what in your opinion is the worlds best sniping rifle in my opinion 1 of the best of all time is the lee-enfield mk4(t)
The most effective is propably Barrett. Dragunov is optimal in all aspects. The longest range is maybe a Russian special forces sniper rifle (can't remember the name).
Sniper rifles are more role specific nowdays. For anti-material use, the Barret M82 in .50BMG is hard to beat. For anti-personnel, that a much tougher call. There are several good choices out there. The M-24 (US Army) and M-40 (USMC) are built on tried and true Remington Model 700 rifles chambered in 7.62 NATO. Using the M-118LR match ammo, they're quite accurate to 800m. The L-96 ? that the UK and others are also very nice. They're in .338 Lapua Magnum and are very accurate and suitable for anti-personnel and anti- light material roles. They will work out to 1000m. I'd like to have one but they're rediculously expensive here. My personal favorite is the M-21/M-25. It's a sniper rifle based on the M-14 battle rifle. They have match barrels, tuned gas system, and bedded synthetic stocks. Since they're semi-auto's (20 round magazines) and have open adjustable sights, they can be used as ordinary battle rifles if needed. US Army Special Forces, US Navy SEALS, and the Israeli Army still use them. I would also like to have a M-1903A4. Real ones are getting very expensive.
I agree with your selection, but i'll add the old Mauser Kar98. For myself i'd go for an M21, but in Spain .308/7'62 NATO semiautos are illegal weapons. :angry:
Bolt action .50 cal McMillan, apparently, just got this from a cross-reference on Tony's site: Somewhere in Afghanistan. That's shooting :kill: Oli
Phip; The USMC used Winchester Model 70's in .30-06 caliber in Vietnam. They were not actually military contract rifle but hunting rifles that some Marine units bought from sporting goods stores. Like the Army, the USMC practically abandoned it's sniper program after the Korean War. I believe the super long range shot (in Vietnam) was made from a .50 machine gun with a scope rigged up on it. The Winchester in .30-06 would have been very hard pressed to make a hit beyond 800m. They didn't have heavy match barrels, bedded stocks, high quality match ammo, and cool optics on them. IIRC, they were simply hunting rifles with Redfield scopes and used M-72 .30-06 National Match ammo. After Vietnam, unlike the Army who again abandoned it's formal sniper program, the USMC enhanced it's scout sniper program and took on some Remington Model 700's in .308 Winchester. These rifles eventually led to the current M-40 series sniper rifles.
untrue the sniper rifles fielded in nam were not stock sporting guns. they had been reworked by gunsmiths and were much better shooters that the stock rifles. some did have all the goodies. both 30-06 and .308 were used. there was also a sniper version of the M-14. scopes were a mix of makers and designs. by the way national match is high quality match ammo
The M-14 varient came later in Vietnam and was to become the M-21. It was the first rifle to use the ART scopes. Earlier in the war, there were no dedicated sniper rifles in Vietnam. Some National Match M-1's were tried as were some M-1C's and D's, even a few '03A4's. The rifles then didn't have all the goodies as the goodies didn't exist. There were no synthetic stocks, hand lapped barrels, etc. M-72 National Match ammo was better than M-2 and better than most commercial ammo but is not high quality. It's good and that's about it. The velocity, extreme spread, and standard deviation of M-72 varies greatly from round to round. It, like any ammo of the day, is also temperature sensitive. It was good for 1960's technology and mass production.
