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

Good to know; figured it was me. Mark at SAC has offered to change the spring, though I’m likely to just play with it myself, no issues there. You start fiddling with things and you will keep fiddling till it works; that’s the game in aftermarket and niche things. I’ll say that it shoots like a damn laser. And the random 1/10 that don’t go off are quite instructional for showing any positional instability.
Could be the springs, we had about 3 with light primer strikes . All 3 rifles were ones I had the SD SWAT T&E.. that didn't go over well! They ended up selling all their SRS's (10 in all) because of light primer strikes. Had issues with the bolt and springs. Make sure the bolt is stripped of all oil etc... could be that, too much oil or grease causing the primer to act like a hydraulic
 
Could be the springs, we had about 3 with light primer strikes . All 3 rifles were ones I had the SD SWAT T&E.. that didn't go over well! They ended up selling all their SRS's (10 in all) because of light primer strikes. Had issues with the bolt and springs. Make sure the bolt is stripped of all oil etc... could be that, too much oil or grease causing the primer to act like a hydraulic
Will do.
Got the Conversion a few years back, never had a lot of time to put it through its paces until recently. Played with a bunch of lots of ammo and had some failures to ignite in all of them. The bolt was new DT stock with SAC's conversion, so best I can tell, the barrel and his bits work a treat. And I'll repeat to his credit, fuggin' laser. I mean just absolutely stacking some random handloads I did 10 years back for an AR in 1 hole; not even ragged. But about 1/10 didn't detonate; just re-racked the bolt (up down) and sent it again. I'll tear it apart in the AM and see if that solves it.
 
Holy smokes! My A2 trigger is now BETTER than my A1 was

IMG_5796.jpeg
IMG_5797.jpeg
IMG_5799.jpeg
 
Wasn’t bad at all just keep up with where all the skin bolts go. Two screws hold the trigger on the the connecting bar slips out with the trigger. It’s one drift pin hold the disconnector in. Took about 30 45 minutes start to finish. I didn’t take any pictures. I used a supper fine Arkansas wet stone and flitz to polish everything
Can you describe your procedure for removing the drift pin for the disconnector?

I only treated the transfer bar and it’s so good I dare not mess with it anymore. However, if it gets worse overtime, I will go back after it. I pushed quite a bit on that drift pin, but saw no movement so backed off and abandoned that part.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dragoon300
Nice video, thanks for sharing!
One of the things I have noticed on the DT my A1's bolt can be bumped up away from the fully locked position too easily in my opinion. I noticed in your video the bold moving up in varying amounts, I think this can contribute to varying trigger pull. I know at a point if bumped too far it will keep it from firing. I would like to make the bolt stay in place more consistently.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr. Z
Looks pretty good given that round count.
I am actually shocked ( in a GOOD way! :) ) that it has held up like this..

When i first ask about potential barrel life of the factory barrel basically most said it would be shagged by 1000 rounds or less. Desert
Tech did actually say to expect circa 2K rounds....most everybody laughed at that.....including me

As it turns out , unless it suddenly falls off a cliff i will see 2K rounds of accurate use!!! I check from time to time and it still shoots 1/4 moa at 100mtrs..

I purchased 2 extra DT 375CT barrels initially , at this rate i think i will run out of projectiles long before i wear out the barrels!! :LOL:
 
In continuation to my posts above about long shanks at 1.250" on an A2 - trust me: you're going to want that shank stepped down to 1.200" to give it 0.025" clearance on either side for the front of the chassis of where the handguard bolts on. I don’t think you want an interference fit in that area. If you like a long shank (haha) for possible set-back later, step it down to 1.200" by 8" rather than 6" but I would not go longer than that at 1.250" so that you clear the channel fore of the clamping area where the handguard bolts on.

For the A1's it doesn’t matter, and if your taper is aggressive enough and your barrel short enough, it won't matter. But if you're running a long barrel with a straight taper....
IMG_5728.jpeg
IMG_5729.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I just discovered the latest cluster fuck on my A2 rifle today, which has wasted quite a bit of time ammo effort, and expense



I just discovered the latest cluster fuck on my A2 rifle today, which has wasted quite a bit of time ammo effort, and expense


are you able to torque down the rail? What a pain!!!
 
Well, my zero has changed every day I have gone to the range in the last two weeks so it won’t hurt me to remove the scope which I have to do to get to the six screws for the top rail

So yes, the A2 has a bolted on rail to save in manufacturing costs for interchangeability of parts with the M2 chassis.

I slathered every square millimeter of mating surfaces with Loctite 271 including all six bolts and torque them down to 50 inch pounds

I am going to the dark side as regards Desert Tech: their quality control has cost me so many otherwise beautiful moments of my life that I am going to make it a mission to point out on this thread and anywhere else I can every single cluster fuck that I encounter with these rifles Until they get their act together and get it right.

It is a $4000 rifle chassis and it should perform like one
 
Last edited:
You are right. Have things changed significantly from the A1 series? I have shot the hell out of a covert and A1 without any issues at all. Obviously the rail is different but I agree. The rail should easily be secure for the life of the chassis. Tey sould have stuck to chassis guns and not delved into the MDR exercise in poor roll outs and many problems.
 
I have had the following problems with my A2 since I “upgraded” my A1 two months ago

#1, The skins and the hand guard are not parallel, making it difficult to install a perfectly flat aftermarket Arca rail

#2, the trigger sucked compared to the A1. They have a lot of creep and it is variable. Desert Tech could fix this by cleaning up their parts if they wanted to.

#3, they changed the machined part of the chassis so it has a very narrow channel in front of the clamping section. See all my posts above. This was unannounced to the public and created potential problems for barrel harmonics.

#4, the rail is no longer machined into the top of the chassis. It bolts on, and you cannot trust them, apparently to bolt it on securely.

#5, the hand guard is sized too small so if you insert standard MLOK screws for standard accessories, you will not be able to insert your barrel.

I will add to this list as I discover new problems
 
Last edited:
I have had the following problems with my A2 since I “upgraded” my A1 two months ago

#1, The skins and the hand guard are not parallel, making it difficult to install a perfectly flat aftermarket Arca rail

#2, the trigger sucked compared to the A1. They have a lot of creep and it is variable. Desert Tech could fix this by cleaning up their parts if they wanted to.

#3, they changed the machine part of the chassis so it has a very narrow channel in front of the clamping section. See all my posts above. This was unannounced to the public and created potential problems for barrel harmonics.

#4, the rail is no longer into the top of the chassis. It bolts on, and you cannot trust them, apparently to bolt it on securely.

#5, the hand guard is sized too small so if you insert standard MLOK screws for standard accessories, you will not be able to insert your barrel.

I will add to this list as I discover new problems
The rail on my A2 was handy as well. The first thing I did was check it, applied threadlocker, and secured it tight. I also pulled the skins and checked everything else. I bet your handguard screws are loose too.

The rail has several recoil lugs and plenty of screws. That sucker ain’t going anywhere when snugged up. Of course this should be done at the factory, I’ll give you that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PRDRIVER
Ridiculous.

I figured out that my failure to eject problem that I posted about a month back was also a QC issue. While taking the gun in to get a new barrel turned down, we had to remove the handguard screws to shorten them (so they wouldn't scratch the barrel). When I removed the skins to access all the bolts (the first time removing skins on new chassis), I realized there was a missing handguard screw from the factory (it is a location trapped by the skin, there is zero chance it fell out).

Then when we threw the new bolt on and put it back together, the gunsmith asked where my bolt buffer was. I told him these were all the components sent to me and there was nothing missing... There was. I apparently wasn't shipped a bolt buffer with the gun. I've been rocking a long action gun shooting short action rounds for the last 500 rounds. We threw a bolt buffer in and what do you know, the ejection angle no longer bounces off my hand and back into the gun.

The gunsmith then went thru 3 new SRS M-2's he had just received, only 1 of them had a bolt buffer included.

Absolutely insane at this price point, missing 2 pretty obvious and not insignificant items from the factory.

I am writing them a detailed roll-up after this test and evaluation period around summer time, I hope they learn from it and improve. There is so much potential here.
 
Bolt buffer as in that rubber plug you fit behind the bolt when shooting short action? In the early days those came with every short action conversion kit, but seemed to disappear by 2015 or so. You could still get them separately though. The thing is a lot of people found them unnecessary, enough to the point that I’m a little surprised you mentioned it even though it was specifically designed to help short action ejection woes for some people.

Show of hands: am I mistaken or does anyone still use those bolt buffers regularly?
 
Bolt buffer as in that rubber plug you fit behind the bolt when shooting short action? In the early days those came with every short action conversion kit, but seemed to disappear by 2015 or so. You could still get them separately though. The thing is a lot of people found them unnecessary, enough to the point that I’m a little surprised you mentioned it even though it was specifically designed to help short action ejection woes for some people.

Show of hands: am I mistaken or does anyone still use those bolt buffers regularly?
I use the buffer with my 223 SAC conversion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr. Z
I use it and the one that came with the SAC .223 conversion. Came with my DT's so I have always used it. I move the bolt back to a stop with purpose when I run the guns so they aren't unnecessary for me. Cuts down the wasted motion with short action rounds in my use. Maybe if the gun did not come with one I'd never notice or see the need but after running one for years I defintiely notice if I forget to put one in place.
 
I am going to the dark side as regards Desert Tech: their quality control has cost me so many otherwise beautiful moments of my life that I am going to make it a mission to point out on this thread and anywhere else I can every single cluster fuck that I encounter with these rifles Until they get their act together and get it right.
As much as i LOVE the Desert Tech product, i whole heartedly agree their QC has gone to Shit!!!

My dealer just got in a batch of new barrel conversions..
Most have bolt heads that look like complete "Rejects" !!! there is no way these should be shipping out. he has already had a VERY unhappy customer send back his newly acquired conversion.

This is a sample of some of the "better" looking bolt heads!!!
 

Attachments

  • IMG-20240411-WA0022.jpg
    IMG-20240411-WA0022.jpg
    170.1 KB · Views: 86
  • IMG-20240411-WA0026.jpg
    IMG-20240411-WA0026.jpg
    180 KB · Views: 90
Bolt buffer as in that rubber plug you fit behind the bolt when shooting short action? In the early days those came with every short action conversion kit, but seemed to disappear by 2015 or so. You could still get them separately though. The thing is a lot of people found them unnecessary, enough to the point that I’m a little surprised you mentioned it even though it was specifically designed to help short action ejection woes for some people.

Show of hands: am I mistaken or does anyone still use those bolt buffers regularly?
I made one specifically for my 223 WSSM which is extremely short, I also use one of the factory bolt stops for my 6.5 PRC. They do help me, but even with one, the WSSM does not eject reliably.
 
As much as i LOVE the Desert Tech product, i whole heartedly agree their QC has gone to Shit!!!

My dealer just got in a batch of new barrel conversions..
Most have bolt heads that look like complete "Rejects" !!! there is no way these should be shipping out. he has already had a VERY unhappy customer send back his newly acquired conversion.

This is a sample of some of the "better" looking bolt heads!!!
That's disgusting!
It is saddening that DT has messed up the SRS so badly!
 
  • Like
Reactions: BurtG
I was told from the fella that I purchased my SRS from,that he had sent it back and had it converted or switched from the first gen that had the pin system, nonadjustable cheek piece &
no monopod if I'm remembering correctly. With all that said it was sold to me without the bolt buffer. So I purchased one thinking I needed one and now having one, it won't even fit into my setup. I was never sent one from SAC for my 223 conversation.
Happy to report I've been very pleased & fortunate enough with my setup,it's been working outstanding without it.
 
As much as i LOVE the Desert Tech product, i whole heartedly agree their QC has gone to Shit!!!

My dealer just got in a batch of new barrel conversions..
Most have bolt heads that look like complete "Rejects" !!! there is no way these should be shipping out. he has already had a VERY unhappy customer send back his newly acquired conversion.

This is a sample of some of the "better" looking bolt heads!!!
We have a lot of conversion kits and bolts coming through our shop. I’ve never seen bolts like that. I’ll pop open the kits I have received recently and will let you guys know if any look like that.
 
How did they look?
All of the bolts looked normal except for this one. This bolt looks like it was re-worked under two of the lugs. Doesn’t look bad, but there was obviously some machining done after the coating had been applied.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3685.jpeg
    IMG_3685.jpeg
    327.8 KB · Views: 67
Last edited:
All of the bolts looked normal except for this one. This bolt looks like it was re-worked under two of the lugs. Doesn’t look bad, but there was obviously some machining done after the coating had been applied.
The picture is a little deceptive. The machining marks look smooth in person. The picture makes them look a little rough.
 
Quality control is one of the worst in the industry

Customer service and warranty is reportedly bad (still, after years of complaints) but I say reportedly because personally I’ve given up on them. I fix problems myself and I have a superb dealer (@PRDRIVER) who offers assistance when I can’t fix it myself

I will say three things about this, based on my personal experience/opinions alone:

1.) find a dealer who has your back
2.) don’t expect ANY dealer to kill himself to fix DTs problems for you. Ultimately it’s DT’s responsibility to fix any issues you may encounter, and your dealer can only do so much
3.) DO NOT EXPECT A CUSTOM GRADE RIFLE. This is a factory production rifle regardless of the price and any claims otherwise. That’s just the facts. “Fit and finish” are apparently not something DT cares about, similar to Colt in the AR15 world. The Colt fanboys buy a rifle expecting a museum piece and they get a factory battle rifle with this and that not perfect and they piss and moan. Dont be that guy. You want perfection, get an AI or a custom built rifle, full stop.
 
Last edited:
Quality control is one of the worst in the industry

Customer service and warranty is reportedly bad but I say reportedly because personally I’ve given up on them. I fix problems myself and I have a superb dealer (@PRDRIVER) who offers assistance when I can’t fix it myself

I will say three things about this, based on my personal opinions alone:

1.) find a dealer who has your back
2.) don’t expect ANY dealer to kill himself to fix DTs problems for you. Ultimately it’s DT’s responsibility to fix any issues you may encounter, and your dealer can only do so much
3.) DO NOT EXPECT A CUSTOM GRADE RIFLE. This is a factory production rifle regardless of the price and any claims otherwise. That’s just the facts. “Fit and finish” are apparently not something DT cares about, similar to Colt in the AR15 world.

I bought my second A1 from Rob, definitely a great company to deal with. He was able to get me the tool to change the handguards when DT wouldn't even respond or answer phones. I've bought small parts like springs from a company in Missouri as well to avoid the frustration of dealing with DT.
 
Do you have five, six or even seven barrels for your SRS? Do you have an unholy compulsion to make sure everything you own can be locked in a fitted transport case? Do you have entirely too much time and/or money on your hands? Have you ever wondered what it would take to make a rifle case weigh 120lbs or more? Does "unwieldy" even have a definition in your universe? These and many more questions will be answered on the next episode of, SOAP.

Keep in mind this is not really designed to be a transport case. I mean, I do occasionally drag that heavy bitch to the car and stab it into the back seat of a 2001 Mustang Cobra because it won't fit in the trunk but that's not what it's "for". It's a storage case meant to keep all the bits together. I have a smaller but extremely similar case that I also need to redesign the case foam for that is intended to be my travel/transport case that doesn't hold as much of or the same stuff as this one.

Room for: 1x Desert Tech SRS soft case w/ backpack straps, 1x SRS M2 (this one is cut out for a Steiner M7 mounted in 1.5" rings) including up to a 28" barrel + 2" brake with a bolt and 1x long or short mag installed in the chassis, 8x additional long mags, 8x additional short mags, 4x additional bolts, srs operator maintenance kit, 2x 10rd boxes of Lapua .338LM (or whatever you like such as: FTS camera bits, flip caps, batteries, condoms, soy supplements, personal wand massagers, etc...), PVS-30, almost any bipod you might want, 2x additional 26.5" OAL barrels, 2x additional 28.5" OAL barrels, 2x additional 30.5" OAL barrels, 2x cutouts for Surefire/Kiji weapon lights/heads/bodies (or flip caps/sundries/tampons/etc...), plus 2x of what I call "tevs" slots. Tevs slots can each take, well, whatever: 1 recoil pad + 3 recoil pad spacers, other combinations of spacers and pads or 1x 20rd box of literally anything up to and including .338LM.

View attachment 8067481

No. I don't think I'll actually order this setup because I'm down to 5 barrels and likely going down to 4 barrels soon. If you wanted to be able to put 30 grand in a single box though, this might be just the ticket. I did find a few optimizations that I can do to my prior design though. The steps in the barrel cutouts in the last design were fine in the drawing but that didn't translate well for the machines that do the actual cutting so I rejiggered that. The PVS-30 almost never accompanies the rifle and it ended up easier to not have it mounted on the rifle before being put in the case when it was going to join us on the journey. The prior case was only cut 3.5" down leaving 2" of unused depth and I couldn't get the soft case in with everything else. Whoopsie! This configuration uses the soft case as additional topside padding. What I'll probably do for the one I end up ordering is knocking out one of the barrel cutout stacks, reorganizing the cutouts for the short mags and instead of using the soft case as top padding, I may chop the whole top far enough to let me put the soft case under the case foam. We'll see.

Previous layout:
screen-shot-2022-05-06-at-1.35.17-pm.png


The previous layout, as you can see, was not 100% optimal largely because I didn't have everything on-hand when setting it up and so I had to guesstimate quite a number of dimensions. My prior version also held only 4 spare barrels and a 2-fewer magazines and is near or at 100lbs depending on that day's particular load-out.
Does anyone sell something like this?