DesertTech MDRx - Dubious Gun, Horrific Customer Service

This is a long story, really long, but it is much shorter than the two and a half year customer service nightmare that one gun owner has been enduring, all courtesy of Desert Tech - Tomorrows Firearms (because they don’t work today).

How It All Started

If you don’t already know this, I am the assistant manager of Boise Black Rifle, a gun store located near but not in Boise, ID. One of our oldest and best customers bought what we all thought was going to be a fantastic rifle from us on April 14, 2023. It is a Desert Tech MDRx chambered in 5.56.

Sadly, on his first outing with the gun, he experienced a significant number of malfunctions. He encountered a significant number of failures to chamber a round. When this happened, the cases were being deformed and some had the projectiles pushed back into the case.

After dealing with Desert Tech’s customer service for a while, three months after he purchased the gun he was allowed to send it to DesertTech for repair.

Desert Tech had his gun for the next seven (7) months. Seven Months!

Gun One - Take Two

On February 22, 2024 he finally got his gun back. The very next day he took it to the range. He managed to get three mags through the gun before it failed and locked up. He pulled the trigger and the gun did not go bang. Like any of us would when that happens, usually due to a bad round, he tried to operate the charging handle but it was stuck and would not move.

The facility he was shooting at has a gunsmith so he went and asked for help. After attempting unsuccessfully to operated the charging handle, the gunsmith removed the ejection port and was able to cock the hammer. He pulled the trigger and again, nothing. They did this 4 or 5 times before the gunsmith gave up and told the customer he would need to send the gun back to Desert Tech. You know, the gun he just got back from them the day before…

While the customer was packing up to leave, he decided to try cocking the hammer manually once more, seeing as there was a live round stuck in the chamber. Finally, success. The gun fired and the bolt started operating normally again. He packed up and went home.

He reached out to us at Boise Black Rifle and told us what transpired. Will, the manager, went with him to the range the following day and it was a repeat of what happened the day before.

On February 27th, five days after he got his gun back from Desert Tech, they told him via email that it sounded like the gun was faulty and would likely need to be replaced. The customer sent the gun back to them, again.

At this point, the customer bought the $2,800 rifle 10 months ago, but has only had it in his possession for barely 3 months, during which he could not even shoot it because it did not work.

On March 7th, Desert Tech acknowledged in an email to the customer they had received the gun back, for the second time.

Gun Number Two - Starting Off With A Bang (pun intended)

On March 20th, the customer received a package at his home. It was a brand new replacement rifle, sent to him directly from Desert Tech, which cannot be legally sent to him. A new/replacement gun must be sent to an FFL so that a 4473 can be completed. A gun manufacturer damn well should know this. The customer knew this and brought the gun to Boise Black Rifle so we could receive it.

At this point, the customer has lost all faith in the platform and since this was a brand new gun, he asked if we could sell it for him. We agreed and put the gun on the wall in the store.

The gun sat there for 16 months. Many people looked at it, but no one bought it. They are a very interesting gun and they look awesome, but for a lot of people, $2800 is a tough pill to swallow for a gun that they know very little about.

On July 21, 2025, the customer has given up hope that someone is going to buy the gun so he decides to take it home and give the platform another go. After all, it is a bitchin looking gun and bullpups do indeed have some advantages over traditional rifle designs.

Ready For Round Two-ish

He picks the gun up and heads straight to the range with it. This is the brand new MDRx that Desert Tech replaced his previous one with. He slaps a mag in it, charges it, and successfully fires 28 rounds through it before the gun gives up the ghost on round 29.

Trigger pulled, click no bang.

At this point, if I were the customer, I think my head would have exploded.

He goes to drop the mag so he can clear the gun, but the mag will not fall free. It has to be forcefully stripped from the magwell. Once the mag was out, he tried to eject the round that failed to fire but nothing comes out so he racks the gun repeatedly and it finally ejects the unfired round.

The unfired round has a large dent in the case.

Be puts in a new mag and tries to proceed.

Squeeze, click, no bang. Fight the mag out. Rack, rack, rack.

Rinse and repeat, for about half a magazine.

The rounds coming out of the gun are either dented or the projectiles are pushed back into the case, or both. Does this sound familiar?

After trying unsuccessfully to get the gun to fire a 29th round, he packs up and goes home.

That same day, the day he finally took possession of the replacement gun, he emails Desert Tech telling them that the replacement gun is doing the exact same thing the original gun was doing, and he asks for a refund.

At This Point, Things Turn Stupid

In the email response the customer received, the Warranty Manager tells the customer that it appears to be a gassing issue. The gun not chambering a round from a fresh mag by manually cycling the bolt is a gassing issue. Here is the email response he got after asking for a refund.

The customer is as baffled by this response as we were, but he attempted to try what he was being instructed to do by Desert Tech.

He returned to the range and tried to charge the weapon. He took several different loads but was unable to get the gun to chamber a single round. After he went home, he emailed Desert Tech, and at this point started including Boise Black Rifle in the emails, telling them he was unable to try adjusting the gas because the gun would not chamber a round.

In a move that is baffling to anyone that understands how semi-auto firearms work, the warranty manager responds to his email telling him that unless he tries adjusting the gas settings, there is nothing Desert Tech can do for him. He also asks the customer to record a video of him firing the gun and send it to them.

No, I am not making this up. Here is the email. Read it for yourself.

Retarded or Just Illiterate?

At this point, it would appear the Warranty Manager is unable to read basic English. If the gun cannot chamber and fire a round, the gas setting is completely irrelevant.

At this point, the customer is very rightfully becoming upset. He emails back reiterating that the gun will not fire a round at all, ever. He cannot adjust the gas settings as the gun is not creating any gas to adjust.

Desert Tech finally concedes and tells him he can send the gun back, but it takes them almost a week to send the customer his RMA. Once he received the RMA, he immediately dropped the gun off and sent it back to Desert Tech.

On August 8, 2025, the customer gets an email telling him that they have fired 60 rounds through his gun without any issues. At this point, they are still refusing to consider refunding his money because they cannot replicate the issues.

The customer is pretty well fed up at this point and sends an email asking them to send him a video (remember when they asked him to send them one?) showing that the rifle is functioning. He also tells them that if the rifle malfunctions when he gets it back, he is prepared to take legal action for them selling a non-functioning product.

Customer Service At Its Finest

Three days later, on August 11th, the customer receives an email in which the Warranty Manager expresses his frustration over having to deal with this customer and his rifle. He also sent a video of him firing the gun, a video that he told the customer was for his viewing only.

Sorry kid, that is not how things work.

Both the email and the video in its entirety are below.

On that same day, August 11th, the Warranty Manager asked the customer how he would like to proceed.

On August 15th, the customer once again reiterated his desire for a refund.

Customer Gets Ghosted By Desert Tech

At this point, Desert Tech just stops responding to emails from the customer. They have his gun, refuse to give him a refund, and now they have cut off communication.

On September 3rd, the customer has not heard anything from Desert Tech so he emails asking them for an update.

On September 12th, still nothing so once again he emails asking for an update.

Its FedEx’s Fault…

On September 16th, after a full month of silence, the customer received an email telling him that FedEx was not allowing Desert Tech to ship anything. In this email, they tell the customer for the very first time since this ordeal started, that he should be using crimped ammo. They also tell him that they put another 60 rounds through his gun and it worked fine.

How Its Going

On September 23rd, the customer got his MDRx back from Desert Tech. It was delivered at his home while he was at work. It was sent with no signature required and FedEx left it on his front porch. Brilliant!

At this time, the customer was over it. He did not want the gun near him, so he brought the gun to Boise Black Rifle. At that time, he was unsure what he wanted to do with it.

On October 14th, after reluctantly deciding to give it yet another go, he picked his MDRx up and took it to the range. He managed to get 100 rounds through it before it choked yet again. It would chamber the round but it was back to “click, no bang.”

That is a total of 100 rounds since he got the gun back from Desert Tech. At this point, Desert Tech has put more rounds through his gun than he has, but not for lack of him trying.

He left the range frustrated and disheartened, and on October 15th, he brought the gun back to us at Boise Black Rifle.

Failure In Epic Fashion, All On 2K Video

On October 16th, I took the gun to the range and filmed the entire range trip. That video is embedded further up in this piece.

I managed to successfully fire a whopping 57 rounds through the gun. After the 57th round, no matter what I tried, the gun never went bang again. I gave up after manually cycling about 15 rounds through it.

We at Boise Black Rifle have attempted multiple times to intervene with Desert Tech on the customer’s behalf, but they do not want us involved in the process. They routinely dropped us from any email responses they sent to the customer. Because of the way they have treated this customer, we have made the decision to no longer sell their products.

Customer Service Really Matters

This is just sad from several angles. Mostly, I feel horrible for our customer who has been dealing with this shitty situation for more than 2 1/2 years.

I feel bad because Desert Tech makes a number of firearms that are indeed good guns. I know several people who own them and love them.

One of those people is Tim from the Military Arms Channel, with whom I co-run The Bangswitch. I’ve known Tim for nearly 15 years. He has four different versions of the MDR, MDRx and a Wlvrn. He tells me they all have been great guns. He also owns a couple of their bullpup bolt action rifles, guns that I really like (aside from their price tag) and he has used all of them successfully both at the range and hunting.

I know another guy with an even bigger YouTube channel, who recently released a video on the Desert Tech Wlvrn. I spoke to him yesterday on my way home from the range after this MDRx took a crap on me. He told me that his Wlvrn has been 100% flawless.

The problem is not that Desert Tech can’t build a good gun. The problem is how they treat people who get a gun that is not good. Customer service really matters, and what Desert Tech has demonstrated here is that they do not feel the same way.

Too Late To Make It Right?

In speaking with the customer, I am not sure at this point if there is anything Desert Tech could do to make it right. However, I’d be willing to bet if they offered to replace his MDRx with the newest version of the gun, the Wlvrn, a gun with a much better reputation for reliability, he just might take them up on it.

If Desert Tech can’t do the right thing, maybe another manufacturer of a modern bullpup could take care of this customer while simultaneously earning a lot of good will from the gun community? Just a thought.