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| Science & Technology |
| Army snipers go to .300 Win Mag |
| 2010-05-15 |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #11 Training rounds. Cabelas lists a 20 round box of Black Hills .338 Sierra Match Kings for $125. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-05-15 23:52 |
| #10 Outrageous .338 ammo pricing? For a sniper round? Do they use that much ammo compared to those who lay down tons of suppressive fire? |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-05-15 23:22 |
| #9 Politics over ballistics? I figure it's that the Army uses M24s w/ long actions (Marines M40s are short action). In that case, a re-barrel and new furniture would turn them into .300 Win Mags. The Army is going the cheap route. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-05-15 22:23 |
| #8 Anyone else remember the reason .338 Lapua was invented? Its because USSOCOM and the US Army rejected .300 Win mag for inadequate penetration at range back in the 80's. IIRC. THen the fiddled so long that snipers were "stuck" with .308win/7.62 NATO all this time. Why not just buy the same sniper rifle the Brits have? Its a damned good one. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-05-15 22:07 |
| #7 Politics over ballistics? |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-05-15 21:59 |
| #6 Interesting that Remington makes an M24 .338 variant that is 7 lbs (3.17Kg w/ sling+scope). That is just over half the weight of the .308 M24 - (13.85 lbs (6.3Kg, sling+scope) and less than half the weight of other .338 rifles. That's outrageous if the performance is comparable. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-05-15 21:31 |
| #5 Too bad. I thought the M24 was being phased out for a semiauto. If the extra range is needed why not carry the extra 2 pounds and go for the much better .338? Outrageous .338 ammo pricing? |
| Posted by: ed 2010-05-15 20:35 |
| #4 if the money is there the Laoua will be priduced more efficciently |
| Posted by: chris 2010-05-15 19:52 |
| #3 Both cartridges are much better at long ranges than the 7.62 but I suspect that the .300 Win Mag is easier to procure than the Lapua. Not sure of the comparative ballistics as I have not been into log range work the last 30 years. Though both have been around for quite a while the Win Mag has been commercially available, Lapua not so much. |
| Posted by: tipover 2010-05-15 19:41 |
| #2 What about that lapua thing the Brit record-breakers have been using recently? |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2010-05-15 18:38 |
| #1 The Army has looked at upping it's standard sniper rifle to .300 WinMag before; last time, they wanted it to shoot both 7.62mm NATO (".308 Winchester", although the specs are more precise) AND .300 WinMag. Sounds great, if you don't know much about guns... I believe the Marines make some use of .300 WinMag sniper rifles, as well. |
| Posted by: Drang 2010-05-15 17:02 |