Sniper Rifle

[catman]

THE GRIM REAPER?S ARM JUST GOT LONGER: The M107 Long-Range Sniper Rifle
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The long arm of the U.S. Army just got longer. The Army has just approved the M107 sniper rifle -- which will allow all sniper teams to reach out and touch someone from farther away than ever before.


The Low-Down on the M107

Name:
M107 Long-Range Sniper Rifle

Type of Equipment:
.50 Caliber Semi-Automatic Rifle

Killer Features:

Can effectively engage targets, personnel and material, at ranges up to 2000 meters
Fires a many different styles of .50 caliber ammunition
Semi-automatic feature gives soldiers the ability to engage multiple targets
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing
P.O. Box 1077
Murfreesboro, TN USA 37133
mail@barrettrifles.com
Phone: (615) 896-2938
FAX: (615) 896-7313



By Michael Merrill
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc.'s M107 Long-Range Sniper Rifle has been approved for "full material release." This means that the weapon has undergone full operational testing, been deemed safe to use, and has proven effective in the field.

The M107 is the Army's first semi-automatic .50 Cal sniper weapon system. Soldiers will be able to effectively engage multiple material targets, such as parked aircraft, light armored vehicles, and computers at distances of up to 2000 meters.

The rifle will also serve in a counter-sniper role, effectively utilizing the increased standoff distance against enemy snipers using smaller caliber weapons. The M107 is planned to compliment -- not replace -- the M24s that are currently in service, but it is slated to replace all remaining M82A1s that are currently in service with EOD (unexploded ordinance) units as detonation tools.

The M107 was used to devastating effect in the urban fighting during Operation Iraqi Freedom, successfully engaging targets at distances of 1400 meters. U.S. sniper teams noted increased accuracy and range over the M24 (7.62mm), but they also were able to appreciate the psychological damage on the enemy forces when enemy combatants viewed the destructive force of the .50 BMG rounds. Many soldiers have commented that they consider the M107 to have been the most useful piece of equipment used during urban fighting.


The only negative feedback from soldiers in the field was about the Leupold telescope sight. The sight is zeroed for 500, 1000, and 1500 meters. Many sniper teams reported that they had to do some guesswork when engaging a target at an in-between distance, such as 1350 meters. Most believe that an upgraded telescope sight would increase the weapon's accuracy and ease of use.

There are a few of warnings that need to be heeded before attempting to fire the M107. First, it is recommended that a maximum of nine rounds, instead of ten, be loaded into the weapons clip to avoid internal damage to the weapon. Second, this weapon creates a hazardous amount of noise when fired, therefore requiring the use of hearing protection during use. Lastly, even though the M107 is able to fire many types of standard .50 caliber ammunition, specific rounds must go through an approval process before use. For example, the .50 cal SLAP (Saboted Light Armor Penetrator) round is specifically forbidden, as attempting to fire this round in the M107 will cause serious injury to personnel and damage to the weapon.

Currently, the only planned upgrade for the M107 is a suppressor that will reduce the muzzle flash, noise, and blast signatures.

The Army expects to have the M107 fully fielded by FY08. The Army originally fielded 700 units in FY03 under an "urgent material release" to support overseas operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The M107 has proven itself to be a very effective asset in the field and will continue to serve and protect our people in the field for years to come.


Legendary sniper Gunnery Sgt. Carlos N. Hathcock II was the first person to ever use a .50 caliber weapon in a sniping role. Utilizing a .50 caliber Browning HMG with an 8-power telescope sight, he set the record for the farthest confirmed kill by a sniper during the Vietnam War, at 2,250 meters.

This feat of field craft by Sgt. Hathcock established the viability of using .50-caliber ammunition as usable and effective for sniper special operations. Sgt. Hathcock?s record was broken only recently in Afghanistan by a Canadian sniper team. The Canadian snipers scored a chest shot at 2,430 meters using a .50 caliber McMillian bolt-action rifle, with a 16 power Leupold telescope sight.

[Jerry D]

lends a new result to the old saying "reach out and touch someone"

would be fun to go varmit shooting with it but, I guess there wouldn't be much left for the buzzards to chew on after you took out some prarie dogs with it

The Barrett is truly nifty for sure and I'm a big fan of Carlos Hathcock but I have serious doubts about the statement that he was the first to use a .50 cal. to snipe. We used .50 cal. M2's set to single shot and equiped with starlight scopes on a fairly routine basis for night perimiter defense and got the impression that that and similar arrangments had been in use for a long time.

[PHO127]

We were using M2s set for single shot with AN-PVS-4 Starlight scopes as early as 1967 that I personally know of. I am sure the set up was used before then.

[colmurph]

It's a great rifle but you cant just take the ammo out of a .50 Cal. belt and use it. The bullets are Machined, Solid, Bronze. The base is flat and not a "Boat Tail" like standard .50 cal. The standard .50 Boat Tail also has a slightly beveled end so that there will be a slight dispersion of the rounds to cover a fairly large area out to 1,000 meters. This does not lend to acuracy. The beveled tail will let more gas escape from the muzzle on one side or other of the round as it leaves the muzzle, This tends to upset the round so that it's terminal impact at 1,000 meters can vary as much as 5 feet. The machined round on the other hand, will drop a round into a 6" circle at 1,000 meters. A litttle known fact, on most of the fire bases in Vietnam the most effective "Sniper" weapon for base defense was the "Ma Deuce" when fired as a semi-automatic, It was very good at picking off critters out to about 400 meters which was a heck of a lot better than the M-16 which had about a tenth of the "Knock Down Power" of the .50 at the same range (if they could hit somebody at that range with the M-16).

[Boats]

Sniper shot in Iraq - check out this thread -

http://wizbangblog.com/2006/01/03/sp...-war-crime.php

[Keith_Hixson]

Just think no more stalking. Gives a new meaning to long range shooting.
The probably run about $6 or 7,000 is my guess.

Keith

[Boats]

Here's a copy of the thre-quarter mile shot -

Sniper shot that took out an insurgent killer from three quarters of a mile
Toby Harnden in Ramadi
(Filed: 01/01/2006)



Gazing through the telescopic sight of his M24 rifle, Staff Sgt Jim Gilliland, leader of Shadow sniper team, fixed his eye on the Iraqi insurgent who had just killed an American soldier.

His quarry stood nonchalantly in the fourth-floor bay window of a hospital in battle-torn Ramadi, still clasping a long-barrelled Kalashnikov. Instinctively allowing for wind speed and bullet drop, Shadow's commander aimed 12 feet high.


Click to enlarge
A single shot hit the Iraqi in the chest and killed him instantly. It had been fired from a range of 1,250 metres, well beyond the capacity of the powerful Leupold sight, accurate to 1,000 metres.

"I believe it is the longest confirmed kill in Iraq with a 7.62mm rifle," said Staff Sgt Gilliland, 28, who hunted squirrels in Double Springs, Alabama from the age of five before progressing to deer - and then people.

"He was visible only from the waist up. It was a one in a million shot. I could probably shoot a whole box of ammunition and never hit him again."

Later that day, Staff Sgt Gilliland found out that the dead soldier was Staff Sgt Jason Benford, 30, a good friend.



The insurgent was one of between 55 and 65 he estimates that he has shot dead in less than five months, putting him within striking distance of sniper legends such as Carlos Hathcock, who recorded 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam. One of his men, Specialist Aaron Arnold, 22, of Medway, Ohio, has chalked up a similar tally.

"It was elating, but only afterwards," said Staff Sgt Gilliland, recalling the September 27 shot. "At the time, there was no high-fiving. You've got troops under fire, taking casualties and you're not thinking about anything other than finding a target and putting it down. Every shot is for the betterment of our cause."

All told, the 10-strong Shadow sniper team, attached to Task Force 2/69, has killed just under 200 in the same period and emerged as the US Army's secret weapon in Ramadi against the threat of the hidden Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or roadside bomb - the insurgency's deadliest tactic.

Above the spot from which Staff Sgt Gilliland took his record shot, in a room at the top of a bombed-out observation post which is code-named Hotel and known jokingly to soldiers as the Ramadi Inn, are daubed "Kill Them All" and "Kill Like you Mean it".

On another wall are scrawled the words of Senator John McCain: "America is great not because of what she has done for herself but because of what she has done for others."

The juxtaposition of macho slogans and noble political rhetoric encapsulates the dirty, dangerous and often callous job the sniper has to carry out as an integral part of a campaign ultimately being waged to help the Iraqi people.

With masterful understatement, Lt Col Robert Roggeman, the Task Force 2/69 commander, conceded: "The romantic in me is disappointed with the reception we've received in Ramadi," a town of 400,000 on the banks of the Euphrates where graffiti boasts, with more than a degree of accuracy: "This is the graveyard of the Americans".

"We're the outsiders, the infidels," he said. "Every time somebody goes out that main gate he might not come back. It's still a running gun battle."

Highly effective though they are, he worries about the burden his snipers have to bear. "It's a very God-like role. They have the power of life and death that, if not held in check, can run out of control. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

"Every shot has to be measured against the Rules of Engagement [ROE], positive identification and proportionality."

Staff Sgt Gilliland explains that his Shadow team operates at the "borderlines" of the ROE, making snap judgements about whether a figure in the crosshairs is an insurgent or not.

"Hunters give their animals respect," he said, spitting out a mouthful of chewing tobacco. "If you have no respect for what you do you're not going to be very good or you're going to make a mistake. We try to give the benefit of the doubt.

"You've got to live with it. It's on your conscience. It's something you've got to carry away with you. And if you shoot somebody just walking down the street, then that's probably going to haunt you."

Although killing with a single shot carries an enormous cachet within the sniper world, their most successful engagements have involved the shooting a up to 10 members of a single IED team.

"The one-shot-one-kill thing is one of beauty but killing all the bad dudes is even more attractive," said Staff Sgt Gilliland, whose motto is "Move fast, shoot straight and leave the rest to the counsellors in 10 years" and signs off his e-mails with "silent souls make.308 holes".

Whether Shadow team's work will ultimately make a difference in Iraq is open to question. No matter how many insurgents they shoot, there seems no shortage of recruits to plant bombs.

Col John Gronski, the overall United States commander in Ramadi, said there could not be a military solution. "You could spend years putting snipers out and killing IED emplacers and at the political level it would make no difference."

As they prepare to leave Iraq, however, Staff Sgt Gilliland and his men hope that they have bought a little more time for the country's politicians to fix peace and stability in their sights.

[Boats]

See below

[Boats]

Background data on the snipe rifle - design and specifications

http://www.vpc.org/graphics/snipcov2...%20rifle%3F%22