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

I’ve had several DT rifles (Gen 1, Gen 2, HTI) and they are some of the sharpest shooting rifles I’ve ever owned.

However, their QC has always been crap, which is why I sat out on the MDR. They have changed enough on the chassis that I’m not sure if I’ll pick up a A2. I dumped my last DT in favor of a AXMC because of reliability.
 
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Bigjimfish actually likes the new trigger and gunsamerica posted some very positive things as well: The trigger is also revamped on the SRS-A2. The new trigger is flat faced and has absolutely zero takeup or over travel. It is not user adjustable for anything other than pull weight, unlike the older model. The pull weight is adjustable from 1.5 to 7.5 pounds.

A few pics from gunsamerica:
SRSA2-1-1024x683.jpeg
SRSA2-3-1024x683.jpeg


SRSA2-4-1024x683.jpeg
 
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Had a look at the A2 at SHOT show today. Looks pretty good to me. The changes definitely make things lighter. I'm not a big fan of the fluting on the barrel but to each his own. Monopods are available for those of us who think they're necessary. Extra cost of course and probably part of the reason they dropped the price on the chassis. The barrels I looked at are the same diameter as they've always been but there is a hunter version with a lightweight thin profile for those who value weight savings. I like being able to adjust my trigger for my tiny hands and the creep adjustment is something I like. Would prefer the current trigger myself but once again for many its probably no big deal. The savings in weight and cost are probably worth more to many folks. They told me all the previous Gen II barrels would work fine as well as the bolts so my bolt collection is useable. I've got some odd sizes and don't want to spend all the cash to start over. Might have to think about a new chassis to go with my barrel collection. The Gen I has done very well since 2010 and I'll probably keep it too.

Frank
 
I’ve had several DT rifles (Gen 1, Gen 2, HTI) and they are some of the sharpest shooting rifles I’ve ever owned.

However, their QC has always been crap, which is why I sat out on the MDR. They have changed enough on the chassis that I’m not sure if I’ll pick up a A2. I dumped my last DT in favor of a AXMC because of reliability.



Not talking about the mdr , but you didn’t like the reliability of a srs/hti?
 
what scope are you running on the covert?
im considering the vortex amg, i was running the gen 2 razor on my srs but the scope alone is around 3lbs.
my concern is recoil on the covert, im not worried about the recoil on a 6.5, however if i step up to the 308 and above i'm wondering if i should put that top heavy gen 2 on it to tame recoil bounce a little.
I’m running a nightforce shv 4-14x50. Works for what I need it to. Have no complaints
 
Not talking about the mdr , but you didn’t like the reliability of a srs/hti?
Q

Yeah, I’ve been following DT since they came to market and there’s
Not talking about the mdr , but you didn’t like the reliability of a srs/hti?

They have had little issues the correlate to QC and not design. Had a SRS that would produce excessive metal shavings in the bolt raceway, probably defective coating or salt bath nitriting, whichever they use. There was a bad run of firing pins or bolts, I can’t remember. Bad run of extractors. I had a HTi that would not chamber a 50 round when it arrived, there was a pressfit bushing in the bolt face that was sticking out a quarter inch. How is a weapon test fired at the factory before shipping out when it can’t even chamber a round?

I love their guns, they’re designs are great, usually. But they’re quality control is terrible, and the customer service used to be just as bad, not sure if it still is.

All that said, I’ll probably be buying a A2 soon.
 
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Q

Yeah, I’ve been following DT since they came to market and there’s


They have had little issues the correlate to QC and not design. Had a SRS that would produce excessive metal shavings in the bolt raceway, probably defective coating or salt bath nitriting, whichever they use. There was a bad run of firing pins or bolts, I can’t remember. Bad run of extractors. I had a HTi that would not chamber a 50 round when it arrived, there was a pressfit bushing in the bolt face that was sticking out a quarter inch. How is a weapon test fired at the factory before shipping out when it can’t even chamber a round?

I love their guns, they’re designs are great, usually. But they’re quality control is terrible, and the customer service used to be just as bad, not sure if it still is.

All that said, I’ll probably be buying a A2 soon.

When DT first released the SRS, there was huge excitement and a flood of orders. The company was backlogged for quite some time and started cutting some corners on QC in an attempt to catch up. We all know how we can be as customers. We want our new toys and we want them NOW!

I watched and waited till the madness subsided and DT was caught up. By then, they had released the A1 which I bought. From that point on, DT seems to have gotten the QC issues well under control, at least with the SRS. There have been very few issues with the A1 and the ones that did surface were minor. In my case, the rubber on the adjustable comb started to bubble and although my trigger was pretty damn nice, it was one of the very early A1s and didn't come with a creep adjustment screw. No matter what I did, there was a tiny amount of creep that I just couldn't get rid of. I called DT customer service and they were all over it. They sent me a shipping label and asked my to send it in. I had it back in 10 day with a new comb and fully worked over trigger; zero creep and a very consistent 1.5# pull. I would rate it as the best single stage trigger I have personally ever owned, all at no charge, including shipping. They couldn't have been more helpful. This was my personal experience. I am aware that not everyone got the same level of service. Perhaps I was just lucky, but I have nothing but good things to say about the company and the SRS.

I now have five conversion kits for it and shoot it more than all my other rifles combined. It's been 100% reliable and every one of the conversions shoot incredibly well. If I could only keep one rifle, no question it would be the SRS. And I have some pretty nice rifles.
 
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Are you talking about the new SRSa2 handguard? I’m referring to the first SRS when the company was Desert Tactical before Desert Tech. I thought the SRSA1 came right after the SRS Gen 1.

Negative,

Gen 1's were the original and are only standard length. Early gen 1's didn't even have the trigger creep adjustment screw.
Gen 2's came next. Big news was the new covert length option, more robust barrel indexing vs gen 1 roll pin and butt pad attachment improved.
A1's got small updates from gen 2's, most notably softer butt pad and adjustable cheek
A2's are the brand new hotness for 2019

Gen 2 hand guards will definitely fit on the gen 1
I seem to recall the A1 guard won't fit on gen 1, but I can't seem to remember why... maybe something to do with the alignment key... or... I will post later if I can remember
 
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The gen 1 and 2 handguards are threaded internally to match the receiver external threads. The gen 1 handguard is threaded all the way to the shoulder, gen 2 stops just short. G2 handguard should go on a g1 chassis no problem. G1 handguard on a g2 chassis works but a few threads have to be filed down.

The a1 chassis have an internal thread I believe and a threaded sleeve with lh and rh threads that pull the two together.
 
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Negative,

Gen 1's were the original and are only standard length. Early gen 1's didn't even have the trigger creep adjustment screw.
Gen 2's came next. Big news was the new covert length option, more robust barrel indexing vs gen 1 roll pin and butt pad attachment improved.
A1's got small updates from gen 2's, most notably softer butt pad and adjustable cheek

I have an early Gen 1 with creep adjustment as well as pull weight and trigger location. It is also a Covert length handguard which was offered prior to the gen 2 changes. I have no idea if the gen 2 handguards will fit as I haven't had any reason to see. My rifle also had the threaded socket in the receiver for the monopod though I stupidly didn't order it when I bought the rifle new. It was something I had to add later which required new skins too.

I have had no issues with the rifle in the 8 years I've been shooting it. I've used it for testing caliber conversions and general shooting. Wonderful rifle. Never needed an A1 with the smooshy buttpad and cheek rest. I've never sheared off the roll pin that locates the barrel either. The Gen 2 barrel extension does make more sense though. Lots more solid and positive.

Frank
 
I have an early Gen 1 with creep adjustment as well as pull weight and trigger location. It is also a Covert length handguard which was offered prior to the gen 2 changes. I have no idea if the gen 2 handguards will fit as I haven't had any reason to see. My rifle also had the threaded socket in the receiver for the monopod though I stupidly didn't order it when I bought the rifle new. It was something I had to add later which required new skins too.

I have had no issues with the rifle in the 8 years I've been shooting it. I've used it for testing caliber conversions and general shooting. Wonderful rifle. Never needed an A1 with the smooshy buttpad and cheek rest. I've never sheared off the roll pin that locates the barrel either. The Gen 2 barrel extension does make more sense though. Lots more solid and positive.

Frank

As far as I know all covert hand guards are gen 2 or newer...

The complete covert chassis came first then came the stand alone covert hand guard. I remember distinctly that DTA even stated at one point they wouldn't offer just the hand guard because it would hurt covert chassis sales before later changing their minds. Since all chassis's shipping from the factory as coverts are gen 2's per the owner of DT, Nick Young (noted by serial number starting with "SRS" instead of the gen 1 "DTA"). Ergo the gen 2 changes must have come before the stand alone covert hand guards.

Maybe you had/have special ties with DT and were allowed early access to some things...
 
You guys that are planning to grab a covert and run a 16” Barrel be cognizant of your scope bell hanging at or off the end of the hand guard, especially if your running a can, you don’t want hot gas spraying your lens. Most large 5-25 scopes will hang over depending on your scope location in the rings and on the rail.
 
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How much room do you have with the Pvs30? I’m looking to do the same thing as you only with a US 3-20 which is a little longer than the 5-20.

It’s tight with the 5-20. You can see from the photo I posted the position of the 5-20 for reference. The PVS-30 Mount just hangs past the rail approx. 3/8”. I will better verify and post a photo in a week or so when I get my PVS back in my hands.
 
Maybe you had/have special ties with DT and were allowed early access to some things...

Most definitely no special ties. They wouldn't even sell the rifle to me because I wasn't buying enough. I had to get a friend to buy one in order to get any sort of dealer pricing. Through demos and corrupting friends however I've sold more than a lot of their dealers.
My rifle is a DTA prefix and gen 1 for sure. My buddies rifle has a serial about 100 lower and he ordered it with the monopod so that was done of course. His rifle also has the creep adjustment on the trigger. In working on a good number of these rifles including a few even earlier than his I've yet to see one without the creep adjustment. That doesn't mean there weren't any. Having done series production on some firearms I can tell you that its tough to recall exactly what went where in the early days. It always takes a bit to stabilize things and if more than one person is assembling its anyones guess. I've seen rifles with serial numbers after mine that didn't have the socket for the monopod done. I got lucky......I guess.

Frank
 
I looked at the Gen2 at SHOT. The only change I liked was the new hand guard. I’ve owned the A1 Covert since 2012 (I think) and wouldn’t appreciate the weight reduction when running the 338LM barrel. Also, I didn’t like the new trigger at all, it felt cheap and indistinct to me.
 
I do feel like the srs a1 is a better design. But I have not had the a2 in my hands. Usually lighten things up and making thing cheaper makes quality go down.
I do think they should have upgraded the a1 instead of just abandoning it for a new design.
 
Good news for the A1 owners is the significant price drop on the conversion kits. I just ordered one from Eurooptic - thought having the extra bolt might be nice if they're discontinued. And, the A1 bolt is plenty smooth for me. Not to mention it locks up like a vault. I wonder if the A2 will do as well with lots of barrel swapping and the Orkan torture test.
 
I’m trying to decide if I’m replacing my A1 with an A2 for weight savings. I mainly do hunting more than range time. However, the weights listed on the website don’t make sense to me and make me second guess if they are correct. Why would the 338 LM weigh less than 6.5 CM?

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