"Dead at 1968 Feet: Meet the Newest Sniper Rifle" Topic

…for the Army

"The U.S. Army is preparing to issue thousands of new rifles to infantry squads across the service. The M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDMR) is designed to extend the reach of infantry units largely equipped with short-barreled carbines. The SDMR will give one in nine infantrymen the ability to not only penetrate existing body armor but engage point targets at ranges of 600 meters (1968 feet).

The standard nine-person U.S. Army infantry squad consists of two fire teams led by a squad leader. Each fireteam consists of two riflemen with M4 carbines, one grenadier with an M4 carbine and grenade launcher, and an M249 squad automatic weapon. A squad can produce a tremendous amount of firepower, with the M4 effective out to 500 meters and the heavier, faster-firing M249 effective out to 1,000 meters…"

link

Main page
link

Amicalement
Armand

That is not really that impressive – around 650 yards. Back when I did competitive rifle shooting I knew dozens of shooters who could put 5-10 consecutive shots in the X-ring with iron sights at that range.

I remember the shot markers being annoyed when they put 2 shots through the same hole as it would explode the wooden pin used to hold the marker and rip a hole in the main target which had to be repaired. The markers were around 2 inches square and often had several holes in them – st ranges up to 800 yards.

M14 was very good at 600+yds, with open sights.

We used the M-21. A little long in the tooth but performed admirably out to 800 meters.

In '75 as ROTC Cadets we were issued the M14 a year or two before we got M16s. The farthest target on the Qual Rg was 300 yds. Using either I hit the 300 most of the time. And still qual'd regardless. Got most of the closer targets.

Our Snipers in the 2ID in '84-'85 used the M21. They had 2 M21s each. One with a day & night scope zero'd for each Sniper. IIRC there was 4 Snipers/Bn …