We have already had the opportunity to talk about the American company Desert Tech and its interesting firearms, such as the bullpup MDR semiautomatic rifle, originally chambered in .308 Winchester and easily convertible to other calibers. Today we are talking about another model, which is essentially dedicated to recreational shooting or use as a survival weapon, namely the Trek-22, which, as its name suggests, is chambered in .22 Long Rifle.
Desert Tech Trek-22, an idea that comes from afar
From a purely mechanical point of view, the Desert Tech Trek-22 is a blowback semi-automatic rifle with a barrel length of 18 inches, or 45.7 centimetres. The real innovation is the special bullpup-type polymer stock, made by Desert Tech, consisting of two half-shells that wrap around the mechanics and through a transmission bar allow the trigger control to be moved backwards. Mind you, the idea of a shell in which to wrap the complete mechanics of an existing gun is certainly not a new one, given that twenty years ago there was already a kit on the market in the USA that transformed the Ruger 10/22 into something similar to an MG42 machine gun, but these were purely aesthetic conversions without any real use.
In the case of the Desert Tech Trek-22, the stock really transforms the spartan semi-automatic rifle into a completely different gun in terms of ergonomics and expandability.
The stock of the Trek-22 is fully straight and wraps around the mechanism and the barrel, leaving only the threaded section of the muzzle protruding from the front, in case a silencer or compensator is/can be fitted.
In the USA, the Desert Tech Trek-22 rifle is delivered with "only" a ten-round magazine, certainly more for legal than logistical reasons. It can in fact use all magazines compatible with the Ruger 10/22 model, which are widespread in the USA and available with capacities of up to 110 rounds. The front section of the stock offers a long Picatinny optics rail at the top that allows the mounting of accessories, while the lower section features a total of thirteen M-Lok slots to which other add-ons can be attached, starting with a folding bipod. Moving to the rear we find the pentagonal shaped trigger guard and the squared half-pistol grip, a design imposed by laws in some US states that restrict the sale of guns with full pistol grips (AR-15 style grips, to be precise). We then come to the rear of the stock which, as in all firearms featuring a bullpup configuration, contains the firing mechanism, equipped with an oversized cylindrical cocking handle with a finely knurled surface. More precisely, the cartridge chamber is located in a slightly forward position, while on the actual buttstock we find two storage compartments into which as many spare ten-round magazines can be inserted. The magazine release is also oversized and is centrally located behind the magazine well. On the underside of the stock is a QD cup for the carrying sling. The stock is available in grey, green, black and FDE.
The barrel of the Desert Tech Trek-22 is 18 inches, or 457 mm, long and is fully free-floated. The stock allows custom barrels up to 23 millimetres in diameter to be fitted. Despite the fact that the trigger must necessarily use an additional transmission bar, according to the manufacturer's claims the rifle offers a clean and light 1,500-g pull weight. The weight of the gun without a magazine is 2,170 grams, which is very little. It is certainly a suitable solution for extended carry in difficult terrain.
Another interesting thing about the Desert Tech Trek-22 is... what's missing!, that is the fact that the rifle can be fully equipped with all sorts of accessories, optics, tripod, tactical sling and so on. But there are also those who want a small and light survival rifle, to be carried in a rucksack during forest excursions. In this case, it will be sufficient to mount a set of flip-up metal sights on the Picatinny rail, or a small red dot (maybe an enclosed-type one), and nothing else will be needed.
Let us now come to the sore points: in the USA, the Desert Tech Trek-22 costs $799 (about 750 euro), which is not exactly a small amount, especially in the competitive American market. It is, however, a special gun which will certainly satisfy a clientele that has specific requirements. On the other hand, the stock alone sells for $299, a much more affordable figure. If you want to know more, you can visit the Desert Tech website.
