Review: .50BMG Desert Tech HTI

Kevin M.

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
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I figured it has been a while since I posted a review of a truly ridiculous gun review, so I got off my arse and put one together for you guys. Enjoy! :cheers:

For those of you who are wondering what this gun is, I'll give you the coles notes version.

The Desert Tech HTI (Hard Target Interdiction) is a bolt action, magazine fed long range .50BMG sniper rifle. It is a bulpup design, and thanks to some very good engineering, it is almost a foot shorter and 11lbs lighter than the Barrett M107. Due to the clever barrel locking system, you can change barrel or caliber in under a minute, and have your zero be within 1MOA of where you had left it.

As I have it set up with a NF scope, it weighs 23lbs. A standard .50BMG typically weighs in close to 30lbs unscoped.

Desert tech is one of my favorite manufacturers of firearms at the moment, because despite the high price of their product, they innovate at a tremendous pace and have products that are extremely well made.

I managed to get the gun out to the range for the first time today, and it was a great time. The gun does kick noticably harder than any of my other .50's due to the light weight, but most shooters will still find it to be just find to put a few magazines through without issue. Just don't mount your scope too close... trust me, after you pull the trigger, the multiple inches of eye relief gets significantly reduced lol.

Accuracy seems quite good at early reports, hitting under 1MOA with some of my sighting groups using PMC Bronze ammo, likely helped by the excellent trigger and free floating barrel.

All in all, this is an outstanding rifle. Very portable, very accurate. The downsides are high cost and high recoil. If you can deal with that, than you may want to get behind this rifle and shoot it! :d


Top to bottom:

Steyr HS-50
Serbu BFG-50A
Desert Tech HTI
Desert Tech SRS























Video will be added shortly.
 
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Like seriously what do you do for a living?

I got a trigger pull on one at CSC (all black one), very nice, don't even need to say "for a bullpup".

What conversions do you have for the little brother? I do have to ask, no AI? I hope to make the choice one day myself.
 
Like seriously what do you do for a living?

I got a trigger pull on one at CSC (all black one), very nice, don't even need to say "for a bullpup".

What conversions do you have for the little brother? I do have to ask, no AI? I hope to make the choice one day myself.

Snow cone machine salesman...;)

The trigger is fantastic overall. Very impressive. I have 338lm and 308 conversions for the SRS. No AI at the moment, perhaps in the future.
 
I love for your review that the "cons" are high cost and recoil. :) No doubt that the recoil is accurate but I doubt anybody that is shooting a .50 BMG is worried too much about cost. Just saying...
 
I love for your review that the "cons" are high cost and recoil. :) No doubt that the recoil is accurate but I doubt anybody that is shooting a .50 BMG is worried too much about cost. Just saying...

I'm considering a DTA. Upfront cost is indeed high - but when you consider the savings on scopes and other accessories with the swap-able barrels, it's not bad.

Right now I have a custom 6.5x47 (2500$), a T3 Varmint in .300WSM (about 1500$ into it so far), and an ATRS built .338LM (easily worth 5000$). Thats 9000$ in rifles alone, BEFORE the glass is added. Right now I have 2 bushnell Elite Tacticals (~4500$ for both), a S&B (3500$), and an ATACR (3000$) - would sure be nice to only have ONE scope for all three....

.50BMG though - that's a whole different game. Different reloading gear, etc etc all adds up quickly...!!!

-J.
 
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