Desert Tech MDR bullpup... new but good?

[JeeperCreeper]

So I've heard about this gun, but not very interested. Regardless, I checked out the video. The gun itself looks really cool, but there is an issue that I have not seen being brought up in my 12 minutes of drunken research.

HERE'S THE ISSUE I SEE WITH THIS BOOMSTICK:

The MDR is a bullpup that ejects the rounds at a forward angle from the partially covered ejection port. The ejection port cover is also removable which allows the chamber to be wide open if need be. One of the HUGEEEEEEEE safety issues I see is that it is nearly impossible to VISUALLY inspect the chamber to see if it is loaded or not. On top of that, watching the operation, if the ejection cover is on, it seems the rifle keeps the spent casing in the rifle until the bolt is dropped. So if the bolt is locked back, and you eject a mag, you still have a casing hanging out in there somewhere.


Now, I haven't handled this rifle, only watched a video on it (Military Arms Channel), but wanted to see if anyone else picked up on that?

I can possibly foresee some issues with negligent discharge with this rifle. Yeah, the engineering is cool, but people may be ignoring the big safety issues because they are too excited that this new rifle came out.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

Same issue with the KelTec RFB. The FN FS2000 I believe allowed access to the bolt but was still bulky and complicated and apparently didn't inspire a lot of confidence because it doesn't seem to have done very well in the commercial market. The forward ejection systems are all complicated. I don't see any of them going anywhere fast. Better concept seems to be to work with gravity and eject them downwards, like the P90 or new KelTec RDB.

 

[mjsdwash]

I think more people will loose fingers than anyting

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Same issue with the KelTec RFB. The FN FS2000 I believe allowed access to the bolt but was still bulky and complicated and apparently didn't inspire a lot of confidence because it doesn't seem to have done very well in the commercial market. The forward ejection systems are all complicated. I don't see any of them going anywhere fast. Better concept seems to be to work with gravity and eject them downwards, like the P90 or new KelTec RDB.

Inspecting the chamber is not that hard on the RFB. The RFB's weakness is that they wanted to make the gun very short which means very little bolt overtravel (virtually none). This requiremes that you tune your gasblock to every single load you shoot not only for function but also safety/gun damage. RFB owners pretty much have to carry a table. This makes the gun much less attractive for the mass market.

Mike

PS. There is a failure mode where FTEs bend the ejection feed lips outward to the point where they interfere with the recoil springs. I ended up bulging the back of my gun and moving the butt plate about 1/8" back from an unsprung carrier. A very scary (and hard on the shoulder) event was tempered by real life evidence of how structurally overbuilt the gun is!

 

[hdwhit]

You can get a pretty clear view of how they implement the forward ejection from the patent (# 9109849). It's not as easy to check to see if there is round chambered as it would be on a bolt action, but it can be done.

 

[hdwhit]

mjsdwash wrote:
I think more people will loose fingers than anyting

Yeah. As short as the flash hider extends beyond the hand guards it is easy to foresee a situation where someone riding their hand out on the hand guard lets it ride right out into the path of the bullet.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

Yeah. As short as the flash hider extends beyond the hand guards it is easy to foresee a situation where someone riding their hand out on the hand guard lets it ride right out into the path of the bullet.

Bet that's a mistake they only make once!

 

[mjsdwash]

https://www.thegunwriter.com/19139/another-devastating-kel-tec-ksg-injury/ I really wonder about the USFA Zip.... Hangfire? Stick your finger 1/2 inch from the end of the barrel, and push this button.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

https://www.thegunwriter.com/19139/another-devastating-kel-tec-ksg-injury/ I really wonder about the USFA Zip.... Hangfire? Stick your finger 1/2 inch from the end of the barrel, and push this button.

Danggggg..... I didn't know this was a big issue with bullpups but it makes alot of sense. Not sure I want any kinda bullpup now without rigging a handguard up

 

[mjsdwash]

Danggggg..... I didn't know this was a big issue with bullpups but it makes alot of sense. Not sure I want any kinda bullpup now without rigging a handguard up

I don't like em cause they're ugly, but still want an AUG. Classic ugly, and useful. It seems like nearly every bullpup is out for no reason but novelty, and the military units are uglier than any of those weird turn of the last century pistols.... Tavor, Famas, SA, FS2000 and so on. They look like a tacky rorschach test

 

[ttarp]

I think the more interesting issue is how well that ejector system will hold up to sand and dust, considering the amount of testing they did, I imagine it won't clog and fail as quickly as it looks like it would.

But to your point, being able to visually inspect the chamber without removing the ejector is obviously preferable, but I think you're blowing the issue out of proportion a bit calling it a big safety issue, it really isn't.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

But to your point, being able to visually inspect the chamber without removing the ejector is obviously preferable, but I think you're blowing the issue out of proportion a bit calling it a big safety issue, it really isn't.

Maybe on the square range. But when you talk manual of arms for an issue rifle, and access to the chamber becomes very important. Even if the rifle is reliable, you still have to unload and show clear on every single range exercise, for example.

 

[ttarp]

In which case I expect the outfit looking for a new rifle to do their due diligence and select a rifle that closest meets their requirements. I must glossed over the part where this was about military or government acquisition, most folks only takes AR's seriously for gun games, so its hardly a strike there. Considering how many folks have shot furniture or worse while field stripping glocks which are quite easy to check the chamber on, I'm not going to be able to take the safety hazard part of the equation seriously.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

In which case I expect the outfit looking for a new rifle to do their due diligence and select a rifle that closest meets their requirements. I must glossed over the part where this was about military or government acquisition, most folks only takes AR's seriously for gun games, so its hardly a strike there. Considering how many folks have shot furniture or worse while field stripping glocks which are quite easy to check the chamber on, I'm not going to be able to take the safety hazard part of the equation seriously.

That's very true that alot of people do dumb things with any firearm, which is why I like the idea of being able to quickly and safely run my manual of arms. If people shoot themselves or their TV with a Glock that you can very easily "push pull", imagine what the idiots can do with a crazy mystery chamber bullpup.

I guess I really didn't mean to blow it out of proportion, because I wasn't in the market to begin with. I just hate how the journalists hype it up because they've been waiting 5 years for it, when I think there is an overlooked design flaw for running any rifle properly.

 

[ttarp]

Fair enough, I have some reservations about the design, and a dislike/distrust for the company, but for the sake of the folks who preordered so many years ago, I truly hope its everything they hoped and dreamed it would be. I want the rifle to be a success, mainly because I like bullpups and want to see more folks try them out, but the MDR has more hype to live up to than pretty much any other firearm I'm aware of. All in the modest price range of Hk's and FN's to boot.