I wouldn't recommend pulling the sear. Its is a little more complicated than some would be comfortable with. Also, it isn't very hard to damage the receiver getting the pins out and back in.
Official (DTA) SRS, HTI, Covert, Hunter Thread
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Yes agree...
The pins are a VERY tight fit and you need to make a "pilot" pin to extract the main. You also need to make a guide to re insert the pin so you do not damage the receiver on re install of the pins. The domed head on the pins allows a normal pin punch to "slip" and damage the receiver.
Well, my factory 308 barrel didn’t disappoint with federal 168gr T308T ammo. Shot 5 at 100yds and 3 at 200yds before the rain came down. Next to test is the factory 338 lapua barrel. I’ve got a box of 270gr Hornady ELDX & a box of 250gr S&B match to test. Anybody have experience what factory ammo they recommend that shoots well out of the 338?
The horny 285ELD – M has shot good in several of my 338 barrels. The 338 can really test your fundamentals so build a good shooting position before you start and make sure your trigger is tuned up good.
Hornady 285 ELD. I roll my own, but am actually fairly happy with all the Hornady Precision Hunter line. Single digit SD's, ES ~20. Little wider in cold weather. More than sufficient. Used it for Moose, elk, and smashing steel. They're all a hoot to shoot. You'll want a brake on the 338LM; I went for a Area 419 on all those. Recoil is actually very tame. Look into a SAC 223 conversion to round it out. Roll your own pills for a much tighter SD and ES; With 6.5 Creedmoor and Staball, I used 43gr to average 2878 FPS out of desert tech brass with SD of 5.3 and ES of 12... 1 hole groups became truly 1 barely ragged hole. Factory barrels for the 6.5 and 338LM; Proof Research CF for the 6.5 stubby, and I don't know what but whatever SAC gives for 223. I can always chase more accuracy, but, I've never really had to track an animal; they're all just *down*. The bullets just go where you tell them to with this platform.
Mag catch problem solved. I might just have a lemon, but if anyone else runs into this in the future, let me know and I can probably help you out.
Long story short, though the factory skins I have look fine, the molded hole for the left side mag release had tolerances about 1mm too large, which allowed the bolt catch to be slightly torqued rearward by the mag catch spring. This caused only a small portion of the mag catch to touch the magazine, which led to magazine retention issues as I move from position to position.
Before, note the angle that the mag catch gets torqued to, essentially only the rear corner holds the magazines in. Fine for prone shooting but not running around doing positional stuff.
After, note how the mag catch is much closer to square (when I went more than this, it required too much force to insert a mag). Sure I could file the bottom of the catch, but this allows for a non-permanent modification and solves the problem completely.
I wanted a non-intrusive and non-permanent solution, and simply 3d printed a variety of mag release buttons with the shaft offset at varying distances.
I played Goldilocks a bit, as 0.6mm was so much retention the mag insertion was troublesome, and 0.2mm was only slightly improved. 0.4mm was perfect, and the 3D printed PPA-CF should hold up as good as the original.
Doesn't look too bad.
If anyone ever runs into this issue I would be happy to send you a few mag catches for the cost of parts and shipping to see if it solves your issue, just reach out.
Final solution is a 3d printed bolt catch with an M6 stud to replace the original.
Long story short, though the factory skins I have look fine, the molded hole for the left side mag release had tolerances about 1mm too large, which allowed the bolt catch to be slightly torqued rearward by the mag catch spring. This caused only a small portion of the mag catch to touch the magazine, which led to magazine retention issues as I move from position to position.
Before, note the angle that the mag catch gets torqued to, essentially only the rear corner holds the magazines in. Fine for prone shooting but not running around doing positional stuff.
After, note how the mag catch is much closer to square (when I went more than this, it required too much force to insert a mag). Sure I could file the bottom of the catch, but this allows for a non-permanent modification and solves the problem completely.
I wanted a non-intrusive and non-permanent solution, and simply 3d printed a variety of mag release buttons with the shaft offset at varying distances.
I played Goldilocks a bit, as 0.6mm was so much retention the mag insertion was troublesome, and 0.2mm was only slightly improved. 0.4mm was perfect, and the 3D printed PPA-CF should hold up as good as the original.
Doesn't look too bad.
If anyone ever runs into this issue I would be happy to send you a few mag catches for the cost of parts and shipping to see if it solves your issue, just reach out.
Final solution is a 3d printed bolt catch with an M6 stud to replace the original.
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^ glad you were able to fix this.
But this is what pisses off even those of us who really like this platform: DT’s poor quality control. You should not have to 3-D print parts to fix a $4000 rifle chassis. Full stop.
Or at the very least you ought to be able to send it in no questions asked and have it fixed or a new one sent to you and they can sell the old one as a factory second.
This is also why I say, despite it being my favorite every day, shooting platform, I would never take it to war with me. Couldn’t possibly trust it if your life depended upon it.
But this is what pisses off even those of us who really like this platform: DT’s poor quality control. You should not have to 3-D print parts to fix a $4000 rifle chassis. Full stop.
Or at the very least you ought to be able to send it in no questions asked and have it fixed or a new one sent to you and they can sell the old one as a factory second.
This is also why I say, despite it being my favorite every day, shooting platform, I would never take it to war with me. Couldn’t possibly trust it if your life depended upon it.
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I completely agree. The extraction issues and mag retention are enough to be laughable at their quality control, the forend missing 2 x screws from factory just makes it worse. What is most frustrating is though they did offer to have the gun shipped back (its currently my only high end bolt gun, so that isnt an option right now), they required me to pay for a new extractor for the extraction issues. That should be a warranty coverage.
I am going to reach back out to them and let them know mag issue to see what they will offer to do just out of curiosity. Will update.
I am going to reach back out to them and let them know mag issue to see what they will offer to do just out of curiosity. Will update.
Do you want a parametric file that you can adjust the shaft offset, or would you like 3 different mag catches with different offsets (0.2mm,0.4mm and 0.6mm is what I tested). Either will take 5 min so its no issue either way
If you're going to do this you need M6 Heat set insert, a length of M6 threaded rod (its going to be shorter than the original overall length of the mag catch. Youll just need to install the heat set insert, install the threaded rod with some loctite and then file the rod to match the OAL of the original.
