Strategy Page reports:
June 18, 2009: The U.S. Army has ordered 38.4 million rounds of .300 Winchester magnum ammunition for its newly modified M-24 sniper rifles, as well as similar SOCOMs Mk13 models. The new ammo will cost about $1.30 per round. The .300 Winchester magnum will be ordered in minimum lots of 56,160 rounds (117 boxes of 480 rounds each). The entire 38.4 million rounds will last a while.
$1.30 a round! I would have thought they could get it cheaper than that!
There is a discussion at SaysUncle about the pro’s and con’s of the cartridge.
Thanks to David for the link.
UPDATE:
A more factually correct article is at Defense Industry Daily, and it quotes regular TFB commenter Daniel Watters.
D.E. Watters of The Gun Zone adds that .300 Win Mag is used in the Mk13 sniper rifle, another Remington 700 long receiver derivative that’s assembled from parts at NSWC Crane. The most recent version is the Mk13 MOD 5, which allows the use of the same sound suppressor as the Knight’s Armament Company SR-25/MK11 sniper rifle.