I agree, so happy I was able to snag one from y’all during the Labor Day sale. One of these days I’ll rattle can the bipod so it matches the aesthetic but, it’s a good looking rig!
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Official (DTA) SRS, HTI, Covert, Hunter Thread
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Self adhesive camo bandage from Amazon, mostly to protect the scope from nicks and scrapes. I wrapped my grip too and it adds some grip and comfort, liking it so far.
Does anybody know if Desert Tech is still using Lothar Walther for the barrels?
I recall that when the MDR came out, that barrel was a different manufacturer, and they were going to change all barrels to that
My 308 barrel has about .050 throat erosion but still shoots darn good with somewhere between five and 10,000 rounds down the pipe and I’d like to replace it with another Lothar Walther barrel or I will get a custom with mod BB from Bart line
I recall that when the MDR came out, that barrel was a different manufacturer, and they were going to change all barrels to that
My 308 barrel has about .050 throat erosion but still shoots darn good with somewhere between five and 10,000 rounds down the pipe and I’d like to replace it with another Lothar Walther barrel or I will get a custom with mod BB from Bart line
From what I understand, SRS and HTI barrels are still coming from Lothar. MDRx barrels are from Faxon.
Let me know if you’re interested an another factory barrel. We have all factory barrel variations in stock.
Great to hear ....as my 375 LW is still performing after 1500rds!!!!!! Doesn't look pretty but is still phenomenally accurate!!
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What’s the groups current feeling to HTI chassis. I have no need of one, asking for another. My largest concern is that for anything aside from 50bmg, finding ammunition or components is challenging at best. Seeing chassis wear issues? Or lobbing 50bmg with aplomb?
In my experience, and from what I have heard others say, the HTI chassis is superior to the SRS
The swinging butt plate is much more elegant than the plastic Snapon of the SRS. On my particular example, the bolt raceway is smoother, and the bolt rides better with less wear. And the pic rail sections are (were?) alloy rather than plastic.
Yes you need to reload or you need a source of ammo for whatever caliber you shoot. I have tons of 50 BMG and 375 shot in mind. Thousands of rounds of 375 and probably 500 rounds of 50 BMG. Super solid rifle I would own no other For those calibers
The swinging butt plate is much more elegant than the plastic Snapon of the SRS. On my particular example, the bolt raceway is smoother, and the bolt rides better with less wear. And the pic rail sections are (were?) alloy rather than plastic.
Yes you need to reload or you need a source of ammo for whatever caliber you shoot. I have tons of 50 BMG and 375 shot in mind. Thousands of rounds of 375 and probably 500 rounds of 50 BMG. Super solid rifle I would own no other For those calibers
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Finding 375 CT brass has been tough the past few months. I’ve found plenty of 416 and 50 BMG ammo for customers.
The HTI chassis is great. I personally like the barrel lock feature on the HTI better than the SRS. The rotating butt pad on the HTI is pretty slick. I’d like to see it on the SRS, though it would add a little weight and eliminate the ability to easily adjust the length of pull.
these dudes in American Fork UT had some a few weeks ago
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I'd like to thank Ryan at Special Purpose Rifles (@PRDRIVER) for helping me navigate Desert Tech's warranty.
I purchased a SRS chassis directly through DT during their Labor Day Sale.
Right away I noticed that something was not right with the scope rail. I could put a .004" feeler gage underneath the rail and could see light between the rail and chassis in several spots.
I took the rail off and saw that the machining was very uneven.
Desert Tech wanted to get the chassis back to inspect it. So it was returned and I was happy that they were willing to take it back to investigate.
A week goes by and I get a nice reply stating according to the Engineers, this chassis is in spec and can be returned to me
. But I was really not happy about this reply. I could say a lot more but won't. I contacted Ryan at Special Purpose Rifles and he helped me with this and worked with Desert Tech to replace the chassis. I am very thankful that he was willing to help me.
Ryan let me know that they have their own quality checks that they go through with these rifles before they sell them to customers and that they can often match any sales that Desert Tech is having. Knowing this now, I would just buy directly through Special Purpose Rifles instead of directly through DT.
A couple of things I learned along the way:
I purchased a SRS chassis directly through DT during their Labor Day Sale.
Right away I noticed that something was not right with the scope rail. I could put a .004" feeler gage underneath the rail and could see light between the rail and chassis in several spots.
I took the rail off and saw that the machining was very uneven.
Desert Tech wanted to get the chassis back to inspect it. So it was returned and I was happy that they were willing to take it back to investigate.
A week goes by and I get a nice reply stating according to the Engineers, this chassis is in spec and can be returned to me
. But I was really not happy about this reply. I could say a lot more but won't. I contacted Ryan at Special Purpose Rifles and he helped me with this and worked with Desert Tech to replace the chassis. I am very thankful that he was willing to help me.Ryan let me know that they have their own quality checks that they go through with these rifles before they sell them to customers and that they can often match any sales that Desert Tech is having. Knowing this now, I would just buy directly through Special Purpose Rifles instead of directly through DT.
A couple of things I learned along the way:
- Desert Tech does not publish or say what the torque spec is for the bolts on top rail. I have no idea why they wouldn't. Mine broke loose at around 15 in-lb.
- Apparently sometimes DT paints the F/S (Fire/Safe) indicators on the side panels. Mine were not painted and I asked them to but ended up getting ignored on the response. I guess the paint wears off easily anyways so what does it matter? Just thought it would have been nice, especially at the range when someone is asking if the gun is on safe or not.
- If you have any questions about DT or any of their rifles, it's worth a call to Special Purpose Rifles. Ryan has a lot of knowledge on these rifles and has good relationships with the people that work at Desert Tech.
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Good God !! that's atrocious machining !!I'd like to thank Ryan at Special Purpose Rifles (@PRDRIVER) for helping me navigate Desert Tech's warranty.
I purchased a SRS chassis directly through DT during their Labor Day Sale.
Right away I noticed that something was not right with the scope rail. I could put a .004" feeler gage underneath the rail and could see light between the rail and chassis in several spots.
View attachment 8271164
I took the rail off and saw that the machining was very uneven.
View attachment 8271165
Desert Tech wanted to get the chassis back to inspect it. So it was returned and I was happy that they were willing to take it back to investigate.
A week goes by and I get a nice reply stating according to the Engineers, this chassis is in spec and can be returned to me
Ryan let me know that they have their own quality checks that they go through with these rifles before they sell them to customers and that they can often match any sales that Desert Tech is having. Knowing this now, I would just buy directly through Special Purpose Rifles instead of directly through DT.
A couple of things I learned along the way:
- Desert Tech does not publish or say what the torque spec is for the bolts on top rail. I have no idea why they wouldn't. Mine broke loose at around 15 in-lb.
- Apparently sometimes DT paints the F/S (Fire/Safe) indicators on the side panels. Mine were not painted and I asked them to but ended up getting ignored on the response. I guess the paint wears off easily anyways so what does it matter? Just thought it would have been nice, especially at the range when someone is asking if the gun is on safe or not.
- If you have any questions about DT or any of their rifles, it's worth a call to Special Purpose Rifles. Ryan has a lot of knowledge on these rifles and has good relationships with the people that work at Desert Tech.
As we keep saying over and over and over, Quality Control, Quality Control, Quality Control
This is Rob with Special Purpose Rifles. I certainly appreciate the kind words about our shop and Ryan. He was my DT sales rep for about 7 years before coming to work for us. I've been a DT dealer for over 14 years now and have been an avid DT shooter since becoming a dealer.I'd like to thank Ryan at Special Purpose Rifles (@PRDRIVER) for helping me navigate Desert Tech's warranty.
I purchased a SRS chassis directly through DT during their Labor Day Sale.
Right away I noticed that something was not right with the scope rail. I could put a .004" feeler gage underneath the rail and could see light between the rail and chassis in several spots.
View attachment 8271164
I took the rail off and saw that the machining was very uneven.
View attachment 8271165
Desert Tech wanted to get the chassis back to inspect it. So it was returned and I was happy that they were willing to take it back to investigate.
A week goes by and I get a nice reply stating according to the Engineers, this chassis is in spec and can be returned to me
Ryan let me know that they have their own quality checks that they go through with these rifles before they sell them to customers and that they can often match any sales that Desert Tech is having. Knowing this now, I would just buy directly through Special Purpose Rifles instead of directly through DT.
A couple of things I learned along the way:
- Desert Tech does not publish or say what the torque spec is for the bolts on top rail. I have no idea why they wouldn't. Mine broke loose at around 15 in-lb.
- Apparently sometimes DT paints the F/S (Fire/Safe) indicators on the side panels. Mine were not painted and I asked them to but ended up getting ignored on the response. I guess the paint wears off easily anyways so what does it matter? Just thought it would have been nice, especially at the range when someone is asking if the gun is on safe or not.
- If you have any questions about DT or any of their rifles, it's worth a call to Special Purpose Rifles. Ryan has a lot of knowledge on these rifles and has good relationships with the people that work at Desert Tech.
I would agree with the above comments on the machining on that receiver. It looks pretty horrible. The people I spoke with at DT also agreed. At our shop, we have a few dozen receivers on hand. I personally held up at least 2 dozen SRS receivers looking for gaps between the receiver and the scope rail. I could only see a little light coming in on a hand full of the receivers here. We removed rails from all that we could see even a smidge of light coming through and none of them looked like this one with obvious machining issues.
The way it was explained to me, due to how the rail interfaces with the receiver, the ugly machining on this receiver would not have any effect on accuracy. The bolt on scope rail on the newer A2 receivers and M2 receivers, sit on the raised/elevated points on the receiver that are drilled and tapped in that photo. Because of the way it is designed, you may have receivers which have slight gaps where light can be seen between certain sections between the scope rail and receiver.
I think receivers like this, which are fully functional but have obvious cosmetic issues should be offered at a discount and sold as being cosmetic blemished.
I'm glad DT swapped out the chassis out.
As for the paint on the Fire and Safety marks on the receiver, we frequently see stock panels that are not painted. On my personal SRS rifles the paint has worn off of the stock panels. I personally would not be concerned about it. If you use the rifle, that paint is going to wear off.
If anyone is looking to pick up any DT products or have any questions on them feel free to reach out to us. We are very familiar with their product line, stock a significant amount of DT products, and are located less than 15 minutes from their headquarters here in SLC, UT.
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Bump for Rob. He's awesome. All my DT's have come from him. All my future ones will to. And I concur with the paint. Granted, I tape mine with whatever camo coban fits the season. Or rattle can it if I'm feeling spicy. No safe queens.
Does anybody have the weight of a 24" long proof DTA Barrel? Preferably a 6.5 bore but doesn't matter much. I sent my steel barrel of to SAC and had them heavy flute it which knocked it down almost 1/2 pound but Im curious how much the proofs weigh.
I don't have the exact number in front of me but IIRC it was just under 4 lbs. Like 3.9. Fluted steel was like 4.4 lbs
Fluted steel, in the same contour, is about the same weight as a Proof CF thats 2 inches longer as a rough rule of thumb
Fluted steel, in the same contour, is about the same weight as a Proof CF thats 2 inches longer as a rough rule of thumb
Got out and made some noise with the smokewagon a little over a week ago. I tested barrel remove/reinstall and return to zero again. Everything within 2 tenths of a mil except on the first mag full the .223 barrel would group 3 here in a single hole and 4 over there in a different single hole and 3 more in another spot. I got worried but remembered that it's a complex system with plenty of room for PEBCAT (problem exists between chair and trigger) so I decided to remove and reinstall it thinking that I screwed up. Well, I stood it on the ass end and grabbed it by the muzzle brake to spin it around and that's when the barrel came out in my hands. So I put it back and this time I went ahead and torqued the clamping screws down. 20 shots later there's a 3/4" hole in the target. The hell of it is, even the scatter from not being torqued down was less than a mil in any direction. The RSO's at the range always get wide eyes when I pull my 120lbs rifle case in.
When I got to the range I was thinking, "Man, I should call Calvin and have him come join me." and then after I put my rifle up on the bench and started chatting with my shooting buddy, Calvin walks up from 2 benches down and says, "I knew that had to be you. Only one guy with a Desert Tech comes here." Good times were had by all.
The reason for going to the range was, I gave one of my rifles to my shooting buddy. He only had AR's and pistols and .22's and I thought he deserved to be really much more poor than he was and there are few better ways to teach him the meaning of the words "disposable income" than getting him into long range shooting. So I handed him the keys to his brand new 6XC and a couple hundred rounds and gave him his introductory lesson. Dude was nailing bughole groups within a few minutes.
Pic of the gift rifle. Savage 10 action and bolt body. Everything else is aftermarket.
When I got to the range I was thinking, "Man, I should call Calvin and have him come join me." and then after I put my rifle up on the bench and started chatting with my shooting buddy, Calvin walks up from 2 benches down and says, "I knew that had to be you. Only one guy with a Desert Tech comes here." Good times were had by all.
The reason for going to the range was, I gave one of my rifles to my shooting buddy. He only had AR's and pistols and .22's and I thought he deserved to be really much more poor than he was and there are few better ways to teach him the meaning of the words "disposable income" than getting him into long range shooting. So I handed him the keys to his brand new 6XC and a couple hundred rounds and gave him his introductory lesson. Dude was nailing bughole groups within a few minutes.
Pic of the gift rifle. Savage 10 action and bolt body. Everything else is aftermarket.
Well fellas, I just mounted a Tangent Theta 7-35 in a 20.6 MOA base. Only problem I have is the cheek riser is just a touch to low for me to get a good cheek weld….. does anyone know of a company that makes a taller cheek riser for the SRS A-2? I’m open to any options to making it taller but wanna keep a clean look.
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Get a cheek riser pad from hoptic.
Desert Tech Saddle Blankets | hoptic
HopticUSA Saddle Blankets for the Desert Tech line upFits: MDR, HTI, SRS-A1 A2 and SRS-A1 Covert1/8" Polyethylene padded Cheek rest.Laser cut for a perfict form fit.Each purchase includes two saddle blankets.Starting at $15.99
www.hopticusa.com
I'd check to see if Tyler at MK Machining can print one for you
@diggidy Or just get yourself a piece of kydex and go to town. It's a thermoplastic so it softens with heat and forms with ease. Dip a sheet in boiling water for a few seconds, lay it over your rifle with the OEM cheek riser in place, allow it to cool, cut/drill/drool/done. It'll cost you all of 10 bucks and it'll take all of 20 minutes. Should I start making these? I have the time.
The SRS A2 drops another deer in its tracks. A very respectable 8 point in this area. I threaded an ELDM across the top of his heart and he crumpled where he stood at 110 yards. He was also quartering away so while I lost some rib meat I think I saved both shoulder roasts!
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No desert tech in the photo, but used mine from my stand for a nice fat doe at 275yds off hand.
Other buddies and me all dropped one in about a 5 minute window few nights back over some nice fields.
That’s the ERA-Tac 20 mil adjustable scope mount (https://www.eurooptic.com/ERA-TAC-G...nt-34mm-Height-20mm-Nuts-0-20-MRAD-T5074.aspx). It’s a 20 inch barrel so having the extra elevation easily at hand is helpful.
The box on the front of it is a MantisX that I use for dryfire practice. Set the sensitivity to max. Any score less than a 90 is a miss.
I totally forgot to put this picture up here, but I managed to smoke a decent pronghorn antelope buck here in Utah with my SRS M2 and ES Tactical 6GT barrel. If you need some bathroom reading material you can read the whole thing here
So that was a solid right? If so from the impressive damage to the heart it must have tumbled inside quite a bit?
Nicely done.
Got me rethinking some assumptions I had WRT brass solids I’m looking at getting for my .408 barrel.
PM sent
DT Black Friday is up in their site. Some cheap conversion options
Finally got the DT out for a shoot. Stretched it out to 1180m with the 300 norma.
So… I picked up a DT SRS A2 chassis awhile back and looking to buy my first caliber - thinking one of the 300WM specials that DT has going
Question - What barrel brand would that be? I’ve seen the Proof carbon upgrades - More accurate than the factory offering?
Question - What barrel brand would that be? I’ve seen the Proof carbon upgrades - More accurate than the factory offering?
Factory DT barrels are Lothar-Walther blanks, which are very good but limited specs. There are a lot of places making custom DT barrels now on all kinds of blanks with all kinds of specs.
Like Dogtown said...the factory barrels are quite good, but you are limited with the specs. If what they offer fits your needs you will not be disappointed. For a factory barrel they are darn good.
Echo all the comments.
Factory are quite good.
So are Proof Carbon.
Frankly, they’re all shooters.
They’re all shooters because of the way that barrel is clamped into the action with four bolts along 5 inches.
Of course, I’m not sure you get good results with a raggedy ass Remington barrel no matter how many inches you clamp it in, but the clamp is providing inherent accuracy
Of course, I’m not sure you get good results with a raggedy ass Remington barrel no matter how many inches you clamp it in, but the clamp is providing inherent accuracy
I will echo that the factory barrels shoot well. However most of the factory barrels that are on sale are the hunter profile barrels. They are great for their intended purpose, but because they are a very light profile, groups will start to open up and walk within a few rounds fired. In short the are good for hunting, but not for shooting sessions.
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Apologies for the lack of DT in field pic. First deer taken with this A1 and factory 6.5cm barrel in same configuration as seen. 156 EOL elite hunter @225. Didn’t get far.
The 7 Rem Mag is gone. We have blanks to spin them up. Chambers are typically cut to SAAMI Spec, but custom chambers can be cut on request. We have some 7 PRC barrels on the shelf. We also have a couple 7mm barrel blanks on the shelf if you'd like to have something spun up.
One of my favorite things about the SRS and HTI platforms.Never ceases to amaze me.....50 BMG.
Just changed over from my 375CT barrel...
Sight in...120yds... 3 shots after adjustment..
