Well, thats what I'm trying to figure out... what specs are desirable.
I need to know what people are expecting. DPMS, Bushmaster, Armalite, all offer very nice AR10 type of rifles. I like the bushmaster lowers because they handle the FAL magazines. But I would rather do something unique. So that is why I ask the question.
Personally, I feel a DMR rifle does NOT follow the standards of a sniper rifle. Because a DM operates with a typical infantry squad, his rifle should offer an "extended" range, but still be useful for typical operations, including individual movement techniques, CQB (well, he'd probably support CQB). So based on this, the rifle should be compact in size, semi-auto action, fairly light weight, and very rugged. Optics should NOT be high power, I would say no more than 6x. Variable would be handy, but I would suggest against Variables because they are not as rugged.
Based on the above, some of my specs would include:
18-20" Barrel
20 rnd magazine capable (10rd acceptable)
Aux sites desirable
10-11 lbs total weight
Something also desirable could be an action similar in function to the AR family for familiarity with existing rifle operations (DM's do not have the extensive additional training that snipers do, so using an operation that they already know would be good)
I would say 1 MOA would be the goal for a true DMR rifle, and I'd say it should be used with standard 147gr BT machine gun ammo, not M118. It should also be tested with armor piercing.
Designed effective range should be 600-700m with this ammo and optics. The scope should have an internal easy to use range finder in the reticule as well as bullet drop compensating reticule. A good example would be the Springfield Armory government 6x. I recommend against mil-dots, they are too hard for the DM to easily learn to use, and more importantly, its too slow. DM's fight a much faster paced battle than do snipers. They need to be able to quickly "roughly" estimate range and "roughly" hold off to get a hit at 400-600 meters.
Now, this is what a real DMR should be, of course, it probably wouldn't sell to civilians, as its not what they desire
So, if I were to design a DMR, thats what I would do, and no one on this board would buy it! So, I need everyone elses suggestions.... my views are are not centered toward civilian mainstream... then again, maybe thats desirable for some?
MEL