Marines Use New Rifle in Fight Against Taliban

[nagarifle]

Marines Use New Rifle in Fight Against Taliban
Royal Marines serving in Afghanistan have become the first British troops to use a powerful new long-range rifle on the front line, the Ministry of Defence announced today. Members of 40 Commando have begun using the Sharpshooter rifle in battles with the Taliban in dangerous Sangin in Helmand province. The new semi-automatic weapon fires a 7.62mm round, larger than the Army's standard issue SA80 A2 assault rifle, and is more accurate over long distances. More than 400 of the guns - the first new infantry combat rifle to be given to troops in more than two decades - have been bought in a £1.5m urgent operational requirement. Royal Marines from 40 Commando have been using Sharpshooter rifles on the frontline for about a fortnight now, the MoD said. Sergeant Baz Evans of 40 Commando said: "I have fired over 1,000 rounds on the rifle in training; accurately hitting targets over 800m away. "The new Sharpshooter rifle provides quick and accurate fire, with the flexibility of using it in the assault rifle role as well. It's hoofing."

[Ganesh TT]

looking gorgeous

[veeveeaar]

It is a modified or highly re - engineered version of the FN FAL or our so called Ishapore rifle SLR . Accuracy has been enhanced by recoil dissipation / dampening , optics fore arm handle/ grip and also floating the barrel and fitting a ventilated shroud .

[fantumfan2003]

So its back to 7.62 then............

M.

[PRITAM PATEL]

So its back to 7.62 then............M.

once again 7.62 wins over 5.56

old is gold.........

regards

pritam

[Vikram]

It is a modified or highly re - engineered version of the FN FAL or our so called Ishapore rifle SLR . Accuracy has been enhanced by recoil dissipation / dampening , optics fore arm handle/ grip and also floating the barrel and fitting a ventilated shroud .

Looks as much.


Best-
Vikram

[ArcherSix]

It's actually an AR platform. Basically a scaled up AR-15 rifle in the 7.62 mm NAto cartridge.

[xl_target]

Much as I love the FN-FAL/SLR platform, I have got to admit that we are probably never going to see that weapons system adopted in large quantities by anyone, ever again. While we all saw the Libyan rebels, the latest users, storming across the landscape with their FAL's, those were all surplus weapons from European inventories. DSL in the US makes a fine FAL but it is not going to be adopted by any major government on a large or even moderate scale.

As ArcherSix states; this is an AR variant.

As you can see from these photos, the lineage is clearly AR, not FAL. The optic is a 6X Trijicon ACOG.




Made by Lewis Machine and Tool in Milan, Illinois; here is the civilian version, available in the US as the LMT LW308MWS (LM7)


As Jane's News states:

To be redesignated the L129A1, the gas-operated weapon carries a 20-round magazine, is 945 mm long and weighs 5 kg. It will be manufactured by Lewis Machine & Tool Company in the United States, with deliveries expected to begin in early 2010.
Features of the weapon include a single-piece upper receiver and free-floating, quick-change barrels available in 305 mm, 406 mm and 508 mm. It has four Picatinny rails with a 540 mm top rail for night vision, thermal and image intensifying optics. Stock options include fixed or retractable versions.
Industry sources told Jane's that LEI beat competition including Heckler & Koch's HK417 (already supplied to specialist units within the MoD), FN Herstal's SCAR (Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle) and an offering from Sabre Defence Industries.

To date UK soldiers must complete a marksmanship course to become qualified as 'sharpshooters' and are regarded as being a grade below that of a sniper. Following the introduction of Accuracy International's (AI's) .338-cal L115A3 sniper rifle, sharpshooters have been armed with AI's outgoing 7.62 mm L96 rifle. However, the latter's bolt action does not make it a suitable option for a patrolling soldier.

quote from http://www.janes.com/products/janes/def ... 1065928316

[url=hhttp://www.army.mod.uk/equipment/support-weapons/18827.aspx]Official H.M. forces VIDEO HERE[/url]

[youtube][/youtube]
L129A1 in action

[Corjack]

It's actually an AR platform. Basically a scaled up AR-15 rifle in the 7.62 mm NAto cartridge.

Yep!

I will try and tell this to the best of my knowledge, as I am going by memory. Basically the US developed the 7.62X51, and insisted all its Allies use it as standard. Spent lots of money getting the M14 launched, then decided that foot soldiers did not need to know how to engage targets past 300 meters. McNamara decided to change boats in midstream, and adopted the M16, as the M14 was not very controllable when fired on full auto. The M16 gave the US problems in Vietnam, changing powder, chroming the bolt carrier, and other tweaks resolved most of the issues. The M16 is a good rifle, easy to shoot, and easy to teach soldiers to shoot, but then the desert wars came along, and the forces now using the M16, and its variants were only trained out to 300 meters. But the bad guys are using WW2 stuff, and blazing away at them from 500+ meters, pinning them down with harrasing fire, then withdrawing when support arrived. The soldiers did not know how to shoot that far, nor is the 5.56 caliber optimal for that sort of ranges. A lot of battle was urban, and they made things worse by training in CQB tactics. Eventually some one got the idea of issuing at least one Designated Marksman rifle per squad. The US even dug out all of the remaining moth balled M14s, most of them came from the Navy, and issued them out to units. They also rediscovered how reliable the M14 was, under sandy, dirty conditions. The US has even given out new contracts for M14s and parts, to manufactures. If I omitted any thing, or was a little off somewhere I apologise before hand.

[new1]

so sharp shooter is simply 7.62 revival. Americans are simply confused over caliber choice over last three decades. Still 6.5 SPC and new 6.8 are good example of this