Army approves semi auto .50

[bill2]

Here's an article about the Army adopting this model of the .50 as a sniper weapon, although in the article it mentions soldiers using it last year in Iraq.

http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_M107,,00.html

 

[captain obvious]

It's good to see that the Army's fighting back with the terrorist's own weapon of choice

 

[DelayedReaction]

The M107 is the Army's first semi-automatic .50 Cal sniper weapon system. Soldiers will be able to effectively engage multiple material targets, such as parked aircraft, light armored vehicles, and computers at distances of up to 2000 meters.

Talk about tech support.

 

[Yanus]

"Tech support" ?

50 BMG - the ultimate "point and click device"

Yanus

 

[grnzbra]

It's good to see that the Army's fighting back with the terrorist's own weapon of choice

When did they start using 50 cal for sniping?

 

[Waitone]

***sigh***

I can see Feinstein and the usual suspects waving the article around while demanding this savage, uber-killing technology be kept out of the hands of the great unwashed.

 

[Sindawe]

RE: .50 caliber for sniping.

Legendary sniper Gunnery Sgt. Carlos N. Hathcock II was the first person to ever use a .50 caliber weapon in a sniping role. Utilizing a .50 caliber Browning HMG with an 8-power telescope sight, he set the record for the farthest confirmed kill by a sniper during the Vietnam War, at 2,250 meters.

This feat of field craft by Sgt. Hathcock established the viability of using .50-caliber ammunition as usable and effective for sniper special operations. Sgt. Hathcock’s record was broken only recently in Afghanistan by a Canadian sniper team. The Canadian snipers scored a chest shot at 2,430 meters using a .50 caliber McMillian bolt-action rifle, with a 16 power Leupold telescope sight.

 

[torpid]

Soldiers will be able to effectively engage multiple material targets, such as parked aircraft, light armored vehicles, and computers at distances of up to 2000 meters.

Tsk, tsk.

They really need to get the kind of .50 that they banned in CA which can apparently fell aircraft like pigeons instead.

 

[Working Man]

Did you guy see the 60 minutes special about the guy who smuggles .50s
and other guns out of the US for Croatia guerrillas. It really paints a bad
picture for us. He also had a POV special on PBS.

 

[No_Brakes23]

Now my info only comes from the biography of Hathcock, so it is not gospel, but I am pretty sure he used an Unertl 10 power scope, not an 8 power scope.

Glad to see the Army getting some good hardware.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Did you guy see the 60 minutes special about the guy who smuggles .50s
and other guns out of the US for Croatia guerrillas. It really paints a bad
picture for us.

Painting a bad picture of American citizens who keep and bear arms was the whole point.

 

[migoi]

I thought...

the 60 Minutes episode painted a terrible picture of hypocritical folks who want to have access to appropriate firearms to help out their people while trying to prevent me from having access to the appropriate firearms to help out my people.

migoi

 

[C-grunt]

New?

army snipers have been using the Barrett for years.

 

[shermacman]

Did you guy see the 60 minutes special about the guy who smuggles .50s and other guns out of the US for Croatia guerrillas. It really paints a bad picture for us.

I once was on an People's Express shuttle flight from Boston to Newark next to a guy who had a pile of 62 .50 sniper rifles in the carry on luggage.

Really!

Had ammo, too!

Honest!

 

[RevDisk]

Odd, the Army had the M82, M82A1 and the M107 for years.

Legendary sniper Gunnery Sgt. Carlos N. Hathcock II was the first person to ever use a .50 caliber weapon in a sniping role. Utilizing a .50 caliber Browning HMG with an 8-power telescope sight, he set the record for the farthest confirmed kill by a sniper during the Vietnam War, at 2,250 meters.

I talked to someone that claimed they witnessed it. Dunno whether it was BS or not, but he was in the Marines and was in Vietnam when it happened. Anything's possible, I guess.

He said Hathcock had mounted the scope and zero'd it in at 2 km. Some Lt was badgering him about it, basically saying "You can't hit anything with that" and such. Hathcock looked through the scope, found a target very near his confirmed zero spot, told the Lt to break out his binocs. Fired a round, reached into his pocket, quickly lit a smoke, and then looked back through the scope in time to see the guy downrange go down.

 

[Joejojoba111]

Wait, I don't want to call BS, but the version I read was in a printed book... yes the old days.

It said that the shot was aganist a moving Toyota pickup-truck, the POA was the engine, not the driver.

 

[Too Many Choices!?]

I like RevDisk's version better!lol

Wait for it....Wait for it...Fadoomp !!

 

[Eightball]

Fired a round, reached into his pocket, quickly lit a smoke, and then looked back through the scope in time to see the guy downrange go down.

I like RevDisk's version better as well. In that version, the guy just shows so much class . Hey, it could have happened--the scope had already been zeroed out to that distance (makes one wonder how he did that? ).

 

[Too Many Choices!?]

I think we all know that the armed forces have been using semi .50's for a while...

I think this article means that the .50 finally gets a designation, and is now approved for across the board use, not just ,"field testing"(Afghanistan) !
Does the bolt-action .50 have a designation?

 

[Gordon]

" pile of 62 .50 sniper rifles in the carry on luggage."


WOW! I didn't know they let 2400 pounds+ on carry on baggage



Course if he was a young arab looking guy they would allow it!

 

[RevDisk]

the scope had already been zeroed out to that distance (makes one wonder how he did that? ).

Same way you zero any other scope. If you have a chart, you follow that. I know some people that use mathematics to see how accurately they can zero their scope before they fire any round. I never tried it, but I have seen it done.

Failing that, guesstimate, fire a round. See the point of impact. Adjust scope. Fire another round. Adjust scope. Repeat as necessary.

 

[ny32182]

Keep in mind that a bullet fired perfectly horizontal to the ground drops at the same rate as a bullet that was simply dropped from the same height, and not fired. i.e., the horizonal velocity doesn't affect the bullet's vertical motion due to gravity. Unless the sniper could drop a bullet from his hand, then reach into his pocket and light a cigarette before the bullet reached the ground, I'd find that particular account of the events to be highly suspect.

 

[Commissar Gribb]

Keep in mind that a bullet fired perfectly horizontal to the ground drops at the same rate as a bullet that was simply dropped from the same height, and not fired. i.e., the horizonal velocity doesn't affect the bullet's vertical motion due to gravity. Unless the sniper could drop a bullet from his hand, then reach into his pocket and light a cigarette before the bullet reached the ground, I'd find that particular account of the events to be highly suspect.

of course the store never says he fired DIRECTLY at the target.

he could have fired it indirectly- straight up like a mortar in such a way that the bullet arched and came back down at the target.

 

[50 Shooter]

TMC,

The XM107 project was originally for a bolt action .50, it came down to the Barrett M95 and EDM Arms M96. If you look at EDM Arms website they still show the M96 as a M107.

Either one would've served the Army better then the M82 accuracywise, the M82 just looks cooler doing it. Plus the chic's dig them semi .50's.

 

[artherd]

Plus the chic's dig them semi .50's.

That they do!