Desert Tech is certainly among the most innovative of all firearms companies and is primarily known for their bullpup .50 BMG designs.
Last year they introduced the MDR (Micro Dynamic Rifle), and this year it has gone into full production. It really says something about a company, when they consider the .308 as their “micro-sized” rifle!
SPECS:
- Ambidextrous controls
- Each rifle includes a chassis and one complete conversion kit.
- Each conversion kit comes with a barrel assembly,
bolt head, magazine, and magazine well adapter, (if applicable). - Free-floated barrel
- Barrel length: 16 in.
- Overall length: 26.2 in.
- Weight: 8.67 lbs.
- Capacity: 20 +1 ; 30 + 1
- MSRP: .308: $2,524; .223 Wylde: $2,274 .300 BLK$ TBD
- Conversion kits: .308: $999 .223 Wylde $749 .300 BLK: $829
Impressions
In a departure from bolt-action precision rifles, the new MDR is a semiauto battle rifle. Available now in 308, 5.56 and .300 AAC Blackout is on the way. It’s a unique piece of engineering. You could own one chassis that is capable of all three calibers, by purchasing the conversion kits.
The MDR is a bullpup. It has a similar length 16-inch barrel to the classic FN SCAR, however, the MDR is a full foot shorter. The overall length totals 26.2 inches. The weight is a manageable 8.67 pounds, which provided a well-balanced weapon. I was impressed with it on range day.
This firearm falls into the unique category, the Desert Tech MDR is fully ambidextrous out of the box. And, I do mean fully. Even the ejection side is reversible without tools. The ejector claw is on the top of the bolt, with cutouts on either side. This combined with the ejection port design means swap over doesn’t even require bolt disassembly. One of the other features I really like on the MDR, the placement of the magazine release. It has two. The first is upfront, in a similar location to an AR. Very handy for those of us that grew up on the Stoner Standard. The second one is in the rear, similar placement for those that grew up on Tavor’s, or other bullpup designs.
The MDR offers a lot of firepower in a compact package. If you like bullpups, this is one worth taking a look at.
For more information about Desert Tech, click here.