#Marksman

A warning against romanticism in military planning.

At the 2017 SHOT Show, Sako/Tikka was showing off their products, especially their newest entry into the T3 family: The T3x TAC A1, a dedicated from-the-factory precision rifle offering built from off a T3x base rifle. The TAC A1 is, unlike the rest of the T3 family, bedded into an aluminum chassis, not a polymer or wood stock. The chassis adds stability to the rifle, but also sports a number of additional “tactical” features that help transform the T3x from a sportsman’s rifle to a tactical/precision weapon.

More and more, it seems like we are on the cusp of a break in the small arms “plateau”, and that major changes may be coming both in the technology and use of infantry small arms and ammunition. The biggest harbinger of this coming paradigm shift has been Picatinny’s Lightweight Small Arms Technologies (LSAT) program, now superseded by the Cased Telescoped Small Arms Systems (CTSAS) program. As CTSAS and similar programs make headway, it seems increasingly likely that some sort of next generation lightweight ammunition paradigm will force a shift in infantry small arms, and that the current fleet of metallic-cased ammunition and the weapons designed to fire it will have to be replaced by new designs.

Bolt-action rifles are generally regarded as slower than semi-automatics, but Sniper’s Hide Cup 2015 competitor Marcus Blanchard proves that is more a matter of shooter skill than it is of mechanisms with his performance three days ago on the 540 yard Moving Target Stage:

This video is from 2011.  Ted Gundy is a WWII Veteran. On top of that, he was a sniper. The US Army Marksmanship Unit honors his achievement and skill with the USAMU Black Hat. According to Lt. Col. Daniel Hodne, only 8 black hats have been given to people outside of the USAMU.