Mil Tech — Up-gunning the M24 Sniper Rifle
Jul 06 2010
The Army’s workhorse M24 Sniper Weapon System (SWS) will be getting a makeover that takes the current 7.62-mm bolt action six-shot repeating rifle and converts it to a .300 Win Mag caliber.
Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier, the Army group created to develop the best equipment and field it as quickly as possible for use by soldiers, says it will convert some of the M24 rifles made by Remington to .300 Win Mag caliber to increase the lethal range of the weapons.
“With the fights in Afghanistan and the long shots (that must be taken), we need to go further,” says Bob Galeazzi, sniper weapons product manager at Picatinny Arsenal. “The .300 Win Mag provides that capability. Congress put the money up for it, and especially for those units going to Afghanistan, we need to upgrade this gun, which is the impetus of why we’re doing it.”
The .300 Win Mag is a larger cartridge that carries more propellant and a heavier bullet.
“The M118 Long Range in 7.62 mm is the current sniper round and has a 175-grain projectile,” he points out. “The .300 Win Mag, with its 190-grain projectile, is a faster flattery flyer than the M118 round. We think it will be received well by the troops over there.”
Maj. Elliott Caggins, Picatinny Arsenal’s assistant product manager of individual weapons, notes a number of other changes will be made to the M24 with the conversion to .300 Win Mag. He says the five-shot internal magazine would be replaced with an external 10-round magazine, a new fore stock carrying Picatinny rails would be fitted, and a new 3 to 25-power scope would be added.
“The scope minimum limit is 3x and its maximum is 25x,” Caggins says. “But the scope might not encompass the full range — it may go from 16x to 25x or some other configuration.”
He adds that the upgraded rifles are designed to be effective beyond the current sniper rifle capability of approximately 800 meters.
Caggins says the number of up-gunned M24 sniper rifles assigned to a unit will depend on which brigade is receiving the weapon, with a heavy brigade receiving six and a light brigade getting eight.
While he says he can’t comment on the specific number of upgraded rifles to be put into the field, the major notes, “We will field a pool of weapons for the Army, then report to the Pentagon and see if there’s a need for more.”
About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms.
