Check out my Desert Tech WLVRN video review.
The Desert Tech WLVRN or Wolverine as it is commonly spelled, is the latest generation semi-automatic bullpup rifle. It is a multi-caliber rifle with all kinds of improvements over it predecessor. If you prefer to read, you can read my review here.
Every shooting range and hillside is littered with countless different shell casings of nearly every kind. But what gives a cartridge staying power in the market? Among the primary reasons a cartridge becomes prominent is military adoption. And today we will discuss one of those, the short and sweet 7.62×39 Soviet.
Developed in the early 1940’s, the Soviet cartridge was used in both the SKS and AK-47 infantry rifles. The short cartridge shoots a 30-caliber bullet at velocities comparable to something like a 30-30. While not as impressive as cartridges like the 30-06 Springfield or the 8×57 Mauser, I certainly wouldn’t want to be shot at with one.
The adoption by both Soviet nations and whoever they could sell the rifles and ammunition to have made the 7.62×39 cartridge one of the most common available. Communism helped spread both 7.62×39 and its casualties across the globe. I’d hate to try and find a positive result from that, but if there is one, it’s that you and I have an inexpensive and fun ammo supply. At least we did until some ol’ boy started hanging up iron-curtains in eastern Europe.
Since the introduction of John Browning’s Model 1911 pistol, countless others have copied and borrowed from it. Today’s subject is yet another one of those designs, today we are looking at the Taran Tactical Combat Master 2011 9mm pistol. The Combat Master is a 2011 style pistol, which dumped the single-stack 45ACP cartridge and magazines. In their place you can find double-stack 9mm cartridges. Adding both capacity and performance seems to be the norm with 2011 pistols.
This Combat Master was manufactured by a well known 2011 custom shop STI, who you probably know better as Staccato. I’ve played with a few of them, as well as other pistols. So today I am happy to get a full grip on this pistol and share it with you.
The success of the 1911 design is legendary, and regardless of whether you like it or not the design appears to continue. 2011 pistols take many of the greatest features of its predecessor, and bring more modern features. The main feature is double-stack magazines, which are typically for 9mm or 38 Super cartridges. With magazines like that, carrying twenty-plus cartridges in the magazine isn’t such a challenge.
Most 2011 pistols still use many of the same features from the 1911, such as the single-action trigger, safety mechanisms, etc. Excellent triggers, and ideal grip angles and all sorts of other advantages have also been mirrored in these pistols.
Taran Tactical Combat Master
-CBM
There are many iconic firearms on the market today, but few of them as well known as our subject today. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve likely seen it on the news, at the range, or even in countless video games. Both on the civilian and military ranges you can find the the Barrett M82A1 .50BMG rifle. Of course the military version of the rifle is designated the M107, though there are just a few differences between them.
Today we will take a look at this impressive rifle, and see if it lives up to the internet lore and fandom that has made Barrett a household name, at least for gun people.
Barrett Firearms first production of the rifle took place more than thirty years ago. And after becoming a sensation with various military units, it put Barrett Firearms on the map. They have since released a variety of other firearms, but the famous M82A1 is still what they are best known for.
Designing a firearm like the M82A1 must have taken some time, the large .50BMG cartridge is substantially bigger than most everything else on the civilian market. The operating system is pretty unique, and a bit of an engineering marvel. The massive twenty-nine inch barrel features a large vented brake to help reduce recoil. The fluted barrel is also mounted in a sliding configuration with a pair of long coil springs yoked around the breech end.
-CBM
Every now and then I happen upon a neat little rifle I’d never heard of. Nowadays it easy both to not know all the rifles of previous generations as well as be a little nerded out with them. Today I am bringing you one of those stories, about an old rifle that I happened into and caught my attention. The rifle is a Winchester Model 100 chambered in .243 Winchester.
Winchester introduced the Model 100 over 50 years ago, as a short-action semi-automatic hunting rifle. It shares some similar features with Winchester’s model 88 lever action rifle. Having no experience with this rifle, I was a bit inquisitive to see how it worked. As well as interested in seeing how this blast from the past stood up to our modern expectations. If you’re ready for a trip back in time, follow along to revisit this old Winchester.
Short action cartridges are perhaps the most tumultuous genre of rifle cartridges, there is always something new and exciting. But even with a steady influx of new cartridge introductions, there are senior cartridges that simply won’t relinquish their spot on the roster. Today we are talking about one of those; the incredibly versatile .243 Winchester.
Winchester was very busy in the years following the Second World War, and in the 1950’s the renowned model 70 picked up the new .243 Winchester chambering. The case was formed by necking down the 308 Winchester to a smaller six-millimeter (twenty-four) caliber. By narrowing the powder flow of the 308’s case into a six-millimeter bore, the spicy little .243 became very well known for its velocity. Bullets from 55-grains up to 100 or so grains found a very fast home in the .243, with velocities exceeding 4000 feet per second when loaded right.
Today we will take a close look at the 243, and see what has made it such a long-lasting chambering. Primarily used as a hunting caliber, we will also see what makes it tick, and its potential relevance in a world filled with newer six-millimeter cartridges.
The 308 Winchester has spawned dozens of wildcat and legitimate cartridges since its inception. Whether necked down to 6.5 millimeter to become the .260 Remington, or necked up to become a 338 Federal.
It seems back in the 1950’s that six-millimeter cartridges were popular, with both the .243 Winchester and 6mm Remington coming to market. While very comparable cartridges, the 243 seems to have become more popular.
With propellant and bullet technologies having come a long way since the fifties, the modern 243 is even more useful than the one your Grandpa used. The smaller than average cartridge has long been looked at as a “ladies gun” or something for youth to get started with. One reason is likely because of the soft recoil of the 243, making it significantly more pleasant to shoot than many popular 30 caliber options.
I love small and fast cartridges, and pushing them to the edge of their purpose is a not-so-secret hobby of mine. Besides the 243, I am also very fond of my 6 ARC and 6 GT chambered rifles. Though the 243 seems to stand tall as the largest 6mm sibling in common use.
For those of you who’ve been around here a while, you’ll remember my love affair with bullpups. Not just any bullpups though, I was converted to the dark side by the Desert Tech SRS. Ever since, bullpups have been a part of my gun collection. But today I bring you a new one, also from Desert Tech. Today’s subject is the Desert Tech WLVRN bullpup, a multi-caliber rifle but today chambered in 223 Wylde and 6.5 Creedmoor.
In case you didn’t figure it out, WLVRN is pronounced wolverine, but spelled differently because we hate vowels apparently. The WLVRN is the very latest rifle in a line of bullpups made by Utah based Desert Tech, it incorporates technology from previous firearms like the MDRX and SRS M2. This new rifle promises to bring enhanced performance, and increased reliability.
Due to my intimate familiarity with all of Desert Tech’s firearms as well as other bullpups, I simply had to get behind this new one. If for nothing else, I wanted to see if indeed the rifle performed better and lived up to the unrivaled performance depiction.
I have both heard and seen a great deal of people suggesting that the WLVRN is simply an MDRX with some slight changes. I guess that is a fair jab when you sit the two rifles next to each other for inspection.
But that suggestion is easily dispelled upon further disassembly. I took the WLVRN apart, to show some of the significant differences from its ancestor. The lower receiver looks almost the same, I will grant them that. Other than some very small machining differences on some of the parts it looks very similar.
You can find all the real differences in the aluminum extruded receiver. Both versions of the MDRX rifle used an aluminum receiver loaded with steel parts attached by fasteners. Mainly the barrel-block (trunnion), and the rails that guide the bolt carrier. There are a couple other small parts, but those are the main ones.
All of those parts were designed out of the WLVRN, and they are now machined into the solid extruded receiver. This has resulted in a much lighter receiver, with added rigidity and simpler operation. As an unrepentant accuracy aficionado, I was excited to see if the machined-in trunnion would create a more accurate rifle.
Major changes were incorporated to the bolt-carrier, which has certainly been beefed up. Disassembling the bolt carrier sub-components is now even more like an AR-15, with the firing pin being captured by a cotter pin.
WLVRN operation is very similar to the MDRX. It still uses the same short stroke gas piston, which punches the operating rod to cycle the action. The WLVRN does not have the forward ejection feature of its predecessor, which also reduces the weight of the rifle. As well as simplify much of the operation and lower pressure thresholds needed to run the rifle.
The dual charging-handles are non-reciprocating, and must be pulled down and back to function. Additionally the bolt can be locked to the rear by pulling the charging handles back and up before releasing.
Magazine releases are located on both sides of the triggerguard area, as well as in the front of the magwell. Aft of the magwell you will find the bolt-release to send the bolt home. The safety of course is located right where you’d expect on both sides of the rifle.
Switching the rifle from right to left-handed operation is as easy as swapping the ejection port from one side to the other. Followed by rotating the bolt 180 degrees in the bolt carrier.
The WLVRN gas system is again very similar to the MDRX system before it, the differences of course are important. Reducing the overall gas impulse needed to operate the rifle was accomplished by several changes. We could all benefit from reduced gas couldn’t we?
First of all, by dropping the forward ejecting system, less gas volume is needed to stroke the action (Yes I said stroke). The WLVRN’s gas system also takes a uniform volume of pressure from the barrel, and channels it to the piston. Sealing up gas-block seepage was done with a press-fit gas block, and adding a second spiral gas-ring to the cylindrical gas-valve helps keep the flow going only where it’s needed.
This more efficient use of gas flow has made the WLVRN very soft and smooth shooting. And my aspirations of accuracy also hoped the softer operation would keep the rifle better on target. Additionally, the end of the piston stem was cut flat. As was the front of the operating rod, this reduces the torque induced on the barrel when the piston is actuated.
I wanted to get this WLVRN hot, and the best way to do it was shooting a bunch of different kinds of ammo. My first trip into the field with the WLVRN featured three different kinds of ammo, American Eagle 55gr FMJ , PMC Bronze 55gr FMJ, and Hornady Black 62gr FMJ.
I also wanted to bring along a suppressor, as the WLVRN should make an excellent suppressor host. My Yankee Hill Machine Turbo has never failed me yet, so I threw it in the range bag.
Since the WLVRN accepts all the same handguards as the MDR and MDRX, I also brought along a Blk Lbl ALX handguard. Just to switch it up a bit.
The trigger in the WLVRN feels about the same as the MDRX trigger to me, which is not a bad thing. It certainly didn’t prevent me from shooting the rifle well. As you might imagine I am pretty familiar with most of the rifle’s handling characteristics. It feels and functions very much like its predecessor, but lighter and softer shooting.
During testing, I used twenty, thirty, and forty-round 5.56 Pmags. And both ten and twenty-round 7.62 Pmags. All of them worked without a problem, except for an occasional failure to lock back. Every occurence of failing to lock back was from a bench using a rear bag, and I might of been holding the bolt-release down. So take that with 55-grains of salt.
Accuracy from the 223 Wylde chambered rifle was pretty good. The best groups from my first trip came from the Hornady 62 grain ammunition. At one-hundred yards my best result was a 7-shot group that came out to 1.1 MOA. I’ll admit that one was a bit rushed. As you can see from the pictures I was getting rained on and I was damp as a blind lesbian walking through an open-air fish market. I will update you guys with more results as I get them.
With more than one unit available to me, I decided to swap to a different caliber. Next up would be a 6.5 Creedmoor, with the standard 20-inch barrel and 1:8 twist. I also attached a Guardian Defense Manufacturing 30 caliber suppressor to see how the rifle shot suppressed.
After running a few boxes of some inexpensive S&B 140 grain FMJ ammo, I zeroed the rifle. To see how well the rifle shot for accuracy, I’d brought a couple boxes of DTM Match 140 gr ammo. Loading five rounds at a time in a 10-round magazine, I shot my first group. Just to confirm, I shot another couple groups. And for good measure I fired another 5-shot group. I was very happy to see that the five-shot groups were averaging around .75 MOA.
These groups were shot while suppressed, in my experienced these rifles always shoot better that way. Your results might vary, but I don’t plan on shooting unsuppressed at any point.
I had my friend shoot the rifle, and he too fired a 5-shot group with all shots touching and around the same size. While the 5-shot average was closer to the 3/4 MOA mark I was quite happy with the results. Mainly because I’ve typically seen accuracy like that only from the best MDRX rifles.
Converting the rifle from one caliber to another is a pretty simple process. It can vary depending on calibers, for example going from 308 to 223 will require a bolt and magwell change. While swapping from 308 to 6.5 requires only swapping the barrel.
The WLVRN uses three screws to clamp the barrel shank, all three must be torqued evenly to 80-inch-pounds when assembling the rifle. There is a fourth screw, which is in fact a barrel lock. The lock uses a cam to secure the barrel in the right location prior to torquing the barrel tension screws. The lock should only be rotated when the tension screws are loose.
With all three tension screws loose, and the lock rotated into the unlocked position, the barrel can be pulled out the front of the receiver. Obviously this would require removing the handguard, and either locking the bolt to the rear or removing the bolt-carrier all together.
Installing the next barrel is just the reverse process. Removing the bolt-carrier requires opening the receiver by pulling two of the three take-down pins. You can pull all three if you like, I do two because I’m always in a hurry. With the receiver separated, you can pull the bolt carrier out the back. This is where you’d clean parts and change bolts if that’s what you are doing.
For using 5.56 sized magazines, the rifle needs a magwell spacer installed. It’s easily snapped into the magwell from underneath, AFTER you push the magazine catch out with a tool. You will also need to swap the mag catch for the appropriate sized magazine.
Borrowing some of the design of the SRS family of rifles has incorporated some of those same benefits in the WLVRN. After pulling the 6.5 Creedmoor barrel out of the WLVRN, and using it in another rifle, I reinstalled it in my original chassis. To my surprise it was almost exactly where I had zeroed it, I mean close enough you’d have never known the barrel had been pulled. That is one of my favorite features of the SRS rifles, and I’m tickled pink that the WLVRN appears to do the same.
Having shot the MDRX and many other popular bullpups like the RDB, AUG, and X95, I’ll share my opinion on how I think it compares.
The WLVRN has all the same controllability and balance of the MDRX, with the added benefits of less weight. This helps the WLVRN be even more maneuverable and fun to shoot. Additionally, the reduced gas needed seems to make the rifle a bit softer shooting.
My first impressions of accuracy appear to be very positive, certainly better than the MDRX. I’d like to stay a bit conservative for now and see how it continues to perform in the future. Both in these two calibers and the other options.
As a long-time owner of the MDRX, it should come as no surprise that I find it far more appealing than others. While the Steyr AUG and IWI X95 both have a long service record with law enforcement and military, I am just a simple civilian.
So while they may have a more impressive combat history, I prefer a rifle with more options. If the WLVRN continues to live up to its claims, I could see it becoming the choice of not just recreational shooters but also professionals.
There are many things to like about the WLVRN, the most obvious features stand out from the competition. Multi-caliber capabilities is a big one for some, completely ambidextrous is great for others. One of my personal favorites is suppressor hosting, the threaded barrel and six-position gas-block make it ideal. More common features like M-Lok compatible handguards, and picatinny optics rail are also not to be discounted.
Performance wise, the WLVRN brings streamlined performance over its predecessor. The simplified design promises to be more reliable, and we all love the idea of fewer things to go wrong. The WLVRN barrel trunnion design appears to increase accuracy, and if returning to zero after barrel swapping is this repeatable, it will save us all more time zeroing.
If I had to pick something I would change about the WLVRN, it would probably be pretty simple. I’ve never shot a huge amount of 308 through my MDRX, and probably won’t through the WLVRN either. I have noticed that the lighter weight of the WLVRN is noticeable when shooting heavy 308 loads. Not unpleasant or anything, just a noticeable increase in felt recoil.
Making the grip compatible with industry standards would be awesome, and allow users to customize their rifle even more. I absolutely love the Blk Lbl handguards, they are outstanding improvements over the stock handguard. Making them standard equipment options would make the WLVRN top-tier, an absolute giga-chad rifle
If you are even slightly curious about bullpups you need to try this rifle. After shooting quite a few other bullpup rifles I’m not sure they are even in the same class. The only thing left for me to determine with this rifle is long-term durability, and that will take some time. But if the initial performance is any indicator, I remain quite optimistic.
For those of you out there who are already members of the bullpup-cult, I suppose you were already considering a WLVRN before you got here. Buying a Desert Tech WLVRN isn’t inexpensive, but that should come as no surprise. You will have to decide for yourself if upgrading is worth it to you, as for me, I already ordered mine.
-CBM
As we continue to look into military surplus rifles we couldn’t pass up this jewel, another impressive carbine from the former Soviet Union. While not a communist, I find cold war Soviet design to be extremely interesting. Today’s rifle was designed towards the end of the second World War, and thus incorporates a great deal of features valued in the last centuries warfare. I am of course talking about the SKS Carbine. While originally from the Soviets, today’s example comes to us from China. The Norinco SKS was manufactured and imported to the US by the same company.
As a kid from the 80’s, I grew up seeing guns like the SKS and AK-47 on television and other media. So as a gun nut it was only a matter of time before I got my hands on both of them. The SKS has a long and distinguished service record with more countries and too many wars to mention. While initially designed and fielded by the Soviets, it was later downgraded in favor of the select-fire detachable box magazine-fed AK.
Ever the communists, the Soviets licensed and supplied countless copies of the SKS to whomever needed a simple and inexpensive carbine. Something everybody was after during the Cold War.
A great many examples of those rifle eventually made it to American gun shops, and today’s example is exactly that. The affordable surplus rifles have long been a hit with American shooting enthusiasts, but does the 80-year-old SKS still have a place in our market?
