Armed forces converting to .300 WM?

Oldroper refers me to Harrison's 2707 yard shot; longest on record for a sniper. Most interesting comments about that shot:
Using nine shots to initially range his targets, Harrison and his spotter, Trooper Cliff O'Farrell, then dropped two Taliban machine-gunners with successive shots while providing cover fire for an Afghan national army patrol south of Musa Qala. Harrison noted that environmental conditions were perfect for long-range shooting: no wind, mild weather and clear visibility.
Ballistic info's interesting......

Time of flight for the bullet was about 5.2 seconds.

That bullet was dropping about 2.5 feet for every 10 yards it went downrange at the target.

A one mile per hour cross wind across the bullet's trajectory moves it almost 4 feet horizontally; subtle winds at that speed are almost impossible to see and judge for that range.

I'd heard he took 4 or 5 sighting shots. The link says he took 9. No mention of how many shots it took to drop the two Taliban gunners.
 
"two Taliban machine-gunners with successive shots" means 2 shots -- back to back. Then on the 3rd shot he took out the PKM. I guess if you're shooting men at > 2.5 km, you're allowed some ranging shots
 
"two Taliban machine-gunners with successive shots" does mean 2 shots back to back, but I don't know if there were any ranging shots before them. May not have been. I should have said I didn't know if any sighters were taken before those two were took out.

In decades of shooting 1000 yard matches and scoring the best of them, none of the top scoring folks put their first shot at 1000 inside the 10 inch X ring all the time with the magnums. Some of them would put it in the 20 inch 10 ring once in a while.
 
Old roper, yes, that's me.

I recently got email from RJ Thomas referencing the write up in a Fallon, Nevada, newspaper on his incident. He said there was only 12 to 15 casualties he caused. He knows that such stories get magnified just as those about Carlos Hathcock and Alvin York and his is no different. I first heard of his incident from a common friend and didn't know about them when I shot matches with him. I knew he had been wounded but at the time that was all. He related in the newspaper article that he had got down to only a few rounds of ammo left and wondered if he should humanely dispatch his crew members then take his own life. The VC had a track record of horribly torturing and killing captured SEAL team members. But the rescue helo came and saved the day.

Cdr. R.J. Thomas was the USN Rifle Team OIC when my Son shot on the USN Rifle Team under him in the early 1990's.
 
I love the .308 myself, but it makes sense to me that the 300 Win Mag, would be better suited for extreem ranges in excess of 1000 yards.
We have a very experienced Military now, during the last 100 years we have been involved in several wars and conflicts, our troops have been more or less involved in Destert Warfare since 1990. I can see where the experience of the troops involved would dictate what equipment works best for them.
If use of the 300 Winchester Magnum would make our Snipers more effective, Im all for it.
 
I recall viewing a program about U.S. military snipers or maybe it was Army marksmanship unit but any way. I recall them using 300 mag rifles and this was several years ago. They had a whole on base manufacturing setup for their precision ammo also.
 
Here you go.....this rifle can shoot in .308, 300WM or .338 Lapua. Just swap out the barrel and bolt and your good to go whatever the mission. The Remington MSR with an AAC Titan QD, and Schmidt & Bender glass.

img0161kt.jpg

By dsa1115 at 2011-05-22
 
dsa1115, how accurate is that MSR with the muffler on its muzzle? By accurate, I mean how big's a 20 shot test group at 500 yards; with each of the 3 barrels?

Most interesting is one doesn't need to swap magazines. How did they manage that?
 
The Army routinely switches back and forth between some 300 super mag and the 308. They did this in Vietnam and several time during the intervening years.

In all cases they have returned to the 308 for the following reasons.

1. Logistics. There lots of 308 ammo in the system.
2. Ammo cost. 308 match ammo cost about 10 cents a round. The 300 will cost a buck or better.
3. Barrel life. A 300 Ultra Super Mag will last a life time for an ordinary shooter. In the hands of a Military sniper they may last 6 months. An SF Vietnam sniper I know wore his out in in 3 months. His 308 barrel lasted two tours.

In short this is nothing to get excited about. It is routine.
 
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