The Desert Tech SRS is a real multi-purpose precision rifle. It is a switch-barrel bullpup system that lets the person swap configurations primarily based on their wants. For individuals who carry such rifles for work, the Desert Tech SRS may be outfitted to reduce its visible and auditory signature by operating it with shorter barrels which can be optimized for subsonic munitions, or it may be geared up to take longer pictures with barrels and cartridges for that activity.
For leisure shooters who’re intrigued by the Desert Tech SRS’s modular design and futuristic seems, the rifle is a enjoyable and succesful platform that may be expanded upon because the shooter’s need, and price range, permits. With the bottom rifle in hand, a shooter can add barrels and {hardware} for numerous pursuits, together with long-range taking pictures, big-game searching, predator management and common plinking.
- Stock: Chassis with integral monopod, adjustable LOP and comb top
- Cartridge: 6.5 Creedmoor and .308 Win.
- Magazine: Single-stack six-round
- Action: Six-lug (Two rows of three)
- Ejector: Single plunger
- Extractor: Modified Sako
- Trigger: 2 lb. 10 oz. (measured)
- Overall Length: 34.25 in. (6.5 CM); 28.25 in. (.308 Win.)
- Weight: 9 lb. 6 oz. (6.5 CM); 8 lb. 7 oz. (.308 Win.)
Desert Tech SRS Conversion Kits
My Desert Tech SRS got here with two barrels, one a 16-inch .308 Win. with a 1:8 twist to be used with subsonic ammunition and the opposite a 24-inch 6.5 Creedmoor. Both barrels had an acceptable size handguard. While the stubby 7-inch guard that got here with the .308 barrel might be used with the longer 6.5 Creedmoor system, the reverse was not true.
When you get an additional barrel from Desert Tech, you don’t simply get the barrel, which is why the corporate refers to them as conversion kits. In addition to the chrome steel barrel, you get a bolt meeting, bolt cease and {a magazine}. While I may use the identical bolt meeting, bolt cease and journal for the 6.5 Creedmoor and .308 Win., since they’re each short-action cartridges that use the identical bolt face, if I have been so as to add one of many magnum calibers to my rifle, I’d must swap out all of the items.
The normal calibers include 6-round magazines, whereas the magnum cartridges use 5-round magazines. Some of the magnum conversion kits embrace both a two- or three-port Aftershock muzzle brake as nicely.
Here are the kits, and costs at the moment listed on Desert Tech’s web site. To discover all of them you might want to do some digging beneath every of the three SRS fashions: The A2, the Covert, and the M2.
- 6.5 Creedmoor, 18-inch barrel, 1:8 twist ($1,700)
- 6.5 Creedmoor, 24-inch barrel ultralight ($1,700)
- 6.5 Creedmoor, 26-inch barrel ultralight ($1,900)
- 7mm Rem. Mag., 26-inch barrel ultralight ($1,900)
- .308 Win., 16-inch barrel, 1:8 twist ($1,700)
- .308 Win., 26-inch barrel ($1,700)
- .308 Win., 22-inch barrel ($1,700)
- .300 Norma Mag., 26-inch barrel ($1,900)
- .300 Rem. Ultra Mag., 26-inch barrel ultralight ($1,900)
- .300 Win. Mag., 18-inch barrel, 1:8 twist ($1,900)
- .300 Win. Mag., 26-inch barrel ultralight ($1,900)
- .300 Win. Mag., 26-inch barrel ($1,900)
- .338 Lapua Mag., 26-inch barrel ($2,050)
- .338 Norma Mag., 26-inch barrel ($2,050)
Compact Precision
In a bullpup design the rifle’s journal is positioned behind the set off guard, beneath the buttstock. This strikes the motion and barrel a number of inches rearward, considerably decreasing the general size of the rifle. Even with the 24-inch 6.5 Creedmoor barrel on board, the rifle is simply 34.25 inches in size. When I swapped that out and ran the 18-inch .308 barrel, the general size of the rifle dropped to twenty-eight.25 inches.
This makes the rifle useful to maneuver in compact areas. It’s straightforward to grasp the enchantment of the Desert Tech SRS A2 for army and regulation enforcement in city environments, and for many who should get out and in of automobiles steadily, or who’re making an attempt to create secure taking pictures positions in cramped quarters.
The bullpup’s cut-down dimensions don’t hinder the rifle’s precision in any approach. Desert Tech backs the SRS with a half-MOA assure when operating match ammo.
What that accuracy assure means in sensible phrases is up for debate. Are these three- or five-shot teams? Are they saying that it’ll shoot that tight each time? Or will it do it with seven teams out of 10 persistently? But with out getting wrapped across the axle with these specifics, the larger level is that the Desert Tech SRS A2 guarantees to be a shooter.
How The Desert Tech SRS A2 Shot
With the 6.5 Creedmoor barrel, the SRS A2 shot persistently nicely. As at all times appears to be the case, some hundreds outperformed others. The one that actually stood out was Sig Sauer’s 130-grain Elite Hunter. Five shot teams from this ammunition averaged .657 inches.
Other 6.5 Creed hundreds have been persistently sub-MOA with 5 shot teams, too. Since this can be a precision rifle, I spent extra time ringing metal on long-range targets than punching paper at 100 yards. On 1- to 2-MOA metal the rifle had no subject making hits out to 1,100 yards. The targets 800 yards and in have been like clockwork as soon as I acquired attuned to the wind.
None of this shocked me within the least with the 6.5 Creedmoor. I used to be extra curious to see how the .308 Win. barrel, with its quick 1:8 twist, would fare.
Testing With .308 Win.
I ran six totally different .308 hundreds by means of the rifle, together with two subsonic hundreds. The quick twist charge on the barrel is supposed to assist stabilize heavy subsonic rounds, which don’t often shoot nicely from normal twist (1:10) .30-caliber barrels.
The outcomes of my taking pictures have been fascinating. The quick .308 barrel was one of many extra finicky barrels I’ve ever evaluated, with a pair hundreds doing extraordinarily nicely, whereas others struggled to group.
First, let me be clear that I don’t fault rifle or barrel for this efficiency. A 16-inch, fast-twist .308 is already a little bit of an odd duck, and subsonic centerfire ammo shouldn’t be identified for its means to group persistently. And with a .308 barrel with a extra normal size and twist charge, I’m certain among the different hundreds would have executed higher as nicely.
Subsonic .308 Win. Loads
Of the 2 subsonic hundreds, Winchester’s 168-grain OTM did the most effective. Of the three 5-shot teams I placed on paper, two of them appeared to stabilize nicely. They measured 1.435 and 1.775 inches. A 3rd group opened to three.282 inches and the bullet holes within the paper have been barely rectangular, indicating a good quantity of yaw within the projectiles.
The different sub-sonic ammunition was a 220-grain load with a polymer case that’s not produced. Those didn’t group nicely in any respect. The five-shot teams ranged in dimension from 2.5 to 2.9 inches with all of the pictures creating asymmetrical holes within the paper, once more indicating points with projectile stability.
The barrels on the Desert Tech SRS A2 come threaded 5/8-24 within the .30-caliber chamberings and smaller. With an Elite Iron STFU hooked up noise signature from the sub-sonic hundreds was negligible. If you have been doing night-time shut vary predator management or hog searching, the Winchester 168s wouldn’t be a nasty selection.
Standard Velocity .308 Win. Ammunition
With the usual supersonic hundreds I examined there was additionally a good bit of variance within the efficiency. The two highlights have been Federal’s 175-grain Sierra Matchking, which has been the most effective and most constant manufacturing facility .308 hundreds for a very long time, and Federal’s 175-grain Terminal Ascent. The Terminal Ascent is a brand new long-range searching bullet that’s been creating a superb popularity for accuracy and terminal efficiency.
My common group dimension with the Terminal Ascent was .643 inches, with the most effective group measuring .578 inches. The Sierra Matchking’s greatest group was .707 inches, with a mean group dimension of 1.059 inches.
Interestingly, the opposite 175-grain load I examined within the rifle—Barnes 175-grain OTM—didn’t cowl itself in glory, delivering teams that averaged 2.145 inches. I acquired one other shock with Hornady’s 178-grain ELD-X ammunition. Normally, the ELD-X bullet in Hornady’s Precision Hunter line shoots extraordinarily nicely, however on this rifle the teams averaged 2.135 inches, and the goal indicated some points with bullet stability as nicely.
This simply goes to indicate you ways vital it may be to shoot all kinds of manufacturers and bullet types when attempting to get the most effective from a rifle.
Desert Tech SRS A2 Ergonomics
The designers of the SRS A2 did an incredible job with the rifle’s ergonomics. With a bullpup, the buttstock must accommodate the journal, the biking of the bolt, and it’s the place the rounds are fed into the motion. This places some critical constraints on the power of the inventory to regulate to suit the shooter. Despite this, Desert Tech managed to create a inventory the place the size of pull (LOP) and comb top may be simply altered to the shooter’s desire.
Stock Adjustments
The cheek piece on the rifle is held in place by two fasteners, and when loosened they permit for .37 inch of vertical journey. That doesn’t sound like a lot, nevertheless it was loads for me to get my head aligned behind my scope, which had a 56mm goal lens.
The LOP is even simpler to regulate. My rifle got here with two ½-inch spacers that clip in between the recoil pad and the inventory. These polymer shims may be added or eliminated shortly with out instruments. Taking the recoil pad and spacer meeting off the inventory can also be the way you take away the bolt and bolt cease from the rifle for upkeep and when swapping calibers.
Grip Profile and Trigger
The pistol grip is skinny on the prime and sweeps again making a hand-filling profile. It is cleverly formed in order that the set off finger can simply attain the set off whereas the majority of the grip helps the decrease portion of the taking pictures hand.
The set off has a vertical shoe permitting the set off finger to relaxation flat towards its floor and press in a straight line backward for glorious set off management. The set off on my pattern broke at 2 kilos 10 ounces with a small quantity of takeup that made it virtually really feel like a two-stage set off. The break is exceptionally crisp, which is commonly a downside of bullpup rifles because the set off is often related to the sear by a protracted switch bar that degrades the standard of the set off pull.
Safety and Monopod
The rifle comes with a easy two-position security positioned simply above the set off. It is ambidextrous and toggles ahead to fireplace and slides again to go on “safe” and may be manipulated from both aspect of the rifle. When within the secure place the set off is blocked and unable to maneuver to the rear.
One very cool function on the Desert Tech SRS A2 is the integral monopod within the inventory. It has a spherical base with texturing across the rim, and when rotated it extends under the inventory to kind a rear help. It deploys pretty shortly and has about 3.25 inches of journey.
Running the Desert Tech SRS A2
To forestall the rifle from changing into awkward to run, the bolt deal with is hooked up on the entrance of the bolt physique, simply behind the bolt head. The bolt knob continues to be a bit farther again on the rifle than you’ll expertise with an everyday bolt gun—by about 4 inches or so—however the outsized knob and longer bolt arm offer you loads of leverage to cycle the motion.
The motion on the rifle runs pretty easily and the rifle feeds very reliably. The single-stack journal is simple to load and I by no means skilled any sort of failure with the feeding of rounds into the chamber from the journal.
Single rounds tossed into the chamber after I had run the rifle dry chambered nicely more often than not, although every now and then some cartridges hung up within the motion, which isn’t unusual.
While I by no means had a failure to eject, the brass doesn’t kick freed from the rifle with any sort of authority. The empties form of flopped out in an detached method.
The inventory has journal launch buttons on both aspect for ambidextrous operation. Even although the house beneath the inventory is cramped when taking pictures inclined, I used to be in a position to maneuver magazines out and in of the rifle fluidly.
While the rifle is compact, it’s nonetheless pretty beefy. Unscoped and with the journal out, the 6.5 Creedmoor’s base weight is 9 kilos 6 ounces. With the short-barreled .308 Win. that drops to eight kilos 7 ounces. But with the scope—and granted I used to be operating a hefty Nightforce 7-35×56 ATACR—the rifle tipped the scales at 12 kilos 4 ounces.
That was nice for mitigating felt recoil and for recognizing hits and misses, however for a searching rifle it limits its utility. However, due to its compact dimensions, the Desert Tech SRS A2 would make a hell of a beanfield rifle for southern deer searching the place you gained’t have a significant hike to get to the stand however may must make a protracted shot from cramped quarters.
Switching Barrels
To change barrels on the Desert Tech SRS A2 you flip a selector on the left aspect of the rifle 180-degrees from “lock” to “unlock” utilizing a 5mm hex head. Then you loosen 4 captured screws on the proper aspect of the rifle with the identical bit. With that executed you possibly can slide the barrel free from its recess within the receiver and change it with a distinct one.
If you might be switching to a cartridge with a distinct general size, or one which makes use of a distinct sized bolt face, you’ll must swap out the bolt, journal, and bolt cease too.
This isn’t troublesome both. After eradicating the recoil pad and LOP spacers from the inventory—which is completed by squeezing a small tab on the underside of the recoil pad meeting and sliding it free—the bolt cease and bolt come proper out. You drop the brand new bolt into the receiver, put the brand new bolt cease in place, reattach the recoil pad, and also you’re good to go.
Desert Tech says this may be achieved in beneath a minute. I used to be by no means in that a lot of a rush, however even at my extra leisurely tempo this solely took a pair minutes from begin to end.
When snugging up the 4 fasteners that clamp the barrel into place you utilize the T-handled 80 in.-lb. torque wrench that Desert Tech sells. When correctly torqued Desert Tech says the rifle’s zero gained’t shift while you take away a barrel and reinstall it. During my testing, this was the case. There’s little doubt that the engineering behind the design is strong.
Switching Hardware
One caveat to the speedy barrel-swapping capabilities of the Desert Tech SRS A2 is when you might want to change out the handguard to accommodate a shorter barrel, as was the case after I went from the 24-inch 6.5 Creedmoor to the 18-inch .308 Win.
The 12.5-inch handguard that pairs with the Creedmoor was too lengthy for the .308 barrel, which wanted the stubbier 7-inch handguard. The handguard attaches to the receiver with eight fasteners—4 on the highest and 4 on the underside. There’s additionally one fastener that pins the 2 sides of the polymer decrease that goes by means of the underside of handguard—so 9 fasteners in complete.
The 4 fasteners up prime and the crossbolt fastener are uncovered and straightforward to get to. But the 4 fasteners on the underside of the handguard that screw into the receiver are hidden beneath the polymer decrease. Removing the clamshell decrease to get at these fasteners is a chore and a half. Just be sure you have a clear work floor while you do that as you might want to take away a few dozen fasteners to perform the job.
The handguards on the A2 model have M-Lok slots machined on all of the flats so there are many methods to mount extras on the rifle if you happen to need.
Desert Tech SRS Ecosystem
Given the modular design of the Desert Tech SRS, it isn’t shocking that while you go to order the rifle you’ve got a bunch of decisions to make. The base rifle consists of the inventory type, the colour sample, and the caliber choice. From there you possibly can add conversion kits to run totally different calibers and an entire host of goodies.
Basic Build
The base value of the common A2 chassis is $3,849 and the fee for the barrel and different items of the conversion package is $1,700 to $2,050 relying on the cartridge you select. With an additional conversion package and the torque wrench the rifle involves about $7,400. Extra magazines for the usual long- and short-action cartridges are $90.
Beyond these fundamentals you’ve got a bunch of equipment to select from. Desert Tech takes pains to be a one-stop store on this regard. They promote two kinds of bipod mounts which have a swivel stud for Harris-style bipods, one which is a QD mount ($80) and one which clamps on completely and prices much less ($21.75). Of course, you possibly can order Harris bipod concurrently you navigate by means of the rifle builder.
Scope Mounts
They even have three one-piece scope mounts. All are for 34mm scopes, which has turn into probably the most prevalent tube dimension for the form of precision optic that shooters utilizing a Desert Tech SRS are prone to make use of. You can order the mount with three totally different tapers—20, 30, and 40 MOA—relying on how a lot declination you need in your scope. The value for every is $365.
They are pretty minimal for such a mount, utilizing one fastener on the entrance and one other on the rear to clamp on to the rail. The rear of the mount incorporates a bubble degree so the shooter can appropriate for rifle cant with out lifting their head off the inventory.
Cases and Tool Kits
Desert Tech additionally sells some good instances and gear kits for his or her rifles. You can get a smooth case by itself or with a tough case that it slides into. These instances aren’t low cost, however they’re among the many greatest methods I’ve seen provided with a rifle. The smooth case for the SRS is $295 and when paired with the locking arduous case is $527.
The smooth case folds open and accommodates an additional barrel and hand guard and has loads of storage for instruments and different gear. When absolutely deployed it lays flat and has a padded flap that folds ahead, extending the size of the case in order that it may be used as a taking pictures mat.
You should purchase instruments for the rifle as nicely. One is an entire upkeep package that features a torque wrench, Allen key set, and numerous cleansing provides like bore snakes, solvent, brushes, cleansing patches, lens brush, lens pen and so forth. It prices $345. Or you possibly can simply buy the 80 in.-lb. torque wrench, which you’ll must swap barrels and {hardware}, for $145. Personally, I’d simply buy the wrench and use a portion of the additional $200 that the complete upkeep package prices to purchase the opposite stuff.
Pros and Cons of the Desert Tech SRS A2
Pros
- Very good accuracy
- Compact, ergonomic design
- Handy in tight quarters
- Switch barrel functionality
Cons
- Expensive
- Fairly heavy
- Swapping handguards is cumbersome
Final Thoughts
One of probably the most interesting sides of the Desert Tech SRS A2 is the cool issue. It is a candy trying rifle that’s enjoyable to shoot. Is it the most effective precision rifle on the market? I don’t suppose it may well make that declare, nevertheless it shoots nicely sufficient to hold with the massive canine in that world. Is it a superb searching rifle? In some area of interest instances, sure, it is extremely succesful however for many searching eventualities it most likely isn’t the primary gun you’ll pull from the rack.
Read Next: How To Get The Most Out Of Your Precision Rifle Scope
But when it comes to being a blast to shoot, it doesn’t have many equals. Yes, it’s an costly system, however for anybody who’s thrown down cash for a bass boat, a jacked diesel pickup, or a tricked out Harley, the Desert Tech SRS A2 scratches that very same itch. There are loads of worse methods to spend your children’ inheritance.
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