• The Shot You’ll Never Forget Giveaway - Enter To Win A Barrel From Rifle Barrel Blanks!

    Tell us about the best or most memorable shot you’ve ever taken. Contest ends June 13th and remember: subscribe for a better chance of winning!

    Join contest Subscribe

Desert Tactical Arms .338

xfordfanx

Private
Minuteman
Oct 21, 2010
11
0
51
Wis. USA
Hey guys, got a couple of questions. I just bought a nightforce 5.5-22x56 ZS scope. It will be going on my SRS when I get it. I need to know what rings to get for it and the height. Concerning the rifle itself, I will be buying it with the .338 conversion but I also want a really good deer cartridge as well. I know of a couple of websites that make sub .5 MOA barrels for the SRS. I was looking at maybe the 260 or the 243. Give me your thoughts. And are there certain lot numbers of the early SRSs to stay away from or are they all good to go?
I currently have a match grade 308 built by Vegas Gun Works. It's a Remington 700 action heavy barrel 26". It has a IOR Valdada 6-24x50 with the MP retical. The question I have about this, I want to sell this gun, would I be better off splitting the rifle and the scope to try and unload the gun, and use the Valdada scope with my second barrel for the SRS or would I do better selling the rifle with the scope on it? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
I have been basically looking at gunbroker for the SRSs but am fascinated by the SRS, any other place I can get info on this Rifle or where to buy them? Thanks again all in advance for your help.
 
Re: Desert Tactical Arms .338

Buy the rings/mount made by DTA. If your thinking of getting a 338 I'd recommend at least the 30moa.

I'm not quite sure I understand your question about splitting your rifle? Are you saying you want to dedicate your 2nd scope to one of the barrels on the DTA? If so your compeletely missing the point of the system.

1 Good scope many barrels. Your zero will follow the barrel, so if you zero the scope for your .308, and switch to say the .338 barrel you know the zero on the 338 will be +.5mil Up and +.3mil left. Note it and your good.

As far as vendors....call DTA up and either order from them directly or they will hook you up with who to buy from. Unless something has changed your gonna pay MAP pricing regardless of who you buy from if its new.
 
Re: Desert Tactical Arms .338

I have the same rifle and scope setup. I went with the Larue LT-107 QD mount. It has 3 levers which is probably overkill and 30MOA slope. So far, I've had no problems with holding zero.
 
Re: Desert Tactical Arms .338

I agree w/ Poison, one scope is all you will need for the DTA rifle system. Sell the IOR w/ the rifle or split, either way, use the funds for ammo and practice. Call DTA direct and they will point you in the right direction.

Good luck. I'm thinking of going the same route.
 
Re: Desert Tactical Arms .338

Thanks Poison, Because I haven't actually been behind 1 of these Rifles, I wasn't really sure how close to Zero it stays when changing from barrel to barrel. Ok next question. The scope I bought is the NP-R2 Retical, can I dedicate the 338 to the turrets to the deer barrel to the Retical hashes?
 
Re: Desert Tactical Arms .338

I'll also go with Poison on this one. Buy the 30MOA rings/mount from the DTA guys and that will suffice. Make sure you get the 30mm spacers as well for your Nightforce. I have the same setup on my SRS and its a very good way to go. The .243 barrel setup would be a very good deer/antelope and similar sized game barrel. .308 would be another good one for many reasons.
As for scope adjustments and caliber changing do as the others noted. Zero each barrel and make notes of the differences. I shoot 2 cals that are widely different ballistically- 338 Lapua and 12.7X48 (510 Whisper). The Lapua is a pretty flat shooter as most know but the 12.7 is a rainbow round. Its a subsonic .50 cal bullet that still has a lot of energy even at 1000yds but the trajectory is a high one. By adjusting the scope zero when I switch barrels I don't have to worry about how many left or right and up or down to get started and then figure range and wind too. The hash marks are great for quick shots where you don't have time to dial but its much easier to put the crosshairs on target by making the adjustments than it is to offset with the hashmarks. If you keep a log and keep track of your adjustments its not a big deal to move the dials. If you're a spinner with no records you'll be chasing your tail.

Hope that helps

Frank
 
Re: Desert Tactical Arms .338

I have this rifle in 338 and 308. I also have that scope. As someone above mentioned DTA 30 moa cant, with 30 mm reducers.

As far as a hunting rifle goes, I hunt a lot and tried to take it on an antelope, and elk hunt this year. I probably won't take it again. Its heavy, and some what cumbersome. For a long range prone rifle it can't be beat, but when I hunt sometimes I'm not in a place where prone will work. It is also not a great rifle to carry not only because its heavy, but because if you wear a backpack it doesn't sling very well. Now if you have an Eberlstock type backpack, both the weight and the carrying are comfortable in the scabbard. From here on out its back to the 243 featherweight for the 300 WSM sporter for me.

For any type of LR steel ringing or bench my DTA has replaced all of my other rifles (30+). Enjoy it!
 
Re: Desert Tactical Arms .338

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: xDieselx</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Good to know fireguyty. How you like your 243? Will be getting the DTA with either the 243 or a 260 conversion.</div></div>

My 243 is a Winchester M70 Featherweight. With the cheap $400 4-16x44mm Nikon it tips the scale loaded at 5.75#. It was my first rifle when I was 8 and I have no idea how many mule deer and coyotes I have killed with it, but its on its second barrel. Mine is a 1-10" twist and I shoot 60 grain Berger varmints with Varget for the coyotes, and 95 grain Berger hunting VLD's with Winchester 760 for mule deer and the occasional long distance shooting. IMO 243 is one of the most versatile hunting calibers, and if I had to just have one rifle it would be a 243.
 
Re: Desert Tactical Arms .338

xDieselx, I have two DTA's. Your 338 will do anything you want including hunting. You can load it down with 180's for deer and it will be fine. With 225 or 250 Nos Accubonds it will drop anything in North America. If you want a more mild barrel for trigger time and deer hunting just get the 308 conversion. Ammo is cheap and accurate and not much recoil at all.
 
Re: Desert Tactical Arms .338

WE have a 338 in stock, a used 243 conversion w/Redding S bushing dies, DTAC bullets, Corbon 243 DTAC ammo, and will have a 260 conversion ready to ship by the end of this week. We also have the scope mounts, soft and hard cases available. Let me know if we can help.

Kevin
Trigger Time Gun Club
Longmont, Co.
303-651-0816