Back in March 2019, US SOCOM selected the Barrett MRAD to fulfill their requirement for an Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR). At the end of last year, Nighforce’s MIL-SPEC ATACR 5-25×56 Dayscope and their MIL-SPEC ATACR 7-35×56 Long Range Dayscope l were selected as the go-to optics for the new SOCOM ASR. Now Berger have announced that they have been sub-contracted to produce .300 Norma Magnum and .338 Norma Magnum for SOCOM’s ASRs.

The Nightforce 7-35×56 mounted on the Barret Mk22 Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR)

The sub-contract awarded by the Ultra Defense Corporation will see Berger load 800,000 rounds of 300 Norma Mag and 200,000 rounds of 338 Norma Mag in a one-year agreement. Berger are a part of the Capstone Precision Group, who in turn are part of the Nammo Commercial Business Area. The ammunition will be loaded and tested at Capstone’s facility in Mesa, Arizona.

Berger 300 Norma Mag & 338 Norma Mag to be loaded for SOCOM (Capstone Group)

In a statement, Bill Gravatt, Capstone’s President said: “Our team has been working on this project for over two years and are all very proud to have been trusted to load this important project. It was a total team effort by everyone at Capstone, Ultra Defense and other areas of Nammo. The Berger and Lapua projectiles had already been specified for this program but now we have the honor of loading the ammunition.”

The SOCOM 300 Norma Mag ammunition will be loaded with Berger .30 caliber, 215 grain Hybrid bullets and Lapua cartridge cases while the 200,000 rounds of 338 Norma Mag will be assembled using Lapua cartridge cases and the Lapua .338 caliber, 300 grain AP529 projectile.

Adam Braverman, Director of Sales, Marketing and Distribution, added, “Winning this contract was strategically very important to us in paving the way towards future long term contracts specializing in advanced ammunition loadings.” “Working with Ultra Defense and USSOCOM on this project has been a great experience,” Dan Thelen, Capstone’s General Manager said, adding that “leveraging the bullet production and commercial ammunition capabilities of Capstone/Berger with the legendary quality of Lapua cases puts us in the unique position to deliver a World Class product to our US warfighters.”

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