Sniper Range May Hit 1,200 Meters Soon

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By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Mar 23, 2009 5:44:42 EDT
Army snipers could soon have a weapon capable of killing enemy fighters out to 1,200 meters, which is 400 meters beyond the range of the current-issue sniper rifle.

Program Executive Office Soldier is working on a plan to outfit units that need their snipers to shoot out to 1,200 meters with a modified M24 sniper rifle chambered for the .300 Winchester Magnum.

The Army began replacing the bolt-action M24 with the M110 Semiautomatic Sniper System in late 2007 to give snipers a rapid-fire weapon for engaging multiple targets in urban areas. Both rifles are chambered for 7.62mm NATO ammunition and have an effective range of about 800 meters.

Many in the sniper community disliked the decision, arguing that the M24’s simple bolt-action design has fewer moving parts and is more accurate than a more complex semi-auto design.

The complaints prompted 25th Infantry Division officials in Hawaii to write an Operational Needs Statement last summer that involved sending their M24s to the gun’s maker, Remington Arms Co. in Madison, N.C., to be retrofitted to .300 Win Mag instead of turning them in to the Army.
PEO Soldier Commander Brig. Gen Peter Fuller said he will support the request as a short-term solution for giving the Army a longer range sniper rifle.

“We are supporting units that are asking for modified M24s in .300 Win Mag,” if they have an operational needs statement for such a capability, Fuller recently told Army Times.

Both the Army and Marine Corps are working a long-range sniper rifle designed to kill an enemy from as far out as 1,800 meters.

Both services use versions of a .50-caliber sniper rifle that is effective out to 2,500 meters, but the 30-pound weapon is mainly intended to destroy large nonhuman targets such as light-skinned vehicles.

“We realize there is a gap in between those two, 800 to 2,500 meters,” Fuller said, cautioning that this is a short-term fix.

“Do you want to have a program of record or do you want to keep pushing things into gaps? There are a lot of vendors out there,” he said. “How do you ensure you have a fair and open competition to make sure the best opportunity comes forward and not just one because we did an operational needs statement?”

The caliber upgrade for the M24 is not a new concept. Special operations units such as the 75th Ranger Regiment have been shooting M24s chambered in .300 Win Mag since the late 1990s.

The 25th ID’s upgrade effort involves sending the existing M24s to Remington, where they will be fitted with a new barrel, a new bolt face, a special folding stock and a more powerful optic. Each upgrade would cost about $4,000, Remington officials have estimated. Standard M24s cost about $6,700.

It’s still unclear how the modifications will be handled, Fuller said.
“When units have their own unique systems, how do you maintain that across the Army?” he asked. “We have to think through this; at some point, musical chairs are going to stop and you are not going to be able to do your own thing.”


http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/army_sniper_032309w/
 
Would it not be cheaper to purchase a new system? The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Super Magnum for instance?
 
The 25th ID’s upgrade effort involves sending the existing M24s to Remington, where they will be fitted with a new barrel, a new bolt face, a special folding stock and a more powerful optic. Each upgrade would cost about $4,000, Remington officials have estimated. Standard M24s cost about $6,700.
I am curious to hear what the new optic & folding stock will be given the $4000 costing. Perhaps an AICS 2.0/S&B glass could warrant the price...but it'll be interesting and hopefully more info comes about on this if it can be followed up on.
 
I am by no means a gunsmith but for the initial price of the M24 I could build one HELL of a rifle using commercially available parts. I'm just sayin'...
 
The complaints prompted 25th Infantry Division officials in Hawaii to write an Operational Needs Statement last summer that involved sending their M24s to the gun’s maker, Remington Arms Co. in Madison, N.C., to be retrofitted to .300 Win Mag instead of turning them in to the Army.

I'm not a smith, but how does one "retrofit" a rifle that fires 7.62 to fire 300 Win Mag? Totally different barrel no? By retrofit, do they mean using the stock from the M24s and new barrel, action, etc? If so, that's one hell of a "retrofit" :cool:
 
I'm not a smith, but how does one "retrofit" a rifle that fires 7.62 to fire 300 Win Mag? Totally different barrel no? By retrofit, do they mean using the stock from the M24s and new barrel, action, etc? If so, that's one hell of a "retrofit" :cool:

The easiest way would be to swap out the barrel, bolt, and magazine box.

There are also a couple custom shops that you can send your rig to that will machine the changes. (Ream the chamber, open the bolt face, fix the magazine rails, and get the headspacing right.)

That being said, it'd be easier and cheaper to just buy the right parts to begin with.

That's just my :2c: though.
 
Would it not be cheaper to purchase a new system? The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Super Magnum for instance?

I'd imagine there'd be an element of "Must Be American" involved. No offence to anyone here.
 
Would it not be cheaper to purchase a new system? The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Super Magnum for instance?

I'm thinking the same thing. Why "reinvent the wheel" when you can just look to others for a potential answer and it can be a US manufacturer. Throwing a system out there shooting .338 Lapua Mag would make sense, shared resources with allies.
 
I'm thinking the same thing. Why "reinvent the wheel" when you can just look to others for a potential answer and it can be a US manufacturer. Throwing a system out there shooting .338 Lapua Mag would make sense, shared resources with allies.

Exactly, Going with the .300 seems like a stupid bloody move when there are already excellent rifles out there to do this, a rifle that will give you 300-400 more yards than the range of the .300 too!


http://www.impactguns.com/store/AI-AWSM338.html
 
Great, we have a 1200m round. What % of fired rounds will be hits?

Watching the International Military Sniper competition on Military Channel. Lots of missed shots. Shots taken at less then 1000m. Maybe we need better spotting/ranging gear so the shots taken have a higher % of hits.
 
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