POTD: USMC M38 DMRs Stretch their Legs
It’s been a while since the US Marine Corps announced that they would be deploying the M27 IAR in a Designated Marksman Role, adapting it by mounting the Leupold TS-30A2 Mark 4 MR/T 2.5-8x36mm rather than an ACOG.
The USMC have shared some photos of Marines from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division training with their M38 Designated Marksman Rifles at the range on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, from earlier this month.
The captions from the photos describe the rifle as the “M28 Designated Marksman Rifle” rather than the M38, but this is likely a typo. The Marines were training to increase their capabilities at high altitude shooting, firing down on targets from a hillside.
Managing Editor: TheFirearmBlog.com & Overt Defense.com. Matt is a British historian specialising in small arms development and military history. He has written several books and for a variety of publications in both the US and UK. Matt is also runs The Armourer's Bench, a video series on historically significant small arms. Here on TFB he covers product and current military small arms news. Reach Matt at: matt@thefirearmblog.com
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The fact that this is exactly the same rifle as the M27 but gets its own designation because of different accessories drives me crazy. Go down that road and a platoon will have 30 "different" rifle types.
The M38 is one of the most wasteful programs ever adopted. Its somewhere in the ballpark of wastefulness as the M45A1 and the M27.