M24E1 / XM2010 SNIPER WEAPON SYSTEM .300 WIN-MAG

The XM2010 Sniper Weapon System is a reconfigured M24 chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum. Both rifles are based on the Remington 700.

In September 2010 the United States Army’s Joint Munitions and Lethality Contracting Center awarded Remington a Firm Fixed Price Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract (W15QKN-10-R-0403) for the upgrade of up to 3,600 M24 Sniper Weapon Systems currently fielded to the Army pending type classification as the M24E1 Enhanced Sniper Rifle (ESR) later classified as the XM2010. The major configuration change for this system is the conversion from 7.62x51mm NATO to .300 Winchester Magnum ammunition exploiting the M24’s magnum length bolt action to provide additional precision engagement capability and range.

Army snipers are training with the new XM2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle at an undisclosed facility in Arkansas and according to the Remington Arms Company and the Department of Defense U.S. soldiers will have it in their hands shortly after the first of the year.

The new XM2010 Sniper Rifle is accurate at a distance of nearly 4,000 feet, which is a quarter of a mile farther any sniper weapon that U.S. troops have now.

Maximum range of the M24, which has long been the preferred sniper weapon for civilian SWAT teams and in-the-field military snipers, is 2,625 feet.

The added distance is important because insurgents have been shooting down from ridges and mountaintops where gravity helps their bullets travel farther and beyond the range of Army snipers.

Lately, insurgent terrorists in Afghanistan have proven they are no longer afraid to take the fight to the troops. In the past, mined roads were their weapon of choice. Recently there has been a sea-change in that tactic with serious consequences to NATO/U.S. forces.

The rugged terrain of the Hindu Kush with high mountains and wide valleys provide perfect opportunities for Taliban snipers.


The M24E1/XM2010 is considered a "total conversion upgrade", by which the barrel, stock, magazines, muzzlebrake, suppressor, and even the optics will be changed.

Besides the rechambering and rebarreling with a 24", 1-in-10" twist rate hammer-forged barrel the main reconfiguration changes compared to 7.62x51mm NATO-chambered M24 rifles are:

* a new chassis (stock) assembly, which maximizes the amount of physical adjustments for the sniper to provide a better user customized fit. The chassis has a folding buttstock that shortens the system for easier transport and better concealment during movement and accommodates the mounting of accessories via removable Mil Std 1913 Picatinny Rails.

* 5-round detachable box magazine.

* quick-attachable/detachable Advanced Armament Corp. sound suppressor with muzzle brake.

* Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20x50mm ER/T M5 Front Focal variable power telescopic sight featuring a 34mm tube diameter, first focal plane Horus Vision grid system range estimation reticle and Bullet Drop Compensation.

* advanced corrosion resistant coatings throughout the system.

According to Remington Arms each rifle is tested to meet (and typically exceeds) the requirement to fire ≤ 1 MOA (less than a 2-inch shot group at 200 yards) before being released for fielding.


Over 600 U.S.-led soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of the year.

Within a few weeks U.S. led forces will counter that approach with the XM2010.



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.50 CALIBER AT WORK

Dear STORMBRINGER:
I have a question about the .50 bmg as used in special-purpose military sniper rifles. I read a work of fiction recently that repeatedly asserts that the .50 caliber "destroys people" "blows men apart", and so on. Is this realistic (at a few hundred meters)? I would have thought ball ammunition would put a .50 caliber hole straight through them without slowing down much or expanding much, the way a .458 caliber bullet does when shooting a human-sized animal. Am I wrong?
Sincerely,
Michael


Michael -
Trust me . . . a .50 bullet explodes a head at any range:


Garbage in, Garbage Out is a good way to understand the damage done by any non-exploding (cannon) projectile. Take the energy in foot-pounds striking the victim, subtract the energy of the projectile exiting the victem the result is a very accurate measure of the damage inflicted. A .50 BMG ball round with 10,000 ft lbs of energy exiting a torso with 8500 ft lbs of energy does no more damage than an old 50 cal muzzle loader.

"Destroys people" sounds pretty close, "blows men apart" could be a stretch, it will do considerable damage but stops short of actually cutting you in half like some claim. at any rate, 12,000+ FT/LBS of energy could ruin your day.

Hope this helps - S.L.







"Meanwhile, never flinch, never weary, never despair." - Winston Churchill


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BAD KHARMA

Prologue: The Sergeant-Major and I stood looking across the airstrip, into the pitch-black darkness of the hot tropic night. Across the airfield the jungle loomed; thick, foreboding.
"If they hit us, that is the way they will come, right across the airfield," he said, sweeping his arm out toward the jungle.
"But . . . that is our most wide-open field of fire; that is the easiest sector for us to defend."
"That is exactly why they will hit it," he said. "They know it is the easiest place for us to defend, the least desirable place to mount an assault; that's why they'll figure we'll put the least attention upon it. When they come, they will come right across that airfield," he said.
A pause, and then he added, "You have to understand the Oriental mind."

S.L.

KARMA

Karma - from the Sanskrit कर्म - is the law of moral causation. The theory of Karma is a fundamental doctrine of Buddhism; the concept of "action" or "deed", that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect.



San Phra Phrom


The Erawan Shrine ( ศาลพระพรหม - San Phra Phrom ) is a Hindu shrine in Bangkok that houses a statue of Phra Phrom; the Thai representation of Brahma, the Hindu God of Creation.


The shrine often features Thai dancers, who are hired by worshippers in hopes of seeing their prayers at the shrine answered.


The Erawan Shrine was built in 1956 as part of the Erawan Hotel to eliminate the bad karma believed caused by laying the foundations on the wrong date.

The hotel's construction was delayed by a series of mishaps, including cost overruns, injuries to laborers, and the loss of a shipload of Italian marble intended for the building. Furthermore, the Ratchaprasong Intersection had once been used as an area to put criminals on public display.

An astrologer advised building the shrine to counter the negative influences. The Brahma statue was designed and built by the Department of Fine Arts and enshrined on 9 November 1956. The hotel's construction thereafter proceeded without further incident.


Erawan Shrine


At about 1 am on March 21, 2006, the shrine was vandalised by a Thai man. After smashing the statue with a hammer, 27-year-old Thanakorn Pakdeepol was himself beaten to death by angry bystanders. Two street sweepers who worked for the Pathum Wan district office were arrested and charged with the fatal beating.

Witnesses said Thanakorn stood on the base of the statue with a large hammer in his hands, and smashed the statue to pieces. The slain man's father, Sayant Pakdeepol, said his son had received treatment for psychiatric problems, that mental illness was the cause for the attack, and that the beating death of his son an "overreaction".

"Doing something like this is not the act of people with good beliefs, of those with real faith in Brahma," Sayant was quoted as saying. "Murder is an immoral act and people with morality would not have done what they did."


POLITICAL CONTROVERSY

In the days following the incident at Erawan Shrine, embattled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited and paid his respects to the broken statue of the deity.


Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra

At an anti-Thaksin rally on 22 March, government critic Sondhi Limthongkul claimed that Thaksin Shinawatra masterminded the destruction through Khmer (Cambodian) black-magic shamans in order to replace the image of Brahma with a "dark force" aligned to Thaksin, who sought to maintain power through black magic.

Thaksin, when asked to comment on Sondhi's accusations, simply replied: "That's insane."


THE FINLAND PLOT

Starting in May 2006, Sondhi's newspaper Manager Daily published a series of articles on a movement called "Finland Plot", claiming that Thaksin and former student leaders from the 1970s radical political movement met in Finland in 1999 to create a plan to overthrow the Thai constitutional monarchy and establish a republic. No evidence was ever produced to support the existence of such a plot, and Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai Party firmly denied the accusations. Thaksin sued Sondhi for defamation. Sondhi countered by saying that Thaksin was trying to silence the press.


COUP D'ETAT

Massive demonstrations against Thaksin ensued.


The People's Alliance for Democracy - PAD - ( พันธมิตรประชาชนเพื่อประชาธิปไตย ) - was a coalition of protesters against Thaksin Shinawatra.



PAD demonstrators wore yellow - the color of royalty in Asia - to show their support for the monarchy.


Then on 19 September 2006, the Thai military, led by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, overthrew the Thaksin government and dissolved Parliament. Thaksin was exiled indefinitely and several members of his Cabinet were summoned for investigation.

Public protests against the military junta began in the months after the coup.


Thai Police with helmets and riot shields await near the protest zone.



Renegade Thai General Khattiya Sawasdipol a.k.a. Seh Daeng - "Red Commander" - charismatic leader of the Red Shirts



National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship - the "Red Shirts"






Things got ugly after the Army stepped in.







General Khattiya went down; an Army sniper's bullet to his head.



Epilogue

This whole situation is so messed up, so much bad karma from the git go - no wonder things are such a mess over there.

That makes me sad to learn about the Erawan shrine. Even though I'm a Christian, I strongly believe in the Buddhist way; karma and reincarnation - don't ask me to explain it because I can't. All I know is it is what it is; these feelings have been reinforced throughout all my journeys and adventures.

The Erawan shrine is a beautiful place, I used to love going by there in the evenings; the smell of the incense and the jasmine garlands, the gentle music and the Thai dancers.





Up until now the protracted violence in Bangkok has been so difficult to understand. Learning of the crazy vandalism of the Erawan shrine, and murder on holy ground, this explains so much; it all makes sense to me now:

The Gods are Angry.


Bangkok burning. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)


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ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK

Seh Daeng - "Red Commander" - is a controversial public figure, even within the protest movement, Fuller said. Some Thai opposition leaders see him as an impediment to a peaceful resolution to the political stalemate that has gripped Thai politics, Fuller said.

"He's a renegade in all sense," Fuller said. "He's a renegade from the army, a hardliner within the protest movement. He told me today he thought they (other opposition leaders) were being cowardly and he wanted to carry on."


Scenario: You're interviewing a Thai general officer who is operating as some sort of political rogue in the middle of a civil uprising in a wild-ass city that's out of control on a daily basis - and right now the madness is amped up to FREAK FACTOR FIVE THOUSAND - when suddenly the Red Blossom of Death appears on the general's forehead . . .






. . . excuse me for thinking that the story is no longer the political bullsh*t that led up to the circumstances; the story has just become the circumstances themselves . . .


CNN - A journalist who was interviewing a key political protest leader in Bangkok said the sniper bullet that struck the man came so close that it "felt like it grazed my head."

Describing a chaotic scene on the streets of the Thai capital Thursday night, Thomas Fuller of the International Herald Tribune described to CNN how Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol was shot in the head as he was interviewing the opposition figure.

"I was facing him, he was answering my questions, looking at me and the bullet hit him in the forehead, from what I could tell," Fuller told CNN's Michael Holmes. "It looks like the bullet came over my head and struck him. I don't have any way of confirming this beyond what I remember from the scene but it felt like it grazed my head."





VOICE OF AMERICA — May 13, 2010 — General Khattiya Sawasdiphol, better known as Seh Daeng (Commander Red), was shot in the head while being interviewed by journalists.

While it was unknown whether Thailand's military or government was behind the shooting, the government has previously made it clear it would shoot at what it called armed terrorists. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

ผู้สื่อ ข่าว VOA เผยนาทีชีวิตที่อยุ่ในที่เกิดเหตุและเตรียมสัมภาษณ์ เสธ.แดง หรือ พล.ต.ขัตติยะ สวัสดิผล ก่อนถูกยิง


A protester fires a homemade rocket toward Thai security forces from behind barricades Thursday night in Bangkok.



Anti-government 'red shirt' supporters assist Nelson Rand, a Canadian-born journalist working for France's TF1 network, to safety after he was shot while covering clashes with army soldiers near Bangkok's Lumpini Park on May 14, 2010. Photo: REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Nelson Rand, a Canadian working for broadcaster France 24, a local journalist working for Thai newspaper Matichon and a cameraman working for Thai broadcaster Voice TV, were injured in separate outbreaks of violence in the Thai capital today, according to media reports. Rand was reportedly shot thrice, in the leg, abdomen and wrist, and is reported to be in “serious condition.”


I lived in Thailand for ten years; I know and love the Thai people very well. I have experienced the political violence that breaks loose there; these reports are as bad or worse than anything I witnessed during my time in Bangkok. My prayers go out for the Thai people during this terrible strife.
- Sean Linnane



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ARMY SNIPERS GO TO .300 WIN MAG

U.S. Army 2009 solicitation for a M24 reconfiguration




The U.S. Army put out a solicitation in May 2009 for reconfiguring M24 Sniper Weapon Systems currently available in Army inventory consisting of a:

* Rebarreling/rechambering the SWS's barrel optimized to accommodate Mk 248 (DODIC A191) .300 Winchester Magnum ammunition.

* Replacement of existing weaver rails with a MIL-STD-1913 rail capable of accommodating both a day optic and in-line forward mounted, AN/PVS-26 (NSN 5855-01-538-8121) image intensified (I2) night vision device.

* Reconfiguring the stock with a stock that incorporates a detachable box magazine, adjustable comb and length of pull.

* Addition of a detachable sound suppressor as well as any necessary barrel modifications required for a sound suppressor interface.

* Replacement of the existing day optic sight (DOS) and rings with an Army specified variable power day optic and compatible rings.



. . . about time they got on the program . . .




from





The U.S. Sniper's More Accurate, Quieter Rifle

Army Snipers in Afghanistan will receive an improved rifle this fall.
By Roxana Tiron

The M24 (shown here in 2002) is bound for an upgrade that will help it shoot farther, quieter and more accurately. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

For snipers, every war is different. Recognizing the differences between conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is now selecting a contractor to upgrade the 22-year-old Remington bolt-action rifle to become a more effective killing machine. The Army will pour about $5.6 million into upgrades to the M24, with the new gear expected to be delivered to troops by this fall. The M24's barrel is being modified to shoot heavier .300 Winchester Magnum rounds, instead of the 7.62mm NATO ammunition, which should extend the rifle's maximum effective range by hundreds of yards to a maximum of about 1400 yards. The suppressor will reduce the noise and flash of the gun so snipers can stay in their hiding positions much longer after they fire.

More

MARINE SNIPER: I MILE KILL SHOT

Marine sniper Steve Reichert tells his own story about doing battle in Iraq with his trusty Barret 50 cal.

PLINKING

He's busting boulders with some pretty heavy artillery here . . . I've done this with .303 British . . . a heroic caliber . . .

t

DR. RUTH WESTHEIMER, MEDIA DARLING & ISRAELI SNIPER

. . . from the worthy site of my good friend DOUBLETAPPER:




Dr. Ruth Westheimer, former Israeli Sniper, sitting on the hood of an IDF Jeep







The future Dr. Ruth Westheimer was born Karola Ruth Siegel in Germany in 1928, the only child of an Orthodox Jewish couple. In 1939, after her father had been taken by the Nazis, her mother and grandmother sent her to Switzerland to get her out of harm's way. She did not see her family again, as they were murdered in the Holocaust.


Ruth was 17 with no home, family or country when WW II ended. Like many other Jewish Holocaust refugees, she moved to Israel (the Palestine). Ruth, dedicated to the building of a Jewish homeland, joined Haganah, an underground Jewish military organization. She served as a sniper. Says Dr. Ruth of that interval:


"When I was in my routine training for the Israeli army as a teenager, they discovered completely by chance that I was a lethal sniper. I could hit the target smack in the center further away than anyone could believe. Not just that, even though I was tiny and not even much of an athlete, I was incredibly accurate throwing hand grenades too. Even today I can load a Sten automatic rifle in a single minute, blindfolded."


Her military career was cut short when she was seriously injured:

On her twentieth birthday, just 8 days after the Haganah was absorbed into the IDF, just as she finished up her watch, an Arab shell exploded at her feet, seriously injuring her.

"My legs were almost ripped off on my 20th birthday in 1948 in Jerusalem from cannon ball shrapnel which exploded in the residence where I was living. Three others were killed instantly and many more were wounded. The metal pierced both my legs, and there was blood everywhere. A cannon ball from Jordan had smashed through the window. I was thrown 20 feet. The strangest thing was that all I could think about was whether there might be some blood on the brand-new shoes I had just gotten for my birthday, and amazingly there wasn't even a drop on them, which was all I cared about in some kind of strange denial."

In an interview with Tom Foreman, Dr Ruth answered some questions about her experience in the fledgling Israeli Military, the Haganah and the IDF.

Tom Foreman: You were trained as a sniper?

Dr. Ruth: We were all trained in the forerunner of the Israeli Defense Force, and for some reason that I can't explain I'm a very good sniper. I can put five bullets into this little red circle (makes circle with her fingers). I know how to throw hand grenades...

Tom Foreman: There was a bomb that went off in the barracks.

Dr. Ruth: Yes.

Tom Foreman: Many of your friends were wounded as well?

Dr. Ruth: Yes and died. Boy you did your homework.

Tom Foreman: Do you think that some of those experiences of your life made you bolder? Many people comment that the thing that strikes them about you is that you so fiercely walk into any culture and you ask very intimate questions.

Dr. Ruth: I am what you call bold because the one thing that I've learned coming out of Nazi Germany is that I have to stand up and be counted for what I believe. And that's how people are listening to me, because they know it's not a put-on.