No easy link from Barrett for this yet, but here's a link talking about it:

https://fieldethos.com/barrett-mrad-covert/

It does show in the Barrett catalogue tho:
https://barrett.net/wp-content...talog-Digital-LR.pdf

Thanks.
Pretty intriguing. I have no need (that n-word ) for something like it, but it would wow anyone at the public range who had any understanding of what it was.

I suppose it’s a commonality thing, but I wonder why a rifle like that has a 10 milliradian mounting rail. At ordinary ranges and with a scope like the Leupold 3.6-18× (not 15× as the article says), it would require dialing down about 2/3 of the available elevation. The 1/8" rifling twist rate is also unusual for 308 Win: really heavy bullets? Subsonics?

I wonder what the price will be. Should have bought the winning Power Ball ticket. Not that I need it.

Interesting. Cool concept, but it probably has limited REAL use for civilians. But...it someone offered me one, it would be snatched from their hands before they could blink.

I agree with sigfreund's points:
- A 10 mil rail (roughly 34 MOA) is quite odd for such type of rifle. A true ELR rifle -- you bet. A long distance precision .22lr bolt action -- you bet. A 5 mil rail makes sense. A 10 or 20 MOA rail makes sense.

- 1:8 twist on 308 Win is odd. Sounds like a compromise between regular supersonics and heavy subsonics. Such compromises are rarely optimal for any type of round. Too fast for supers, likely not fast enough for subs.

And yeah, I doubt someone will take a straight across trade for Hi-Point pistol.

Looks intriguing but I’ll bet it’s M107 money. I’d love to have it, but there are so many other acquisitions that I’d rather have, that this will probably never end up in my collection. Seriously, cool as hell though!

I greatly expect it'll run the exact same price as the "normal" MRAD.
The reason for the rail is likely because it will accept all the normal caliber change kits as the normal MRAD.
Meaning you can remove the little 17" .308 barrel and slap on a big 26" .338LM one - and now you suddenly want that ELR rail.

All they're really doing IMO is just releasing an MRAD in .308 or 6.5 with a short barrel - and selling it with a custom made backpack for it to fit into.
Minimal R&D on their part (cuz it's literally just the same gun as before) but with that extra cool factor of "it fits in your backpack!"

quote:

Originally posted by creslin:
The reason for the rail is likely because it will accept all the normal caliber change kits as the normal MRAD.
Meaning you can remove the little 17" .308 barrel and slap on a big 26" .338LM one - and now you suddenly want that ELR rail.

I admit to having limited knowledge of the MRAD systems. However, it appears to me that the Covert uses a short action bolt and short action magazines -- which if true, makes a 338LM conversion a no-go.

Maybe a 308-ish case subsonic conversion is possible -- something like 338 ARC or 8.6 Blackout.

In the description it mentioned only 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor. I would think that if barrel changes for something like 338 was planned for the future that would have been cited. fritz makes a good point about the short action as well.

But I have been wrong before.

Copy/paste from the email blast I got from Barrett about it:

From the factory, the MRAD Covert is configured in either .308 Winchester or 6.5 Creedmoor with a 17-inch barrel and delivers 5-shot sub-0.85 MOA accuracy. The rifle remains fully compatible with all MRAD barrel conversion kits , ensuring seamless adaptability across mission profiles.

(bold emphasis added by me)

Okay, thanks.

OK, now I see what's going on. I did some quick-&-dirty receiver comparisons from web pictures. The Covert does appear to have the regular MRAD bolt and magwell length -- which means they're sized for true magnum actions. Web pics show that the MRAD mags use a rear spacer to fit short-action-length rounds (aka 308 Win and 6.5CM) in the magazine. This is similar to the concept of adding a spacer in a 308-length mag so that 6BR cartridges can be cycled reliably.

So yeah, it does look like the Covert is fully compatible with MRAD conversions up to 338LM. For someone used to running short-action rifles, the MRAD's long bolt throw for a 308 or 6.5 might seem a little different at first.

It appears that regular MRAD rifles are available for about $5500 and MRAD conversions run about $1500. I'm not saying that such price points are wallet-friendly, but honestly I suspected that a complete rifle might go for $7k to $8k.