Desert Tech 

SRS A2

Small Platform Great Reach, Multi-caliber rifle

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6.5creed/ 300Norma Mag/ 33XC / 37XC

updated article 18/1/2024: Scroll to Section: Desert Tech SRS A2 – 33XC Barrel change.

 

Desert Tech SRS a2, Heard of this rifle? It’s the upgraded version of the popular Desert Tech SRS. Let’s find out more about this new Desert Tech SRS A2 rifle which we had built in 33XC with 3 other calibers following up. Me and Rob are both running 33XCs for the next foreseeable 24months of European competitions. Here’s how I got hooked on it, both the cartridge and the rifle. We wanted to use this rifle at the next Extreme Shot Italia II, 2000meters, 21-25 September 2022 as well as the KO1M and KO2M competitions.

It must be more than 10 years now since I first saw a Desert Tech SRS a2 rifle back at Diggle ranges in the UK on one of my visits to Vince Bottomley- Target shooter magazine editor. Vince got me hooked on to the sport with his guidance in the first years. The rifle’s ultra-compact size was the 1st thing that struck me.

Desert tech SRS a2
Desert Tech SRS with 33″ barrel versus a 308Win Surgeon rifles with 25″ barrel, same OAL but larger reach with the DT

In this picture you can see my surgeon rifle in 308Win 25” barrel sitting along side the Desert Tech in 33XC with a 34inch barrel plus 4” muzzle break. They measure the same length, the latter with 3x the reach and 4x the terminal energy at 600m. Quite impressive in such a compact and ‘light’ package. The surgeon rifles is beautifully tuned and shoots sub MOA at 600m. We had done load development in under 50 rounds for it. Both topped with March scopes to keep things simple and easy to work on.

Fast forward a few years later, I had the opportunity to try a Desert Tech SRS at Bisley when I met Ewen Campbell, Desert Tech’s distributor for the UK as we exchanged our mutual experiences on our rifles. I was breaking in my 284win Fclass rifle while Ewen was running a few 308Win rounds through his and he kindly let me pop off a few rounds.

Fclass at Bisley ranges fox rifle chassis

Memorable afternoon with Ewen Campbell at Bisley, Desert Tech’s UK distributor trying my 284Win Fclass rifle in a Brian Fox barrel block Chassis.

Desert Tech SRS A2 review

Super Compact Bullpup rifle

I really liked how the barrels could be swapped around in a very portable package. For someone like me that does quite some travel with his shooting equipment, portability is high on my list. My shooting buddy Bill had one of the first Desert Tech’s in the UK and he loved it. After hauling around the solid RPA International rifle for 2 years overseas a few times (300NM/338LM), I wanted something I could carry and switch calibres easily and possibly in a shorter package. Removing the barrel from the action makes most rifles quite compact, effectively the length of the barrel is the longest component. Travelling in airports lugging a big coffin-like case is not as desirable and after a few trips, I was set on this goal. When you add up your other kit, everything matters.

Desert Tech SRS
Desert tech srs components ready for easy travel. Get your Desert Tech conversion Kit

Look how compact and beautiful that is with a 33″+ 4″ terminator break, Ivey mount, Spare Eratac Mount, bolt and Chassis.

If you’re serious on shooting, you probably know you’ll be switching cartridges for different purposes. Changing barrels around is easy but you need a barrel vice. I’m not a big fan of it especially when travelling. It’s something I consider doing in a season but not something I fancy regularly.

“The goal was to have an ELR rifle under 12kg all kitted out with as long a barrel as I could reasonably have with the possibility to switch to other cartridges for practice with no special tools, while maintaining the same day scope.”

There weren’t many rifles in this category and I quite fancied the bullpup design. The rifle has been around for a decade and the reviews online from DT users are generally positive and they seemed to follow each other. I had seen other brands like Voere, Accuracy International AXMC, Sako TRG M10, Ritter and Stark and Blaser.

All these have easy switch barrel systems, but none were of bullpup design. The DSR-1 that is made in Germany has been around for a while but there wasn’t much literature about it and neither could I source enough info about Keppeler’s bullpup offering so Desert Tech was the most interesting with a facebook group of about 1700users.

Like everything else in life, accessibility is another important consideration. I had just sent my RPA action for cerakoting in matte black to give it a new life.

Barrel vice to remove barrel
RPA action before the cerakote job.

RPA Rangemaster BMF action

Cerakote job done on this RPA work horse in matte black finish at www.solidsolutiondesigns.com in the Netherlands

The gunsmith in the Netherlands, Harry Drescher from SolidSolutionDesigns.com , also happened to stock Desert Tech rifles so one day while discussing this RPA action and the new barrel we drifted onto the Desert Tech and the rest was history! With many trips postponed during 2020, it just felt right to acquire one of these beauties.

Solid Solution Designs are an ELR specialist supplier and rifle builder, they build long range and ELR rifles for military and competitive shooters with most items available instantly off the shelf. They also organise ELR shoots in various places in Europe from Italy to France and even Scotland. This is almost unparalleled in Europe and Harry is very on the ball. With Brexit in full swing complicating our UK rifle imports till things fall in place as well as COVID-19 in the mix, having an EU based supplier provided additional peace of mind.

Once I saw the Desert Tech rifle chassis on a video call, I was hooked. Meanwhile I spoke to David Tubb on the barrel specs. David is a treasure of information and is also extremely helpful. He has a facebook group dedicated to this line of cartridges which he invented, and many shooters have posted their experiences there. There is also a detailed paper which you can download about the XC line of cartridges which use the same parent case however necked up to .375 and .416 with a .460 apparently also in the making. I gave him a call and followed up with an email a few times relaying the info straight to Solid Solution Designs for the barrel work.

Desert Tech SRS 33XC components for the build

The Bartlein barrel blank arrived from the US. Meanwhile we set the specs at 33inch finished length with a 1.8 twist throated for the 300 Berger OTM finished length plus Terminator T4 break with net like fluting finished in olive drab. At the same time Harry was also handling my March scope 5-40×56 FFP with illuminated FMA-MT reticle (MOA same as found on the Genesis scope). Gary Costello from March Scopes UK was spot on in getting this scope done in time by the factory in Japan with this fine ELR reticle.

Desert tech srs a2
March FMA-MT reticle

Around the same time, the Ivey adjustable Mount also arrived which would provide over 200MOA of elevation. Besides the Ivey Mount, Solid Solution Designs also stock the Charlie Tarac units off the shelf. Seeing all the parts come together is always a pleasure and part of the fun of a project rifle like this. It’s probably what keeps us excited.

I really enjoyed receiving videos of my barrel being chambered, fluted and cerakoted. It felt unique and I quite like that especially on this project that I had been eyeing for a while.

Desert tech srs a2 is born!

Desert Tech SRS

Above: That’s what 200MOA dialed in looks like on the Ivey Mount.

Upon delivery I spent a few evenings playing with the rifle, taking it apart, fiddling with the butt to learn how to take it off and dismantling the bolt – all very straight forward with basic tools. I’m not particularly engineering oriented, just knowledge gained from my other rifles.

Desert Tech SRS A2

Is the new srs a2 trigger any good?

The next thing I wanted to do is to make the trigger lighter. In the new SRSA2 model, this needs the side panels removed which can be achieved by removing 11 small proprietary screws. I drew a small silhouette of the stock so I could map each screw back in place.

desert tech pistol grip branded

Once done, tuning the trigger pull is a rather easy straight forward exercise by turning the screw located in front of the trigger. The Desert Tech SRSA2 trigger is nowhere as light as my Fclass rifle but owning an RPA rangemaster military rifle, I feel the trigger pull is quite comparable and it’s crisp as well as consistent with no creep. After my first outing, it may need some more adjusting.

I removed the barrel which is super easy to do. This barrel weighs around 4.4 KG/9.7lbs while the rifle system alone runs at 5 kg including the chassis, scope (0.87kg/ 1.91lbs), Ivey mount (0.907 kg/1.99lbs) and LRA bipod (0.652kg/1.4lbs). This leaves the chassis alone at (2.5kgs/5.5lbs) which includes the monopod.

Desert tech srs a2 with barrel removed- super compact

desert tech srsA2

Once you remove the barrel, the Desert Tech SRS rifle is super-compact, and the length of the barrel is what will determine your hardcase length. Next, I mounted the March Scope 5-40×56 and bore sighted the rifle with the Ivey Mount set at zero. No surprises here.

Load Development of the 33XC Desert Tech SRSA2

Desert tech srs a2

I started out load development with some data I had acquired from my shooting buddy’s results which we had collected earlier in March. I knew that we were after around 3180ft/s. Other shooters posting on David Tubb’s group also showed similar nodes. Meanwhile, I also downloaded the Gordon reloading tool which is similar to Quickload and when I compared our data to that collected in the field, it was within a few feet per second! I figured we would start at 110 grain for sighting in the rifle and get a feel of how it kicks and then work our way through the ladder test.

Brass: Peterson Cartridge 33XC

Primers: Federal GM 215

Propellant: VV N570

Berger: 300 gr OTM.

Scales: Electronic dispenser from Frankford Arsenal Intellidropper then checked on Ohaus & Gempro300.

Dies: Tubb 33/37XC bullet Seater & FL sizing die

Desert tech srs a2
Chambered for 33XC

Neck tension: I ran each of the new cases through the accuracyreloading.it proprietary made expander mandrel (0.3359”) to give a consistent neck tension. This tool comes with a die and 5 different mandrel sizes. Thanks to Ferrucio from Accuracyreloading.it for providing these.

expander mandrel 338 accuracy reloading

I ran a few of these loaded rounds on a Sinclair concentricity gauge and they had less than 0.002 runout with many under 0.0015”.

A few of these cases with bases charges loaded to make load development faster.

Desert Tech 33XC load development in Sicily

We’re back in Sicily this month in the warmer months where everything is brown or gold with occasional sight of green where aquifers are. The weather in June around here is already at 30 degrees Celsius/ 86 Fahrenheit in the shade. This gave me a two-hour window to shoot the ladder test at 600m as I would barely be able to accurately hold PoA after that when heavy mirage picks up.

Besides that, we wanted to plot the impacts on target using our Digi scoping kit from KOWA Highlander Prominar 82mm 32x magnification bino spotter sitting atop the Ulfhednar.no UHHD40 Tripod. This setup is amazing. I’ve tried many others but for range work, reading mirage and watching impacts, it remains a favourite. Every minor detail is visible even watching particles in the air dance about in the sun light while seeing bullets in the paper at 1000m in good conditions.

Desert tech SRS a2
Testing load development using some serious Kowa Highlander Optics

New Solognac shooting Mat

Above: Laying down on a Solognac Mat made by Decathlon. This mat is of high quality and well priced. I found it is wide enough at the arms where you will be laying down while also making it very portable. We did not have time to use it in wet weather yet however I did try pouring water over it and it held water out. It also has a clear plastic section where you can leave your phone if you are using it as a ballistic solver and the screen still responds through it.

Solognac shooting mat by Decathlon

Desert tech SRS a2: Watch 33XC Load Development Weekend Video Experience

I also brought about the very practical, high definition and portable Swarovski BTX 95 spotter for my second spotter Alfio to watch through. It never hurts having two sets of great glass to watch these tests especially when you’re only firing one round of that particular charge. I brought along my old time friend Robert with me this time. Although new to shooting, he’s been listening to gun talk for a few years with me and after the spotting briefing, he plotted a fantastic plotting sheet for me as if it were a navigation map.

SRS A2 – 33XC Data from that ladder test.

Desert tech srs a2: 33xc ladder test data
Desert tech srs – load data in 33xc with 33 inch barrel

load development 33XC

33XC Ladder test target up at 600meters

33XC Ladder Test

Extreme Shot One Mile Italia 2021
Registered yet for Extreme Shot One Mile Italia?

We had 4 rounds for sighting in and 18 for the ladder test. There were 4 rounds that impacted the same 1inch vertical at 600m shots #8,#9,#13 and #17 at 3031ft/s, 3085ft/s, 3097ft/s and 3171ft/s. This looked promising as the velocity was about as fast as I wanted it to be considering that in cooler weather, we would probably be at around 3130ft/s.

To appreciate the 33XC’s performance you have to understand the energy it carries. Four times the energy of a 308win at 600m looks like this. The rock is 100m behind the 600meter target. The volcano like puff behind the target says it all.

Desert tech bullpup – 33XC Load development 

desert tech 33xc branded side view thumbnail

By 10am I had a hard time seeing the impacts as the mirage intensified. I still had 6 rounds to complete my ladder test so we decided to call it a day and shoot these in the evening before sunset rather than trying to make out where the shot would land. We retired by the pool for the afternoon to chillout while looking at the data and getting Robert’s view. Rob is an engineer by profession but spent the last 10 years flying commercial aircraft in Europe and for the last 2 years in charge of flight simulator certification. We had a good controversial chat about numbers, harmonics and bullet flight, it’s always interesting hearing other educated opinions.

Sicily agriturismo

At 6pm we were on the ranges again to fire off those last 6 shots on target. I noticed however that the point of impact of these rounds was now low about 1MOA from the others. I thought it must have been the cooler temperature of 25 degrees but was not sure. I had not touched the turrets knowing well I would be continuing the test in the evening. By the end of the string, we hit 3209ft/s at 116.8 with the 300gr Berger OTM. I did not notice any particular tight pattern with these shots except for higher velocity.

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This was the first 33XC built for our team. Click on this banner if you wish to read that report.

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Day two –  5 shot Vertical Dispersion testing with Desert tech srs a2

We now had a string of velocity readings with their corresponding point of impact. I had already noted during the string that 114.8 gr would be a good place to test another 10 rounds. I did not clean the barrel.

Overnight I pulled some rounds using the Hornady camlock bullet puller (superb!) which I had prepared with a higher charge, reweighed the charges over my Gempro 300 scales and loaded up 35 rounds. I had made a portable wooden rest to mount the Redding Boss II press to it to seat bullets on the go. Works a charm for loading anywhere you go especially on the ranges or in the back of the truck.

Portable reloading press mount

The first set of groups would be shot on the lower part of the target, while the second set would be shot on the top part. We prepared a large 5×5 foot cardboard with 9 sectors so it would be easier for us to call shots.

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desert tech monopod

**Desert Tech SRS a2 Monopod

I noticed one thing when using the monopod. It is very sturdy but as you increased the height especially the lower spring-loaded section which is leaner than the main monopod body, you tend to get some wobble at high mag. I was on 30x.

This may affect your windage. Ideally you place a small wooden 1”x5x5” plank so that you would not have the rear part of the rifle hanging on a ‘stiletto heel’ and use the thicker part of the monopod which is released by rotating the main monopod body. When trying to keep shots nice and tight together, while squeezing on a ‘medium weight trigger’, this will yield better consistent results and eliminate slight movements. Everything counts for small groups and minimal vertical dispersion. Coming from an Fclass shooting background where shooters are obsessed with tracking stocks and bipods, these are small details that pay dividends.

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Vertical Dispersion tests with the Desert Tech srs a2

Now we were interested in seeing what the maximum vertical dispersion would be for each of these loads over a 5 round group to start narrowing the gap on the node. We’re after 2 inch vertical or less over 5 rounds at 600meters. If any of these rounds show that, we will fire at 10 round group and measure the average vertical dispersion. The smaller we manage to have it, the more consistent our shots will be and the better we can move our point of impact on the plate as we know the rifle system is fully capable of shoot a 1/3MOA group. This gives superb confidence to the spotter when moving a point of impact. At this stage, I’m not interested in the windage. We will see to that later.

**Limitation: Remember we have a cartridge with about 700 rounds of barrel life and pretty expensive rounds so testing can’t be as extensive as your 308FTR rifle or we’ll burn out the barrel before the fun begins.

Desert tech SRSA2 33xc

We got there late morning at 10am on the Sunday, the 500km trip had battered us a little and we could not see the 5 shots fired at 114.8gr. We stopped shooting that morning and drove to the target to take a look. Three rounds fired at 114.8 gr N570 were at the bottom of the target with less < 2” vertical and another two in the black just below the cardboard. MV: 3173, 3171, 3152, 3166, 3169. Promising.

That evening we went back and shot 5 rounds groups of 115.3, 115.6 and 115.9gr. The 115.9 had 3 shots in less than 1.5” vertical – maybe promising.

We stopped shooting that evening by 7.30 the light was not good enough and our mates needed to collect their targets and cameras.

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Monday morning we were on the ranges at 06:30 to make sure we would have the time to shoot these rest of the rounds before we head back home. Over night we had prepared 114.8 again, 115.9 which had shot a tight 3 round group earlier, and 116.2.

We needed to let the barrel cool so realistically that’s what we could shoot in the time frame we had. We also used an Ulfhednar barrel cool fan to help speed up the process. We may need an even more powerful motor to help this barrel cool fast enough in warm ambient temperatures.

 

114.8gr: We started with 114.8gr again and 5 rounds. These formed a nice horizontal with less than 2” of vertical. (18ft/s extreme spread)

115.9gr: We had 1 bad primer so we only shot 4 rounds of this load. 3 shots measured 3.4” vertical with one impacting high opening it to 6”. (17ft/s)

116.2 – This load was inconsistent, we had shot impacting low by 8inch and we could not tell why.

33XC Ladder test

______We spent the last few hours enjoying the stunning scene while Etna Volcano started erupting in the distance, we had a glass of wine and enjoyed the simple pleasures of such wilderness.

At our next trip we shall test the Desert Tech SRSa2 with some of these loads at 1000 yards then onto the 1-mile plate. We’re after less than 8” vertical spread. We have a 4-day trip planned so that should be enough. We have target cameras at our next destination which will help although mirage will still be pretty heavy in July in Sicily even up in the hills. Part of the fun and hopefully we have the chance to cool down in the pool. Over & out.

Part II – 33XC testing further out

And the second trip came about. We set off on our 500km trip to the northern part of Sicily this time where Extreme Shot One Mile ITalia will be held from 22-26 September , search facebook group Trapani 1 Mile Shoot. We got to the range early morning to firing off a few rounds. We had since removed the scope as we wanted to run a tracking test on a dedicated jig so that we could be super stable so we had to rezero.

scope tracking rig
IVEY MOUNT scope tracking rig

March FMA MT reticle

Aligning the scope reticle
above, checking the reticle against a plumb line at 100m to ensure it is perpendicular. we also aligned it to an LRA accuracy electronic bubble level.

srs a2 Monopod VS rear bag

We fired off 10 rounds that morning, with rear bag and with monopod. I had shot a previous group at 100m and it wasn’t super tight about 0.75MOA. My shooting buddy Rob gave me his eberlestock wedge rear bag and said, go on shoot with this under your monopod and don’t use the monopod altogether. We were quite surprised to see that shooting with the rear bag shrank the group to 1/3MOA compared to shooting with a monopod. They were now all touching, all 5 shots.

 

DTA SRS A2

As an Fclass shooter, this should not surprise me but it did. The rifle recoils differently over a bag, its more solid since we just widened the area over which the rifle sits and there is very little movement on high magnification when squeezing the trigger. I shot on 30x magnification. This trigger I had set at 700ish grams / 24 ounces – that’s light but not Fclass light meaning you actually have to put some pressure to squeeze. With an Fclass gun that would be probably 1/3 that trigger pull. This all makes a difference if you want to shoot small groups way out there.

I packed up and headed to the range further up north. Mean while I setup the cameras at the range as I wanted to see some groups at 1000yards.

Firing Pin Brakes on SRS A2

Desert tech firing pin

I dropped the first round in and the rifle didn’t go bang! more than 6 hrs drive to get here and this thing wouldn’t go off. I remove the round, but the primer was still untouched. I removed the bolt, and the barrel. As I flipped the bolt, I could see there was no firing pin. Surely enough it had broke. As I turned the barrel upside down, the remaining bit of the firing pin dropped out. No spare firing pin and no way to get one to Sicily on time meant I would have to make do with my RPA 300 Norma Mag for that weekend and do some practice with the 45 rounds I had brought with me for some practice to be able to compare to my 33XC. This rifle shoots amazingly out past a mile on balloon sized targets. You would be quite impressed to see this.

RPA RANGE MASTER 338
RPA RANGE MASTER 338 using Eberlestock Wedge bag

ELR distances with 33xc Desert Tech SRSA2

So far we had not yet stretched the Desert Tech SRS A2 to beyond 600m. On our last trip the firing pin broke before I could test that! We had done 500km trip back home and 2 hrs ferry… shit happens. This time Solid Solution Designs sent me another firing pin to get going with my test and surely enough, 2 weeks later i was on the road again in Sicily heading to Trapani One Mile Shoot.

Not sure if it’s because I’m not based in the US, but Desert tech was initially slow to reply to issues related to the firing pin or follow up to check that I actually got one.  At this price tag, a company should be more responsive especially when you reach out numerous times. Thankfully my dealer is on his toes and efficient. Dealers should be better stocked with some basic parts to be able to send out parts to shooters wherever they happen to be when things crop up. The issue is now solved.

I brought with me 3 loads at 114.6, 114.8 and 115gr of N570. These loads had done well last time so I wanted to shoot them slowly at 600m and then take them to the mile.

frankford arsenal intellidropper
All ammo is dropped with Frankford Arsenal intellidropper. I then place the charge on the Gempro300 and every few loads, i also check them on this ohause tuned scales by a fellow from 6mmbr. This way i know the ammo is superb. I found the Frankford Arsenal Intellidropper very consistent once you let it warm up about 30mins. it probably won’t miss a beat. Will review it shortly.

 

Desert Tech SRSA2 in 33XC caliber
Desert Tech SRS A2 – 600m load testing
Desert Tech SRSA2 in 33XC caliber
The view through the March 5-40×56 at 600m target on a very hot day. 32Deg. Celcius – 90 fahrenheit. Prominent knob on the left is the IVEY Mount adjustable from 0-200 MOA.
33XC
The low recoil made it attractive for this petite lady to give it a go without intimidating her. It kicks less than my 308win unbraked. Spotting for wind was done using this Swarovski BTX95mm mounted on Ulfhednar tripod 40kg rating.

The groups at 600m were very promising, remind me of my Fclass rifle. I really want to see a 2″ vertical spread or less at this distance.

33xc load testing
Small increments make a different. the 114.6 grain load had a larger spread. The 114.8gr load remained consistent over the 3 outings we’ve done so far.
33xc loads
114.8gr of N570 seems to be the sweet load. We will now take it across the valley to touch the 1340m and 1500m target.

Did I say how helpful the eberlestock wedge back proved to be? What I learnt from Fclass is that if you really want superb vertical, besides awesome ammo, you really need your rifle to recoil as straight as possible. Not using a rear bag with ears doesn’t help. The butt of the DT is made for monopod use or some sort of squeasy bag. Now I should have the adjustable bag rider coming in a few days which will enable better tracking of the rifle with zero lateral play. The rifle has to recoil in a perfect line. This together with the already very good load will ensure vertical in the 1/3MOA.

SRS A2 Barrel Removal and ZERO

Everyone asks this question does the Desert Tech rifle hold zero when you remove the barrel? 

 

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I wanted to test this so I could determine what to do when flying with this thing since I wanted to take it apart for a smaller luggage. I shot 1 round at 100m soon after I zeroed my scope. I then removed the barrel and fired 1 round. I then removed the barrel again and fired another round which impacted slightly below it.

33XC load test past 1000meters

I wanted to print 5 rounds groups at 820m, 1190, 1340m and 1500m. The one mile chain had been broken by a previous 338LM shooter so I couldn’t shoot it.

33XC at 1340 meters
3 round group with the 33XC at 1340 meters. target measures 1.5 MOA

 

33XC long range groups
3 round group at 1190 meters in the lower part of the 1 MOA target
33xc at 1500meters
The sun light on a summer Sicilian afternoon is really bright. I increased contrast so show the 1500m string group the center of the plate walking right towards 3 oclock. Below you can see the string being shot with my enthusiastic Italian spotter Alfio.

 

Sicily enjoys some of the most beautiful waters in the Mediterranean so after that time spent in the warm weather, a quick dip was in order.

DESERT TECH SRS A2 PLACES 3RD IN COMPETITION

Checkout our final string on day 2 of Extreme Shot One Mile Italia where we amassed top points and fell short to secure first place after missing the last shot at a mile! The consistency of the 33XC Desert Tech together with the great indications provided to me by Spotter Robert Aquila meant we made a comeback on day 2. The winner, Gary Costello was also shooting his 33XC custom built.

Gary Costello final string as seen from the spotting scope

Extreme Shot One Mile Italia Points shown below

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March Genesis 6-60×56 for ELR 

After months of consideration, reading and researching, we bit the big bullet and went for a top scope that does it all after months trying various options and considering the pros, cons and bills. With up to 400 MOA of elevation, the March Genesis 6-60×56 tops the charts for a one integrated solution. Read more about this March Genesis Extreme long range scope here. It’s quite incredible looking at this picture to see just how short the bullpup version of this SRS A2 is with a 33inch barrel and a 4″ muzzlebreak. It’s the same size of a M40A3 rifle with 3 times the reach! Strong case for the Desert tech bullpup system which very few can contest.

March Genesis scope

Desert Tech SRS A2 – 33XC Barrel change.

Indeed, we can change barrels easily on a Desert tech platform, however we are only switching to another 33XC barrel here. Another Bartlein in 33″ 1.8 twist. With this combination and 70MOA we can go out to 2km no problem.

Above: New 33XC barrel installed in the SRS A2 desert tech system with a Speed

Tracker mk4 unit mounted on the side of the forend read all MVs.

As mentioned earlier, one of the reasons I wanted a quick barrel change platform was to be able to switch calibers and barrels according to what works best.

the other thing is that cartridges like the 33XC, competition only cartridges as I like to refer to these drag stars EAT through barrels like a dragracing car goes through its tires. At an estimated barrel wear of about .020″ per 100 rounds, it won’t take you a long time to understand why those running this cartridge have gone through one or two barrels fast. The performance is tremendous as it the wear on barrels. Thank fully, it takes just 2 minutes for me to slap the new 33XC barrel which Harry at Solidsolutiondesigns.com has prepared for me this time in a 1.8 twist 33″ long with fishnet style fluting.

Now after all i learnt, I had 2 things I wanted to be sure of after my last barrel experience. 1st – that the bolt would open on twice fired 33XC cases without giving me primary extraction problems. As was explained to me by a few smiths, the combination of 3 lug bolt, a not sufficient aggressive angle in the barrel extension and a large firing pin hole contribute to this issue. I’ve not had issues with the 300NM or 6.5cm barrels but I did have issues with my 33xc and 37XC barrels. As soon as I got it, I prepared 7 loads that I wanted to fire from 113 to 117 grains of N570. This would act as a ladder test and at the same time, give me an idea of my primary extraction. The new Supertrickler has a function to prepare the ladder tests for you dropping the charge to the next increment automatically. very neat!

33XC load development

Above: 33XC load development with Super Trickler.I prepared test tubes with the charge weight ready so I would just have to clean, sized the fired cases on the range and load up the same charge again for 3 times in a row to ensure the bolt would open without problems on a fully formed case. I had over 100, 33XC Peterson cartridge brass from the other barrel which i was keen to safeguard. These are costly components. I measured them with the wilson gage to sort them and ensure I would only use and size those that would be as close as the new ones fired in this barrel. ARC BALLISTICS in the UK provided these beautiful trimmers to ensure all my 33XC brass was uniform. They do some amazing tools for the handloader check them out.

The Wilson gage allows me to measure PRECISELY how much bump I give to the shoulder of the case when I FL size so that i only size the cases 0.003″ max. Below you can see these rounds fired in a quick ladder test, checking for speed, nodes as well as primary extraction at 300meters. So far so good and we had a nice clusted in the middle with 4 shots at 300m almost touching.

You might ask did you zero at 100m? No I didn’t bother, I Bore sighted the rifle on a wooden plank at 100m to ensure the shots would land on target and added another 2MOA to that figuring it would be close enough and it was. This saves ammo especially at 115gr per charge and is great training for when my 416 Barrett arrives. You need to be a little picky if you want to maximise your components efficiency.

Next, I picked the load at 114.7gr and fired 4 rounds at 300m again. This group was quite encouraging. that’s less that 0.8″ so shorter than 1/3MOA. Good start for this virgin 33XC barrel. My next test will be seating depth test prepared below then a 10 round group at 1000m. In the drawing you see below, I keep measurements of NEW cases, Once Fired as well as ANNEALED and Sized case. I keep this log for all my cartridges always using same measuring tools.

Below, the seating depth test loads can be seen grouped in 3 rounds. Another Ammo saving tip – IF the first two shots are not close enough, don’t fire a 3rd one. At 300m you want shots that are within an inch or less than each other preferably within 0.7″ or less. If they are 2″ apart, we don’t care about that seating depth. That’s the whole point while we do seating depth test to tighten that group. Use the Highest Mad scope you have when doing a ladder test to have a precise aiming mark as you can see above, I can easily hold the left corner of the square at 300m on 40x Magnification.

Also this will tell us something about the window that we have with this barrel as we change the seating depth. These rounds are loaded in 0.005″. This barrel eats them up fast so that throat is going to move around 0.020 per 100 rounds. Don’t shoot strings when doing these tests, keep string shooting for an important match. This load will NOT stay super accurate for the lifetime of the barrel, I construe that I will have to play with it again after about 150 rounds with some seating depth test but I only need 36 rounds for the match so from this point onwards, I can easily shoot 3 matches with this load or so.

 

Did you ever wonder what the difference is between a 33XC doing 3170ft/s with a 300gr berger OTM bullet VS a Cutting Edge .375cal 400Gr bullet doing 2940ft/s? Here is a lesson in High Velocity penetration. The two shows on the bottom are 33XC shots from 991meters away. The top 3 above them are 37XC bullets impacts. Alot of energy was dumped into that steel but the 33XC rounds went through. Now you understand why 14.5mm is considered High Velocity Penetrating ammo and remember, we are only using full metal jacket ammo here and copper solids which do not have a Tungsten core.

37XC dumped a hell of alot of energy at 1000yards

3 thoughts on “Desert Tech SRS A2 in 33XC!

  1. Pingback: 300 Norma Magnum Cartridge - A True One Mile Performer! | Rifle Talks

  2. Jeff Edwards says:

    HI, Nice setup with the SRS. Just wondering the max diameter of the barrel you can have on the SRS. Yours looks like straight with no taper from the barrel extension through to the muzzle brake.

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