Scout Snipers Break in New Rifles

I'm not talking about Palma rifles... I'm talking about properly accurizing an AR platform. building a good Palma rifle is a LOT more involved.

I guess I shouldn't be so demanding on accuracy, but my standards are very high. Funny thing is, I refuse to shoot bench matches. Go figure... LOL

Mike

The Mk-11 is mfg. by Knights Arms. and "built" by the same armorers @ Quantico who build our bolt-action stuff. We use a modified version of the Schmidt & Bender 3-12 x 50 Police Marksman LP II scope. It will become standard equipment on all .308 and .50 caliber USMC sniper rifles, including Mk-11's. Unertl and Leupold fixed 10x scopes are removed/replaced as we send weapons in for maintainance at the higher echlon.
The Mk-11 was originally designed for and is primarily in use as a DMR (designated marksman rifle). It is slated to replace the aged and problematic M14. The M14 (M1A)is used by mostly security forces, FAST Co., and some DM's in the field. Cost and reliability is an issue with the M14's.
In my STA Plt. we still used the M40A3's and M82 for our precision firing and Scouting. The Mk-11 is mainly used when a mission requires sustained accurate fire. 80% of the Mk-11's you will see in the field are used by DM's in the line co.'s. While they do not hold the billet of an 8541 (Scout/Sniper) they do attend a shortened version of the school... scopes, target detection/aquisition, range estimation, counter sniping, sniping... etc. They do not go through the fieldcraft portion of the school.
As far as the brass being seen upon ejection, it's not an issue. When we load bolt actions we load full, and let casings fly as we cycle the bolt manually, it's the same thing. When I fire at a target up to and including 1200 yds. out, will it ever see the brass? As far as other people in my AO seeing an ejection... that's taken into account when selecting a hide.
And as far as the AR & Mk-11 comparisson goes... well, the USMC selected the Mk-11 from Knights. Enough said.
The Mk-11 has it's place, but IS NOT and will never be a replacement for our bolt action rifles.
USMC Scout Snipers will always be just that... Scout Snipers.

To ensure that the barrel is pointed in the right direction?

Now, if the officers will allow these snipers to do their jobs, everything will be complete. Problem is the company commanders are not using these guys the way they should ROE are in the way.

Where is all of the weight? I saw the 18+lbs with the 2lb suppressor attached, but it looks so basic. I would have thought that it was lighter.

"One would have to drop a lot of dough on a bolt gun to compete with the accuracy."

Not true. There are several great rifles on the market today that would out shoot any AR round with very little work.
I'm a long range competitive shooter and a gunsmith. I build custom long range rifles and also take off the shelf rifles and accurize them.
To get to an 8" group at 800 yards you have to be shooting less than three eights inch groups at at a hundred yards. If a rifle will not shoot one hole 3 and 5 shot groups at 100 yards repeatedly, it will never work for long range stuff.
The biggest bugger for a long range shooter is a hot barrel. None of these snipers are going to run a clip down the tube unless they have to to stay alive. They know what will kill their barrel. It may look good in the movies but hot barrels lose their accuracy in a big hurry. I have no doubt that this new rifle is a good shooter but it will never hold the long range records. A bolt gun does and will. One thing to note is that they chose to keep the 7.62 (308) cartridge for this rifle. There are many faster rounds out there but long range accuracy is not about velocity. It is all about repeatable trajectory. This round is a very accurate round. I would have preferred to see a 6.5MM or a 7MM because the have better ballistic coefficients. AR's are fun to shoot but that light of a bullet runs out of steam rather quickly and won't hold a good group at much over 250 or 300 yards. If there is any wind they lose consistency even quicker. Join the 8 and 800 club. Shoot an 8" group at 800 yards. There are more folks out there that can do it than you would think. Do any of you know what the 100 yard record is not? I'll give you a hint. It's is a ten round group well under 6".