[mountn man]

Excuse me. What does the LAPD "need" with a fifty? A little "long range" shooting, from one roof top to another? Nothing that a .308 cant take care of. Or a .338 lapua.
The fifty makes a great LOOOOOONG range anti-personal gun. But primarily its a light armor weapon. When does swat go up against light armor?
If they need a long range anti-personal rifle, get a lapua, the rifles are less expensive, and so are the rounds. All with the range of a fifty.

[mark502inf]

What does the LAPD "need" with a fifty?

I don't know, but perhaps superior range, penetration, and a bigger bullet. The first Barretts for the Army were for EOD detachments--I don't know the technical details, but those guys are pretty careful about using what works! I have also personally witnessed the difference in hitting an automobile with a Barrett (a short coast to a stop) versus the standard (at that time) M-21 Army sniper weapon (kept rolling until stopped by a Cobra in a significantly more catastrophic manner than was intended). So, bottom line, I'm trusting the guys at the use level to make the decision on what they really need.

[shellshocked]

Same with machine guns. Why does a police force like SWAT need an M-4, a fully automatic weapon? When was the last time a cop ever needed to fire a bunch of rounds quickly?

[Squantos]

Well said about the 338 Lapua. I have a Dakota Longbow that is a tack drive at extreme ranges as it should be.

The thing that really bothers me about the LAPD an other departments these days is that they have M60 GPMG's, M249's , 240G's etc etc ........surgical precision, accountability for every round and background , safety to those innocent folks downrange used to be a priority for law enforcement.

They go after a criminal in my AO with one of those I know who I would shoot to stop the threat to society.

[I_dmc]

The Lapua sure sounds like a fine cartridge. And it was specifically designed for sniping.

.338 Lapua Sniping