The Desert Tech Stealth Recon Scout (SRS) is a

bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a por ...

developed by the

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

-based

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

manufacturer

Desert Tech Desert Tech is a rifle manufacturer founded in 2007 as Desert Tactical Arms and later re-branded as Desert Tech in 2013. They are located in West Valley City, Utah. Its CEO, Nick Young, is the nephew of Paul Elden Kingston. As of May 2018 all of ...

(formerly Desert Tactical Arms). It was unveiled at the 2008

SHOT Show The SHOT Show , which is an acronym for "Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show", is an American annual trade show for the shooting sports, hunting, outdoor recreations and firearm manufacturing industries. The show is owned and sponsored by ...

. It is known for its

bullpup A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the Chamber (firearms), breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, ...

design. A shorter variant of the SRS, called the SRS Covert, shares all the same features of the SRS, but uses shorter barrels and therefore a shorter handguard. On 1 March 2021, Desert Tech issued a

product recall A product recall is a request from a manufacturer to return a product after the discovery of safety issues or product defects that might endanger the consumer or put the maker/seller at risk of legal action. The recall is an effort to limit ruin ...

of SRS rifles made between 8 December 2020 and 5 March, due to a mistake in

heat treatment Heat treating (or heat treatment) is a group of industrial, thermal and metalworking processes used to alter the physical, and sometimes chemical, properties of a material. The most common application is metallurgical. Heat treatments are also ...

during manufacture, resulting in

strikers Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

that could be destroyed upon firing.

Design and features

The Stealth Recon Scout is notably unusual in that it is one of the few sniper rifles that is a

bolt-action layout. This gives the rifle a relatively compact design, claimed to be 11 inches (280 mm) shorter than conventional sniper rifles. Because of the bullpup layout, the magazine and bolt are behind the

pistol grip On a firearm or other tools, a pistol grip is a distinctly protruded handle underneath the main mechanism, to be held by the user's hand at a more vertical (and thus more ergonomic) angle, similar to the how one would hold a conventional pist ...

, and therefore the operation is slightly different from most other conventional designs. Its design is very similar to the German DSR-1, which preceded the DTA SRS. This layout also shifts more weight to the rear of the rifle; the manufacturer claims that this creates a central balancing point. The sling points are balanced with the centerline of the weapon to ensure it lies flat when slung. It features an adjustable cheekrest, and a raised, contoured buttpad helps to seat it more securely into the shooter's shoulder. The gun weighs 10.5 lbs at its lightest, which makes it easy to use with a bipod or large scope. The Stealth Recon Scout was originally designed around the

.338 Lapua Magnum The .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70 mm or 8.58×70 mm) is a rimless, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It was developed during the 1980s as a high-powered, long-range cartridge for military snipers. It was used in the War in Afghanistan and ...

cartridge, but is also available in many other calibers, including;

.260 Remington The .260 Remington (also known as 6.5-08 A-Square) cartridge was introduced by Remington in 1997. Many wildcat cartridges based on the .308 Winchester case had existed for years before Remington standardized this round. Because 6.5 mm ( ...

6.5mm Creedmoor The 6.5mm Creedmoor (6.5×48 mm), designated 6.5 Creedmoor by SAAMI, 6.5 Creedmoor by the C.I.P. or 6.5 CM or 6.5 CRDMR for short, is a centerfire rifle cartridge introduced by Hornady in 2007. It was developed by Hornady senior ballistics ...

, 6.5×47mm Lapua, 7mm WSM,

.308 Winchester The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar but not identical to the 7.62×51mm NATO ...

, and

.300 Winchester Magnum The .300 Winchester Magnum (also known as .300 Win Mag or .300 WM) (7.62×67mmB, 7.62x66BR) is a belted, bottlenecked magnum rifle cartridge that was introduced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963. The .300 Winchester Magnum is a m ...

— all of which can be changed in a quick conversion. The SRS is fed from a five-round

box magazine A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached (detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridges withi ...

, and uses a match

fluted Fluting may refer to: *Fluting (architecture) * Fluting (firearms) * Fluting (geology) * Fluting (glacial) *Fluting (paper) Arts, entertainment, and media *Fluting on the Hump ''Fluting on the Hump'' is the first album by avant-garde band Kin ...

, free floated barrel. While the barrel is standard with a

muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted ...

, it can be removed to allow access to a threaded muzzle for the attachment of a

suppressor A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that reduces the acoustic intensity Sound intensity, also known as acoustic intensity, is defined as the power carried by sound waves per unit ...

. The rifle is guaranteed to have a standard 0.5

moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

(0.15

mrad The Barrett MRAD (Multi-role Adaptive Design) is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed by Barrett to meet the requirements of the SOCOM PSR. The MRAD is based on the Barrett 98B and includes a number of modifications and improvements. The Barret ...

) accuracy and uses a 1-6 lbs (4-27 N) adjustable match

trigger Trigger may refer to: Notable animals and people ;Mononym * Trigger (horse), owned by cowboy star Roy Rogers ;Nickname * Trigger Alpert (1916–2013), American jazz bassist * "Trigger Mike" Coppola (1900–1966), American gangster ;Surname * Bru ...

. The rifle is constructed of polymer (available in olive drab, tan, or black), aluminum, and steel. The handguard and upper receiver use a

Picatinny rail The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was o ...

system for attaching accessories such as a

bipod A bipod is a V-shaped portable attachment that helps support and steady a device, usually a weapon such as a long gun or a mortar. The term comes from the Latin prefix ''bi-'' and Greek root ''pod'', meaning "two" and "foot" respectively. Bipod ...

or a

telescopic sight A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a ''reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate po ...

. The

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

can be operated without removing the user's hand from the pistol grip, and the magazine release can be operated with one hand. A shorter variant of the SRS, called the SRS Covert, shares all the same features of the SRS, but uses shorter barrels and therefore a shorter handguard. The short barreled version of the rifle as stated by the manufacturer is to give users, (particularly military and law enforcement) a more compact and maneuverable for close quarters. It uses 16" and 18" barrels in some of the above-mentioned calibers.

Variants

* Stealth Recon Scout (SRS) ** SRS-A1 ** SRS-A2 (replaced A1 version) * Stealth Recon Scout Covert ** SRS-A1 Covert ** SRS-A2 Covert (replaced A1 version)

Users

*: Czech Ministry of Defence; selected in 2015. *:

Defense Forces of Georgia The Defence Forces of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალები, tr), or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defense of the nation's indep ...

. Used also by law enforcement and state security agencies. Suppressors locally produced. *:

Indonesian National Armed Forces , founded = as the ('People's Security Forces') , current_form = , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Cilangkap, Jakarta , website = , commander-in-chief = Joko Widodo , ...

. SRS-A2 Covert used by Combat Reconnaissance Platoon unit. *:

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Naval Force and the Lithuanian Air Force. In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service ( ...

; selected in 2015. *:

Royal Thai Police The Royal Thai Police (RTP) ( th, สำนักงานตำรวจแห่งชาติ; ) is the national police force of Thailand. The RTP employs between 210,700 and 230,000 officers, roughly 17 percent of all civil servants (excludi ...

; selected in 2012. *:

Saudi Royal Guard Regiment The Saudi Arabian Royal Guard ( ar, الحرس الملكي السعودي Al-Ḥars al-Malakī as-Suʿūdī) is a unit in the Saudi military forces. Originally an independent military force, the Royal Guards were incorporated into the Armed Fo ...

; selected in 2013. *: Ukraine State Guard; selected in 2016.

Gallery

File:SRS 308 with flashhider.JPG, Stealth Recon Scout .308 with flash hider File:SRS 308 vs M4.JPG, Stealth Recon Scout .308 with an

AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...

File:SRS 338.jpg, Stealth Recon Scout .338 with muzzle brake File:Олександр Турчинов вручив гвинтівки нацгвардійцям 0663 (26221727746).jpg, Ukrainian

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

soldiers File:UA SSU operator DT SRS (1).jpg, SSU operator shooting

References

External links