Bartlein, K&P, Lothar-Walther, Krieger...
For reference, most non-magnum barrels for me break-in between 100-160 rounds
For reference, most non-magnum barrels for me break-in between 100-160 rounds
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Official (DTA) SRS, HTI, Covert, Hunter Thread
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For Bartlein I had similar results, Krieger 5.56 broke in at less than 100 rounds.
I have a brand new .375 barrel from DT that I pressure tested this weekend with ATIPS and H50BMG. It was 105 at the range and I went up to 137 grains. Velocity at 137 grains was 2890 fps with slight pressure signs. Barrel has 17 rounds through it now. Usually, with DT barrels, 137 gets me to about 2960.
So 23 more rounds and it should break in?
I have a brand new .375 barrel from DT that I pressure tested this weekend with ATIPS and H50BMG. It was 105 at the range and I went up to 137 grains. Velocity at 137 grains was 2890 fps with slight pressure signs. Barrel has 17 rounds through it now. Usually, with DT barrels, 137 gets me to about 2960.
So 23 more rounds and it should break in?
There's no deterministic number for break-in. It could take 40; it could take 100. I wouldn't get too focused on it because are you just going to keep shooting it until it speeds up? What if it takes 200 rounds? That's a lot of waste for what may only be a minor speed increase. And then there are barrels that don't speed up, so you're working in a probabilistic zone.
Usually with a new magnum barrel, I shoot some out of spec rounds or loads that I'm not planning to use anymore (ex I stopped shooting the 215 hybrid a while back but still have about 60 rounds left). I don't necessarily shoot for groups, but just get some rounds down the bore and get a rough idea of how it's shooting. There's often a point where it seems to have stabilized and that's when I do load development (if I need to). Often I already have a load from a previous barrel, so I'll shoot 10 shots of that and see how it's grouping. And then adjust from there, keeping an eye out for any wild speed increase.
Usually with a new magnum barrel, I shoot some out of spec rounds or loads that I'm not planning to use anymore (ex I stopped shooting the 215 hybrid a while back but still have about 60 rounds left). I don't necessarily shoot for groups, but just get some rounds down the bore and get a rough idea of how it's shooting. There's often a point where it seems to have stabilized and that's when I do load development (if I need to). Often I already have a load from a previous barrel, so I'll shoot 10 shots of that and see how it's grouping. And then adjust from there, keeping an eye out for any wild speed increase.
Ended up getting a 22” 6.5 creedmoor without seeing an SRS in person prior.
This gun is fantastic. First bolt action I’ve owned, let alone precision gun. First and second outing I was making hits out to 700 and 800 yards. Seems partial to 142gr SMKs. Special thanks to the guys at Special Purpose Rifles for getting me set up.
This gun is fantastic. First bolt action I’ve owned, let alone precision gun. First and second outing I was making hits out to 700 and 800 yards. Seems partial to 142gr SMKs. Special thanks to the guys at Special Purpose Rifles for getting me set up.
Very nice, I’m glad I was able to find an OD green one too.
I was surprised to find that the 140gr Hornady ELD and 143gr ELD-X’s I bought grouped really poorly. I shot a group of 3 touching each other at 100yds with some cheaper Fiocchi 142gr SMK ammo, but then got a 2” group with the ELD-X stuff. Weird, but at least the ammo it likes is cheaper I guess.
Might be time to invest in a reloading setup soon.
I was surprised to find that the 140gr Hornady ELD and 143gr ELD-X’s I bought grouped really poorly. I shot a group of 3 touching each other at 100yds with some cheaper Fiocchi 142gr SMK ammo, but then got a 2” group with the ELD-X stuff. Weird, but at least the ammo it likes is cheaper I guess.
Might be time to invest in a reloading setup soon.
+1 for special purpose rifles. Solid guys. I’ve done the same thing a few years back.
I measured 3 barrel shanks.
416-1.625"
408-1.628"
375-1.625"
I measured them all at the same location. This was just using a caliper.
The price is right! Beats the $1200 I spent on my 338 barrel.View attachment 8176504
Looks like PVA officially is doing SRS prefits if you send in an old barrel (reuse extension).
Prefit Barrels with Osprey blanks
patriotvalleyarms.com
On Diameter it can cause issues.
For example on the SRS A2, we've found anything over 1.250" can have issues going into the A2 chassis. A1 chassis were a little looser and would allow for barrel shanks a few thousandths over to mount into the chassis
I intentionally get my HTI blanks with 8” shanks for possible rechambering in the future.
I’ve also used a 1.25” straight to the muzzle taper in my SRS. Was a Krieger 338 off the shelf blank and was a great shooter chambered by ES tactical in 338LM.
Attachments
Yeah, I'm a convert to the heavy 1.25" contour now. The added weight helps tame recoil while still being fairly well balanced.
10 rounds mags for Magnum rounds? More kickbacks to grease the right palms?
There are so many factors that go into military contracts. It's not as simple as "this shoots better than that" or "this has this unique capability." DT has had a number of military contracts for the SRS over the years with foreign militaries, but the scale of those contracts tend to be fairly small, from what I understand.
Some of the factors that helped the MRAD and hurt the SRS:
- Barrett is a manufacturing powerhouse with a proven track record while DT is comparatively small
- MRAD is a traditional action soldiers are used to; SRS is bullpup
- Magazines have always been the weak link with the SRS
- Program requirements change over time and I think in the past DT hasn't been nimble enough to match them
- When things go wrong during trials, it's almost impossible to recover
So it's a complicated topic, but nothing to necessarily fault DT for.
As for shooting both, the MRAD is easily Barrett's best rifle across a variety of factors. Personally I still prefer the SRS (I have two and have been shooting the platform for 15 years), but if I was still in the Army I'm not 100% sure I'd want to run one. Sure, I would prefer to hump/jump a Covert over a standard bolt gun any day, but actually fight with one? Hard to say. I can run the bolt faster/easier with a standard rifle, and yeah the mag issue would bother me a bit, so I don't know.
Some of the factors that helped the MRAD and hurt the SRS:
- Barrett is a manufacturing powerhouse with a proven track record while DT is comparatively small
- MRAD is a traditional action soldiers are used to; SRS is bullpup
- Magazines have always been the weak link with the SRS
- Program requirements change over time and I think in the past DT hasn't been nimble enough to match them
- When things go wrong during trials, it's almost impossible to recover
So it's a complicated topic, but nothing to necessarily fault DT for.
As for shooting both, the MRAD is easily Barrett's best rifle across a variety of factors. Personally I still prefer the SRS (I have two and have been shooting the platform for 15 years), but if I was still in the Army I'm not 100% sure I'd want to run one. Sure, I would prefer to hump/jump a Covert over a standard bolt gun any day, but actually fight with one? Hard to say. I can run the bolt faster/easier with a standard rifle, and yeah the mag issue would bother me a bit, so I don't know.
I was only being partly facetious. The truth is, like Dogtown said, far more complex. If I had to guess, sure, 10 round mags were another check box in favor of Barrett. Another is Barrett has already supplied the military with the M82. Desert Tech would need to significantly upgrade their manufacturing process in order to meet the demand of the military. Military trials don't always favor the best system.
Doing some reorganizing in the garage this morning and took stock of my current SRS collection and realizing how much I've got in this platform. This doesn't count the eight barrels I wore out since I got the Gen 1 in 2009.
Gen 1 with added Covert handguard. Barrels from left to right:
- ES Tactical 16.5" 6.5x47L (installed)
- DTA 16" .308WIN (still going with over 5000 rounds through it since 2011)
- DTA 18" .338LM
- SSRNZ 18" .510 Whisper
- SSRNZ 20" 6.5x47L
- $900 paperweight
- ES Tactical 26" 6.5x47
- ES Tactical 36" .338LM Improved 40
SRS M2
- SAC 30" .300NM (installed)
- SAC 26" 6mm Creedmoor
- ES Tactical 30" 6.5x47L
- ES Tactical 34" 1:7 .300NM
- SAC 36" .338LM Improved 40
- ES Tactical 36" .338LM Improved 40
Before I got the Gen 1 SRS, I had four different bolt guns, from .308WIN to .408CT. I sold them all and the Gen 1 became my solo bolt gun. Last year I decided to add the M2 for that to focus on being my ELR-ish platform and the Gen 1 could stay a tiny Covert.
Gen 1 with added Covert handguard. Barrels from left to right:
- ES Tactical 16.5" 6.5x47L (installed)
- DTA 16" .308WIN (still going with over 5000 rounds through it since 2011)
- DTA 18" .338LM
- SSRNZ 18" .510 Whisper
- SSRNZ 20" 6.5x47L
- $900 paperweight
- ES Tactical 26" 6.5x47
- ES Tactical 36" .338LM Improved 40
SRS M2
- SAC 30" .300NM (installed)
- SAC 26" 6mm Creedmoor
- ES Tactical 30" 6.5x47L
- ES Tactical 34" 1:7 .300NM
- SAC 36" .338LM Improved 40
- ES Tactical 36" .338LM Improved 40
Before I got the Gen 1 SRS, I had four different bolt guns, from .308WIN to .408CT. I sold them all and the Gen 1 became my solo bolt gun. Last year I decided to add the M2 for that to focus on being my ELR-ish platform and the Gen 1 could stay a tiny Covert.
The main obvious differences are the built in top rail (40 MOA in my case) and arca lock on handguard. I like both because it makes it easy to shoot off tripod and use clip on NV, but they aren’t game changers for the platform as a whole. The earlier models were very involved if you wanted to swap handguards while the A2 made it much easier (though with the M2 there’s no handguard swapping, which is why it’s more of a dedicated LR/ELR platform for me).
The Gen1 extension with the pin is a pain. Over the years I’ve broken it a few times, which is just annoying but it wasn’t hard to replace. The real pain was when it would get bent, which wasn’t always obvious, and would result in a random zero shift. I now no longer use it, and just take care to align the extension to the receiver before closing the bolt and torquing the barrel. The much more robust feed ramp based extension that was added around 2011 is much better.
The Gen1 extension with the pin is a pain. Over the years I’ve broken it a few times, which is just annoying but it wasn’t hard to replace. The real pain was when it would get bent, which wasn’t always obvious, and would result in a random zero shift. I now no longer use it, and just take care to align the extension to the receiver before closing the bolt and torquing the barrel. The much more robust feed ramp based extension that was added around 2011 is much better.
Yeah cool, The M2 arca rail system is probably one of the features I'd like to have on my A1. I'm not that keen on the polymer rails, haven't had an issue yet but I do think there's some flex in them. I've thought about upgrading my chassis to a M2, but I'm not sure the 7grand AUD price is a big enough step up from the A1 it self. Have you noticed anything with the M2 action anodizing scratching / flaking? my A1 has abit of wear but nothing too bad
Nope, just normal wear and tear from mounting in tripod. If you have an A1, you should be able to mount an arca rail on the bottom and aluminum MLOk rails where needed, right? I obviously couldn’t do any of that with the Gen 1 quad rail handguards.
Posted in a separate thread but hoping for a response here in the dedicated DTA thread:
Trying to install a handgaurd I bought here on the hide. I have the tool that goes on a 3/4 extension but that nut won’t budge! Anything that I could be missing? All help is appreciated
Trying to install a handgaurd I bought here on the hide. I have the tool that goes on a 3/4 extension but that nut won’t budge! Anything that I could be missing? All help is appreciated
I'm still running my Gen 1 purchased in 2010 and have yet to break or bend the alignment pin. I use the rifle for testing barrels made up for customers along with shooting my own oddities. I had a 33XC 32" which did quite well and my current 338 LM barrel is 30". I shot out the original 26" DT 338LM barrel. I'm also running a 7.5 X 55 Swiss barrel which is pretty amazing and run out to 2500yds with 175gr Sierra TMK's. 510 Whisper, 300 norma mag, 6.5X47 and 338BR are the other current barrels. There have been a lot of others done for customers.
The rifle gets used for demo's and teaching new owners how to swap barrels. The newer setup is a lot more friendly and the roll pin idea seems pretty silly, looking back. It does still work though.
Frank
The rifle gets used for demo's and teaching new owners how to swap barrels. The newer setup is a lot more friendly and the roll pin idea seems pretty silly, looking back. It does still work though.
Frank
I’m not sure how the A2s are mounted, it the prior generations have a bolt on the top rail with an insert that you have to remove before you apply any torque to the handguard.
On the gen 2 (A1) rifles, I vaguely recall hearing that the sleeve holding the handguard and receiver together had to be turned counterclockwise to remove as viewed from the front. Not sure if that is true or not. The tool turns the sleeve which is actually a turnbuckle type assembly. It has left hand threads on one end and right handers on the other. Turning it one way pulls the parts together, turning the other pushes them apart. From what I understand it was a pretty solid setup but a pain in the ass to change.
The gen 1 rifles had the front end of the receiver threaded and the handguard screwed on til it stopped. They sometimes needed to be shimmed to line up right and as Dogtown noted they had a key in the pic rail on top with a screw to hold it in place. That kept the handguard from rotating. It was a pretty crappy system. I don't know how the A2 rifles work.
Frank
The gen 1 rifles had the front end of the receiver threaded and the handguard screwed on til it stopped. They sometimes needed to be shimmed to line up right and as Dogtown noted they had a key in the pic rail on top with a screw to hold it in place. That kept the handguard from rotating. It was a pretty crappy system. I don't know how the A2 rifles work.
Frank
