Why the Marines have failed to adopt a new sniper rifle in the past 14 years

[X-Rap]

There were probably hedge hogs mounted on tanks before Bradly got the memo, by that time refusal of something that worked would have interfered with careers.
I seem to remember some sort of tool developed by 10th Mtn soldiers in the field to pull doors off damaged humvees.
One of my boys sent me a story about his Squadrons Exemplar, Jay Zeamer and his plane Old 666 a B17 that was tasked without escort on reconnaissance flights and how he used extra guns and ammo to modify his plane and add to their survivability, bold initiative created a better suited plane even though it was pulled from a scrap yard.
I think the further you go back in time the more changes in the field you will see.
Instant communication including real time video have probably killed a lot of good ideas as well as a few good men.

 

[kBob]

Interesting stuff folks.

Re .30/06 Hathcock had.....the vast majority of the shots done by him or his unit when it was commanded by EJ Land were around 325 meters. Shots beyond 400 meters were not very common. That is why some of Hathcocks shots were thought reportable. My source for this is a face to face conversation with EJ Land.

Also there is not a subdivided slice of female pubic hair's difference between the .30/06 Match and the .308 match as used by the military.

1000 yards is where .308 and .30/06 drop to subsonic.....they can be shot with accuracy somewhat further with training. The old 173 grain M1 ball used in 1919 Browning MGs was considered accurate and powerful enough to 1400 yards.....and is the cartridge the later match rounds were based on as opposed to the M2 (.30/06) or M80 (7.62 NATO ball)

USAF used some magnum rifles in Airbase ground defense as early as VN, BTW.

It would be nice if everyone got what they wanted and believed they needed....of course if a toady frog had wings it would not bump its tail as often.

-kBob

 

[lysanderxiii]

People always talk of bureaucracy as if it is a universally bad thing, it usually isn't. After all, bureaucracy kept food imports, water flowing and the roads in reasonable shape for Rome's citizens for decades after the total collapse of Roman leadership.

Part of the problem with the Marines is they have no bureaucracy in the area of weapons development, or even much experience with project management/development. If the Army wants a new tank or a IFV, they have Detroit Arsenal, with all of the Army's accumulated knowledge on tracked and wheel combat vehicles. They have Rock Island and Picatinny Arsenals for infantry and artillery systems. (Say what you will about the Army's Picatinny and Rock Island Arsenals, they do get more good stuff out to the troops than bad, and that equipment usually meets the Army's requirements.)

The Marines have nothing comparable to these places and more often than not, has only a vague idea of what their requirements are. In some cases, the leadership of the USMC needs to put pride behind them and just adopt Army equipment, in this case the M24 in .300 Win Mag, and be done with it. In other cases, where there is no Army equivalent, such as the AAV, they need to just do a better job of running the program.

 

[Gordon]

I must not understand the current role of a sniper. You can get 100% hits with a .308 out to half a mile . Farther than that is what guided munitions are for. I think the odds of getting a first round hit with any sniper rifle at a mile or more is so low it is not really SNIPING. i THINK FIELD CONDITIONS WILL ALL WAYS MAKE THAT TRUE .