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

#15,001
Speaking of 50cal, I'm thinking of converting my DTA Covert 308 into a dedicated Thumper.

4 Choices so far
1- Keep the 308 bolt and do a 450 Bushmaster
2- Keep the 308 bolt and do a 450 Raptor
3- Keep the 308 bolt and do a 458 Soccom
4- Get a DTA magnum bolt face and do a 458 Mag/2in

Idea would be to stretch the range of subsonic. My Covert is already submoa at long range subsonic (up to 250y then the vertical starts to show) using Lapua 200FMJBT and LeHigh 194s but I'd like to get more energy and more expansion in the 100-200y range. I know the 452s have really cheap 300gr bullets and I could use trailboss for the 300s and tinstar/N105 for the 395 SubX/400gr

458 have good bullets too, including the new SubX 410gr but it seems like it'll be more expensive to feed although CAMPRO now got some cheap 458s plated bullet in the 500-550gr.

I like the idea of being to get easy factory ammo with the 450 BM but it's a very low pressure round and I like to run my subsonic with fast pistol powers like Tinstar, N105 and TB so I like the idea of the 450 Raptor with a bit of a buffer for pressure (40k vs 55k) and I should be able to find starline brass for both 450Raptor and BM.

458Mag/2in is easy to get/make brass as well. I also like the idea of headspace off the belt or shoulder vs off the case mouth.

So it pretty much comes down to feeding and accuracy, which one do you think might be the easiest to feed in a DTA ? I understand I might have to permanently modify the 308 mags and weld a spacer of some kind to make up for the short OAL. I like to think that 458/2in would feed better than the shorter 2.26/2.30in that were made for AR15 mags.

Probably also easier to get a quality 458 blank than 452. Benchmark has 458
 
#15,002
1661903725557.png

If you want to maximize subsonic power, .510Whisper can't be beat. Subsonic 650gr pulled Ball bullets hit as hard as a supersonic 175SMK at 100m.
 
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#15,004
I too was going to say 510 whisper, which I have been tempted to do but it's a niche thing and a big investment in terms of 50 cal suppressor, and cost of projectile if you use 750 AMAX (which will make it a 1000+ yard capable subsonic round).

I do know that Eric at ES-Tactical has done at least one - I saw it when I was in his shop a couple of years back.
 
#15,005
I've shot a number of different bullets through mine, though it's very much a niche cartridge and in the past ten years I've got less than 200 rounds through the barrel. Tracer/Incendiary bullets are extra fun to shoot, if they're legal where you are. I've shot Lehigh solids as well as some fancy jacketed bullets and the practical distance for hitting IPSC sized targets is about 400 yards. The drop is just nuts even beyond 300 yards. It really feels like shooting a 40mm grenade at times and being able to clearly see it sail through the air in good lighting is pretty cool, but not necessarily worth all of the effort, in my opinion.
 
#15,006
st1650 said:
Speaking of 50cal, I'm thinking of converting my DTA Covert 308 into a dedicated Thumper.

4 Choices so far
1- Keep the 308 bolt and do a 450 Bushmaster
2- Keep the 308 bolt and do a 450 Raptor
3- Keep the 308 bolt and do a 458 Soccom
4- Get a DTA magnum bolt face and do a 458 Mag/2in

Idea would be to stretch the range of subsonic. My Covert is already submoa at long range subsonic (up to 250y then the vertical starts to show) using Lapua 200FMJBT and LeHigh 194s but I'd like to get more energy and more expansion in the 100-200y range. I know the 452s have really cheap 300gr bullets and I could use trailboss for the 300s and tinstar/N105 for the 395 SubX/400gr

458 have good bullets too, including the new SubX 410gr but it seems like it'll be more expensive to feed although CAMPRO now got some cheap 458s plated bullet in the 500-550gr.

I like the idea of being to get easy factory ammo with the 450 BM but it's a very low pressure round and I like to run my subsonic with fast pistol powers like Tinstar, N105 and TB so I like the idea of the 450 Raptor with a bit of a buffer for pressure (40k vs 55k) and I should be able to find starline brass for both 450Raptor and BM.

458Mag/2in is easy to get/make brass as well. I also like the idea of headspace off the belt or shoulder vs off the case mouth.

So it pretty much comes down to feeding and accuracy, which one do you think might be the easiest to feed in a DTA ? I understand I might have to permanently modify the 308 mags and weld a spacer of some kind to make up for the short OAL. I like to think that 458/2in would feed better than the shorter 2.26/2.30in that were made for AR15 mags.

Probably also easier to get a quality 458 blank than 452. Benchmark has 458
Click to expand...
 
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#15,009
I just picked up one of these things for myself. Do most of you leave the 2 LOP spacers installed? Even at the shortest position the distance from buttpad to trigger is much further than a traditional rifle so I’m wondering what’s the purpose of the spacers to begin with other than possibly keeping the scope a bit further back if you need room for NV or thermals.

Maybe if you shoot in arctic gear at times then it makes sense to position your scope with both spacers on for summer shooting and you have the option of removing one or both for shooting in thick clothing :unsure:
 
#15,011
wade2big said:
I just picked up one of these things for myself. Do most of you leave the 2 LOP spacers installed? Even at the shortest position the distance from buttpad to trigger is much further than a traditional rifle so I’m wondering what’s the purpose of the spacers to begin with other than possibly keeping the scope a bit further back if you need room for NV or thermals.

Maybe if you shoot in arctic gear at times then it makes sense to position your scope with both spacers on for summer shooting and you have the option of removing one or both for shooting in thick clothing :unsure:
Click to expand...
I have them in as for me it makes running the bolt easier. You'll get used to the longer LOP. It's just how bullpups are. The funny thing is after I got used to it I made all my other rifles longer as well. 16in LOP feels normal now. But if you have shorter arms you'll probably not need the spacers.
 
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#15,012
I took a few photos of the modification of the safety for the Desert Tech SRS A1 that turns a mushy trigger into a proper match trigger. This may be posted somewhere in this thread but here it goes again. If you haven’t taken the 15 minutes to do it yourself, you are missing out.

Safety in the “off” position.
6BFB4AA1-9AE8-4B43-99D0-8D21057EA1B6.jpeg


Safety in the “on” position.
A0660E22-0A09-40F5-BB83-9DE7253E64E2.jpeg


Relief cut I filed into the safety switch with a $0.75 file that gave room for the safety engagement to slide underneath the safety switch once the creep was adjusted out of the trigger.
E8321F98-B2C4-427A-950A-0F46FBAD67E7.jpeg
 
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#15,013
you can even get a longer set screw and take all that pretravel out.
I also jb welded a piece of metal to the plastic skin to limit the overtravel. Now my DTA has a trigger as good as a 1.5lbs trigger tech.
 
#15,014
st1650 said:
you can even get a longer set screw and take all that pretravel out.
I also jb welded a piece of metal to the plastic skin to limit the overtravel. Now my DTA has a trigger as good as a 1.5lbs trigger tech.
Click to expand...
How does a longer set screw do that? Which one are you speaking of? I understand the over travel stop you made although over travel doesn’t bother me on a bolt gun. On a semi auto carbine where shooting fast matters then the less the better. You gave a simple solution to someone that it bothers. 👍🏻

There is none to take out after the simple mod. Like the directions of Orkan in a thread on some other forum, rifle clear, bolt cocked, safety off, turn creep screw until trigger drops, back out 1/8 turn and check to make sure there is enough sear engagement by being rough with the bolt and making sure the firing pin doesn’t drop, file the safety switch until it can slide over the trigger bar and done.
 
#15,015
wade2big said:
How does a longer set screw do that? Which one are you speaking of? I understand the over travel stop you made although over travel doesn’t bother me on a bolt gun. On a semi auto carbine where shooting fast matters then the less the better. You gave a simple solution to someone that it bothers. 👍🏻

There is none to take out after the simple mod. Like the directions of Orkan in a thread on some other forum, rifle clear, bolt cocked, safety off, turn creep screw until trigger drops, back out 1/8 turn and check to make sure there is enough sear engagement by being rough with the bolt and making sure the firing pin doesn’t drop, file the safety switch until it can slide over the trigger bar and done.
Click to expand...
Right on. Mine is an older Gen2 so the screw bottoms out earlier before taking all the pretravel even after the safety mod so I bought a longer m4 set screw and I would go all the way until it would drop then back 1/2 turn and used red loctite. If you don’t have to do that on the A1 that’s even better.

The overtravel stop I think helps a little bit when I shoot subs, but maybe it’s in my head but I’m so used to Trigger Techs and I’ve gotten lazy over the years and just love a trigger that has zero overtravel.
 
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#15,017
A number of years ago I got to handle a Gen 1 that had the bolt and inner receiver contact points coated with Microslick and it was smooth as butter. The only reason I didn't do it as well is because the guy told me it was a huge pain in the ass that took a lot of trial and error.
 
#15,018
st1650 said:
Speaking of 50cal, I'm thinking of converting my DTA Covert 308 into a dedicated Thumper.

4 Choices so far
1- Keep the 308 bolt and do a 450 Bushmaster
2- Keep the 308 bolt and do a 450 Raptor
3- Keep the 308 bolt and do a 458 Soccom
4- Get a DTA magnum bolt face and do a 458 Mag/2in

Idea would be to stretch the range of subsonic. My Covert is already submoa at long range subsonic (up to 250y then the vertical starts to show) using Lapua 200FMJBT and LeHigh 194s but I'd like to get more energy and more expansion in the 100-200y range. I know the 452s have really cheap 300gr bullets and I could use trailboss for the 300s and tinstar/N105 for the 395 SubX/400gr

458 have good bullets too, including the new SubX 410gr but it seems like it'll be more expensive to feed although CAMPRO now got some cheap 458s plated bullet in the 500-550gr.

I like the idea of being to get easy factory ammo with the 450 BM but it's a very low pressure round and I like to run my subsonic with fast pistol powers like Tinstar, N105 and TB so I like the idea of the 450 Raptor with a bit of a buffer for pressure (40k vs 55k) and I should be able to find starline brass for both 450Raptor and BM.

458Mag/2in is easy to get/make brass as well. I also like the idea of headspace off the belt or shoulder vs off the case mouth.

So it pretty much comes down to feeding and accuracy, which one do you think might be the easiest to feed in a DTA ? I understand I might have to permanently modify the 308 mags and weld a spacer of some kind to make up for the short OAL. I like to think that 458/2in would feed better than the shorter 2.26/2.30in that were made for AR15 mags.

Probably also easier to get a quality 458 blank than 452. Benchmark has 458
Click to expand...
Currently have a 458 American in the works. I’ll report back when it arrives
 
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#15,023
In between testing mounting of my large assortment of night vision and thermal kit, I finally got a decent pic of the rifle not on a bedroom floor. I had to change to an underside mount for the bipod with the PVS-30 and PVS-27, no way to make those fit with the top mount bipod without pulling the scope back a couple inches.

I also took the time to look at the Fortmeieer bipod more directly against the UTG/Leapers Over Bore Bipod. In addition to UTG putting the spigot on the wrong part they also made it the wrong size so you can't use it with any other hosts you might have that have Parker-Hale spigots on them.

img_3988.jpg


A friend brought out his rifle which is no less special than a DT, he brought his Sako TRG-22.
img_3995.jpg


He also made lunch. OMG it was tasty.
img_3987.jpg
 
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#15,027
So the microslick and hbn coated bolt is definitely an improvement. At first it didn’t feel like it and I was unimpressed but then I wiped all the lube off. The coated bolt, dry, feels about the same as a factory bolt oiled up. I’ll probably get my other two done eventually. The idea of coating the bolt raceway is interesting also.

Does anyone know what the factory coating is on the newer chassis?
 
#15,029
bmicek said:
The SAC 223 conversion was proven out to 870yds this evening. Sorry for the sideways picture, it was my only way of getting the correct angle to film the shot through my scope. Took 2 shots to get the correct wind hold then went 5/5. Shooting 77TMK’s.

View attachment 7955275
Click to expand...
I like the no nonsense reticle. Which scope?
 
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#15,033
John_in_WYO said:
Is anyone aware of a site that has DT specific used barrels and parts/accessories listed for sale?

Any help is appreciated.
Thinking about trying some different calibers.
Click to expand...
giphy.gif

You're already on a site that's going to have DT-specific used barrels and parts listed for sale. However, I'm more than happy to start a new auction website, I guess I can call it deeteebay.com since the domain name is free, and where I can collect a 20% commission on sales if it'll make you individually extremely happy. Just to make sure that I'm able to extract the last ounce of frustrated misery from all users though; because I am a computer nerd and we get off on inflicting misery, I'll model every facet of it after gunbroker which is another site which normally has DT-specific used barrels listed for sale.

A used DT barrel, even if it's has no rifling left and it's smooth as a sewer pipe inside, still has quite a bit of value because of the barrel extension hanging off of one side. That drives the price of used barrels far up above the normal try-before-you-buy pain threshold. There's lots of used barrels always a handful making the rounds on the secondary market. There's also not a lot of point to purchasing a barrel to try out a chambering. Once you've fired a DT in one chambering the difference to any other is nothing but the recoil. A .338LM in a 15lbs combo is stout but easily workable by a full grown man in good enough shape to otherwise take the hit. Select chambering based on performance envelope and the desired need. It's cheaper, easier and there's a lot less licking.
 
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#15,034
John_in_WYO said:
Is anyone aware of a site that has DT specific used barrels and parts/accessories listed for sale?

Any help is appreciated.
Thinking about trying some different calibers.
Click to expand...
Just pick a caliber you want and buy a barrel for it. What is are you achieving by trying some out, which caliber to get? What fills a void? looking back I don't need my 300WM because I have a 300 PRC, wouldn't get a .308 barrel because I have a 6.5 Creed. I wouldn't get a .338 Lapua because I have a .338 Norma AI.... And for fun I run the 6.5 SAUM to be the all around slayer...
 
#15,035
waveslayer said:
Just pick a caliber you want and buy a barrel for it. What is are you achieving by trying some out, which caliber to get? What fills a void? looking back I don't need my 300WM because I have a 300 PRC, wouldn't get a .308 barrel because I have a 6.5 Creed. I wouldn't get a .338 Lapua because I have a .338 Norma AI.... And for fun I run the 6.5 SAUM to be the all around slayer...
Click to expand...
Bingo. In my case, I wanted a .223rem for .223rem shit. Varminting, occasional match shooting. Banging steel on the cheap. I got a 6XC barrel specifically for match shooting. The .308 I got with a 400MODBB pipe because it's going to be my primary rifle for population management of predators and herbivores and it'll last me probably the rest of my life given its balance of barrel life, power and range. My 300WM barrel I got literally because I figure 300WM is super popular and so it makes sense to be able to use one of the most popular chamberings in the world. The .338WM I got specifically for hunting herbivoress in the 400-1500lbs class at ranges up to about 500m. The .338LM I got for killing really big things like giraffe and for assorted extreme range use cases. It's a complete waste to see how something does before making up your mind. Capabilities of specific chamberings, twist rates and barrel lengths are pretty well known.
 
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#15,036
John_in_WYO said:
Is anyone aware of a site that has DT specific used barrels and parts/accessories listed for sale?

Any help is appreciated.
Thinking about trying some different calibers.
Click to expand...

This site. This exact forum is the best you’ll see.

I’d not spend tons of time barrel shopping unless you already have a few thousand rounds in a specific caliber.

Barrel extensions are where a few hundred dollars lie for swaps.

I bought barrels based on what I could get a lot of quality factory precision loadings in.

I can hand load better, but, time, availability, etc.

Factory is good enough; just update ballistic profile, and send traffic.

223 (SAC), 6.5 Creed, and 338 LM.

223 for training friends and cheap plinking.
6.5 for whitetail season.
338LM for moose/Bear/elk.

Currently sitting in Dulles en route to Newfoundland.

Yep, it’s a 15# rifle. That I can drop prone with and smack an elk at 700 yds in moments. Yep, everyone carrying their ultralight 7# mountain rifle teased me, till no one else filled a tag (well, 1 other buddy, last evening of the season).

My rifle is now “The H.O.G.” Amongst hunting buddies; “Hand of God.”
 
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#15,037
I'm trying to trade into a SRS and I'd prefer the A2 for the lighter weight. Just so I know what offers I should be open to, would be it be practical to get an A1 and try to have it lightened later? Didn't someone on here have a smith do that?
 
#15,039
Dogtown said:
The weight differences are minimal. If you want a lightweight SRS, the best thing you can do is get a Covert handguard and a short, thin profile barrel and lightweight scope.
Click to expand...
I am curious about the difference. From what I read the srsa2 reduces weight by 2.1lbs due to the fluted barrel, no monopod, and chassis lightening cuts. If you have an srsa1 you can have all the above except for the lightening cuts in the chassis. What is the ACTUAL weight difference between the chassis with everything else being equal? I couldn’t imagine a bit less material in the chassis amounting to much over 1/2 lb but maybe I’m wrong.
 
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#15,040
Looking for input.
So I want to build a 450 bushmaster since I’ve read that some people have managed to get them to feed but I don’t see how I can make the front of the mag wide enough to accommodate a big .452 pill and if I modify the lips to be too wide then the mag won’t fit in the mag well.

Should I try to find a SAC PRC magazine and modify it for 450BM
shortactioncustoms.com

Desert Tech Mid Action Magazine

Be sure to enter in the comments the caliber of your rifle in the box below so the magazine can be setup correctly.
shortactioncustoms.com shortactioncustoms.com

Cause I just don’t see how I can mod a std 308 magazine for 450
 
#15,046
bmicek said:
That is terrible luck lol but it goes to snow, even top tier stuff fails. I bought a Kahles 624i when they were new and popular. Opened the box and the bell was dented in. The box itself was flawless which means it was dented at the factory then stuck in a box.
Click to expand...
Yep all these ( see pic ) , plus another went back to my dealer for a full refund.... Our local importer returned his entire stock to ZCO until they sort out the issues they obviously have as i am NOT the only one to experience this..!!
 

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#15,047
wade2big said:
I am curious about the difference. From what I read the srsa2 reduces weight by 2.1lbs due to the fluted barrel, no monopod, and chassis lightening cuts. If you have an srsa1 you can have all the above except for the lightening cuts in the chassis. What is the ACTUAL weight difference between the chassis with everything else being equal? I couldn’t imagine a bit less material in the chassis amounting to much over 1/2 lb but maybe I’m wrong.
Click to expand...
Might also be a little weight reduction in the handguard.
 
#15,048
wooferocau said:
No..seriously....I had 5 ZCO s...3 failed..!!!!
Click to expand...
Holy rat fuck ratman! Well, glad I haven't bought any of the suspiciously numerous ZCO's out of the PX. Can't say I wasn't tempted but I'm glad I went with the Steiner M7 for my latest bit of glass. Without comparison to anything else, I really like the image it presents. Very natural feeling to my eye.
 
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#15,050
Mister Ridge said:
I'm trying to trade into a SRS and I'd prefer the A2 for the lighter weight. Just so I know what offers I should be open to, would be it be practical to get an A1 and try to have it lightened later? Didn't someone on here have a smith do that?
Click to expand...
I have the a1 that was machined down to be like a a2, but the most dramatic weight savings you will get is by using a hunter weight profile barrel, and a light weight hunting scope, i have a march 1.5-15x42 on mine and the weight difference from the exos 3-21 is very noticable. also my a1 trigger with the trigger job has no creep, unlike the guy i know with the a2.
 
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