Praxis: US Army looking to replace M14EBR; feelers out for compact M110
The US Army’s PM Soldier Weapons has put out a sources sought request over on FedBiz looking for sources to manufacture a complete weapon system or reconfigure some or all of the existing 7.62 x 51mm M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System (SASS) currently available in the Army’s inventory. The Army is looking to reduce the rifle’s length to 36″ overall with a collapsible buttstock closed and no suppressor in place and hit a weight of 9 pounds, naked. The new weapon would become a compact version of the SASS, and be called the CSASS. The document says they’ll be looking to build or convert 125 rifles per month with a capability to ramp up to 325 rifles per month.
Reading between the lines, 325 rifles a month is more than they’d need to outfit scout/sniper teams. At that rate, figuring a multi-year contract, that’s enough to outfit the DMRs Army wide. The logical conclusion is that the Army is looking to replace the venerable M14′s latest configuration with something more familiar to the current grunt that’s smaller, lighter and more easily maintained than the EBR.
“The current M110 is a lightweight, direct gas operated, semi-automatic, box magazine fed, 7.62 x 51mm rifle intended to engage and defeat personnel targets out to 800 meters. This notice is to determine if there are potential sources capable of reconfiguring existing US Army M110 SASS’s, or manufacturing new complete systems . . .
6 comments:
how many total?
Scar h has this covered already. Just ask the seals. The ad in 308 is not reliable unlike the scar
Hallelujah!
Nothing wrong with the M110 as a sniping rig (at least to ~800m), but something a little more handy for maneuver elements would be nice.
Of course, simply giving the Squad DM an accurized (free-floated match barrel, better trigger i.e. Geisselle) M4 and Mk.262 ammo, along with a decent (say, 1-6x variable) optic would do the same job for a lot less money.
But then again, this gives the new mid-size 7.62 ARs a chance to shine. I'd love to have a Knight's SR-25 EMC or LaRue PredatAR 7.62 18," and all the better if the testing proves them reliable and durable.
I have a nostalgic liking for the M-14, but frankly its day is long over. It was state of the art for the 1940s, and still competent in the 1950s, but it's been eclipsed long ago. Fun to shoot and own, but not a first-line rifle candidate anymore. Main reason they've been used lately is they offer a "free" 7.62 DMR solution. They're too heavy (10lbs BEFORE chassis system, another 3-4lbs, without ammo), too long, and don't share logistics (mags, parts) or manipulations with anything else in the armory. Time for them to be put out to pasture, for good. An AR-based system will be lighter, more accurate, and more familiar to operate & maintain.
Pity the Feds won't let the M-14s be sold to We the People, who paid for their upkeep and modernizing...
Cheers.
The US Marines already have a DMR--the M-14. :^)
http://www.lejeune.usmc.mil/wtbn/DMR.htm
MALTHUS
M-14 is an antique overweight deer rifle, same as a M-1 Garand.
Friend that works closely on design with Sako in Finland said they've had a lot of US .mil visitors related to the TRG M10, which is more versatile and as, if not more accurate than the Arctic Warfare offerings. It's also modular in ways no sniper rifle sold on production levels has ever been.
Jury is still out. I have an Emma and I have a Garand, along with a safe full of other things...But if I were doing purchasing I wouldn't be picking them as a primary DM or sniper rifle.
The USMC M-14s are being PHASED OUT, BTW, as are the M-40s Hunting buddy's son is on training rotation back from Afghanistan, E-4 Scout Sniper, and he's working out with an Arctic Warfare Lapua currently. His M-40 went from being a Sniper rifle to a DM rifle in some other outfit, no doubt. They won't throw them away but technology marches on and remember, outside of special purpose uses, the M-14 had one of the SHORTER careers of any recent general issue rifle. Twenty years. Five less than the Garand and in equal condition I wouldn't pick one over the other at the 500 yard range but nobody's making many 1500+ shots with either, are they?
Just because SOME people liked them when they were issued them does not make them the bee's knees anymore.
Sako very well might be underneath your radars, but it isn't under the radars of all the people using it in trials. Hell, at recent regional long range matches a lot of 6mm range cartridges were knocking at the same door as .50BMG and it's variants and .308 and .30-06 were nowhere to be found.
So Tom & California Midwesterner you are telling me a mostly aluminum gun with one hundred plus parts is a better buy than a mostly steel gun with less parts?
Then Tom you go on mention the short general issue life of the M-14 but fail to mention the bureaucratic malfeasance that brought that about, or the bureaucratic inertia that has prevented removal let alone improvement of the AR type rifles.
Let me put this in the simplest terms. There is no such thing as a reliable direct induction gas system AR type firearm. The design makes that highly improbable.
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