US Bolt Action Sniper Rifles

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j.chappell

New member
Now I am asking all of you who really know....

Who actually builds the sniper rifles for the various Armed Forces? I have been under the understanding that the Armorers actually build the rifles one at a time in the Armories. Am I correct or completely wrong? I have been getting some flack in a post I started about Remington 700's. Some like to point out that the US Military use them and that’s why they are the best ever made.

Please someone enlighten us on who builds the bolt action sniper rifles for use by our troops.

J.
 
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mkg

New member
I have been under the understanding that the Armorers actually build the rifles one at a time in the Armories.
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That was my understanding also. They are not out of the box 700's when put into service.

Mike
 
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Scorch

New member
Who actually builds the sniper rifles for the various Armed Forces?
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Specially trained armorers build and repair sniper rifles. They bear a superficial resemblance to a Rem 700 you could buy at the local WalMart, but are in fact highly modified.
Some like to point out that the US Military use them and that’s why they are the best ever made.
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The US military also uses ballpoint pens made by Lighthouse For The Blind Industries, but that does not make them the best ever. The choice of the Remington 700 over other rifle types was due more to Congress than the US military.
 
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Desert01

New member
Here is about as close has you will get to the "Official" current issue rifles are built.

US Army M-24's are made buy Remington and overhauled frequantly buy Remington.

USMC, M-40's in the various A models are made buy the Precision Weapons Sections.

SOF MK-13's in the variuos Mod's are made at the Crane Surface Warfare Center.

Once they get into units you might find some local mods, often not done by "highly trained anyones".
 
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Creeper

New member
No two assigned rifles are alike... at least not those that have been in the shooters possession for very long.

Actions are usually accurized Remington 700s, but barrels, stocks and other components can vary greatly to suit the individual.
Stocks from McMillan, H&S Precision and Sub Minute Solutions...
Floor metal from DD Ross and H&S...
Barrels from Schneider, Krieger and H&S...
Rings and mounts from DD Ross, Badger Ord., Leupold and US Optics...
Optics are everything from the out of the box Leupold workhorse to a US Optics masterpiece.

And the above is just a (very) partial listing.
A constant search for lighter weight, greater accuracy, consistency and durability.

Snipers generally don't go around displaying their weapons to anyone... but if you could take a full inventory of whats in the field, you'd be surprised at what you found, and hard pressed to find two identical issued weapons.
Perhaps not many of the farkled up movie guns, but enough quality hiding under the dull camo paint and tape to make you drool.

C
 
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skinewmexico

New member
The US military also uses ballpoint pens made by Lighthouse For The Blind Industries, but that does not make them the best ever. The choice of the Remington 700 over other rifle types was due more to Congress than the US military.
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That was great. I can officially say now that I laughed out loud.
 
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boltgun71

New member
As for the Army's M-24 SWS, it is built and overhauled by Remington in their Ilion, NY plant. I have personally dropped the rifles off their for new barrels and bolts, and other upgrades. The only upgrades that are done at the unit level may be switching out the stock, scope base, or optic, but no real accurizing at all. The trigger is user adjustable from the factory. If anything actually breaks or is worn out, the rifle itself goes straight back to Remington. No Army armorer touches it for repairs or replacement. You want to tick off a Army sniper, tell him the unit armorer touched or worked on his M24.
 
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Swampghost

New member
Watch 'Snipers' on the History Channel. I've seen it twice. If you know what you're looking at there's a lot going on, pretty good segment on loading too.
 
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mikejonestkd

New member
I was under the impression that the factory is still open there...

They are still posting job openings for manufacturing engineers at that location...perhaps they are just running corporate headquarters and design out of Illion now, it has been a few years since I went that way. The last firearm I sent to remington did go to Illion and that was about 4 years ago.

http://www.remington.com/about/employment/

my understanding mirrors most of the above posts: the rifles are sent to the factory for barrels and bolt work; other upgrades ( stocks, optics and minor adjustments ) are done by the army.
 
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boltgun71

New member
Remingtons Ilion, NY plant is not closed. I have few friends that are currently working their as we speak. All 700's and 870's and a few other models are built their. Last year I toured the factory and production was going strong, they had a-lot of Law Enforcement contracts to fill as well. The Ilion plant is also where the Custom Shop is, all their custom work like Rolling Blocks and 40X's are built their. Remington has their Mayfield, KY plant where newer models such as the 504 were built.
 
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Al Thompson

Staff Alumnus
Unless there has been a change, the USMC does indeed build/rebuild their sniper rifles. The M24 series (Army) is pretty much a production rifle like the M700 PSS series.

No clue on the special wafare guys.
 
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Jimro

New member
Some like to point out that the US Military use them and that’s why they are the best ever made.
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The m98 action is still running strong with the Norwegian military if I remember correctly, before that the Canadian C3 and British M85 sniper rifles were m98 based.

Now the Accuracy International and "Timberwolf" 338 Lapua's have taken over in those two countrys, and the Sako TRG42 also in 338 in Finland.

There are a lot of bolt action sniper rifles in the world, all fill the exact same role as the m24 and m40 sniper rifles used by US Forces. The FN SPR is a very good rifle and has some government contracts with non-military agencies. The Savage precision offerings have been gaining inroads with SWAT teams across the US as well.

When someone says that it's the best because the "military" uses it, take it with a huge grain of salt.

Jimro
 
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csmsss

New member
No mention of Barrett .50 BMG sniper rifles? I know there are plenty of them in service and out in the sandbox.
 
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4V50 Gary

Staff
The Barretts are semi-automatic. I'd like to know whether the USMC armorers do anything to them.

BTW, Chuck Mawhinney's rifle was pulled out of service. I don't know whether it was restored to its Vietnam era configuration.
 
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