The US Marine Corps have shared an interesting short video that gives us a look inside the Corps’ Precision Weapon Section, responsible for assembling, refitting and maintaining the Marines’ precision weapons such as sniper rifles and competition firearms.

In the video Gunnery Sergeant Ricky Vega discusses the Precision Weapon Section’s recent work, including the upgrading of the M40A5 sniper rifle. Vega is one of just 60 Precision Weapon Repairmen, MOS 2112. The Section is based at Quantico, and is part of the Weapons Training Battalion. The Section was established at Quantico back in 1966, when it was previously known as Rifle Team Equipment. In 1972 it was RTE that produced the M40A1.

Vega explains how he and his fellow armourer’s at the Precision Weapons Section upgraded the Corps’ M40A5 to the newer M40A6 spec. The video explains that the three year upgrade programme, which began back in 2015, after Remington were awarded the contract for a new chassis, saw 781 rifles converted to the A6 specification. The work of assembling the new barrel, chassis, refurbished actions and optics for the rifles was completed six months ahead of schedule.

The video, titled ‘Building Weapons’ was posted on the USMC’s official twitter page, but is also available on DVIDs too. Check it out below:

Sixty Marines…that’s it!

Sixty out of the 200,000 Marines currently serving as precision weapons repairmen.

As the Corps’ gunsmiths, these specialized craftsmen can bring a weapon from the pages of a blueprint all the way to the range. pic.twitter.com/Lg4kZ8rUh7

— U.S. Marines (@USMC) October 4, 2018

The video shows another Precision Weapon Repairmen machining a barrel for a rifle and then shows Gunnery Sergeant Vega testing an M40A6 in a rifle testing bench. There is a 100% test rate for all of the weapons that pass through the Precision Weapon Section’s repair shop. Vega explains that “it doesn’t matter what your job is, you’re a rifleman first. Everything you do prepares you to deploy, prepares you for the fight. The video concludes with Vega putting some rounds through an M40A6 at the range. The USMC has recently augmented the M40A6 with the new Mk 13 Sniper Rifle, but the M40 is likely to remain in service for a few years yet.

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