The Desert Tech WLVRN, pronounced as "Wolverine", is a multi-caliber

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, ...

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single round each time the Trigger (firearms), trigger is pulled while automatically loading the next Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. These rifles were developed Pre-World War II, and w ...

and the successor of the MDRx. The WLVRN was first showcased at the 2024

Shot Show The SHOT Show, which is an acronym for "Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show", is an American annual trade fair, trade show for the shooting sports, hunting, outdoor recreation, and firearm manufacturing industry (economics), industries. The ...

convention in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. The WLVRN aimed to improve various aspects of the MDRx platform that were determined to be limitations of the platform that were acknowledged to the public for the first time by Desert Tech several weeks before the announcement of the WLVRN at shot show.

Design details

The WLVRN was initially launched in three color options: Black, Flat Dark Earth (FDE), and Tungsten. Several calibers were supported through the various configurations possible including .223 Remington, .308 Winchester, .300 AAC Blackout, and 6.5mm Creedmoor, which barrel lengths ranging from

Short-barreled rifle Short-barreled rifle broadly refers to any rifle with an unusually short Gun barrel, barrel. The term carbine describes a production rifle with a reduced barrel length for easier handling in confined spaces. Concern about concealed carry, conceal ...

lengths (less than 16") to up to 20" in length, depending on the

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...

. The WLVRN has a caliber quick change feature where it can easily swap between

intermediate cartridge An intermediate cartridge is a rifle/ carbine cartridge that has significantly greater power than a pistol cartridge but still has a reduced muzzle energy compared to fully powered cartridges (such as the .303 British, 7.62×54mmR, 7.65×53 ...

s and full-powered rifle cartridges (such as 5.56×45mm NATO and

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, straight walled, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first be ...

calibers respectively). The Colt CM901 is one of the early designs able to accept different cartridge categories on the same platform with a caliber conversion kit. The WLVRN is a multi caliber gas operated, conventional rotary bolt bullpup semi-automatic rifle. The gas system features a gas piston located above the barrel and a 6 position manual gas regulator. The WLVRN is similar to the

Desert Tech MDR The Desert Tech MDR (Micro Dynamic Rifle) is a family of bullpup semi-automatic rifles designed by Desert Tech (formerly Desert Tactical Arms) in 2014. A second generation of the MDR was later developed, designated as the MDRx (Micro Dynamic Rifl ...

x that it replaced when it launched in January 2024. The WLVRN's specific improvements over the MDRx include a machined trunnion (for retaining the barrel assembly) into the receiver, new barrel/barrel extension design, replaceable feed-ramps, new bolt carrier design, updated charging handles (from the 2023 MDRX updates), a new magazine release system, new enhanced sealing gas block design with the picatinny rail removed, new chassis (to fill the hole where the picatinny rail was removed), and removal of the forward eject system resulting in less gas required to cycle the action. One of the big changes to the barrel and chassis system design was a change to use a 3 lug barrel clamping system, an increase from 2, with an increase from 65 in-lbf of force to 80 in-lbf of force resulting in a significantly more rigid barrel to chassis clamping system. On April 11 2024, a design defect in the receiver around the front takedown pin, was discovered by the Military Arms Channel resulting in a movement between the upper and lower receivers. The Military Arms Channel asserted this would not affect performance of the rifle. On the MDRX live Q/A, Desert tech acknowledged the problem and is implementing a design change to correct the defect.

Variants

WLVRN Micron

On January 19 2024, a stand alone conversion kit the "MICRON" for the WLVRN was announced, featuring an extremely short handguard to minimize the rifle's overall length. These kits allow the WLVRN to be classified and regulated as a short-barreled rifle (SBR), which requires the user to register to the ATF before installing the conversion kit to their WLVRN. This kit is similar to the Micron kit sold for the

Sabertooth

The Desert Tech Sabertooth is a select-fire variant of the WLVRN, intended for military and law enforcement market. It features a fully automatic fire selector and several other design changes. However the Sabertooth's select-fire capabilities are not interchangeable with the WLVRN and as such it is considered a separate firearm to be compliant with ATF’s select fire regulation requiring lack of interchangeability between firearms.

Gallery

File:Desert_Tech_MDR_(top)_vs_WLVRN_(Bottom)_Magazine_Transfer_Bar_comparison.jpg, Desert Tech WLVRN (Bottom) and MDR (Top) Magazine Transfer Bar comparison File:Desert_Tech_Wlvrn_(Top)_Bolt_Carrier_Group_Desert_Tech_MDR_Bolt_Carrier_Group_(Bottom).jpg, Desert Tech WLVRN (Top) and MDR (Bottom) Bolt Carrier Group comparison File:Desert_Tech_MDR_vs_Desert_Tech_WLVRN_internals.jpg, Desert Tech WLVRN (Right) and MDR (Left) lower receiver comparison File:Desert_Tech_WLVRN_vs_Desert_Tech_MDR_Op_rod_face.jpg, Desert Tech WLVRN (Left) and MDR (Right) Flat vs Curved oprod comparison File:Desert_Tech_WLVRN_gas_block.jpg, Desert Tech WLVRN with the Gas Block Pic rail removed (from the MDRX) and the new Chassis overhand

References