What Happened to Desert Tactical Arms?

TV-PressPass

TV-PressPass

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 99.1%
114   1   0
Location
Mountains, Alberta
I seem to recall The Shooting Edge brought in several of these very fancy rifles, but I don't see or hear anything about them these days.

Are they still available in Canada anywhere?

Any more coming in the foreseeable future?

Do they ever come up on the EE?

For anyone who actually owns one: On a scale of one to amazing, how amazing are they?

srsa1angled-lr.jpg
 
Last edited:
I send 3 e-mails about this one to shooting edge and they never respond to me.

This is not like i wanted to ask one thousand questions, i just wanted to place a order. I think they are now at the second version of the DTA.
The army requested a little modifications.

If i remember correctly i think that dlask arms have conclude a deal with DTA at shot show and can now have them.
 
I ordered one in .338LM about a year ago from the Shooting Edge. I was told the next shipment was all spoken for, but that a second shipment was expected by early summer. Shortly thereafter, an SRS Covert in .308 came up in the EE so I bought it from a fellow CGNer. It was in fabulous condition with the full deployment kit and 20MOA 34mm mount.

Upon arrival, I was a little disappointed with the trigger. I knew from reading the threads on Snipershide that some of the rifles came with less than fantastic triggers, but that DTA was very good about rectifying the problem. Rather than deal with all of the border issues, I took the gun apart and was able to adjust the overtravel with a bit of stoning. I was also not overly excited about the magazines either. They are long so as to allow seating the bullets out which is nice, but they are not as robust as I would have liked and have plastic floor plates. They work very well, however, so this is only a minor gripe.

I ended up importing a Covert conversion in.338LM and noticed with the 338 bolt in place, the trigger pull was now very good, and on par with a Blaser LRS, which in my opinion has a really nice trigger.

Accuracy in both calibers is exceptional. Fit and finish of the rifle is again very good but not spectacular for a rifle in this price range.

With regard to "shootability", the pistol grip can sometimes "steer" the rifle if you're sloppy, and I had no problems with the lack of an adjustable cheekpiece, or hard rubber buttpad. The new A1 version has an adjustable cheekpiece and softer buttpad and should be available soon.

The rifle carries very well and handles and balances like it weighs less than it does. I used it this past fall to take two moose and a caribou and wouldn't hesitate to carry it again.

Overall, it's not a DSR1, but at half the cost, it's pretty darn good.

Jim
 
Oh man would I be excited if someone could get these in again. I had a chance to buy a 308 version once, I've been kickin myself ever since for not buying it.... I had the money but I had just bought a sl8 a week earlier. It would have hurt my brain to have spent that much on guns in a week.
 
Yup. They do come up on EE every once in a while. My buddy tlovell (fellow CGNer') just bought his off a guy from Ontario. He was able to buy it within a few hours of it being posted on the EE. The guy selling was about to have a kid and needed to liquidate some of his assets. I had a chance to shoot it, it's in .338 lapua. That muzzel break is amazing. It has less recoil than his Springfield M1A Standard. He also told me that he called around trying to find the .308 conversion kit with no luck. I believe TSE used to bring them in, but they told him that he shouldn't waste his time waiting around to see more from DTA and that they have more "interesting" things on the way. What ever that means.


Collection1_zps0a008ccd.jpg


Collection2_zps34b97952.jpg
 
I bought mine at TSE last Christmas. I was in there last month and was told they still bring them in but you have to order one to get one.
I would rate it on a scale from one to awesome as SUPER AWESOME.
I have ridden around on the quad with it slung across my back all day hunting and because of it's length there is no long barrel to snag trees when things got tight, also because the weight is further back it doesn't feel as heavy as it actually is shooting offhand.
The first day out with it I shot a 3 shot 0.72" group at 300yds with factory 250gr ammo (ya ya I know 3 shots don't mean squat according to the super snipers on CGN). I now have a few 1/2moa handloads for it using 300gr SMK's and Berger's.
I paid over $7000 with tax (full deployment kit) and don't regret it for one second.
Trigger is as good as any trigger I've ever pulled on any rifle.
There is a gen 2 out now with a couple small changes but I haven't really looked into exactly what they are.
I'll never sell mine. I have no complaints.
 
FWIW
I own a "very early" edition DTA SRS rifle and have the 243, 308 and 300WM conversions kits. The factory ammo/accuracy claim is easy to match and surpass ,but proper handloading makes these rifles "SHINE".
With the Armorers kit and a few extra barrel extensions ,adding one's own choice of barrel/chambering is a fairly straight forward bit of smithing.
The rifle is even balanced with a 30" barrel.....Match your "wildcat" or choice of cartridge to you bolt ,and have at it.
Trigger is tunable to tolerable and even surprisingly good with adjustments available and without modifications to parts ,but will never match the Blaser's LRS trigger. Still ,exceptional for a Bullpup styled rifle.

When considering this rifle's price.....1 stock,1 scope,multiple calibers at reasonable rates ,how long would it take to outspend this, buying multiple quality rifles and scopes....

Also be aware there are 2 varieties of this rifle besides the new II version. Early models have a "pin" that the barrel is indexed on when inserted ,which was changed to an edition
that replaces the pin with a lug cut in the barrel extension. Both editions work well,but 1 will not fit in the other. Each requires it's specific barrel extension.

The "new" models add an adjustable cheeckpiece,different forends (moveable picatinny rail rather than 4 position full length rails) available shorter and longer forends to suit
whatever you need.A better butpad for the "magnum" users and an easier use butspacer system.
This rifle started out great and continues to see available improvements. You can get additional "skins" for color or rear monopod or adjustable cheekpiece.

The mags did seem a little less "robust" than others I've used , BUT they work exceedingly well and allow COAL of handloaded cartridges to be way in excess of any other
mags I've used. This ,along with proper chambering leade allows the use of some of the newer VLD/Hybrid heavies to be optimally seated.

I would suggest that for an exceptionally well designed (following the lead of the AMP DSR1) these could make sense for a person wanting "something" other
than the traditional precision rifle. I agree that "plastic" is not for everyone,but I enjoy it on this model...it just works!

I don't know how many of these have made it up here,but I imagine due to the initial costs/or taste, they may not be as numerous as to appear "everywhere".
However ,for those that did acquire one,maybe you can start a "Canadian DTA SRS " chat room :)
Sold on the system...
G
 
It's like a poor man's DSR :), I actually prefer the simplicity of it. Would be nice to have some grip options though, and if they took AI AW mags they'd be almost perfect. As is though they've been quietly making noise in the back of my head.
 
I was just at TSE and they have several (yes several) of them right now. I believe i saw 2 coverts in 308, 1 standard in 338 and 1 50 BMG in their show room. Best part is you don't have to buy the $$$ deployment package this time around.

GO go go!
 
xopher said:
I was just at TSE and they have several (yes several) of them right now. I believe i saw 2 coverts in 308, 1 standard in 338 and 1 50 BMG in their show room. Best part is you don't have to buy the $$$ deployment package this time around.

GO go go!
Click to expand...


How much was it for the standard 338?
I bought mine there and got lucky that someone backed out and one was available when I called, I gave the visa number for the deposit and went in to get it 2 days later. Don't regret it one bit.
Does it come with one or two mags when you buy it alone? Scope mount? Bipod/Monopod? Bag?

Why wouldn't you want the deployment package? I'm glad I got it with mine. Comes with everything you need to clean and disassemble the rifle and includes the one piece scope mount, nice bag, the bipod and monopod.
I priced it all out separately and it saves you a little cash. Your going to want that stuff anyway and if another $1000 scares you when your already spending this much then maybe the DTA isn't for you.
 
Corlane sporting goods in Dawson's Creek is bringing in a large order of DTA rifles soon
I have a dual caliber on order.
Can't wait
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom