Story & Photography by Oleg Volk
6.5 Creedmoor has a lot going for it: it’s an accurate round with modest wind drift, light recoil and adequate terminal performance. It has just one problem: the barrel length required for full powder burn. Barrels with sufficient stiffness for high accuracy get fairly heavy at 26 inches, which is the average optimal length for the caliber. By the time a brake and a sound suppressor are added to the end, we would end up with a bolt action that won’t fit inside vehicles and is only usable from support. Desert Tech out of West Valley City, UT, came up with a solution to all those issues in a single design—the SRS bullpup.
I first tried the SRS rifle in the hills of Utah. With clear mountain air, we could see from hillside to hillside and, to my amazement, could hit almost anything we could see. Being able to hit a 12×12-inch steel at 500 yards, then 600, and most of the time at 700 as well, was something I had done before but never with such ease! My previous experience with conventional bolt actions had not prepared me for the compact, perfectly balanced form factor of the SRS-A2 Covert.
“SRS” stands for “Stealth Recon Scout.” Ten inches shorter than conventional bolt actions with the same barrel length, it can fit into even smaller spaces, thanks to the easily detachable return-to-zero barrel. The barrel is held in place with four small screws on the right and one larger screw on the left of the chassis. Unlike some of the robotic-looking chassis guns on the market, the SRS-A2 puts a clamshell stock over the supporting structure, creating a more ergonomic form. The gun is a part of an extensive system in the true sense of the word: the complete rifle options include five chamberings (.308 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, .300 Win. Mag, .338 Lapua Mag and .300 RUM), short and long forends and short or long barrel options in .308, 6.5 and .300. Swapping barrels and, when necessary, corresponding bolts, is a quick and easy process requiring a few screw turns and popping off the buttpad. Replacing the forend is a more involved process, requiring 11 more screws to be removed. The process is uncomplicated but requires attention to detail. For even more reach and punch, the larger frame HTI chassis accommodates .416 Barrett, and .50 BMG conversion kits are available, as well as CheyTac .375 and .408. The kits for both rifles are comprised of barrels, bolts and magazines. Some bolts and magazines serve multiple calibers; for example .308 Win. and 6.5 Creedmoor. The extra-long magazine well of the rifle accommodates all those calibers, and magazines for smaller cartridges are compartmentalized internally.
Obviously, going from 6.5 to .338 requires re-sighting, but return-to-zero optic mounts such as Bobro or Desert Tech’s own designs make it a one-time process. Desert Tech (DT) offers a very complete lineup of accessories, including .30 and .338 Titanium sound suppressors and a variety of muzzle brakes each specific to barrel length. They also have a branded line of match ammunition which the author used for the accuracy testing.
Early in 2019, DT introduced the A2 revision of the original SRS. In the same configuration, SRS-A2 is about 2 pounds lighter. Part of the weight savings came from going to M-LOK forends, part came from the longer barrel flute and lightening cuts on the receiver. The flat-face trigger design has been simplified for greater ruggedness, with weight adjustable from the default 1.5 pounds to 7 pounds, if desired. The receiver now has an integral thread for a tripod head mount. Along with the lighter guns came redesigned, more effective muzzle brakes to keep the recoil the same. Conversion kits are compatible between the SRS-A1 and SRS-A2 rifles.
Configurations
My rifle came in two configurations: Covert with an 18-inch 6.5 barrel and regular with a 26-inch barrel of the same caliber. My home range tops out at 100 yards, so the accuracy testing was limited to that distance. On the
plus side, it’s fairly protected from the wind, so that was an even lesser factor than usual with the fast and sleek Creedmoor bullet. The differences between the two barrels are moderate, with the short one being stiffer and thus potentially more mechanically accurate. The longer barrel adds 200-300fps to the muzzle velocity, depending on the load, yielding less wind drift. To me, the longer barrel is easier to shoot well, as it produces much less blast. While Kaw Valley Precision Magnum Linear Compensator does a great job of re-directing the blast away from the marksman, the famed Titanium suppressor from Thunderbeast Arms reduces both noise and felt recoil while adding only a pound of weight to the rig. The long barrel works great with the longer forend, preferred mainly because it places the bipod further out for greater stability. The long barrel can be used with the short forend if desired, but the weight saving is negligible. The short barrel can be used with the long forend, but the choice of muzzle devices becomes restricted. A built-in rear monopod, standard on the SRS-A1 and an option on the SRS-A2, aids in wringing maximum accuracy from the gun.
Desert Tech ammunition is a vital part of the overall accuracy package. They guarantee 0.5MOA, a conservative estimated compared to the actual performance observed. With muzzle velocity around 2,750fps and a high BC (ballistic coefficient) 140-grain bullet, this rifle/cartridge combination has a point-blank range of over 350 yards for a headshot and around 600 yards for a torso, counting the dispersion. Wind drift is likewise minor up to nearly 500 yards. While the terminal performance of the HPBT is no greater than that of ball ammunition, a number of major ammunition manufacturers loads soft-point expanding bullets. The accuracy with them is sufficient for most practical purposes.
Performance
The entire rig with long forend, 26-inch barrel, the 6-24x56i illuminated Kahles scope and the Thunderbeast Arms sound suppressor weigh around 13.8 pounds. As expected, the report and the recoil are negligible. The hypersonic bullet flight noise isn’t, so wear your hearing protection! The sight picture stays fairly constant as the buttpad rises above the bore line, keeping the scope image disturbance to a minimum. Both five- and 10-round single-stack metal magazines worked well, but the five-rounder is easier to load. The sliding safety levers and the magazine release are ambidextrous. The bolt handle is long and provides excellent leverage to make up for the short unlock angle of the three-lug bolt. The down side to that is the possibility of nudging the bolt just slightly out of battery. The cheek-piece has about an inch of rise, requiring a hex wrench for adjustment. Both the short and the long configurations proved hand-holdable, though Jeff Cooper’s advice about the advantages of supported positions for accuracy still applies. Since the 6-24x56i power optic doesn’t focus under 60 yards, you might want to add a 45-degree micro red dot mount or iron sights for close-in defense response.
Accuracy testing ran into the limitations of my skill level. All match ammunition used (Desert Tech, Hornady, Winchester and PRIME) varied from 0.4 to 0.6MOA depending on the concentration of the shooter. The Hornady hunting load did equally well. S&B ball ammunition produced 1MOA groups, which is still pretty respectable. Most helpfully, this wide variety of ammunition produced no more than 1MOA of variance in the centers of the groups. SRS-A2 has definitely met the stated performance goals while retaining portability. It is also much easier to shoot off-hand or from supported field positions than a conventional bolt action.
| This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V24N3 (March 2020) |
