#AdvancedSniperRifle

The U.S. Army has awarded SIG Sauer a contract to manufacture .300 Norma Magnum and .338 Norma Magnum ammunition. The order is a follow-on purchase for the Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR) program, and has a $157MM maximum value contract and includes 4.5MM rounds for the first delivery. Specifically, the U.S. Army ASR ammunition contract consists of two cartridges: the M1163, which is a .300NM, 215 grain round, and the M1162, an armor-piercing 338NM, 300 grain round.

The US Army has confirmed its procurement of Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc.’s MK22 Multi-role Adaptive Design (MRAD) rifle as the Precision Sniper Rifle. The $50 million five year contract will see just short of 3,000 MRADs procured. It has not been specified which calibre will be the primary chambering of the Army’s new sniper rifles but the Army’s announcement does mention the MRAD’s ability to switch between .338 Norma Magnum, .300 Norma Magnum and 7.62×51 NATO.

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 Army’s Precision Sniper Rifle program began as a survey in 2008 that was eventually awarded to Remington in 2013, with their Mk 21 MSR (Modular Sniper Rifle) and Later the Mk 22 ASR. Recently, the United States Army has selected the Leupold Mark 5HD 5-25×56 scope for use in the Precision Sniper Rifle Program.

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 current sniper rifles in the Swedish Army are the PSG90 and the AG90. The AG90 is the Barret M82 in .50 BMG and the PSG90 is made by Accuracy International in .308 Win. The M82 is more of an anti-material rifle than a sniper rifle.

Today’s Photo Of The Day shows a variety of interesting and (relatively) rare firearms.

The US Department of Defense has announced that Barrett Firearms Manufacturing has been awarded a near $50 million contract to produce their MRAD sniper rifle to fulfil US Special Operations Command’s requirement for an Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR).

Accuracy International Ltd. (AI) based in Portsmouth, UK, announced an order to upgrade and retrofit the G22 sniper rifles of the German Armed Forces through its German representative POL-TEC.

The United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is considering a caliber change for their future semiautomatic sniper weapons systems. Although traditionally these medium range precision weapons have been chambered for the 7.62x51mm caliber common to NATO, it seems SOCOM is looking to get a little more out of them by changing over to a new 6.5mm/0.264″ caliber round. The Command is investigating two off-the-shelf options: The 6.5mm Creedmoor (6.5x49mm) and the .260 Remington (6.5x52mm). Both rounds are extremely similar, each being based on the .308 Winchester case (the Creedmoor by way of the all-but-forgotten .30 T/C) necked down. From Military Times: