Posted on 04/07/2018 4:21:30 PM PDT by BBell
The Marine Corps plans on adopting the Mk 13 Mod 7 sniper rifle for Marine scout snipers, officials confirmed to Marine Corps Times on April 2, a much-needed and long-overdue replacement for the M40 system that Marines have wielded since the Vietnam War.
Since the start of the Global War on Terror in 2001, the M40’s 1000-yard range has proved limiting for U.S. combat troops engaging militants in sprawling fightings in the mountains and desert of Afghanistan and Iraq. But according to Marine Corps Times, the Mk 13 “pushes beyond 1,000 yards” offered with a .300 Winchester Magnum round.
That range is nowhere near that of the Army’s 1,300-yard M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle and U.S. Special Operations Command’s 1,600-yard Precision Sniper Rifle. But it’s a major boost to both range and lethality over the M40, improvements that infantry weapons planners have sought for years.
The announcement comes amid a major makeover for the Corps’ precision weapon capabilities. In January, the Corps was testing the M38 variant of the beloved M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle for potential fielding in a squad designated marksman role.
And as Task & Purpose reported in February, the branch’s $40.8 billion proposed fiscal 2019 budget includes just under $1 million for the service to procure 116 7.62mm M110A1 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper Systems (CSASS) to replace the M110 to “improve the sniper’s ability to rapidly engage multiple, moving targets.”
At the time, the Corps emphasized that the CSASS, favored by the Army for a squad designated marksman role, would not dislodge the M40 as the service’s program of record. And with good reason: With a maximum effective range of just 875 yards, the rifle doesn’t offer the extended range Marines have been kvetching about for years.
“Should leadership decide to conduct a one-for-one replacement or just buy them to replace M110s for sniper billets,” Marine Corps Systems Command told Task & Purpose at the time, “the quantity would be greater than 116.”
Indeed, the Mk 13 appears to be the Corps’ final choice for that one-to-one replacement: While there’s no new explicit funding for the Mk 13 in the services’ fiscal 2019 budget request, the service asked for nearly $4.3 million in 2018 to purchase the new system, a quantity Marine Corps Times suggests is suitable to outfit the branch’s sniper teams with the new rifle. Indeed, the Corps noted that $5.3 million of its $40 million request for weapons and combat vehicles under $5 million “supports the MK 13 Rifle with associated optic … as well as continuing product improvement and modernization of sniper and special purpose weapons.”
How and when the service plans on fielding its new suite of precision weapons, like every other new piece of gear in the U.S. armed forces, remains to be seen. But no matter when it reaches Marine scout snipers, the new rifle represents a major, long-awaited breakthrough for the Corps — and certain doom for their adversaries downrange.
Jared Keller is a senior editor at Task & Purpose and contributing editor at Pacific Standard.
“the service asked for nearly $4.3 million”
The USAF smokes through that every hour of the day with the F-35 and other screwed up programs.
This is why such programs need curtailed, it robs the other departments of needed weapon systems and supplies.
If I’m not mistaken Chris Kyle used a 300 winmag in Irag.
TTIUWP
I think the individual snipers should make that call.
“Kvetching”? Since when does the Corps “Kvetch”?
Civilians.
Plus a 223 and a 308 depending on the mission.
Individual snipers picking their own weapon makes zero sense. Despite today’s hit movies, a sniper is not some loner out in his own private war. He is part of a machine. The commander needs to know that when he sends a sniper somewhere, exactly what that capability means. You don’t get that if everyone picks their own.
Then there are logistics. A sniper can’t just go to the Benghazi Cabelas for resupply.
If they are a Marine, they fight with the weapon they are issued and the Corps trains them on.
Really disappointed to see no pictures on this thread.
Yeah, me too.
Mk 13:7 (abbreviation for book of the Bible, “Mark”, chapter, & verse)
But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.
Me three....
There’s something missing in your thread:
can you tell me what it is..?
I had a buddy who used an M40 to drop an NVA colonel at 1,400 yards, while the colonel was at an outdoor blackboard, giving a lecture to three rows of troops.
Talk about psychological warfare!
I can’t post any pictures. It’s secret!!
Good Post.
Good Post.
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