"SAS makes deadly debut with new sniper rifle" .338 over .50 caliber.

[jody]

SAS makes deadly debut with new sniper rifle

IT can stop a car in its tracks, penetrate armour and kill at three-quarters of a mile, and has emerged as one of the SAS's most versatile and deadly weapons in the Afghan war.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The weapon was chosen after extensive and rigorous tests carried out by the Infantry Trials Development Unit. Marksmen gauged the weapon's accuracy and reliability under the most extreme conditions in the Brunei jungle, the Omani desert and during the Alaskan winter.

The American Barratt Light .50 semi-automatic, a favourite weapon of the IRA, and the French PGM Hecate .50 calibre bolt-action sniper rifle were also tested, but the L115A emerged as the preferred option.

It is a bolt-action rather than a semi-automatic weapon. It has a magazine holding five rounds and is fitted with a telescopic sight. The gun fires a .338 lapua magnum bullet which can either be armour-piercing or incendiary, depending on the type of target.

A Special Operations Group requiring a few of the best available rifles where money is not a limitation chose the venerable .338 caliber over the .50 caliber.

If gun-grabbers are successful in banning .50 caliber rifles won’t they attempt to ban .338 caliber riles?

[old mark]

1. Of course - they think all guns are bad, and that guns of any type should be

kept in the hands of the "authorities", who have shown such great restraint using the Tasers recently.
Antis really believe that any citizen who actually wants a gun of any type is contemplating murder.

They are a bunch of ignorant jerks, and prove it regularly when they speak on subjects they have no knowledge of.

FWIW, the .338 Lapua and the older .338 Winchester magnum are extremely accurate extreme long range cartridges and they are a lot easiey to carry around than the huge and heavy .50 caliber rifles.
The Lapua round has been in production for maybe a decade, the .338 Win Mag for about 40 years and neither has been used in crimes, Neither has the Barret .50, as far as I know - hardly a gang banger favorite.

mark

[Euromutt]

2. It's slightly old news

Both the British and Dutch armies have been using the Accuracy International L115 for years. Oh, hold on, this article is from 2001! That explains a lot.

It is worth noting that there's more to the British and Dutch armies' decision than cost alone. Namely, rifles designed to fire .50 BMG are a serious pain to have to lug around, and of limited usefulness against an enemy like the Taliban, who don't have too many anti-aircraft radars and radio trucks that need to be knocked out at a mile distance. The decision to go with a rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum has to be based at least in part on the greater portability of both the rifle and the ammunition.

[slackmaster]

3. Hey Jody, it's been a while

A bolt-action rifle with a five-round magazine and a scope?

My God, what horrible death contraption will those gun manufacturers come up with next?

[Euromutt]

4. I can tell you what comes next...

..because in 2007, the British started fielding the L115A3 (http://www.army.mod.uk/equipment/support-weapons/1459.aspx), the upgraded version.
It has:

- a folding stock! (assault weapon!)
- an adjustable bipod! (more evil than a non-adjustable one!)
- an adjustable cheek-piece (for use by shape-shifters!)
- a butt spike (for added damage in hand-to-hand combat, and annoying Mother Earth!)
- a better scope (Schmidt & Bender 5-25x56 PM II LP instead of 3-12x50 PM II, allowing kills in the next time zone)
- a suppressor! (OMG utterly undetectable ninjaz!)

[OffWithTheirHeads]

5. Cool! I want one. Can't afford one but a guy can dream.

Killing a steel tire rim from 1/2 mile away has got to be a hoot!

[AtheistCrusader]

6. That's just never a good idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ABGIJwiGBc

[OttavaKarhu]

10. Looks kinda like a PSL

I can see the advantage of the 8.59 round...but at last check, 54r is running 90 bucks per 440 rounds.

:)

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

7. .338 Bapua and .410 Barratt have always been superior for antipersonel roles.

Flatter/Faster trajectory and still readily defeat body armor sound like a winner.
Plus suppressors are generally MUCH cheaper than .50 suppressors.

The .50 is really an anti-material rifle. It's role as a sniper & anti-personel was improvised.

[OttavaKarhu]

8. .338 Bapua

That's the Chinese National People's Revolutionary Armament and Ballistics and Squid By-products Concern's knockoff of the .338 Lapua.

:D

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

11. lol, that too... eom

[OttavaKarhu]

9. It can stop a car in its tracks?

Damn. So can a caltrop.

And you should see what a couple crazy Finns with logs can do.