yeah the drag's a good reliable weapon

And the best sniper rifle is either the new LRLCR .50cal or the barrat .50

We have 2 sniper rifles in the Canadian Forces now... The first older one being the C3 7.62mm Parker Hale (British made) with a Mouser action and of course the Macmillan Tac 50... The data on the longest kill is correct... And now we are looking for a medium range sniper rifle... It is still in the testing stage but I think the are going to go with the .338... FN in my opinion makes one of the best sniper rifles right now, but of course technology is always changing.... I'm trying to find out where the contract to make them came from.... I think they are from Phoenix though... Strange because lately we have gotten away from buying kit from other nations...
Oh yeah: in my opinion the Dragunov is more of a good battle rifle than an actual sniper rifle... It's range isn't that great, but it would be a good weapon for a designated marksman. For Real sniping I think you would need something else

There are a lot of new excellent SWS's out there. But they all depend on what you want to do. The 308 is a great round, very versetile out to 800m (the Marines claim 1000m, but that's REALLY pushing it). For long range accuracy and velocity you need a 338 Lapua or better. Well actually, the 300WSM/Win Mag will do the work too. I know the M40 SWS had a long action built because they wanted to be able to accomidate the possible change to a 300WSM instead of using the 308 to get those extra long shots in.

But let's not forget that before all of this amazing balalistics technology and optics technology came out. There were guys with 6x scopes killing people at amazing ranges. Gunny Hathcock used to hold the record for the longest kill at 2250m with a .50 BMG, and that was back in Vietnam. It was recently broken in Afgahnistan though by a Canadian/American sniper team. They got a kill at 2430m with a .50 cal (American version).

A "sniper" rifle is a weapon used by a "sniper". Killing a man at 2400 meters - do you know who you are killing?

The Finns had a different approach in the eighties. They developed a Sako bolt rifle with an integrated silencer in the barrel. To that they matched a sub-sonic 7.62 x 51 cartridge. That's a sniper! For a Finn, anyway!

Problem with most sniper rifles is that they are usually developed by theorists shooting mainly at the range.

Originally Posted by Damien

the m82 is awesome... I saw one at an air show. barrel's almost bigger than my thumb... I'd really hate to be on the wrong end of that gunfight.

I'd hate to carry it!

Actually the USMC Sniper System was designed with the suggestions and input of USMC Scout/Snipers.

Originally Posted by leandros

A "sniper" rifle is a weapon used by a "sniper". Killing a man at 2400 meters - do you know who you are killing?

I don't understand. The sniper team knew who they were shooting at. I'm sure they had a high powered scope and spotting scope and ID'd the target before taking shots at it.

The Finns had a different approach in the eighties. They developed a Sako bolt rifle with an integrated silencer in the barrel. To that they matched a sub-sonic 7.62 x 51 cartridge. That's a sniper! For a Finn, anyway!

The problem with sub-sonic ammunition is the reduced velocity and ineffectiveness at at long range. Even worst is that you can hear the bullet coming. If you miss the first time they'll easily be able to pick you up.

Originally Posted by 03USMC

Actually the USMC Sniper System was designed with the suggestions and input of USMC Scout/Snipers.

Hence the new Monte Carlo stock on the A3. Still need to adopt the suggestion of a magnum round.

Are all the stocks for the M40A3 being manufactured by Mcmillain now?

"In my opnion has to the Russian dragunov. It's small and compact but packs a big punch."

Dragunov's barrel's quality is very various that causes different accuracies between average and shot gun, but Dragunov would be much better if the barrel would be changed to a high quality one with tight tolerances.



And to answer the original question: Depends on ranges to fire at. For long ranges +600m i like our SAKO TRG-42 but for shorter ranges (usually available) 100-400m i would take a 7.62x51 semi auto rifle with an accurate barrel. FN-FAL, G3 or FAL's austrian copy Stg58 equiped with a sniper scope and bipod. A good scope would be Zeiss Diavari, at least 6x.

Semi auto for short ranges because with larger magazine capacity and rate of fire it is much better than bolt action rifles when presents a threat to get close contact with enemy and semi auto's worse accuracy doesn't matter at shorter ranges.