“The fact that the Special Ops community is looking for a good long-range sniping rifle is a sign that they realize there are more useful platforms out there.”
Being a shooter—especially one who likes long-range shooting (my favorite rifle is my Ruger Precision Rifle in .308)—I can say that I find it refreshing that the military is taking a cue from the civilian world instead of the other way around and trying to recreate the wheel, as they say.
For many years, the military has gone under the premise that they know what is best. Developing and setting the standards for firearms and rounds that perform to a certain standard has been their way of making things into “military” standard. But with the announcement that they will be looking at an already established, high-performance round like the “6.5 Creed,” as some of us like to call it.
The fact that the Special Ops community is looking for a good long-range sniping rifle is a sign that they realize there are more useful platforms out there. Currently, the 7.62 mm round that is the civilian equivalent of the .308 is a very good round that has been in use for many years in the military as well as other specialty calibers, but the 6.5 Creed has gotten many great results over the last few years, especially in the long-range shooting world, including competitions.
Remington Defense makes Spec Ops’ current sniper rifle. Called the Precision Sniper Rifle, it came with three quick-change barrels in 7.62 mm NATO, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .338 Lapua Magnum for various operational requirements. In 2016, the Army chose the Heckler & Koch G28 in 7.62 mm, Sniper System for close-quarters operations to replace the M110 made by Knight’s Armament.
For now, the regular Army snipers will continue to use the M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle made by Remington in .300 Win Mag.
From a strictly fellow shooter point of view, the move to a better round for distance makes sense, especially since they are also working on reducing the weight of the ammunition overall. How do you reduce the weight of the ammunition by a significant amount? You use polymer cases for the rounds, reducing the weight considerably.
While this is not a finished portion of the research, it shows great promise. Also, like all things military, it may have some great benefits in the civilian world when it makes it over to that side. I look forward to seeing what comes of this program and what rifle system and ammunition comes out on top.
