MDT DRT Chassis: Putting It to the Test in West Texas

You can only learn so much about a rifle system on a range. At some point, you have to take it into the environment it was designed for and see what happens. As part of the final testing of the MDT DRT Chassis System, the team headed to West Texas for two nights of nighttime pig and coyote hunting with Jeremy of High Plains Hunts. Joining the hunt was Kahl Harmon, one of the world's top PRS shooters and an experienced night hunter. The objective was simple: put the DRT into its intended environment and see how it performed when the shooting positions, distances, targets, and conditions weren’t controlled.

ZEROES, THERMALS, AND FINAL PREP

Before heading into the field, the team needed to shake out their rifles. The team started on the range behind the house, checking zeroes, gathering velocities on fresh ammunition, and confirming ballistic data. The DRT’s folding system immediately proved useful during setup. Folding the buttstock out of the way let the bolt be removed and gave a clear view through the bore, making conventional bore sighting straightforward. Thermal optics required another step. A conventional paper target can be difficult or impossible to distinguish through a thermal optic, so the team used pieces of aluminum foil as aiming points. After absorbing heat from the sun, the foil provided enough thermal contrast to create a clearly visible target. The team also worked through tripod shooting positions before heading out.

INTO THE TEXAS NIGHT

High Plains Hunts has access to roughly 300,000 acres, allowing the guides to rotate hunting areas as they work to control pig populations. The first night began in an area where Jeremy expected the group to find pigs quickly, and he was right. The first engagement immediately gave the team a taste of what West Texas pig hunting could offer. What looked like a respectable pig to hunters accustomed to animals elsewhere turned out to be relatively small by local standards—roughly 150 pounds. And much bigger pigs were out there. For the landowners, however, the hunt was about more than finding large boars. Feral pigs can cause extensive agricultural damage, and Jeremy described farmers suffering tens of thousands of dollars in crop losses in a single night. The hunting operation works with those landowners to reduce that damage by continually moving between properties and targeting pigs where pressure is needed. The first night quickly turned productive, with the group accounting for multiple pigs while the DRTs continued to run through the fast-moving engagements.

MAKING THE FIRST SHOT COUNT

One of the bigger challenges came when the team spotted a large sounder in an open field. The wind allowed them to close the distance, but running bolt-action rifles changed the approach. Follow-up shots wouldn’t come as quickly as they would with semi-automatic rifles, putting more emphasis on establishing solid shooting positions and making the opening shots count. Once everyone was in position, the shooters coordinated their targets and fired together before immediately transitioning to additional pigs. The engagement highlighted exactly the shooting the DRT was intended to support: tripod-mounted rifles, thermal optics, rapidly changing targets, and shooters who needed to stay stable while working their bolts and transitioning between animals.

TWO DIFFERENT 6.5 CREEDMOOR LOADS

The hunt also provided an interesting comparison between two very different approaches to the 6.5 Creedmoor. Kahl shot an experimental two-piece case with an 80-grain solid projectile at about 3,900 fps. He had initially pushed the load to roughly 3,950 fps before backing it down. The extremely high velocity produced a very flat trajectory, which was particularly useful when engaging animals through thermal optics at night. The second setup was considerably more conventional, firing a 143-grain projectile at roughly 2,700 to 2,750 fps. The difference was noticeable even in the field footage. Although both rifles were chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, the time between shot and impact sounded different with the high-velocity experimental load than with the heavier conventional load. Both approaches worked, but they demonstrated how differently the same cartridge can behave depending on projectile weight and velocity.

SWITCHING TO COYOTES

As pig activity slowed, the team shifted its attention to coyotes. That decision quickly paid off when they encountered what appeared to be a coyote den. Multiple animals were visible around the area, requiring the shooters to identify individual targets and coordinate their shots before firing. The night eventually wrapped up around 6:00 a.m. After returning to the house, the team grabbed a few hours of sleep before heading back into the field during daylight. Daytime hunting proved considerably more difficult. After several unsuccessful coyote stands, the group spotted pigs at roughly 800 yards. By the time the rifles were set up, however, the animals were moving and eventually became skylined. Rather than forcing the shot, the team passed. It reinforced one advantage of nighttime hunting. Thermal optics make animals easier to locate in darkness, while darkness also gives hunters opportunities to close distance that would be much harder during daylight.

CHANGING THE PLAN FOR NIGHT TWO

For the second night, the team adjusted its strategy. Instead of concentrating on large sounders, they focused primarily on singles and pairs. The smaller groups proved easier to approach and created more opportunities throughout the night. Not every opportunity allowed time for a perfect tripod setup. During one engagement, the shooters had to move quickly and couldn’t get their tripods deployed in time. The solution was decidedly low-tech: one shooter used another hunter’s shoulder as an improvised support to make the shot at approximately 100 yards. Other engagements showcased the opposite end of the spectrum. When time allowed, the DRT’s integrated ARCA rail let shooters attach the rifles directly to the tripods. The chassis also incorporated ARCALOCK and an RRS-compatible locking system, letting shooters quickly clip into their support equipment, establish a stable position, and get behind the rifle. For a rifle designed for field shooting at night, that integration became one of the system's most useful features.

COYOTES ON A CARCASS

While moving between hunting areas, the group came across another opportunity. Dead pigs left in the fields inevitably attract scavengers, including coyotes. When the team spotted coyotes feeding around a carcass, the wind allowed them to approach and establish tripod positions without alerting the animals. Once everyone was set, the team assigned individual coyotes to different shooters. The countdown started. Three. Two. One. The opening shots connected, and the shooters transitioned to the remaining animals. Within seconds, the engagement was over. Again, the rifles did exactly what they were built to do: move through the field easily, attach quickly to a tripod, provide a stable shooting platform, and let the shooter work efficiently behind thermal optics.

THE BIG BOAR

One of the trip's most memorable opportunities came late in the hunt. The team spotted a large boar standing in an open field at a considerable distance. Rather than attempting the shot immediately, they used available cover and nearby hay bales to gain elevation and establish better shooting positions. The range came back at approximately 510 yards. Once the shooters were settled, they coordinated another countdown and fired. The boar went down. Up close, its size became apparent. The pig had substantial cutters, and multiple hits were visible. It was exactly the kind of animal the group had hoped to encounter after joking about the relatively small 150-pound pig at the start of the trip. More importantly, the shot capped off two nights of testing in an environment far removed from a controlled range.

MDT DRT: BUILT FOR THE DARK

The West Texas hunt was a short trip packed into roughly 72 hours with very little sleep. From the field, the team went back to the Airbnb and headed to the airport almost immediately. But the trip accomplished what it was meant to. The MDT DRT had been carried through fields, mounted to tripods, fired from improvised positions, used with thermal optics, and run through rapid engagements on pigs and coyotes. Shots ranged from close encounters to a 510-yard engagement on a large boar. This wasn’t a test built around shooting groups from a bench. It was a test built around using the rifle the way the DRT was intended. And after two nights in West Texas, the chassis had been thoroughly put through its paces.