Posted on 04/28/2017 4:07:00 PM PDT by MtnClimber
The U.S. Army soon will begin searching for a 7.62mm rifle to become its formal squad designated marksman rifle for combat platoons and squads.
A recent directed requirement from Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Daniel Allyn prompted Army weapons officials to write a new requirement, and most likely they will conduct a competition that will result in the service equipping each combat arms squad with a new 7.62mm squad designated marksman rifle, Matt Walker, deputy for the Lethality Branch at the Maneuver Center for Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, told Military.com.
Equipping units with SDM rifles so they can shoot farther than the standard 5.56mm M4 carbine is not new.
Weapons officials have "operational need statements from every unit that has deployed for the last 16 years saying that 'a squad designated marksman is a requirement in theater,' " Walker said.
"The presence of a 7.62mm rifle in the formation is nothing new, but when [units] leave theater, they have to turn their guns in," he said. "A lot of the division and the corps commanders are very adamant saying, 'Hey, we need to get those assets back in order to train with them to be competent.'........
Part of the goal of the effort was to arm snipers with a rifle that doesn't stick out to the enemy as a sniper weapon.
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
Seems a Springfield Armory M1A National Match with a stock made to look more like a M4 would be a good choice.
I own one,my go to rifle if the SHTF.
AR10.
Probably too simple a solution for the Military though.
They already tried that. It was an effective platform but heavy and problematic. Also, even with the new chassis, it did stick out in a squad.
How many already paid for M-14 rifles do we have gathering dust in warehouses?
That has already been tried as the M110. It had problems and is to be replaced by the HK G28: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M110_Semi-Automatic_Sniper_System
I’d like one of those M-1 Garands.
I’m quite content in reporting that I too own a DPMS Panther. A -F I N E- shootin’ rifle, IMHO. Depending on locale, it is one of my go to firearms as well.
(Well, before that tragic boating accident that left me empty handed ‘cept fer an ol Stevens model 94C 12Ga. single shot shotgun) . . . . . . those firearms will be missed.
Snoot
Good, but kinda retro.
None. Clinton ordered them destroyed during his term. The survivors that were used in Gulf II through today, when the need for something not in a mouse gun caliber became apparent, are either ones Marine units and a few Army units ‘lost’ or are new-build Springfield Armory (the company not the government arsenal.)
What’s an ar10 today? It can be anything since there is no spec for it. So if they went ar10 like it would be nice if they spec the receivers so, like the ar15, you could have lots of small business provide options and upgrades, swap out caliber, etc. Seems like if they are going to go for a sniper rifle, they would adopt the 6.5 creedmoor round.
My late father told me during the war he saw a warehouse still filled with muskets. Yes, muskets.
In the photo are M-14’s. I have a M1 Garand and a M1A, the semi auto only version of the M-14. Both are good shooters.
They should get innovative and use the bullpup general concept for a sniper rifle.
It should be much shorter and not appear nearly as Sniper-esque.
Yeah, but Clinton ordered all of them in government inventory to be destroyed and sent out teams of auditors to make sure.
That would definitely be recommendation too. The familiar platform will make things easier. aside from that, it’s super accurate.
I am sure the Army will go to something developed to their specifications which will exclude anything currently in production.
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