Barrett To Deliver First Advanced Sniper Rifles to US SOCOM in Early 2021
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing recently announced that they have received the first order for the ASR (Advanced Sniper Rifle) from the US Special Operations Command. The $50 million contract to provide the ASR was awarded back in March 2019. The ASR tender as Barrett’s MRAD or Multi Role Adaptive Design selected. The first delivery of rifles is expected to take place in January 2021.
The ASR tender sought a rifle capable of engaging targets beyond 1,500 metres, that could chamber 7.62×51 mm NATO, .300 Norma Magnum, and .338 Norma Magnum, with these conversions able to be completed by the user.
The rifle will be paired with optics from Nightforce including the MIL-SPEC ATACR 5-25×56 Dayscope and their MIL-SPEC ATACR 7-35×56 Long Range Dayscope l. These were selected back in December 2019 under SOCOM’s Precision-Variable Power Scopes tender.
We got a look at the Mk22 Advanced Sniper Rifle at SHOT Show at the beginning of this year, where it was showcased alongside the entire deployment package which included:
- Pelican 1770 Protector Hard Case (58″x18″x10″)
- Armageddon Gear Soft Case
- Bore Guides for 7.62 and .300/.338. Stock Spacer Kit with 4 Spacers and Hardware
- Cleaning Kit with Rod
- Tool Kit with Torque Wrench, Bits, and Operator Spare Parts Kit
- (5x) 10 Round Magazines for 7.62x51mm NATO, .300NM, and .338NM
- Armageddon Gear Precision Rifle Sling
- Harris Bipod
- Armageddon Suppressor Cover
Here’s Barrett’s announcement about the delivery of the first MRAD MK22 rifles to SOCOM:
Barrett® Receives First MK22 Delivery Order from USSOCOM
Murfreesboro, Tennessee – Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc. is pleased to announce that the submission of its initial production MRAD MK22 (Multi-Role Adaptive Design Mark 22) rifles have met all requirements for the U.S. Department of Defense contract for ASR (Advanced Sniper Rifle) in support of USSOCOM (U.S. Special Operations Command). Since being awarded the contract in March 2019, the MK22 has completed all aspects of the Production Qualification Testing and Operational Testing phases.
As a result, Barrett has received the initial production order and deliveries will commence in January 2021.
“We are pleased to have reached this milestone with the project and look forward to providing our warfighters with this highly capable platform,” stated Joel Miller, Director of Global Military Sales.
USSOCOM initially announced in 2016 they were in search of a modular, multi-caliber bolt action sniper rifle capable of converting between .300 Norma Magnum, .338 Norma Magnum and 7.62x51mm through a “full and open competition.”
For more product information please visit https://barrett.net/products/firearms/mrad
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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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Multiple caliber sniper rifles make less sense than multiple caliber assault rifles. Hitting at distance requires extreme precision. There is no room for being close enough. Every barrel switch will require the weapon to be zeroed.
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