New British Army L115A3 Sniper Rifle

[Calibre44]

Thought you be interested in the 'new' British Army Sniper Rifle - click here

 

[Halo]

That link showed the metric caliber, one I've not seen before. I believe it's the .338 Lapua Magnum right?

 

[BattleChimp Potemkin]

Everything in the world today is a "super weapon" or "tactical". Why cant we use wood again in our service weapons? What ever happened to form AND function, not just the latter?

Sort of neat though Wouldnt mind taking that to Camp Perry someday...

 

[K3]

8.59/25.4 = .............. .33819

I knew my edumacation would come in handy!

I'd bet it was the Lapua Magnum. Only .338 I've heard of with that kind of effective range.

 

[Cromlech]

The Royal Marine Commandos have been using a rifle (Arctic Warfar Magnum I think) in .338 Lapua for a while aready. I guess they decided they need something more 'punchy' than the L96A1.

 

[CBS220]

The comments on that site are hilarious.

 

[Tony Williams]

Yes, it's the Accuracy International rifle in .338 Lapua Magnum.

The British Army acquired an initial batch some years ago and they have proved so successful that they have now ordered a larger batch to replace some of the 7.62x51 sniper rifles.

Effective range is stated to rise from 800m for the 7.62mm to 1,400m for the .338LM.

 

[Dumpster Baby]

The comments on that site are hilarious.

Are we suppposed to get excited over a super gun, that kills things, mostly other humans?

Big improvement on the old Gatling gun, what?

All this 'pinpoint accuracy' is meant to make us believe that only the baddies are hit. Can you see your target from a mile away? We should not froget weare in a living, breathing, country, in another person's home, and shooting away.

What! Stingy 500 rifles? This moronic government should be careful they don't extend their stupid selves. More like 5000 units would be more likely. Why can't the manufacturers produce a weapon than uses ammunition that can't be reproduced. Then if the enemy gets hold of the weapon all they can do with it is to stir the charcoal when cooking their evening rat meat.

Accurate at a mile? A bit like the WW1 Lee Enfield then? That's progress for you!

This booty is exactly what the Taliban have been waiting for.

The 1812 Enfield India was capable of hitting a target at 3000 yards. So it has taken only 200 years to see that the theory was right. I can't wait for them to re discover the long bow.

Nobody, I feel sure, will be surprised to learn that due to new health and safety rules applied by the MOD, i.e the the people not at the sharp end this .338 calibre rifle can not be used on most of the MOD's own ranges or even at Bisley the home of British shooting. Therefore the guys actually using them have less opportunity to practise with them before ending up using them in action.

 

[fchavis]

This booty is exactly what the Taliban have been waiting for.

In other words, "guns are so bad because criminals will just take them away and kill you with them"
Have there been news reports in the UK about soldiers being shot with SA80s?

As for the rest, a production .338 bolt action rifle is supposed to be a state secret?

It was of course the Barratt 0.50 sniper rifle which the IRA used to such devastating effect in Northern Ireland. IT was said they were sourced from 50 that the CIA supplied to the Afghan mujahadeen led by a chappie called Osma bin Laden.

 

[Cromlech]

Those are indeed some amusing comments. Well, for the Sniper role, it certainly is a very nice rifle, and probably better to lug around than something in .50cal, seeing as it can do just fine against human targets.

The comment about the Taliban getting their hands on it was a bit silly really. I don't think that they have all that much .338 ammo piled up, to be honest.

 

[CBS220]

The comment about the Taliban getting their hands on it was a bit silly really. I don't think that they have all that much .338 ammo piled up, to be honest.

 

[LongRangeInternational]

Nothing new here.

 

[Conqueror]

You can buy one of you own. You could 5 years ago. It's a stock Accuracy International AWM.

 

[atek3]

OBL with a reloading press... that was a funny

 

[Zak Smith]

Here's some background info on the 338LM and the AI rifle


article | Military .338 Lapua Magnum Rifles: the Sako TRG-42 and the AI-AWSM

 

[Eightball]

So......this is different than what they were using because....it has a folding stock?

I'm sorry, I just don't see how this thing is "new" in the least.

 

[Calibre44]

Here is a video about the rifle from Sky News:

click here

 

[fchavis]

Does that 23k pounds per rifle include the cost of procurement trials and testing of the rifle, optics and suppressor? I'd expect a lot from a mechanically/technologically simple device like a bolt action rifle that costs nearly $50,000 per unit. If the 11m pound figure includes procurement, and additional batches of rifles would be substantially cheaper, I would understand.

 

[Zak Smith]

Well, the cost of the identical rifle on the civilian market is known, so....

 

[Cromlech]

Guys, the big change is the ARMY adopting it. It was the Royal Marines (Navy) using it up until now.

 

[Tony Williams]

Not so - the Army adopted the L115A1 some years ago (see: http://www.army.mod.uk/equipment/pw/pw_sr.htm). The current order is for the L115A3.

 

[Cromlech]

Alright, so the big news is that this is now the replacement for the L96A1...
*edit*
...or is that wrong too? :-s

 

[Tony Williams]

I think they still plan to keep some L96 in service, but the L115A3 will certainly be replacing a lot of them.

 

[Cromlech]

Nice. I noticed that it weighs basically the same as the L96A1, so it should not mean having to lug anything heavier than they are used to around.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Zak Smith...
Thanks for the link, lots of information about the weapon and ammo. Not that I will ever own one, but it is good to have some insight about it, and the pictures were/are really good