The greatest of all time

u know i have to agree with Muzzleblast. the M 21 might not get 1/4 moa but for the role of killing the enemy, its hard to beat. the best part about it in my opinion is the Redfield scope. with a decent mag (3 - 9x) it has an auto range finder/bullet drop compensator built in. the 20 rnd mag it VERY usefull as a supressor can be attached and 20 rnds would allow the sniper to go longer periods without rearming. im a big fan of Bolt action rifles but in terms of field sws, the M 21 is hard to beat!



ahh.....good ol m21

Well folks, I am not a sniper but I'd still like to give my $.02 about what I would choose if I were one.

For a bolt-action, it would be hands down the M40A3 for all of the reasons already mentioned. Extremely accurate, reliable, well made, with one sweet scope, the M40A3 certainly does it for me!

Concerning semi-autos, it is a toss-up. Either the HK PSG-1 or the Walther WA2000. Both are well-made, accurate, powerful (although the WA2000 in .300WM gets the nod here), and good looking rifles to boot! One drawback to each is that they both, to the best of my knowledge, utilize the same 6x Hensoldt scope. As wonderful as that scope is, I would prefer a bit more adjustability in power, but I would certainly be able to make do with the Hensoldt! In the ned I would probably go with the Walther WA2000 for the fact that it is much more powerful, being able to be chambered in .300WM, and is considerably shorter in length due to the bullpup design.

But I do have one question concerning semi-autos. Now maybe I am just ignorant, but I do not understand the problems concerning empty brass being left behind. It seems to me that if you have to fire more than once with a bolt gun, you will still have to deal with empty brass being flung all around. And as a military sniper will most likely be working during wartime, if the cartridge cases were found they would not seem out of place. And even if they were found, its not like they could b identified or traced back to a particular person. All of the NATO countries use the .308, so they couldn't even be able to tell for sure it was the US firing on them. I just don't understand the importance, but maybe I just miss the point. Enlighten me.

Now I do understand that if it were not a standard military operation, but a extremely covert one like an assassination, then I can understand the importance of not leaving any indication that you were there behind when you leave.

Jake

Okay, there are a few things to be addressed with this issue of brass being left behind.

First, we attept at all costs to shoot once from a hide. Twice is max. If we screw up and end up firing like crazy FROM A HIDE, well, it doesn't matter much anyway, you'll probably be dead.

Some of the reasons not to leave brass includes:
The USA is the only one that uses Lake City M118 or M118LR. If some one finds your brass, you've instantly told them there is an American sniper operating in the area. YES, that is important info you DON"T want them to know.
Also, if the bad guys find brass, guess what, you just told them where you were setup at. They are not dumb, they can now look at where you fired from, determine the range, your skill level, what type of positions you like to shoot from, and other valuable tricks of your field craft skills. Any clues they have, is bad for you in the future.
As was already mentioned, the movement of bright shinny things is not good for concealment.
Its flat out sloppy, and sloppy gets you killed (okay, not a lot of quantitative info there, but its all a mindset)

Hope that explains a little of why we don't like flying brass.

MEL

What things are there to consider about an ultimate sniper rifle system. Heres what I can think of:

1. Accuracy
2. Reliability
3. Weight
4. Balance
5. Power of the cartridge
6. Semi or Bolt???
7. Comfort
8. Optics
9. Durability
10. Length

What else?