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The U.S. Sniper's More Accurate, Quieter Rifle (Upgraded M-24 Remington)
Popular Mechanics ^ | May 12, 2010 | Roxana Tiron

Posted on 05/14/2010 10:58:12 AM PDT by C19fan

Recognizing the differences between conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is now selecting a contractor to upgrade the 22-year-old Remington bolt-action rifle to become a more effective killing machine. The Army will pour about $5.6 million into upgrades to the M24, with the new gear expected to be delivered to troops by this fall. The M24's barrel is being modified to shoot heavier .300 Winchester Magnum rounds, instead of the 7.62mm NATO ammunition, which should extend the rifle's maximum effective range by hundreds of yards to a maximum of about 1400 yards. The suppressor will reduce the noise and flash of the gun so snipers can stay in their hiding positions much longer after they fire.

(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: banglist; remington; sniper
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To: taxcontrol

The same bottoms will work with both 223 and 30 cal tops?


21 posted on 05/14/2010 11:47:24 AM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: equalitybeforethelaw

“Overkill. Looks like the belly shooters want something they don’t need. No adult leadership. Shooting 300 win mag will burn the barrels out in around 2,000 to 2,500 rounds. Contrast that to 7.62 boat tail and you are looking at a barrel life of 5 - 6,000 rounds. Most of our shooting is done in urban areas, less than 300 meters. There very few opportunities to identify and engage a target at 1,000 meters. The probabilities of hitting the target at 1,000 is very poor. Big waste of money. By SR-25s and keep the M-24 as is.”

Belly shooters? you’re kidding, right?

No 1,000 meter shots? Really? You’ve never been to the sandbox, I guess.

Poor chance at 1,000? Maybe you aren’t so good at shooting, if you shoot at all, but 1,000 minute of man is not uncommon.

Most of our shooting with bolt guns is long range, not urban. You watch too much Discovery channel.


22 posted on 05/14/2010 11:51:58 AM PDT by CodeToad
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To: C19fan

Ok Guys help me with this one; I thought the m-24 was a 40x variant with a short action and a 1 in 12 twist.
If you are going to use a 300 Win Mag with a 220, or heavier, bullet would it not be best to use a Magnum length receiver so you could set the bullet out longer then the standard 300 and have a 1 in 9 twist barrel.


23 posted on 05/14/2010 11:52:12 AM PDT by MCF
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To: CodeToad

Most of our shooting with bolt guns is long range, not urban. You watch too much Discovery channel.

After 20 years managing USMC sniper programs I doubt I need to hear your prattle regarding snipers. Bite me.


24 posted on 05/14/2010 11:55:41 AM PDT by equalitybeforethelaw
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To: taxcontrol
My program was to equip with an AR-15 lower with swappable uppers.

Nice way to kill our troops. The reliability of the system is already questionable....using uppers not designed for those lowers will simply lower the reliability.

We're talking sniper rifles here, not battlefield weapons.

M24 in .300 Win is OK, but still insufficient for extra long-range. That is why the Brits use the .338 Lapua for sniping and we use the .50 BMG for sniping.

25 posted on 05/14/2010 11:56:46 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: C19fan
I doubt seriously that the actions on the existing remingtons, mdl 700’s, are of the right length for the 300 mag cartridge. The existing rifles shot the 7.62 NATO/308 Winchester round. Weapons for this round are usually always built on a short action. The 300 win mag takes a mag length, longer, action. They will not simply re-barrel or re-chamber the existing rifles they will replace them with a new rifle.
This is not brain surgery. Any gun specialist or gun smith can attest to this fact.
26 posted on 05/14/2010 12:12:20 PM PDT by oldenuff2no (Rangers lead the way...... Delta, the original European home land security)
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To: equalitybeforethelaw

“After 20 years managing USMC sniper programs I doubt I need to hear your prattle regarding snipers. Bite me.

You talk like an idiot. So bite me. Every idiot who thinks he knows shooting claims military connections.


27 posted on 05/14/2010 12:13:55 PM PDT by CodeToad
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To: CodeToad

You talk like an idiot. So bite me. Every idiot who thinks he knows shooting claims military connections.

Great, go win mag yourself GySgt Hathcock.


28 posted on 05/14/2010 12:16:33 PM PDT by equalitybeforethelaw
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To: Still Thinking
NO the 223 lower will not work for the 7.62 NATO round. It is long enough to chamber the 7.62X39 Russian round but that round is anemic compared to the 7.62NATO/308 win cartridge.
I do not know what this guy is talking about. The new rifle the military is talking about is a Remington Bolt action rifle built on a model 700 magnum length action. It has nothing to do with the AR platform.
29 posted on 05/14/2010 12:18:47 PM PDT by oldenuff2no (Rangers lead the way...... Delta, the original European home land security)
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To: oldenuff2no

That’s what I thought. A normal AR-10 lower is different from that of an AR-15. I couldn’t imagine why they’d have bothered if you could use the 15 lowers for both calibers.


30 posted on 05/14/2010 12:22:06 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: C19fan

RULES -— PICTURES!


31 posted on 05/14/2010 12:23:15 PM PDT by bmwcyle (Thank You God for Freeing the Navy Seals)
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To: Erik Latranyi

I am very familiar with sniper systems ... Having shot expert my entire time in the Infantry and having been a designated marksman.

Someone familiar with the AR-15 / AR-10 receivers would have known that the lower receiver would have to be modified to meet this requirement. It was the concept of a swappable barrel that I was presenting.

I will also remind you that many battlefield weapons have been used as sniper weapons with modifications (M14, Galil, M1C/D, M44, etc). It is often not about how fast / far / big / hard hitting / accuracy etc..... Case in point, the .50 makes a great sniper weapon but it and it’s ammo and support systems are heavy. The Israelis have a .22LR sniper system that they use inside a city with sub sonic rounds and suppressors. Works great in close quarters.

And lastly, you seemed to have missed the point I was presenting in my post which was, just because it seems obvious (swappable barrels or going to a different caliber) it is not always so “obvious” to the troops on the ground for a number if different reasons.


32 posted on 05/14/2010 12:24:13 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: oldenuff2no

Not aware of the AR configuration you speak of. Spent 3 years designing the Operational Test for the Special Operations Combat Assuat Rifle (SCAR). This rifle (2 variants: heavy and light) was truly designed around modular concepts and could easily be adapted to any caliber you could wish to choose. Its built by FN Herstal. Don’t know the status of the program anymore, but it was a fine combat rifle and a suitable replacement for the M16.


33 posted on 05/14/2010 12:25:40 PM PDT by equalitybeforethelaw
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To: RC one
BETTER CHOICE THAN BARRETT .50 or .300 WIN MAG
34 posted on 05/14/2010 12:26:59 PM PDT by ExSoldier (Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.)
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To: jonascord

Heh heh, he said wedding tackle
35 posted on 05/14/2010 12:29:31 PM PDT by MaxMax (Conservatism isn't a party)
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To: RC one
There’s a big difference between .300 and 7.62 nato imo

Huge. I apologize if my post appeared to be trivializing the 300 win mag, I was speaking specifically about the rifles. The 300 win mag Is an exceptional round. I've seen guys use a nickel to cover 3 holes in their target at 300 yards using a 300 win mag and that round will push out much further.

36 posted on 05/14/2010 12:33:20 PM PDT by Malsua
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To: taxcontrol

Got it. Your are talking about our heavy barreled M16s. We originally designed two flat top M16s and equipped them with ELCAN and TRIGICON sights. I wrote the original Operational Requirements Document for both the rifle and sight. Our original 106 test bed rifles showed up in FAST Cos and were used in Somalia for Embassy defense with good effect. The original concept for a Designated Marksman Rifle was to provide a semi-automatic capability to the Scout Sniper Team. The concept eventually morphed into the 5.56mm DMR being installed in the infantry Squad. This permits precise covering fire for entry teams while allowing the SAW to be brought up to the point of attack. The original desire of the “belly shooters” was to rebuild M14s as the support rifle for the Scout Sniper Team. This was merely a smoke screen to build an empire at Weapons Training Battalion. Eventually, Wpns Trng Bn could not produce the rifle with any quality and no snipers actually wanted to carry a 14lb rifle. Once that failure was past we were able to procure the SR-25 as a hot need and have never looked back. SR-25 has a problem with breaking extractors. Both Marine and SOCOM snipers carry two extractors with them on all missions. Reed Knight has to my knowledge never been able to build the SR-25 without this problem. To achieve 1.5 MOA in a semi rifle, the tolerances between bolt head and chamber have to be tight. This tightness is thought to be the cause of breaking extractors.


37 posted on 05/14/2010 12:38:36 PM PDT by equalitybeforethelaw
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To: ExSoldier
.338 is kind of intermediate between 7.62 and .50 bmg. It's great for shooting things out to around a mile. It's overkill for anything less and heavy as hell to boot. Decent .338 lapua ammo is about $100/20 rounds I believe. All in all, that makes the .338 a niche specific weapon. The .300 win mag remains a niche generalist. Savage has a new .338 out that I would like to own incidentally but I can't justify it, not when I already own too many other weapons that I can barely afford to shoot anymore.


38 posted on 05/14/2010 1:09:01 PM PDT by RC one (WHAT!!!!)
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To: ExSoldier

That was the round that popped into my mind as well, if they decided they wanted something farther reaching than a 308 but lighter than carrying your buddy, unlike a 50.


39 posted on 05/14/2010 2:28:58 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: equalitybeforethelaw

“Great, go win mag yourself GySgt Hathcock.”

Already have, so I guess between us I am the only one with the experience to talk about it, yuppie.


40 posted on 05/14/2010 2:58:06 PM PDT by CodeToad
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