M24 Sniper Rifle Fixes in the Works

[Ozymanithrax]

M24 Sniper Rifle Fixes in the Works
PEO Soldier announced yesterday it is aggressively working on an improvement program for the venerable M24 7.62mm sniper rifle.
According to PEO for Soldier weapons Col. Doug Tamilio, the service is taking "some" of its Remington-made M24s and converting them to .300 Win Mag shooters -- which Tamilio says will increase the rifles range beyond its current 800 meters. They're also going to replace the forward stock with a new one that incorporates picatinny rails, replace the current 10x scope with an adjustable one up to 25x that "when we adjust it from 3 power to 25, the reticle inside changes with that" and make the rear stock adjustable for length and cheek weld (so no more foam and duct tape customizations, Joe).
Snipers will also get more shots with the improved M24 since PEO is asking industry to increase the current five shot internal magazine with an external one that holds up to 10 rounds. The improved rifle will also have a flash hider/suppressor that comes standard "so we're going to give them the ability to be harder to detect when they fire the weapon."
Midway through this month, industry respondents are supposed to submit their hardware for the M24 upgrade to PEO for evaluation during the spring for an eventual downselect in the summer.
"And I will start fielding these to our snipers in theater this fall," Tamilio said. "That's pretty aggressive schedule and we are on track to do that.

Clearly, according to the military, there is such a thing as a sniper rifle.

[bossy22]

1. and...........

water is wet

how is this some how new information or something that is news worthy?

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. Who said there isn't? nt

[Merchant Marine]

3. Actually, they call it the "Sniper Weapon System"

If you want to have a semantics fight, get your semantics right.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. Poor Title...its improvements, not fixes

The current system is just fine, but has limitations due to caliber.

When it comes to long distance, I prefer .338 Lapua myself.

[Callisto32]

19. Glad you have the bread to shoot it.

When a couple'a boxes run you more than your rifle....yeesh.

On the other hand, if you've found a way to reload it on the cheap, details please.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

23. CA bans 50 BMG rifles, though there is a European round that cheats around it., for now. That means

if I want something markedly better than 308 it has to be .338 Lapua. I have a one off rifle (prototype from a small manufacturer). Rounds are indeed expensive, but it does not see a lot of use. I mostly do demos with it when I teach a rifle class.

[slackmaster]

5. Yes, and the rifles they issue to snipers are functionally identical to civilian target rifles

Ones designed for long-range competitive target shooting.

[jody]

6. Any rifle used by snipers is a "sniper rifle". Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Nina Lobkovskaya killed 309

and 308 Germans respectively using the SVT-40 for some of their kills.

[Glassunion]

8. I'm not sure

Which picture is sexier...

:sarcasm:

[Callisto32]

20. Way to objectify those women, chief.

:sarcasm:

Edit: Added the dreaded red tag.

[SteveM]

21. Put some whiskers on the lady to the right, and you'll know she doesn't miss. nt

[Euromutt]

9. Snipers don't even necessarily have to use rifles

Strictly speaking, sniping means nothing more than shooting at targets of opportunity while avoiding detection via concealment, distance, or a combination of both. In close terrain, like cities or forests, you can technically snipe at the enemy using a sub machine gun. Perhaps an additional criterium for what constitutes sniping is that the shooter (or 2-man team) operates independently, rather than as an organic part of a larger unit, thereby distinguishing snipers from "dedicated marksmen" (the latter forming organic part of a squad or platoon, and having their fire directed by the unit commander).

There may be particular types of firearm that are more closely associated with sniping, but what it comes down to is that sniping is determined more by one's way of operating than by the specific weapon one uses.

[DrCory]

27. Simo Hayha is an example...

Over 200 kills with a Suomi KP-31 submachine gun.

[oneshooter]

10. Simo Häyhä AKA "White Death" 705 confirmed, in less than 100 days

Häyhä used a Finnish variant, M/28, of the Soviet Mosin-Nagant rifle, because it suited his small frame (5 ft 3 in/1.60 m). He preferred to use iron sights rather than telescopic sights to present a smaller target (the sniper must raise his head higher when using a telescopic sight), to prevent visibility risks (a telescopic sight's glass can fog up easily), and aid concealment (sunlight glare in telescopic sight lenses can reveal a sniper's position).
In temperatures between −40 and −20 degrees Celsius, dressed completely in white camouflage, Häyhä was credited with 505 confirmed kills of Soviet soldiers,<2><4> - 542 if unconfirmed deaths are included.
Häyhä was also credited with over two hundred kills with a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun, thus bringing his credited kills to at least 705. Remarkably, all of Häyhä's kills were accomplished in fewer than 100 days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4


Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[DissedByBush]

24. The one on the right is a Mosin Nagant

It is what they got most of their kills with. It's what Zaitzev, Sidorenko and Häyhä used for their sniping.

It is by any definition the most successful sniper rifle in history.

It was only designed to be the standard infantry rifle for the Russian army in the late 1800s

What makes a standard rifle a sniper rifle is the person shooting it.

[Glassunion]

7. If I'm not mistaken...

The Department of Energy aquired several of these rifles within the past few years, with silencers and a whole bunch of fun accesories. They are a solid platform.

But as to the OP... I don't think that the military ever said that there was not a "sniper" rifle. In fact, the Marines let me shoot 2 different models on a visit.

If they were trying to hide the fact that they "sniper" rifles, or the fact the "sniper" rifles exist, I doubt one could quickly wiki the following: The US Military and our Police forces use or has used the following "sniper" rifles:

Armalite AR-50
AWC G2
Barrett M82
Barrett M90
Barrett M95
Barrett M98
Barrett M98B
Barrett M99
CheyTac Intervention
Desert Tactical Arms Stealth Recon Scout
EDM Arms Windrunner
Harris Gun Works M-96
Longbow T-76
M21 Sniper Weapon System (one of my personal favs to shoot)
M24 Sniper Weapon System
M25
M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle
M40 rifle (another one of my favorites)
M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System
M1903A4
McMillan Tac-50 (saving up for the .338 version, I can't justify nor afford $5 per round)
Robar RC-50
Savage 10FP
SR-25
United States Army Squad Designated Marksman Rifle
United States Navy Mark 12 Mod X Special Purpose Rifle
U.S. Marine Corps Designated Marksman Rifle
U.S. Marine Corps Squad Advanced Marksman Rifle


I'm sure there are more... On wiki, there are some scary pictures as well.

[PavePusher]

11. And all it is, is a lightly modified hunting rifle.

But you knew that, didn't you?

Incidently, that hunting rifle (The Remington 700) is derived from (gasp) an obsolete military rifle, the German Mauser.

I guess that makes it an "assault weapon" too, wouldn't it?

[SteveM]

22. Hard to beat a Rem 700 off-the-shelf. I still get 1" groups w/ .270 factory ammo.

[benEzra]

12. The M24 is the military designation of the commercial Remington Model 700 deer rifle

fitted with a particular scope and stock and a heavy barrel, and chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO (aka .308 Winchester).



Used to snipe, it's a sniper rifle; used to hunt deer, it's a deer rifle; used to shoot paper, it's a target rifle. I'm not sure what your point is here?

FWIW, the primary U.S. sniper rifle in Vietnam was the Winchester Model 70 deer rifle, wooden stock and all.

[Bold Lib]

13. 300 mag? Is there not an alternative that would do the same without burning

out a barrel so fast? The 300 Mag is brutal on barrels.

[hack89]

16. They need more range

they have found that in Afghanistan that an extra hundred yards or two would be useful due to the terrain they fight in. They didn't want to go completely over to .338 Lapua due to cost - Special Ops does use .338 Lapua.

[dashrif]

28. Its

called DX (direct exchange)

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. Who said there was no such thing as a sniper rifle?

[Euromutt]

15. Is this some variant on the "guns have only one purpose" claptrap?

Of course there's such a thing as a sniper rifle, in the sense of "a rifle well suited to the task of sniping." Such a rifle, however, is not by definition suited only to the task of sniping. As other posters have pointed out, the M24 is essentially a Remington 700 bolt-action deer rifle chambered for .308, fitted with parts better capable of withstanding the rigors of battlefield use (like a composite stock, which won't warp like wood might).

But if you strip away the modifications for military use, it's still essentially a deer rifle, chambered for a deer hunting cartridge. It's just that the infantry doesn't use the weapon for hunting deer; they use it for sniping, so they call it a sniper rifle. A private citizen, by contrast, could readily use the very same weapon for hunting deer (or elk, antelope, and quite a few other ungulates). The fact that the armed forces consider the M24 a sniper rifle doesn't mean that sniping is the only thing it can be used for.

[DissedByBush]

25. Sniping is basically hunting people

So overall we we have a single class: the hunting rifle.

[mvccd1000]

17. ... and it's a damn good thing, too.

Unless you'd rather someone have to carry themselves up close to do the same thing.

[Callisto32]

18. Yeah, and?

[aikoaiko]

26. "Clearly, according to the military, there is such a thing as a sniper rifle." ???

I don't understand the point you are trying to make? Were you ever in doubt or told there weren't rifles useful for sniping?