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When I went through 2nd Mar Div sniper school we used 173 grain Lake City Match ammo. When I was lucky enough to go back to Lejeune in 1995 for a law enforcement sniper school, the Marines said they were still using it. One of the Marine instructors said he really liked the Federal 168 grain ammo so before I left I made sure I gave him 'several' boxes. Don't know if they've switched since 95.

When I went through we used Redfield 3x9 scopes, so you know how long ago that was. I'm getting old.

I dug thru my stash and came up with 3 types of Lake City match ammo:

Caliber .30 Match, M72, bullet 173 grain (FMJ), velocity 2640 FPS.

7.62MM NATO Special Ball, M118, bullet 173 grain (FMJ), velocity not shown.

7.62MM Match, M852, bullet 168 grain (BTHP), velocity 2550 FPS.

I believe US snipers used the M118 special ball with the FMJ bullet until the DoD decided that the 168 grain BTHP did not meet the Hague definition of a hollow point so they switched to M852. I heard Lake City no longer makes match ammo so they have switched to Federal commercial (good stuff -- wish I could afford it).

Hold em' and squeeze em' and may all your nines be tens.

J.R.