LaRue OSR 7.62mm

The LaRue Tactical OSR has been a long time coming but LaRue are nearing shipping the rifles that are currently on order.

The OSR is an AR-10 type rifle styled after the Knight's Armament SR-25 and M110. It is built from high quality components and shoots sub-MOA groups at 100 yards. THe price reflects this, and it starts at $2,485.

Specifications
Caliber	7.62x51mm NATO
Rifle Weight	9.7 lbs (unloaded / no optics) 14.0 lbs (fully-loaded as seen above)
Recievers	Upper and lower CNC machined from 7075-T6 billet
Length	37.5“ (with A2 stock)
Barrel	16.1" (18" & 20" also available) LW50 Stainless
Barrel Twist	1/11.25 twist
Barrel Life	10,000
Max Effective Range	800 meters
Magazine	Standard 10 or 20 round M110 magazines
Accuracy	Average size of a 5-shot group less than 1 MOA
Price	$2,485 (base model)

From the above video. I love how the the SureFire suppressor heats up on night vision! I guess suppressors are not a good choice in night time combat operations.

But Cpl Reynolds, of Dalgety Bay, in Fife, together with his spotter Lance Corporal David Hatton, worked out different factors such as wind speed and the trajectory of the bullet to hit the target. Musa, who was more than 1,500 metres away, was taken out with a single shot to the chest.

Cpl Reynolds, who has killed 32 Taliban fighters, said: “I was quite proud of that shot. It is the longest recorded kill in Afghanistan. I am going to use that fact as a chat-up line in the pub when I get back home.”

An incredible feat! I wonder if his “chat-up” lines are as deadly on the ladies as his sniper skills are on Taliban.

UPDATE: The UK newspapers are incorrectly stating that it is the longest kill in Afghanistan. I think it should read “the longest British Army kill in Afghanistan”. The longest confirmed kill of all time was made by Canadian Rob Furlong at a distance of 2430 metres in Afghanistan. Thanks to Rob and Eric for the corrections.

Many thanks to Sven for the link.

The first thing you notice when looking at the rifle is the striking stock design. The butt stock is adjustable every-which-way and can fold for easy transport. The pistol grip is AR-15 compatible, just like the new Savage bolt action Model 10 BAS, so it can be swapped out for something the operator is more comfortable with. The free-floating handguard features rails at 3, 6, 9, 10:30 and 12 ‘o clock positions.

Stock folded. 20″ barrel. Interesting that the bolt is lock closed, but trigger is accessible.

Remington have taken no chances and have designed the rifle to be compatible with all of top contenders for selection as the next US Military long range sniper cartridge. The MSR can be easily switch between calibers by changing the barrel, bolt face and magazine. At the moment it is compatible with .338 Lapua Magnum, .338 Norma Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum and 7.62mm NATO. The fluted barrels are available in 20, 22, 24 and 27 inches in length and can be swapped out in minutes. Accuracy is 1 MOA at 1500 meters.

It weights 13 lbs with 22” barrel and loaded 5 round magazine and 17 lbs with 22” barrel, scope, bipod, loaded 5 round magazine, and AAC Titan suppressor.

Posted by boottrac at Sniper’s Hide forum.

A video of the rifle in action:

Overall this rifle seems to meet, and in many cases exceed, the SOCOM Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) requirements. It is good to see Remington MPD (Military Products Division) innovating. They have not introduced new military hardware for quite a long time (aside from the Remington ACR, which they did not design).

More info at Remington.

Hat Tip Accurate Shooter

Marine’s M40A3 Sniper rifle.

One of the key requirements for this system that differentiates it from the existing 7.62×51mm NATO and .300 Win. Mag. sniper systems is that it needs to reach out to 1500 meters with MOA accuracy. Armed forces around the world have long recognized the need for a system that can reach out further than the 7.62mm NATO but is lighter than .50 BMG rifles. Many have adopted the .338 Lapua Magnum chambered rifles to fill this niche. The .338 Lapua Magnum was originally a US Military project but it lost traction and the .300 Win. Mag. is currently used for longer range shooting. The .300 Win. Mag. lacks downrange energy and the lighter projectiles mean greater wind drift at long range (1000 – 2000 yards).

The current Precision Sniper Rifle, as at March 2009, are as follows.

1) The system shall be chambered to safely fire factory produced “non-wildcat” Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturing Institute (SAAMI) or Commercial European standard (CIP) ammunition.

This eliminates some of the fancy odd-ball caliber long range cartridges such as the .408 Cheyenne Tactical (CheyTac). The most obvious choice is the before mentioned .338 Lapua Magnum. The cartridge has been around for a while and manufactures know how to get the most our of the cartridge. Another alternative is the .338 Norma Magnum which is only coming into production this year. It is similar in length to the .338 Lapua but has a slightly shorter and fatter case so it can use heavier and longer bullets which have a higher ballistic co-efficient.

.338 Lapua vs. .338 Norma Mag. Photo from Wikipedia.

2) The action can be either manually or gas operated and available in left and right hand versions.

I think most, or all, entries will be bolt-action rifles. They are easier to make accurate, lighter and more reliable than autoloading rifles. The advantage of a semi-auto is of course rate of fire, but this is not a requirement for this weapons system.

3) With primary day optic and ammunition the system shall provide 1.0 MOA from 300 to 1500 meters (in 300 meter increments) when fired from the shoulder or an accuracy fixture in nominal conditions. This is further defined as 1 MOA Extreme Vertical Spread for all shots in a 10 round group at the stated distances.

1500 meters = 1640 yards.

The rifle is fired from a rest and 80% of the fifty 10 round groups need to be 1 MOA. Note that the MOA is measured only for the vertical spread which eliminates the effects of wind on the measured accuracy. 1 MOA spread is over 10 round groups is much harder than getting 1 MOA for a standard 3 round group!

4) Mean Rounds Between Failures (MRBF) shall be 1000 rounds.

5) The system shall have an overall length no greater than 52″ in full configuration / extended excluding suppressor with a single component no greater in length than 40″.

6) The system shall weigh no more than 18 lbs with a 12:00 MilStd 1913 rail and a loaded magazine with 5 rounds.

7) The system shall be capable of operator breakdown into major components in less than two minutes.

The barrel also needs to be able to be swapped out by the operator within 20 minutes.

8 ) The system will assemble from the major component breakdown in less than two minutes by the operator.

9) The system will assemble from breakdown with no change in weapon zero.

10) The system will have an integral MilStd 1913 rail at the 12:00 position, the rail will be capable of maintaining bore sight alignment and weapon zero while conducting routine firing combined with combat movement and operational training drills.

These are all pretty standard requirements. One other test than will be performed will be drop tests with loaded rifles. The rifles are expected to be able to be dropped 1.5 meters at various angles without firing the chambered cartridge.

Overall they seem very sensible requirements. It will be interesting to see how this competition progresses.

The rifle was on display at the IDEF ‘09 arms show in Turkey a couple of weeks ago. I could find very little information about this rifle. The Azerbaijanis may be known for oil, but websites (and photography) they are not

It is said to weigh 20 kg (44 lbs, but can be broken into two part for transport), has a range of 3000m (1.8 miles) and is usable in mud, snow, dust and temperatures ranging from -50 degrees Celsius (-58 F) to +50 degrees C (122 F).

Other than that all I know is what is pictured above. It has a side mounted scope, iron sights, bipod and a two baffle muzzle break.

Photo from trmilitary.com

The potent 14.5×114mm round it chambers was developed by the Soviets at the beginning of WWII as an anti-tank cartridge and later as a heavy machine gun and anti-aircraft round. Compared to the .50 BMG it is up to 60% more powerful!

From what I can make out from Azerbaijani websites they are interested in creating a viable defense export business. Other items on display at IDEF were machine gun suppressors and Armored Personal Carriers jointly produced with South Africa.

This year Russia won with the Ukraine coming second and Macedonia third. It is quite an achievement for Macedonia which has a population of only 2.1 million.

These photos are of the competition in 2007:

The range officers are armed … just in case of international incidents I suppose

This photo was from the 2008 competition. Interesting position.

And let’s not get carried away with the sea state, says DT contributor Joe Buff. A multi-thousand ton destroyer is a pretty stable platform in any but the most tumultuous sea states and makes dialing in a shot on an admittedly tossing life raft more doable — a smart platform for the Team to operate from.

Well sure a big ship is a more stable platform, but that does not make it any less of a feat of marksmanship. Missing could have meant the difference between the American captain surviving and being executed by the frightened pirates.

We also have some information — unconfirmed, though we’re working on it — about how the shots were taken and what was used. Our firearms expert Eric Poole who writes for Tactical-Life posits that the snipers were using the MK-11 .308 sniper system manufactured by Knights Armament Co. This weapon is awesome, by the way (I’ve shot it a few times myself) and, if this is indeed what the shooters used, would mark a major, high-profile departure from legacy thinking about sniping which holds bolt-action rifles as the Gold Standard or marksmanship.

I also said that I though the Mk 11 was the likely weapons system.

Bolt actions and semi-auto’s can both be made accurate enough. Bolt actions can be made more accurate cheaper, but semi-autos give a much better rate of fire. The Army is sticking with the M24 Sniper Weapons System, based on the Remington 700 bolt action, for now because of cost.

Poole figures the DevGru frogmen removed the “overpowered” standard-issue Leupold scopes and opted for the Aimpoint CCO augmented by the PVS-14 night vision monocular. Though the SEAL version of the MK-11 Mod 0 is issued with suppressors, it’s unclear whether the operators used them, but I’d bet a million bucks they did.

Good point about scopes. The range was relatively close, so I don’t think the sound suppression of a suppressor would make a huge difference to the situation, but the decrease in recoil would be advantageous when making followup shots at a moving target. I think it is safe to assume these guys know now their weapons performs when suppressed (unlike video games, in real life suppressors make no change to the external ballistics of the projectile, but it does change the weight balance of the firearm)

One other question (among many) remains open…were there three shots or four? Poole reasons, and Allen and I agree, that someone had to shoot through the lifeboat window first, then fire the kill shots. My limited knowledge of ballistics leads me to believe the snipers could not rely on the effectiveness of the one window shot to actually strike the target where it was aimed based in the potential deflection of hitting that probably plastic (glass) window.

There are a lot of things we do not know.

Thanks to Paul for the link.

The most successful technical principle in use is apparently based on triangulating the sonic boom of rifle bullets. The technology is relatively similar to the artillery sound ranging since about 1916, radio direction finding, radar receiver, sonar receiver and passive radar warning/direction finding.

Read the full article here.

Click to expand.

The auctioneer claims that it is only one of twelve built and the only other known example resides at the Ford Benning sniper school.

The .50 BMG Flechette rifle project was contacted out by DARPA in 1960’s. The projectile consisted of a saboted depleted uranium dart weighing 11.9 gram ( 183.6 grains ).

.50 BMG Flechette round cross section. © Paul Smith (Used with permission)

The sabot was fired out of a smoothbore barrel with the dart achieving 4500 feet/sec velocity. That is more than a 32 grain .204 Ruger!

Detailed Drawing © Paul Smith (my modification are in red)

I tried to work out the caliber. Given that 1 cm3 of depleted uranium weights 19.1 grams and the length of the dart is 7.81 cm (I rounded down to 6cm to take into account the spiraling and the point) and then used the formula of a volume of a cylinder:

11.9 / 19.1 = 0.62

sqr(0.62 / ( 6 x pi )) = 0.18 centimeters

[ My math skills not great these days, go easy on me in the comments ]

A caliber of .07″ is seems some what small. It is impossible to know how much titanium is in the depleted uranium alloy.

Time Magazine wrote about the project back in 1967:

TRW’s magic bullets are unimpressive at first glance. Less than 4 in. long and one-tenth of an inch thick, they resemble the steel flechettes (French for “little arrows”) used in some U.S. antipersonnel weapons in Viet Nam. What the TRW flechettes lack in size, they make up in penetration power. In recent tests, they punched completely through a 2-in.-thick armor plate that would stop most steel flechettes or heavy-caliber bullets fired at it.

Dramatic Travel. It is the uranium that gives the flechettes their impressive muscle. Cleansed of its fissionable isotopes U-235, the depleted uranium is safe to handle. Because it is one of the heaviest natural elements (a 1-ft. cube of uranium weighs 1,167 lbs.), even a tiny uranium flechette fired at high velocity from a gun has so much kinetic energy that it can penetrate a target at an angle as oblique as 60°.

At 0.10 in caliber it would have an incredible ballistic coefficient weighing in at 180 grains! In theory it should be super accurate. In reality it was quite the opposite. It shot 10 shot groups of 6 – 8 feet at 600 yards. That’s over 12 MOA!

TRW was hoping to use the flechette in a rotary gatling / mini gun type system. Daniel writes:

The rifle in the GB [gunbroker] ad looks like the one shown in a photo in Peter Senich’s “The Complete Book of U.S. Sniping”. The photo was credited to Don Stoehr, a former TRW employee.

Among his projects were the Low Maintenance Rifle (LMR) and HIVAP (High Velocity All Purpose) machinegun. The HIVAP was really wild. It was an eight-barrel .31 caliber Gatling based on the Dardick open chamber principle. Like other Dardick-derived open chamber weapons, it used ‘trounds’. The HIVAP trounds used lexan cases loaded with saboted flechette. (However, solid bullet variants intended for testing purposes can be found.) The really wild part was the cyclic rate: just shy of 30,000 rpm. Stoehr later wrote that the twin feeders could support 42,000 rpm and that a switch to electrical priming would allow them to double the existing cyclic rate.

However, I don’t know how they’d ever keep such a monster fed. The weapon pod under design only held either 3,000 or 6,000 trounds.

It is an interesting cartridge that unfortunately will probably never be further developed due to the politics and health concerns of depleted uranium. Carrying DE rounds around would likely be a health hazard to the soldier using them.

More information on the round is available at cartridgecollectors.org.

Many thanks to Daniel E. Watters for information and links and to Paul Smith for the use of his photos.

While it is very cool looking it is also very impractical. Shooting sticks are a much better idea. If the shooter need to lie down or quickly maneuver he just drops the sticks.

The correct use of a Steadicam. Photo from Wikipedia.

UPDATE: So it turns out this concept was used in the movie Aliens. I have not seen any of the Alien/Predator movies. Only in the past few years have I began to start appreciating sci/fi after reading a couple of the classics. Some Alien movie pictures:

“Colonial Marines Technical Manual” – Thanks to Jimmy for the scan


“M56 Smart Gun”. From IMFDB. Thanks to Linoge and Redfezwriter for the link.

The nine-member sniper team brings multiple capabilities to CTF 151, including its ability to operate from an aerial platform with a variety of different weapons systems. The scout snipers use a Mk-11, which is the 762 sniper rifle; a 50-caliber M107 special application scoped rifle (SASR); and several different sets of optics to aid them in carrying out their mission.

“We have the ability to stand off of a target, visually see what is on the target and report that information to the VBSS teams so they understand — before they’re boarding — the number of personnel, if there are any weapons on board, if there are any type of foulings on the deck, if their hook point is obtainable, and, basically, give them a warm and fuzzy feeling that they’re not out alone out here, that they have snipers watching over them 100 percent of the time,” explained Benkie.

Emphases mine. That must be a good feeling

More here.

Afghan traditionalists are changing the way the Taliban fight. This can be seen by the increase in the use of sniping by the Taliban. In the last year, NATO units in southern Afghanistan estimate there has been a 25 percent increase in sniping incidents.

…

Then some of the young guys remembered grandpa decrying the decline in marksmanship years ago. Back before the Russians showed up, in the 1980s, the best an Afghan could hope to have was a World War II, or World War I, era bolt action rifle. These weapons were eclipsed in the 1980s by full automatic AK-47s and the RPG rocket launcher. The young guys took to the AK, and the thrill of emptying a 30 round magazine on full automatic. Not bad for a brief firefight, and suddenly hardly anyone, except a few old timers, wanted to use the old bolt action rifle.

Read the entire article here.

Lee-Enfield rifle No. 4 Mk I (From Wikipedia)

According to the book Charlie Wilson’s War, supplying .303 ammunition was initially a priority of the CIA during the 1980s. The Afghans were already armed with Lee-Enfield rifles of WWI and WWI vintage and there was greater deniability supplying then obsolete ammunition. Once the CIA gained more funding and political support they shifted thier startergy to supplying AK-47, heavy weapons and ultimately the Singer surface-to-air missile system.

This war is often incorrectly compared to the Soviet invasion. The Taliban do not represent the Afghan people nor are they as well supplied as the Afghan freedom fighter were by the US, Pakistan and Arab countries. The Taliban, while presumably well supplied, are fighting with less advanced weapons than they did back in the 1980’s. NATO forces on the other hand have come a long way. It is not surprise that sniping is on the increase. Force on force confrontations with NATO troops almost always end with high Taliban casualties.

The M110 is the 7.62×51mm semi-automatic sniper system which won the Army’s competition to replace the aging M24 bolt action sniper system. While it will not replace the M24 in the near future, the system is seeing action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The rifle is based on the SR-25, which in turn is based on the Stoners’ AR-10 design.

Knights Armaments have developed a mounting system for the iPod Touch that attaches to a side mounted picatinny rail. The mount attaches to an Otterbox protective case.

Click to expand. Photo ⓒ Chen “SMGLee” Lee. Used with permission.


Click to expand. Photo ⓒ Chen “SMGLee” Lee. Used with permission.

KAC contracted Runaway technologies to build an external ballistics calculator for the iPod Touch / iPhone named Bullet Flight. It is your standard ballistics application. You can set firearm / ammunition profiles, then call up the saved profile and enter your environment information, for example, distance, wind direction, elevation and temperature.

The application is available from the iTunes store for $11.99. It is a lot more expensive than the $4.99 iSnipe application.

We may yet see an iPhone on the battlefield

BAS/T (adjustable target-style butt-stock)


BAS (M4 style butt-stock)

The rifle is build on the Model 110 action and features the AccuTrigger and AccuStock. It accepts standard AR-15 butt-stocks and pistol grips. Two top rails and side rails allow for accessories. At a first glance this rifle resembles an auto-loader (and puts it out of reach for our Australian friends).

It also features a 24″ free floating barrel, Savages’ new proprietary muzzle break and a 10 round detachable magazine. I am not sure what calibers they are offering but looking at the above photos I would say it is a short action so they are probably offering .308 Win and/or .223.

The difference between the BAS and BAS/T models are the butt-stocks as seen above.

The rifle was developed for the law enforcement market. In the press release they did not explicitly state that the rifle will be available to civilians.

The Tactical 2 is available chambered in .223 Rem., .308 Win., .300 Win. Mag. and .338 Lapua Mag. and features the Blaser straight pull bolt system.

Blaser Tactical 2. Click to expand.

Australia recently purchased AU$161,716.66 worth of Blaser Tactical 2 rifles:

IDF Snipers are indoctrinated in one of three courses:

1. Four week basic snipers course for infantry units.
2. Three week basic snipers course for Special Forces units’ personal.
3. .50 caliber shooting course.

What is the collective plural of “sniper”? A “shot” of snipers?

More here.

The Doubletapper has written an article on the history of IDF snipers since the turbulent beginning of the modern Israeli state. Well worth reading.

Part of the wearable system. Photo from Defense Update.

If the entire system was ever made small enough to fit into a wristwatch I think it would become an essential hunting tool and could prevent accidental shootings.

China’s robust arms industry has been able to duplicate U.S.-made, armor-piercing rounds, and the bullets are being found with the enemy in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Two government sources tell HUMAN EVENTS the sniper ammunition is sending alarm bells through the Pentagon as it hurries to keep pace by producing improved body armor for soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors.

The sources said the Chinese munitions are not thought capable of defeating the super-hard ceramic plates that now protect service members against smalls-arms fire, including armor-piercing bullets.

I know very little about AP ammunition. Does anyone know if M948 (7.62mm Saboted Light Armor Penetrator) or M993 (7.62mm AP) can penetrate Type IV ballistic vests and a ceramic plate insert?

AP bullets. Click to expand. Image from DTIC.mil.

Defense Review discusses the implications of this and its potential impact on the mythical XSAPI armor plates that are in development.

Hat Tip: Defense Review

More images here.

It is unlikely Finland would allow arms exports to South Ossetia. It was probably bought on the civilian market and then exported. I cannot imagine that South Ossetia would have many snipers so this is feasible.

Their squad sharpshooters (or whatever they call them in that part of the world) are probably using the SVD.

I cannot make out if it is a TRG-21 / 22 (.308 Win) or TRG-41 / 42 (.338 Lapua or .300 Win Magnum). I have never seen a photo of a 41/42 without a muzzle break, but I think the 21/22 can have the Sako TRG muzzle break attached, please correct me if I am wrong.

Click to expand the image

H/T: MP.net

The causal observer will only see a sniper killed by a pile of wood.

Cleverly disguised as a rock monster. Half man, half rock.

In all seriousness I think this is a very cool product. I am not sure if military snipers need such a product.

More here.

It features

* 1/2 MOA accuracy is standard
* 11 inches shorter than conventional rifles
* Quick Caliber conversion between 243 win, 308 win, 300 win, and 338 LM
* Rugged, it was designed and built to be as tough as any other system out there.
* Adjustable trigger 1-5 lbs and you can also enable or disable the second stage on the trigger, as well you can reduce your trigger pull length to whatever you want.

The 338LM pictured below (with bipod, scope mount, sling, and S&B 5-25x) is 15.75 lbs and has an overall length of 37.5″. The 308 WIN (22″ fluted barrel) is approx 3 lbs lighter with an overall length of 31.5″, making it the shortest sniper rifle in the world to my knowledge, yet you can still mount the bipod the same distance forward on the rifle that you can on a standard McMillan stock.

We actually beefed up the barrel and bolt camming area up by 39% over the original DSR-1. Every operational sniper that has handled the rifles have said they are the most comfortable rifles they have ever handled.

The trigger is excellent, I can assure everyone of that and those going to the shot show will get to try it.

Postal, your hilarious, no black eyes with this gun. The bolt has a 60 degree lift and six lugs. The bolt manipulation is about 2-3 inches rearward of a normal bolt gun, It feels very natural and you don’t loose your cheek weld during operation. Your technique changes slightly but it is very accommodating. If you shoot the SRS left handed then you have to roll your head over slightly to manipulate the bolt.

We won’t be making a lefty, at least not for a while, sorry.

.338 LM with 26″ barrel+muzzlebrake next to an M4

Some more photos (rifle chambered in .338 LM)

Prices:

Shot Show Prices will be (Tentative):
SRS 338LM $3585 (26″ fluted barrel includes DTA muzzlebrake)
SRS 300WIN $3450 (26″ fluted barrel no brake)
SRS 243WIN $3275 (24″ fluted barrel)
SRS 308WIN $3275 (22″ fluted barrel)

Conversion kits (includes bolt, barrel, barrel ext, and magazine)
338LM $1480 (includes DTA Muzzlebrake)
300WIN $1265
243WIN $1205 (if you already have a 308win bolt you can deduct $300)
308WIN $1155

Some more photos

Desert Tactical Arms have not website, this information was gathered from googleing (this thread and this thread).

Hopefully an official website will be put online. If you are from Desert Tactical Arms, please email me with your website address.

I missed this. If any one recorded this please let me know.

This is enough for anti-material work but well below western sniper rifle standards. For comparison, the Barrett M82 is supposed to shoot sub MOA (less than 1 MOA).
It is available in either 12.7×108mm or .50BMG.

It comes in two versions.

The M99

and the bullpup M99B / M06



More info here.

I am fairly certain that this rifle is an Iraqi Al Kadesih rifle (a 7.62mm Nagant firing Dragunov SVD clone) but I could be wrong. Please correct me if you know what it is.

The current M40 barreled for the .308 round is dependable and can reach out and touch someone at about 1,000 meters. But the TRG-42 is designed for the sniper who wants a little more range – like 2,300 meters, says Beretta firearms instructor, Corey Gumbert – without having to carry the heavy .50 Barrett rifle.

Gumbert said his company has handed over a few of the .338 Lapua-chambered TRG-42s to the Marine Corps and so far they like them.

More here