I interviewed an instructor at the Army Sniping School at Ft Benning last year. He told me some of the same things Matt (Travis McGee) said in his post. Listen to Matt, he knows what he's talking about.
Current U.S. sniper doctrine is set up for Vietnam era engagements. The doctrine and training are in the middle of a transformation to be more suitable for urban warfare. To give a couple examples, currently there is no training given on how to set up a sniper hide in a city or how to compensate for the "wind tunnel" effects nearby tall buildings have on the trajectory of the bullet.
The next general issue Sniper weapon is probably going to be an AR variant in 7.62 Nato. The 5.56 M-16/M-4's with accuracy tuning, ACOG's (or other low powered optics) will become more prevelant as Squad Designated Marksmans's Rifles.
The M-14 is on it's way out as a Sniper or Designated Marksmans Weapon. There is no logistical support for the weapon and there are no school trained armorers in this weapon. The weapons operation and field maintainence requirements are different from those of the standard infantry weapons. As the AR in 7.62 comes on line, the M-14's will be pulled. Parts and maintaince issues will have sent many of them off the field by then anyway.
Current U.S. sniper doctrine is set up for Vietnam era engagements. The doctrine and training are in the middle of a transformation to be more suitable for urban warfare. To give a couple examples, currently there is no training given on how to set up a sniper hide in a city or how to compensate for the "wind tunnel" effects nearby tall buildings have on the trajectory of the bullet.
The next general issue Sniper weapon is probably going to be an AR variant in 7.62 Nato. The 5.56 M-16/M-4's with accuracy tuning, ACOG's (or other low powered optics) will become more prevelant as Squad Designated Marksmans's Rifles.
The M-14 is on it's way out as a Sniper or Designated Marksmans Weapon. There is no logistical support for the weapon and there are no school trained armorers in this weapon. The weapons operation and field maintainence requirements are different from those of the standard infantry weapons. As the AR in 7.62 comes on line, the M-14's will be pulled. Parts and maintaince issues will have sent many of them off the field by then anyway.