Sniper Rifle Selection

[Gunmenhunter]

I get a lot of questions from folks these days about what rifle they should purchase, what caliber, gas or bolt etc. Here’s some things to chew on 1st:

1. Most Special Operations Force snipers these days can only guarantee a 1st round 100% hit rate (anytime, any weather, any place) out between 500-600 yards. There was a small test Joint Special Operations Command did years ago that confirmed this. Granted there are some shit-hot SOF snipers out there that can pull this off further-
2. Since the guaranteed 1st round hit engagement distance is that close, a good semi-auto in 7.62mm would be more than acceptable.
3. Some semi-auto rifle makers guarantee 1/2 MOA, some shoot even better… so there is no accuracy issues…. especially inside of 550 yards
4. CLICK THE LINK TO THE RIGHT FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE http://stevereichert.com/sniper-rifle-selection/

[Pappabear]

I don't think I agree. You can get a Bolt gun much cheaper and more accurate. And I don't know the Hulk Hogan gun, but I would stick with LMT, Larue, SCAR, Knights for semi auto in 7.62.

Hogan might be good, but ......just my .02

[Gunmenhunter]

Papabear:

My notes were for sniper rifle selection, IE rifles that would actually be used to do that job. A majority of SOF forces use their semi-autos for anything inside of 700-1000yds depending on the branch. I guess my point would be IF your semi shoots 1/2-3/4 MOA all day, and your bolt gun (in same caliber) only shoots slightly better the bolt should be left back at the base to save you from carrying two rifles out on a mission. Now if were talking civilian F-class or some other form of paper shooting sport where you can measure group sizes I’d take my bolt just to give me an edge…. But if our targets are the two legged type and I can get the same number of hits with a gas gun I’d take it.

You are right; you can get bolt guys far cheaper that shoot great right out of the box. A good friend of mine recently spent 4 months doing accuracy testing for Freedom Group. He shot every rifle made, in every caliber with every type of ammunition they make (hence the reason it took 4 months). Most of the Rem 700’s out of the box would shoot 1 MOA or better, with about 1/3 being 1/2 MOA. To get a gas gun that shoots 1/2 MOA you’re going to spend 3-4X$.

Onto Hogan. You might have heard about POF (Patriot Ordnance Factory), well Hogan is an offshoot of POF (Not related). The guys who owned the machine shop & the patent holder for the rifle that POF makes broke away and started their own company (Hogan). I never really paid attention to them until last year when I was invited to watch a non-official SOF competition in CO. The snipers had to use their own rifles for the event & three highly respected guys from 3 different locations all showed up with POF rifles.

Semper FI
Steve

[rob_s]

Onto Hogan. You might have heard about POF (Patriot Ordnance Factory), well Hogan is an offshoot of POF (Not related). The guys who owned the machine shop & the patent holder for the rifle that POF makes broke away and started their own company (Hogan).

Can't speak to "sniper" rifles but that is not an good endorsement on the whole IME.

[mkmckinley]

Steve,

Good points. Your article pretty much mirrors what the pros have been thinking/doing for awhile now. There are good reasons why the SR-25 became the widely issued M110 and the Army is moving to the .300 WM for its bolt guns. Semi is great for the types of real world shooting done in and around urban environments. In the mountains you want the Win Mag.

In my neck of the woods nobody shoots a POF and you don't hear much about them. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind a piston driven 7.62 AR designed for long range use. It seems like most of the guys in the community are partial to DI guns such as Larue's OBR. What's your take on the benefits of a short stroke gas piston over DI in a sniper gun?

[Gunmenhunter]

mkmckinley:

Good question... DI or Piston? The ONLY +'s that I have seen so far is reduced carbon build up inside the mag's while shooting suppressed. 5 years ago when Freedom Group had the Bushmaster Custom shop my company (T1G) supplied the shooters and the ranges to do accuracy testing. They tested a number of piston designs of their own make and others. The DI guns would always out-shoot the piston guns... but this was 5 years ago.... Things have improved since-

For me I really don't care who makes it, or what type of gas system it uses. I only care about performance down range (500+yds), if the rifle will run 15 mags suppressed without slowing down and if it's going to take a beating.... If does all three I'm happy

[markm]

The DI guns would always out-shoot the piston guns... but this was 5 years ago.... Things have improved since-

Oh really?

[JSantoro]

This cat better stop advertising his site at our expense, and in a hurry.

Start posting the entire articles for view. Include a link, but give the reader the choice of clicking on it, instead of forcing their hand.