The Desert Tactical Arms SRS Covert Rifle was definitely one of the niftiest guns at SHOT Show. With a short 16" barrel, chambered in 308 Win, .300 Win or .338 Lapua Magnum, this gun has an overall length of just 26". It is tiny but powerful package.
My only concern would be firing a .338 Lapua Magnum with a muzzle brake so close to my hears. The blast must be ear shattering.
I heard some interesting news about Desert Tactical Arms at the show. Apparently they have sold sniper rifles to Georgia (the country).
UPDATE: I found a note I took when I was at the booth. DTA has been using .338 LM loads with a 300 grain bullets, being pushed at 2250 ft/sec and 250 grain bullets at 2500 ft/sec. That is slightly slower than a .308 Win., but with a much heavier bullet. Not bad for a 16" barrel.
Ok I have to admit that that gun looks super awesome.
But I have to question the need for a bolt action that small. I can understand makeing a compact magnum caliber rifle but I would much rather gave that last 4? of barrel in a 20? to give full ballistics. Hat would still put this unit about the length of a m4.
This makes my nostrils flutter with delight. It is lovely.
Interesting.
It almost seems like the took an idea from Center Balance Systems and ran with it. The designs are pretty close when looking at the Mosin Nagant rifle package.
http://www.cbrps.com/Products.html
Email inbound to you Steve with some kickass HD photos if you want them, and a video showing the Muzzle Blast.
I have one up here in Canada, with the 308 and .338 Lapua barrels.
The muzzle brakes are very effective. When pushing a 250 grain bullet with 92.3 grains of powder behind it in .338 Lapua, the recoil feels like a modestly loaded 308. Accuracy was superb, with groupings under 1? at 100 meters.
As noted, the muzzle blast is significant, but that is more due to the effective design of the brake then the proximity to your ears with the Bulpup designs.
I don’t get it. What’s the point?
Can’t wait to see the pistol version…. 
I can see using the version with the suppressor- but the 16 inch barrel isn’t generally a good idea with something like .300 winmag or .338 lapua, let alone in a bullpup design where length has been reduced drastically anyway.
Still, the DSR seems like a cool rifle.
Wow cool, somebody took an RFB, turned it into a bolt action rifle with very little hope of being able to cycle the action while it’s still on your shoulder. Awesome, very new an innovative.
Sarcasm aside:
I’ve actually held one of these, my local dealer just sold one. The guy who bought it said it’s a fun bench gun but it’s really hard to run the bolt if there isn’t a table to set the gun on. The trigger was very nice and the fit and finish were awesome. With a suppressor I’ve been told it’s not bad to shoot either. It’s not a gun I’d own, but they’ve sold at least one so I could be in the minority.
I find it odd that companies continue to release .308 and larger calibers in such a short barrel config. So much power is lost there. What I would like to see is a semi-auto bullpup with the 16? barrel (for some CQC ass kickin’ action) but then also include a 24? quick change barrel. That way, you could use it for standard patrols or in a role of a DMR when utilizing it past a few hundred yards.
Mr AB: “It almost seems like the took an idea from Center Balance Systems and ran with it. The designs are pretty close when looking at the Mosin Nagant rifle package.”
Actually, I’m pretty sure the inspiration to the SRS was the German DSR-1:
http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sniper-rifles/de/dsr-1-e.html
The main difference between the two (aside from the lack of a pseudo-magwell in front of the grip) is probably that the SRS is actually affordable enough to be handled by people other than GSG-9 sharpshooters and Hollywood armorers
Jim, the point is not having to lug around (possibly in and out of a vehicle) a rifle that has a 16+” barrel and the added length of a stock and action.
Its why many of the militaries in the world have been moving to bulpup designs, because the ergonomics work, and the mass and space of the weapon is better used to house functional parts instead of dead space or solid wood / metal.
Will someone PLEASE export a few to Turkey. I want one. 
The 300 grains bullet is certainly much better than the 250 one for this barrel, since being this short the bullet must rely more on it’s mass than on speed.
Also, I suppose the 250 grain would leave too much unburnt powder and increase the muzzle blast.
If I’m shelling out for Lapua, I want to be ringing gongs at 1200 plus. I can shoot MOA at 100 yds with a .22 for almost nothing.
What’s it like working the bolt on a bullpup rifle? It seems like it would be awkward to me.
OMG they are loud though suppressor is a must. Way to uncomfortable to the shooter just too loud to be depolyable.
Does a such a short rifle have any practical purpose when it is a bolt action?
A bolt action bullpup? Why bother? Someone wake me when they make a semi version.
I didn’t think .338 Lapua stabilized in under 20? of barrel
Seems pretty pointless to me, though I could see a market for a heavy built semi auto bullpup in something like .510 whisper, a western version of the russian straight pull VKS (a gun I would love somebody to make popular).
I recall an article in a Gun Digest from the 90's about a guy who built a 7-08 bullpup bolt on a Rem 788 action. Very similar to this. He was 20 years ahead of himself.
So is the idea behind this and the HK heavy barrier penetration at typical police/terrorist distances, such as standoffs? In those situations there is no need to be covert for a sniper, so why not use a full size weapon? If it’s designed as a covert action/infiltration weapon someone is gonna just have to carry it plus a carbine anyway.. again seems redundant. Because it’s the first thing I’d leave behind if I had to extract in a hurry. If I was a Forsythe character, I’d use a breakdown as well. So… tacticool and nothing else? I’d love to hear what GSG9 operators trhink about this system and its role.
Is there a feasible way of moving the bolt handle to the front of the gun without hindering ejection?