Posted on 05/02/2010 2:03:44 AM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
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.
The Army is also adopting a new chassis that allows for more "real estate" on the rifle—meaning the ability to attach accessories, especially much-needed night-vision devices that clip on directly to the rail in front of the scope. The scope itself will be improved, adding a variable power system that can reach 16.5x to 25x magnification. The Army will also fit the rifles with a rangefinder so troops will no longer have to perform calculations on distance. "The engagement is a lot farther [in Afghanistan] than in Iraq," says Milo Afong, a former Marine Corps sniper who researched the experience of snipers in Afghanistan for his new book, Hunters: U.S. Snipers in the War on Terror. "You are looking at higher altitudes and less populated areas."
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
Well, the other side of the equation is that (as I understand it) sniping really hasn’t changed all that much in in the last 50 years. Newer rounds, better scopes and stocks - but it still comes down to the operator and the basic bolt-action - most of which date back to the Mauser design of 1898.
Several years ago I had gone to the range at a wildlife management area. About the time we were unloaded and ready to go, a young guy shows up wearing hunting cammies carrying a rifle case. Unloads a scoped .300 Win Mag, which is serious overkill for game here in GA. “Just sighting in my rifle for deer season!”
First shot he takes, he gets a scope recoil crescent moon cut above his right eye, just this side of needing a butterfly or a stitch or two for closure. Ouch, and just damn.
Hey, I thought that the military Remmies were assembled on long actions (though the 7.62x51 usually goes in a short action) precisely with the forethought that they may be readily converted to .300 WM by field armourers just by switching barrels. What gives?
Can the M-24 receiver accept the .300 WM? Is it not a short action?
You may have answered my question below yours.
Action is too short for the .300 Win Mag.
The .338L might cull a number of potential snipers due to recoil but in reality, the.338L makes lots of sense which cancels that idea.
In Vietnam, the 90mm main gun on the M-48 tank was used in conjunction with an infrared spotlight. Tended to keep the VC at a considerable distance.
Your ‘Tag’ line brought this Out,
We are reduced to the alternative of chusing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force.
— The latter is our choice. —
We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery.
— Honour, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us.
We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them.
Thomas Jefferson [1775]
Great quote!
bookmark
No doubt. Now in south ga hunting peanut fields ya need some distance, but in north ga, a 12 ga slug or a 30-30 is plenty.
I dunno. Got to thinking about it and thought maybe they meant .300 WSM. FN does a beauty sniper rifle in both 7.62 Nato and .300 WSM. Sounds like the ordinance boys are trying to reinvent the .30-06 without owning up to the possibility that maybe they should have stuck with it. I think that 90% of targets shot with a .30-06 would be just as dead as if shot with a .300 Mag. The others would probably spend a couple days in a Taliban field hospital and then die.
A .30-’06 cartridge loaded with a 190gr Sierra MatchKing bullet and 58 grains of RE-19 powder will give you a round very nearly identical to Federal Match ammo for the .300 Win Mag.
It’s amazing to think of how rapid the development was from muzzle loader, to .45-70 and the like, to the 30 ought 6. What, 40 years?
And now more than a century later, it’s still a VERY serious cartridge!
Doesn’t matter how many whiz bang gadgets you got, success will still be measured by how well the man uses his rifle.
That, and, given the environment snipers operate in; the old axiom of “when all else fails, low tech rules” would seem apropos.
The American Civil War was fought primarily with black-powder muzzle-loaders as infantry weapons.
Then there was an era of metallic cartridges, the .45-70, .577 Snider and the 577-450 Martini-Henry of Rorke's Drift fame introduced in the decades shortly after the war.
Off the top of my head, the .303 British SMLE, introduced in 1895, was the first rifle shooting a "small" (compared to all the .45-and-above) diameter, high-velocity bullet, followed in the next decade by the various 7.62/8mm Mauser and Springfield rifles.
But then, consider the development of military aircraft in the 30 years from 1920 to 1950 - Sopwith Camel to the B-36, the B-47 and the Sabrejet.
Back to the original discussion, the '06 is the basis of my collection.
Versatile, I'd say.
And anything John Moses Browning liked, is okay with me.
The M24 is built on the Model 700 Long (Sendero) action, which allows them to easily upgrade the rifle with a simple barrel swap. The Marine M40 is built on the short action, since no rebarrel was planned.
The acquisition of the M24 had always supposed a barrel swap, not a modification of the .308 barrel.
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