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

Yes, they are polymer. Thus far, they've held up exceedingly well. Think Magpul mags... as a baseline for their durability and ruggedness. I've not heard of one breaking. (a DTA rail that is...)
 
First off ..Greg Thank you VERY MUCH for getting me behind one of these rifles , You and your staff at Primal Rights have gone up and beyond the norm to help people out and it's appreciated !!! Anyways back to the DTA ....
 
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Twisted, I was a little disappointed when I received my new A1 and saw the plastic rail, but then I remembered that most companies are looking for ways to cut costs. I also remembered the economy and how bad it was when these hit the market. At a time when many gun manufacturers were taking advantage of the BIG GUN BAN scare DTA did not raise their prices, in fact if I remember correctly they did the opposite and reduced their price.
This all made me feel alot better about such a small issue, I have not had any issues thus far with mine, and I'm confident that if I did desert tech would take care of it.
Thanks Nick for being progressive and keeping your customers in mind when make business decisions, and the rest of the team for working hard.
 
You know I thumped the rail with my finger tip and it sounded metallic figured it was just some new hi tech polymer ? And to clarify things not trying to stir shit but I was believing that fore rail was polymer My bad if it is alloy and if that's the case I have no bitch ;-)
 
Greg,
Thanks for the info, it just kinda took me by surprise, I am contemplating getting an A1 handguard for my SRS because I really like what DT has done with the new design. Did't mean to cause an issue but it just surprised me and was very concerned mostly about the bipod rail and how it would hold up.
Sully
 
Primal rights 338 Lapua , 18" straight contour with deep spiral flutes. And AAC Titan QD, USO MR 1.8X10
y8uqehe3.jpg
 
Hi guys
I'm looking for a soft case/drag bag for my DTA SRS Covert

What cases are you all using when it comes to soft cases, i need to haul a few barrel kits and cleaning rods in it as well as your standard equipment
I really like the DTA soft case but from what i can see it can only take one additional barrel

I like the TacOPS but fear it may be too big for what i want

The Larue covert looks good but i doubt would take any cleaning rod.

any ideas or solutions for travelling with multiple barrels safely and not have them damaged by knocking around?
 
I like my DTA soft case with plenty of internal pockets for magazines, extra bolt and torque wrench. I wrap my third barrel in a soft flannel pillow case and throw it in with the gun. Works great. Just a thought. Trying to get someone to make a barrel sheath that rolls up and tied and could hold at least 3 26-28' barrels, but no luck yet!
 
Anyone have an update on 10 round magazines?

Frustrated with waiting :(

Apologies for again being 'off message' from the zeal in this thread, but, in a single afternoon loading these sharp, difficult-to-load, awful 6 rd magazines in the rain, I destroyed a pair of neoprene gloves I've had for around 10 years. I knew the magazines were awful, one of my mag's followers even repeatedly jams as I try to get the second round in and I have to bang and knock it to progress; I've worked around that. I've worked around the sharp edges catching my fingers. I've tried to ignore the silly 6rd capacity. But destroying in an afternoon a pair of gloves that have stood up to years of military service really has been the icing on the cake. Never had any mag problems with AW magazines.

The DTA 308 mag is like something off a World War One French light machine gun. In all other respects, the rifle is a delight to use.

I'm hoping the 10 rounders, as well as providing a sensible capacity, might step past the Chauchat school of magazine design that is the unspoken massive achilles heel of these rifles. :(

Any news? Anyone?


As it's a DTA pic thread; here's mine. A beautifully ergonomic rifle, but, even just looking at the pic, the magazine's design and execution makes me want to weep:

Lawrence_zpsd75c7310.jpg
 
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Sounds like time to break out the chopsaw and tig welder ! Fab your own !

That'd be a reasonable solution if these rifles were the same price as a 10/22 :)

However, if new stock sides were required in order to allow fitting of a well designed and well made magazine, I'd trip over myself in my rush to buy them (the DTA's flat bottom action would accept something akin to an AW mag in the blink of an eye.).

Just re-read my earlier post; omitted to mention that the magazines also don't 'click' when seated; nor do they drop free when the mag release is pressed - it's a two handed job (with fingers bloodied from filling the mag :D) to get a DTA mag off the rifle - one to press the mag release, one to pull the mag.

- but those whinges are just 'incidental' noise to the utter crapness of the low capacity, sharp, difficult to load, jamming-follower DTA Chauchat mags themselves.

I'm hopeful the promised 10 rounder solution may address/fix this major shortcoming - but, rather like the emperor's new clothes, the issue 'isn't discussed' and news on the solution is 'scarce'.
 
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Hi guys
I'm looking for a soft case/drag bag for my DTA SRS Covert

What cases are you all using when it comes to soft cases, i need to haul a few barrel kits and cleaning rods in it as well as your standard equipment
I really like the DTA soft case but from what i can see it can only take one additional barrel

I like the TacOPS but fear it may be too big for what i want

The Larue covert looks good but i doubt would take any cleaning rod.

any ideas or solutions for travelling with multiple barrels safely and not have them damaged by knocking around?

Believe it or not I use the Voodoo Tactical MP5 case for mine. I remove the butt pad and bolt and place those in one of the six outside pockets. It's a double case. So I place my barrels on the other side. If you are going to take more then 1 barrel I wrap them in a towel. Simple and works perfect. Especially when you pull it out at the range and all the other guys freak out when you whip out a sweet piece of DTA!
 
BrownDog , has addressed the magazine issues , ....after going over mine with much exploration , only two things I could find was : # 1 . I cannot totally eliminate trigger creep ...it's close but ran out of adjustment #2 . Whoever came up with the bright idea of Lock Tightening the accy. bases to the rail needs a good kick to the nuts ! As this is a user decision where they should be mounted ? Why the fuck do they Locktight the damn things on at the factory ??? I had hell removing them , if you don't have a GOOD set of hardened Allen wrenches your probably screwed !
 
Loctite is a friend to most of us and we use it on most everything. If you're having issues you need proper tools not swearing. When you use loctite (not lock tightening as its a trade name) use the proper type and you won't have issues. The factory probably loctited the rails on because there were complaints that they came loose at some point. Use the proper tools and you won't have an issue. You will want to use loctite on all the screws for the skins and the scope. Since the screws for the skins can't be tightened a lot due to the fact that they'll crush the skins you don't have a lot of choice unless you want to carry your allen key with you and tighten as you shoot.Temperature changes affect aluminum and plastic quite a lot so the screws will be overloose and overtight at times depending on temp. You should have a proper set of allen keys to work on these guns so why would you use a cheap set on an expensive gun. Sorry you're upset over this and hope you can get things worked out. I've had my rifle for 4 years or so and I'm really happy with it despite small issues that I can easily overcome.....many of which are my own fault.

Frank
 
I often feel as you guys do when running 308 or 6.5CM in regard to magazine capacity. Then I remember that the entire rifle was designed around the premise of a bullpup 338LM which would then accommodate shorter cartridges via conversions. It wasn't an afterthought, but there are limitations when building a 338LM that can assume the role of a 308! 338LM bolt guns typically have 5rnd mags, and everyone seems quite happy with that. It is fortuitous that the space required for 5rnds of 338, accommodates 6rnds of 308. Comparing the mags in this rifle to an AICS mag, is most certainly an unfair comparison, as I know of no AICS mag that will accommodate nearly any cartridge up to 338LM.

With that said, I'll be sure to talk with my rep about your concerns. I too have found some mags to be a little sharp. Most are perfectly fine, but in those instances where I've found a sharp one, a little work with some abrasive in the right places took care of the issue. Though one would think there could be a step in the manufacturing process to round that edge while the steel is flat, before the mags are formed and welded. I'm betting if this was easy, they'd have done it already!

Remember also that DTA has a reputation for addressing customer concerns and creating solutions. When one issue is solved, we find others for them to improve. If you compare the early 1st gen SRS to the SRS-A1 currently offered today... you can see just how far they are willing to go to ensure their customers are happy! I'm sure the future holds many great improvements to the already excellent system.

I also agree that the red loctite on the screws is too much. The handguard is suppose to be modular. Tough to be modular when people are stripping out screw heads getting them off! I'd really enjoy a keymod handguard for these rifles. Though what they have now is a huge upgrade from the earlier handguards. I'm very thankful for it every time I go shoot! Once you do get the rails off, you can clean up the screws and run blue or green loctite to your desire.
 
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Loctite is a friend to most of us and we use it on most everything. If you're having issues you need proper tools not swearing. When you use loctite (not lock tightening as its a trade name) use the proper type and you won't have issues. The factory probably loctited the rails on because there were complaints that they came loose at some point. Use the proper tools and you won't have an issue. You will want to use loctite on all the screws for the skins and the scope. Since the screws for the skins can't be tightened a lot due to the fact that they'll crush the skins you don't have a lot of choice unless you want to carry your allen key with you and tighten as you shoot.Temperature changes affect aluminum and plastic quite a lot so the screws will be overloose and overtight at times depending on temp. You should have a proper set of allen keys to work on these guns so why would you use a cheap set on an expensive gun. Sorry you're upset over this and hope you can get things worked out. I've had my rifle for 4 years or so and I'm really happy with it despite small issues that I can easily overcome.....many of which are my own fault.

Frank
Frank , I guess point I was trying to make is its overkill ...no need for the high strength locker on these small screws. Loctite does make easier to remove formulas better suited for this application .......better yet why not just toss them in a bag and let the end user install them if and where needed ? If they are trying to cut labor times and costs this would surely be a way to speed things up !
 
I often feel as you guys do when running 308 or 6.5CM in regard to magazine capacity. Then I remember that the entire rifle was designed around the premise of a bullpup 338LM which would then accommodate shorter cartridges via conversions. It wasn't an afterthought, but there are limitations when building a 338LM that can assume the role of a 308! 338LM bolt guns typically have 5rnd mags, and everyone seems quite happy with that. It is fortuitous that the space required for 5rnds of 338, accommodates 6rnds of 308. Comparing the mags in this rifle to an AICS mag, is most certainly an unfair comparison, as I know of no AICS mag that will accommodate nearly any cartridge up to 338LM.

While a higher capacity magazine would be nice, having the ability to load long is a huge advantage. How many Short-actions can load to ~3" or Long-actions to ~4"?
 
While a higher capacity magazine would be nice, having the ability to load long is a huge advantage. How many Short-actions can load to ~3" or Long-actions to ~4"?
Indeed! That was basically the point of my post. While there is always room for improvement, we get more from the DTA setup than virtually any other rifle out there!
 
Greg , here's the pig all dressed up and ready to party ! Not too crazy about the AccuCam mount , but it will do untill the spacers come in for the DTA Mount you sent me ....thanks again this thing is nice !
39b0d97c241d692e2f0da38192a91c13.jpg

Nice looking setup Twisted, how do you like those bipod feet? I have been looking at some of those for my atlas, but I have never had the chance to use any.
 
While a higher capacity magazine would be nice, having the ability to load long is a huge advantage. How many Short-actions can load to ~3" or Long-actions to ~4"?

This is an important point. Those of you who've been on the Hide for about 10 years may remember that Nick was an ELR shooter before he started DTA and working within the limitations of the platforms he shot seemed to be big motivations for designing the SRS the way it is. The idea of having mags that secure the shoulder and allow for seating long I think were key to the initial design. That said, even he admits their shortcomings and says updating their design is a top priority now that they've caught up with the production backlog. That said, the criticisms of the mags are quite accurate.
 
Nice looking setup Twisted, how do you like those bipod feet? I have been looking at some of those for my atlas, but I have never had the chance to use any.
Razor , they are Pod Claws ... Bought them several years ago off someone here on the Hide that makes them ..search PodClaws ... They are great if you shoot off dirt , or rocks alot ..might slide some if you really load bipod hard on smooth hard surfaces like concrete ..... But yea I like them ! Someone on here can direct you where to pick a pair up ..they used to come in diffent sizes ..
 
Great looking kit you've got there Twisted! I always love the opportunity to get unique color patterns together.

Teufel, great looking setup on both rifles there. Get a chance to shoot it yet?
 
That'd be a reasonable solution if these rifles were the same price as a 10/22 :)

However, if new stock sides were required in order to allow fitting of a well designed and well made magazine, I'd trip over myself in my rush to buy them (the DTA's flat bottom action would accept something akin to an AW mag in the blink of an eye.).

Just re-read my earlier post; omitted to mention that the magazines also don't 'click' when seated; nor do they drop free when the mag release is pressed - it's a two handed job (with fingers bloodied from filling the mag :D) to get a DTA mag off the rifle - one to press the mag release, one to pull the mag.

- but those whinges are just 'incidental' noise to the utter crapness of the low capacity, sharp, difficult to load, jamming-follower DTA Chauchat mags themselves.

I'm hopeful the promised 10 rounder solution may address/fix this major shortcoming - but, rather like the emperor's new clothes, the issue 'isn't discussed' and news on the solution is 'scarce'.


Hmmmmm......mine click when seated and drop free when the mag release is used.

While I would love to have a quality 10 round mag as well and I have lamented over the same issues with the existing mag, a Dremel and some sandpaper have made them much easier to load and we all knew what the options were when we bought the rifle.
 
better yet why not just toss them in a bag and let the end user install them if and where needed ? If they are trying to cut labor times and costs this would surely be a way to speed things up !
This is EXACTLY what I was thinking while I was spending half an hour trying to remove the screws before getting frustrated and gorilla torquing the screws off, badly stripping a couple of them. Seriously, we all have Loctite (or can buy it easily enough). What we can't do is heat these plastic pic rails to melt the Loctite on their screws!

Regarding the 10 round mags, maybe a new skin that accommodates wider double stack mags? I know, I know, no new skins. But what if a new skin incorporated not just the wider mags, but also threw in a dust cover and a built-in angled foregrip? :D
 
That said, even he admits their shortcomings and says updating their design is a top priority now that they've caught up with the production backlog. That said, the criticisms of the mags are quite accurate.

Good to hear. Hope you're right :)

My impression is -based on chatting to a shooting pal who makes his living restoring extraordinarly expensive classic cars- that to anyone with a sheet metal skill set, making up the forms and pressing out a magazine is not difficult. This is one of a bunch of pics I took at AI in Portsmouth - as I watched, and, as mentioned, mindful of my many years of trouble free AW magazine use, all I could think of was the DTA Chauchat mags I'd just bought and shed a silent tear :D


Mag3_zps087d99f0.jpg
 
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While I would love to have a quality 10 round mag as well and I have lamented over the same issues with the existing mag, a Dremel and some sandpaper have made them much easier to load .

Are you dremeling just the [have to reality check myself that I'm typing a question about dremel-fixing magazines on a rifle in this price range! :D ] Are you dremeling just the points and knife edges of the lips, or doing anything internal to stop the follower occasionally tipping and jamming when mag filling (ie are you scouring the inner faces of the mag or the outer faces or corners of the follower?)?





Edited to add a pic of the awesomely ergonomic rifle in use on the rainy day(that's an improvised rainshade on the front of the scope) that fated the destruction of my gloves by the rifle's chauchat-quality mags .

Rather like buying a Formula One car only to realise it's been built around a Pinto gas tank :(
:D

snip1_zpsdd773b3d.png
 
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Razor , they are Pod Claws ... Bought them several years ago off someone here on the Hide that makes them ..search PodClaws ... They are great if you shoot off dirt , or rocks alot ..might slide some if you really load bipod hard on smooth hard surfaces like concrete ..... But yea I like them ! Someone on here can direct you where to pick a pair up ..they used to come in diffent sizes ..

Thanks for the info I will check these out.
 
Regarding the 10 round mags, maybe a new skin that accommodates wider double stack mags? I know, I know, no new skins. But what if a new skin incorporated not just the wider mags, but also threw in a dust cover and a built-in angled foregrip? :D

Dust cover would be sweet...I don't fancy half a day cleaning my rifle again!
AFG would be nice but a removable rail that mated up with the bottom rail would be better. The polymer section in front of the trigger guard gets pretty slippery in wet conditions so anything would be better than the way it is now.
 


They did a dust cover for the PSR solicitation that was pretty slick, but sadly isn't being carried over into the production rifles.
 
Too bad the dust cover isn't being carried over. That would be nice to have for all the dust when we are shooting. Maybe we can retro them to the SRS?...
 
Are you dremeling just the [have to reality check myself that I'm typing a question about dremel-fixing magazines on a rifle in this price range! :D ] Are you dremeling just the points and knife edges of the lips, or doing anything internal to stop the follower occasionally tipping and jamming when mag filling (ie are you scouring the inner faces of the mag or the outer faces or corners of the follower?)?





Edited to add a pic of the awesomely ergonomic rifle in use on the rainy day(that's an improvised rainshade on the front of the scope) that fated the destruction of my gloves by the rifle's chauchat-quality mags .

Rather like buying a Formula One car only to realise it's been built around a Pinto gas tank :(
:D

snip1_zpsdd773b3d.png

I just lightly dremeled the feed lips with a sanding wheel and followed up with some emery cloth to polish them. Much smoother feeding and loading....and the lips no longer gouge my brass.

I've never had a failure to feed even after shooting enough ammo through my SRS to burn out two barrels, so I left the followers alone.

If you read back somewhere through the pages of this thread over a year ago you'll see my first and only complaint about the rifle was the cheap quality mags.

Considering all the other benefits this rifle offers, I got over it real quick.
 
Too bad the dust cover isn't being carried over. That would be nice to have for all the dust when we are shooting. Maybe we can retro them to the SRS?...

I explored doing my own add-on, but my lack of engineering skills made it rather crude and clunky. This is yet another area that a 3rd party manufacturer could make SRS-specific products.
 
The financial cost of R&D for those covers is already sunk, though. Maybe they are saving them for the DTA SRS A2..... :D
 
How are you guys zeroing your scope for each caliber you guys are using? I just purchased a SRS and have a 5.5x22x56 NXS Nightforce. I think I am over thinking this, but I have several different calibers, 6.5 SAUM, .338 Norma Mag and soon a .308 or 6.5 Creedmor. My question is... Which caliber should I zero it for and set the NXS? Or are you taking your cold bore shots to re zero your scope? I hope this makes sense, because now I am confused!
 
I have designed databook pages that allow me to track zero to or from whichever conversion I have. I start with one barrel, and track where zero shifts from that barrel for all the others. Then I can track what adjustments need to me made when coming to or from any of them by glancing at its page. Do this enough, and you'll understand why I'm such a big advocate of Tangent Theta P-series scopes. ;)

This page is the rifle system info page. Here you track your "base barrel zero" and then indicate the adjustment from that barrel to all your other barrels. You can track your chassis information as well, and update total round count on the system.


This page is the individual barrel zero data page. Each conversion has one of these pages dedicated to it. Here you track the zero conditions for each barrel, and then your zero adjustments coming from other conversions. You can also track other pertinent data such as different loads you've reached via development, and the chamber info regarding where the lands are on the virgin barrel. When you re-zero the barrel, you just erase and update it, so you always have current accurate zero atmospherics to go from.


Hope that helps.
 
This is why I am running a Premier Heritage on my SRS. With it's zeroing features, it seems like it is made for switch barrel rifles like the DTA SRS/Covert/HTI and new AI rifles. I am excited for the new Tangent Theta scopes, i just wish their pricing was similar to the Premier.
 
This is why I am running a Premier Heritage on my SRS. With it's zeroing features, it seems like it is made for switch barrel rifles like the DTA SRS/Covert/HTI and new AI rifles. I am excited for the new Tangent Theta scopes, i just wish their pricing was similar to the Premier.
I too have Premier's on my rifles currently while we anxiously await the TT's. It's just so handy to have an externally adjustable zero stop when you are swapping conversions a lot.
 
What's worked for me over the years is to just zero my scope to the barrel and load I shoot most often and then log the offsets from there. My log book goes everywhere my rifle goes, so I just have them listed on the front page for easy reference. I lucked out on a couple of them, for example switching to the 16" .308WIN is the same windage, but 1 mil up, so at 100m I just hold under one mil. But having turrets that are easy to re-zero without tools is a nice option for sure, as long as you don't forget what it's set at.
 
I just right down my zero info.

Caliber Elevation WIndage
308 Win -0.6 -0.6
260 Rem 0.6 -1.2
300 WM 0.8 -0.7
308 Sub 2.8 -1.0
338 LM 0.1 -0.6
 
I too have Premier's on my rifles currently while we anxiously await the TT's. It's just so handy to have an externally adjustable zero stop when you are swapping conversions a lot.

Yep, and No tools required, the DT systems and TT/PR scopes are made for each other and also my new custom S/B. Gotta love love them both!
 
What's worked for me over the years is to just zero my scope to the barrel and load I shoot most often and then log the offsets from there. My log book goes everywhere my rifle goes, so I just have them listed on the front page for easy reference. I lucked out on a couple of them, for example switching to the 16" .308WIN is the same windage, but 1 mil up, so at 100m I just hold under one mil. But having turrets that are easy to re-zero without tools is a nice option for sure, as long as you don't forget what it's set at.

+1

I zero'd for my primary barrel and then note the offset for the other barrels. I put the offsets in my calculator and log book. When I swap barrels, I just l pull up the new bullet with the offset info, and dial in the solution the calculator says. I don't re-zero the scope when I switch barrels.

I don't want to adjust my turrets once I have everything dialed in. It is too easy to not get it just right. And changing the zero with each barrel swap just adds time.