I need help.

I have been scouring the entire country for a full length A2 handguard over the past 90 days. Eric at ES tactical had one left and mailed it to me in a .2” cardboard tube (the thickbois you can run over with a car) and well, FedEx must have ran it over with the plane because that bitch looked like a chewed straw when it showed up. Crushed and mangled the only A2 full length I could find, like killing an endangered species. They should be ashamed.

Does anyone have or know anybody with a full length A2 handguard they’d part with? Preferably black but not caring much at this point. Not enough posts for the EE.

 

[mountainman308]

I need help.

I have been scouring the entire country for a full length A2 handguard over the past 90 days. Eric at ES tactical had one left and mailed it to me in a .2” cardboard tube (the thickbois you can run over with a car) and well, FedEx must have ran it over with the plane because that bitch looked like a chewed straw when it showed up. Crushed and mangled the only A2 full length I could find, like killing an endangered species. They should be ashamed.

Does anyone have or know anybody with a full length A2 handguard they’d part with? Preferably black but not caring much at this point. Not enough posts for the EE.

I know Desert Tech had one because they sent me a full length handguard when I ordered a covert. They sent me a new covert length A2 handguard, and I sent the full length one back. I’m not sure what happened to it from there though. Best of luck with your search.

 

[Keens]

When did you send it?

 

[mountainman308]

When did you send it?

Mid-March, I think

 

[Keens]

Mid-March, I think

They fibbed then I called begging for on beginning of April.

 

[Dogtown]

My ES Tactical Proof barrel has reached 2000 rounds and is still shooting tight groups and holding the same velocity (2830) with single digit SDs.

What’s your impression overall of running a carbon wrapped barrel vs standard in an SRS? It would seem like the weight saving would be negligible for many short barrels, but for the 30”+ heavy contour .338 barrels I’ve shot (for example) the reduction would probably be more pronounced?

 

[mountainman308]

They fibbed then I called begging for on beginning of April.

They might have just thrown it on a rifle in production and shipped it back out.

 

[Juggerxxx]

Tb

What’s your impression overall of running a carbon wrapped barrel vs standard in an SRS? It would seem like the weight saving would be negligible for many short barrels, but for the 30”+ heavy contour .338 barrels I’ve shot (for example) the reduction would probably be more pronounced?

sorry I wish I could tell you but I have only shot proof stainless barrels and never the carbon wrapped. I actually want as much weight as possible and I cannot stomach three times the cost.
My 338lm recoil is very minimal with a 32”, 1” diameter barrel. Shot 160 rounds last weekend at the nightforce match and zero pain or discomfort after the match.