-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- On 1/3/98 4:05 PM, Ryan Lackey (rdl@mit.edu) passed this wisdom:
I've only seen bolt action .50s fired. They're not *too* heavy, and from the amount of muzzle flash, noise, etc. it gave, I'd be as comfortableusing it at 1000-1500 yards as I would a .308 at 600-1000 yards. Given proper concealment and the absence of anyone looking directly at you when you fire, that is. Professional sniping is a 2 man operation anyway --against a target that can shoot back, you really want to have a spotter.
I finally remebered where I saw it. In Tom Clancy's non-fiction book "MARINE: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit." On pages 75-77 (there is a good picture too) he details the history and developement as well as the uses of the "Barrett M82A1A .50-cal special-purpose sniper rifle." It is for all intents and purposes a Brownig M2 .50-cal machine gun barrel/receiver set o a newly designed spring recoil system to be fired from shoulder wit bipod. It is chambered for the NATO standard .50-cal/12.7mm ammunition. It was developed by Ronnie Barrett of Murfeesboro, Tennessee and further developement sponsored by the USG and was first deployed by the CIA with the Mujahadeen in Afgahnistan where they used it to make some Russian troops quite miserable from a long way off. The sucess of it in Afghanistan force the military to consider it. Nothing is said concerning other services but it has been adopted by the USMC Force Recon for use by a three man team. The gun is broken down into upper reciever, lower reciver, and scope and ammo. There may be .50-cal bolt actions out there that are one man carries, but the Barrett gun is a three man load. The gun is 57 inches long and weighs 32.5 pounds, unloaded with no scope. The primary mission of the gun is not man sniping, though I am sure it often has been and will be used in that role, but its main aim is to long range snipe and disable antennae, dishes, equipment, etc using the AP and API ammunition. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0 Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBNK6ybj7r4fUXwraZAQGSNgf/X6+K6j5lzj1odfzDM0HUfTnNzcc/RgSD OHHelk3Elb0jLDIX76KJsVOghDQ228QA+dFa+dEH+3YyjquIclKp4UBrfqw42Rfd Fv/HVinE9qLKse4PVY3Mjeqt8jHCGO01RHNATnrArDA6C2lVJIeE1tIDVGDVVtI2 bndGRnOexSXrFSm+5ux1GejWUYzUbLiQIOmfNSJMpzi8WwfQ/I3OLyFm5I6y9DR1 IiQZRs4RoqJ6f4caiZWz62/L6iivwKsOX6LCHlZAjz/6Ld+/o6ZtC0cjn/yWtUqL +3n/ZVydK+jGQ+rHopM4Eg1NGL5aRt+ANkKRDeTXohNlwfkCvI4xGA== =zI8W -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Brian B. Riley --> http://members.macconnect.com/~brianbr For PGP Keys <mailto:brianbr@together.net?subject=Get%20PGP%20Key> "You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go around repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in their struggle for independence." -- Charles M. Beard