Barrett M98 Bravo

[Abtomat]

Got finished shooting at my local pistol range on Sunday and walked over into the gun shop. After fondling the HK MR556A1 (again) I noticed a veritable cannon sitting in the bolt gun rack. Turns out it was a Barrett M98B fitted with a Springfield Armory 6-20x56 optic. I had never seen one and asked for it to be handed over. The gun appeared mint; not a mark on it anywhere. It made my pants fit funy.

From reading about the M98B, it appears to have a good reputation (2010 Rifle of the Year?) other than a recall for a lower receiver mod.

Anyone have one of these? Impressions?

What's the thing worth as configured?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/sonicwrx/d2430cbb.jpg

- Mitch

[orkan]

Fondled one a bit.

Went with the desert tactical arms SRS instead. Barret's are too "clunky" for my taste, and in the case of 338LM... things get very long when suppressed, so the DTA was the clear answer.

[Abtomat]

Thanks. I noticed that they will be featuring a DTA on this Wednesday's "Mythbusters" episode. Some kind of sniper myth they're working on...

Edit: Episode guide says, "Adam and Jamie test if you can jump out of the way of a bullet."

I'm guessing...no.

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I dont own one I have fired it and looked it over, a fellow member at my club has one. I liked it but for the price I can do alot better on a custom built rifle in a cheeper to produce high performance round and top it with a high end NSX or ER/T

[NUTT]

I've not heard great things about overall quality and durability of Springfield Armory scopes.

I've only seen one and wasn't very impressed with the reticle; it was far too busy. The glass didn't seem like it was anything special (ie, closer to my Bushnell Banner than my Leupold VX3).

[orkan]

No doubt about the fact that springfield armory scopes suck. They are made by haako(sp) which went under, and is now Japan Sport Optics I think. They are the same outfit that makes horus scopes. QC is terrible, and the end product is mushy and cloudy in many cases. The turrets on my horus 1-4x are terrible.

They definitely aren't worth the price they demand.

[Littlelebowski]

"Rifle of the Year" and "Handgun of the Year" means precisely **** all.

[orkan]

Nah... it means more than that.

It means they spent the most money on advertising and sending out free shit. :)

[MistWolf]

Would be even better with a BCE BABC 50 :D

[Gutshot John]

For $2500 I'd be all over that rifle tomorrow. For $4000 I'd rather get a custom rifle built for me and to my specifications. It's not that it's a bad rifle, it's just overpriced for what it is.

It's probably a really nice rifle but imo it's akin to high-end 1911s. Sure you can get a Wilson/Nighthawk whatever production-custom for about $2500. However If I had that kind of scratch to blow on a 1911 I'd send it to a custom smith who makes a quality custom 1911 for the same price, will stand behind it no matter what it does for the lifetime of the gun, and never have to worry about customer service. It's not that the others are necessarily shitty guns, you just have to factor is other things into the price such as how many other guns does the same manufacturer have to service in a given year. Same thing applies to the 98B. How many other guns do their smiths have to tweak?

Oh and yes..."gun of the year", "handgun of the year", "dildo of the year" does mean precisely ****-all.

[Abtomat]

You see? This is why I ask these questions. They want $3800 for the rifle and scope. I was a bit taken aback by that. Cool rifle though...

[Abtomat]

Just a side note: This rifle made an appearance in the 6/1 episode of "Mythbusters" in a section called "Dodge A Bullet".

The first section had them clocking bullet flight times for a .338 LM projectile fired from the DTA rig of David Liwanag (see blurb below) who commanded the US Army Marksmanship Unit from 2003-2006 and now is in charge of military sales for Desert Tactical Arms. They used a metal foil switch at each end to start and stop the flight timer. DL made an impressive center mass shot at 1200 meters.

After the flight times were established, the Mythbusters timed how long it would take them to move out of the way of an incoming projectile using slow motion photography. Later the times were used with the Barrett M98B to start a countdown timer and when it expired a paintball gun firing circuit was triggered to shoot the Mythbuster in the chest from short range.They were finally able to dodge away at around 800 meters or so.

The myth was busted as they were not able to see the muzzle flash from a regular round even at 200 meters. They had to use Hollywood blanks to see the flash at ranges that would give them enough time to move out of the way.

Pretty interesting show!



Born in Seoul, South Korea, Liwanag grew up traveling around the world as a military family member. He enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard in 1979 and served as a rifleman in the 36th Airborne Brigade. He volunteered and served as a scout and radio operator in Company G (Ranger) (Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol), 143rd Infantry.

A 1982 distinguished military graduate of the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M

University, Liwanag received a commission as an infantry officer and served as the scout platoon leader, Combat Support Company, and Headquarters Executive Officer for the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry (Manchu), 2nd Infantry Division in Korea.

LTC Liwanag became Special Forces qualified in 1984 and served as the Executive Officer for Company C, 1st Special Warfare Training Battalion, and as safety officer of the Military Free Fall School, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center. Liwanag is a military free fall instructor and the author of the 1988 edition of Field Manual 31-19, Special Forces Military Free Fall Parachuting.

His commands include a Regional Survey Team and a Special Forces Military Free Fall A-Detachment in Okinawa, Japan; a Maritime Operations A-Detachment in Fort Lewis, Washington; and Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group in Okinawa.

Liwanag has served as an operations, plans, and training officer for 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 1st Special Forces Group; the U.S. Army Special Operations Detachment; the Joint Intelligence Coordinating Staff (with duty at The Joint Staff); the U.S. Army Office of Military Support; and Task Force 20.

His assignments have taken him on exercises and operations throughout Asia, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Australia. He is a veteran of Operations Uphold Democracy and Iraqi Freedom. Liwanag is a graduate of the Command and General Staff Officer's Course; the Special Forces Advance Reconnaissance, Target Analysis and Exploitation Techniques Course; the Drug Enforcement Administration Advance Narcotics Raids Tactics Course; the Sniper/Counter-Sniper Course; the Special Threats Management Course and he is a U.S. Secret Service Firearms instructor as well as a U.S. Army Distinguished Rifleman.