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Marines’ New Sniper Rifle Declared Fully Operational A Year Early

Talyn

Talyn

SAINT
Founding Member
The versatile new rifle is based off a design adopted by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in recent years.

www.twz.com

U.S. Special Operators Are Getting New Sniper Rifles For The Second Time In Six Years

Snipers can configure the new rifles to fire three different calibers, allowing them to replace various existing weapons with one gun.
www.twz.com www.twz.com

The Marines’ new rifle is based on the Barrett Multi-Role Adaptive Design, or MRAD, sniper rifle, which was brought into the fold by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in 2021.

www.twz.com

Marines' New Sniper Rifle Declared Fully Operational A Year Early

The versatile new rifle is based off a design adopted by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in recent years.
www.twz.com www.twz.com

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i've been online chatting with members on other gun forums that have experience with the mrad's. it appears to be a solid platform for barrel swaps and headspace made easy. cost of barrels for the mrad is between $1,500-3,000 depending on length and material (places that sell them are all within the same dollar range). looking at the mk22
(https://barrett.net/products/firearms/mrad-mk22/) for a start is where i'm heading, but will need to add the .540" bolt to the lineup. also i'll be checking out the 416b in mradelr (https://barrett.net/products/firearms/mradelr/). the only info i'm trying to find out now is acceptable maximum cartridge length for the mags? getting a chey-tec (505gibbs) bolt for it (mradelr) would be on the to-do list. i can care less about having a .473" bolt for the mrad as i'm only interested in the BIG cartridges (it'll be fun to have my favorite GOAT cartridge 264wm in the mrad). from learning more about the 338nm, i should've bought that instead of the 338lm.
 
After checking one out at a prior NRA convention I almost went with a MRAD, but circumstances didn't allow for it.

I went with the "budget" alternative, the Ruger RPR, and after using that for awhile I decided a BIG bolt gun didn't fit into my AOP situation well so I stayed with a traditional bolt gun in 6.5CM.
 
While I am for any new gear for our troops the reasoning sort of confused me.

The reason is since the USMC deactivated their Scout/Sniper program (as they did their Armor and Military Police stuff) why appropriate it if they aren’t giing to be used or around?.

Anyone with more insight pleas few free to chime in

www.marinecorpstimes.com

The Marine Corps has trained its final 8 scout snipers

The Marine Corps is cutting infantry battalions’ scout sniper platoons and replacing them with scout platoons.
www.marinecorpstimes.com www.marinecorpstimes.com
 
ECS686 said:
While I am for any new gear for our troops the reasoning sort of confused me.

The reason is since the USMC deactivated their Scout/Sniper program (as they did their Armor and Military Police stuff) why appropriate it if they aren’t giing to be used or around?.

Anyone with more insight pleas few free to chime in

www.marinecorpstimes.com

The Marine Corps has trained its final 8 scout snipers

The Marine Corps is cutting infantry battalions’ scout sniper platoons and replacing them with scout platoons.
www.marinecorpstimes.com www.marinecorpstimes.com
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The need still exists in the Scout platoons.
 
TEXASforLIFE said:
i've been online chatting with members on other gun forums that have experience with the mrad's. it appears to be a solid platform for barrel swaps and headspace made easy. cost of barrels for the mrad is between $1,500-3,000 depending on length and material (places that sell them are all within the same dollar range). looking at the mk22
(https://barrett.net/products/firearms/mrad-mk22/) for a start is where i'm heading, but will need to add the .540" bolt to the lineup. also i'll be checking out the 416b in mradelr (https://barrett.net/products/firearms/mradelr/). the only info i'm trying to find out now is acceptable maximum cartridge length for the mags? getting a chey-tec (505gibbs) bolt for it (mradelr) would be on the to-do list. i can care less about having a .473" bolt for the mrad as i'm only interested in the BIG cartridges (it'll be fun to have my favorite GOAT cartridge 264wm in the mrad). from learning more about the 338nm, i should've bought that instead of the 338lm.
Click to expand...
The 338NM does appear a little more versatile than the 338LM.
 
Talyn said:
The need still exists in the Scout platoons.
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It would seem with attrition rates they will either be out OR as others get reassigned as a regular Infantry or whatever their skill level is (MARSOC, Raider etc)

You don’t see them buying new Armor or MP stuff when it’s phased out it’s gone

Whether it’s an emergency in 10-15 years to deactivate any of those programs is yet to be seen. But with the way drones are going to play I’m presuming you’ll see other countries armor programs get reduced as well but that’s another topic)
 
Armor isn't going away except for the USMC tanks.

Counter measures (electronic/hard kill) to FPV drones are in development and in test-fielding.

Every time something new to the battlefield appears then countermeasures also appear.

The stand-alone sniper program is folded into the Scout platoon approach. Whereas, that will be a success will be determined as history has shown. IMO dedicated USMC snipers will return.
 
Talyn said:
Armor isn't going away except for the USMC tanks.

Counter measures (electronic/hard kill) to FPV drones are in development and in test-fielding.

Every time something new to the battlefield appears then countermeasures also appear.

The stand-alone sniper program is folded into the Scout platoon approach. Whereas, that will be a success will be determined as history has shown. IMO dedicated USMC snipers will return.
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I know before I retired from the Air Guard in Security Forces they had what they called a sniper program (it wasn’t really) and then it became (or was properly renamed) a Designated Marksman.

The thought process was they would equip a couple troops per quad with an “optic” equipped rifle.

It could be a good thing but (and I sadly say this as a 20 some year retired Security Force troop that did 7 years active duty doing nuclear security) the AF Security forces management would break an anvil with a sponge if you left them alone for 5 minutes. So I’m not hopeful it will be worth a darn!
 
BarryinIN said:
I don’t see what the MRAD does better than (or maybe as well as) the counterpart from Accuracy International, the AXMC or AXSR.
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Although both are multi caliber the mrad i believe has a better system for changing. It doesn't require threads or a 2nd bolt almost complete bolt assembly, only the bolt. As far as accuracy between them, i don't know if 1 is more accurate than the other? I wouldn't like to keep changing barrels that would be required to thread on multiple times. Wouldn't want to mess any threads up!
 
BarryinIN said:
I don’t see what the MRAD does better than (or maybe as well as) the counterpart from Accuracy International, the AXMC or AXSR.
Click to expand...
While I want the Military to have the best gear there is one issue and as Pat Rodgers said “Mission drives the gear” so there’s a point where to much is maybe too much!

I will relate this to the LE side but there is some carry over. I was on the SORT team on a Federal agency for about 14 years. I attended their MO school (sniper) and the agency purchased 4 Chandler sniper rifles with Nightforce scopes and night vision attachment total coast $16,500 per unit. (66K total)

While I enjoyed shooting my monthly allotment of rounds and they were super accurate our mission they were really overkill as the standard police sniper shot is well under 100 yards. Something a 700 dollar Remington Police 700 and decent optic for another 700
So there’s that!
 
TEXASforLIFE said:
Although both are multi caliber the mrad i believe has a better system for changing. It doesn't require threads or a 2nd bolt almost complete bolt assembly, only the bolt. As far as accuracy between them, i don't know if 1 is more accurate than the other? I wouldn't like to keep changing barrels that would be required to thread on multiple times. Wouldn't want to mess any threads up!
Click to expand...
The MRAD may not have a threaded barrel, but it’s retained by a pair of 10-24 screws. So whichever system is used, screws are involved. Although the screws are only loosened and not removed, I’m pretty sure the MRAD screws aren’t captive. I don’t feel the best about that.

I don’t see that having to change the bolt head is better than changing the entire bolt. Either way, the bolt is coming out. Might as well swap bolts then.

If you have to lug a complete bolt around, it’s another story and I’d rather carry part of a bolt than the entire thing. But I can’t help but think there won’t be much, if any, caliber changing in the field. I would guess a configuration is chosen ahead of time and that’s that.

With that said, I’m not sure that a rifle that can be anything from a 6.5CM to a 338NM is a huge need anyway.
 
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