UK upgrades snipers

Britain's military is spending £11m equipping its top shots with the world's best sniper rifle.

At £23,000, the UK-made Accuracy International L96 is also the most expensive individual weapon ever issued.

news.sky.com...



Yup and also very expensive! But is M107 50cal. better than this?

No .50 cal weapon will be better than this, as they are intended for antimaterial use. L96 is definately among the top 10 of LR-sniper riflers, among that top ten it's more about preference than quality... Fine weapon tough a bit heavy.

(above with the tought that it's chambered in .338 Lapua Mag)

Sorry mate but you've posted a youtube link for the L96A1 mode AW (Infantry) sniper rifle. This has been in production and use for around 20 years and does NOT cost £23000 per weapon - Try reducing this by a factor of 4 and you're nearer the mark. The weapon the report is referring to is the L115A3 long range rifle. It is a significant upgrade of the current L115A1 in current use.

It is 8.59mm (.338 LM) with an effective range in excess of any 7.62mm weapon system with very little increase in weight (about 300g) or size (about 6 inches). It is fitted with a 5-25X56 roll-on roll-off scope as standard (but can be fitted with the majority of scope options available) and each weapon comes supplied with a sound suppressor.

It is fully adjustable to each individual firer by way of adjustable stock length and cheek piece. The stock can also be folded to ease storage or transport by foot in a drag bag, yet is rock solid when extended with no loss of zero.

DESA factsheet




[edit on 8-3-2008 by PaddyInf]

Damnnn.
That is one nice rifle.
Good luck getting away from that...

Damnnn.
That is one nice rifle.
Good luck getting away from that...

It's nice to see the MoD spending money on something useful rather than upgrading their offices in Whitehall.

Looks like a very fearsome weapon, and the fact that we're reverting to this over airstrikes (which, despite having become much more accurate over the last few decades, still aren't seen as adequate) seems very interesting. A case of 'the old methods are the best', I think.

Originally posted by Ste2652 It's nice to see the MoD spending money on something useful rather than upgrading their offices in Whitehall.

Ah come on mate, be fair! They haven't wasted money on new offices. They've wasted it on DII[F].

Our computers keep having to be rebuilt electronically about 3 times a month. The fibre-optical/broadband links are tested to within a micron of their lives every week.

Nice sniper rifle though. About time poor guys like Paddy got some decent kit.

reply to post by Attari


i do not know how they hit the shooter using invisible shooter weapon system, please give a reply.

reply to post by PaddyInf


Paddy as a squaddy what do you reckon of the L96 vs its competitors (Steyr scout, barett .50 cal etc).

The only military gun ive fired was the L98A1. Horrible gun, prone to jamming. What made it worse is that they could easily have made it into an SA80, they just have to limit it to semi auto for cadet use.

reply to post by 44soulslayer[/url]

Heh Heh!

The L98A1 IS an SA80 as you call it. Only difference is the weapon has no gas plug or recoil rod assembly - hence cadets have to cock the weapon after each shot.

The weapons are not prone to jamming per se but as they are used so infrequently and kept in armouries most of the time, they are at the very best, badly cared for.

In my own county of Gloucestershire, the only time they got a propper cleaning or maintenance, was the annual PRE or whatever its called these days.

Providing cadets are taught to clean both the weapon and magazine correctly, I fail to see why there should be any stoppages. In my plts, I initiated a strict regime of weapon cleaning - as a matter of course.

Stoppages did occur, but this was due in no small part to some cadets being unable to cock the weapon.

fritz,

One thing i've allways wondered is that how often does an average brittish soldier clean his personal weapon? We cleaned ours every day when on field, before and after every firing exercise and twice a week even when the rifles stayed on rack in the barracks. And our rifles were RK-95s, AK decendats...

It looks nice for a military anti-personnel use, and I might have to equip one of my charactors with one in a future novel---but the political weapons of choice, as Benizir Butto found, are usually standing adjacent--as bodyguards.

Ah the problem is that the springs in the cocking lever usually wear out, or rather become less highly stressed because they are usued so erratically.

Thus when we used to cock the lever and release it, the springs wouldnt push the lever forward fast enough, resulting in a jam.

That said, my rifle only jammed twice in 5 years so i may just be exaggerating.

I never had an issue with the L-98 except maybe sometimes needing a forward assist or the cocking handle rail was sticky from lack of use, hence why I always teach my cadets to clean them and always forward assist...

Originally posted by 44soulslayer
reply to post by PaddyInf

 

Paddy as a squaddy what do you reckon of the L96 vs its competitors (Steyr scout, barett .50 cal etc).

Well you can't really compare the L96 to the two weapons you cite. The Scout is really a hunting/survival rifle, while the Barrett fires .50 rounds and is designed as an anti-material weapon (although it is often used for long range anti personnel work).

The L96 compares well to most 7.62 sniper rifles on the market. The AW currently in use is much more user friendly than the earlier PM model (which had a rather unpleasant and sticky bolt compared to the AW). For accuracy it prints 0.50 - 0.75 moa with service ammunition, i.e. green spot. For those that don't know, the British army don't use specially manufactured 7.62 sniper ammo. We use the first 500 rounds from the standard press. This means that they are as consistant as they can get, but are otherwise identical to the rounds used in machine guns etc. The fact that the L96 prints such groups with essentially service ammo is impressive.

The only real complaint about the L96 is the weight, but that is not a major point with he right training. Like most things you simply get used to it.

As for how often we clean our weapons (Northwolf), the answer is quite similar to yours. On ex and on tour we clean our weapons as often as possible, but at least once a day as part of our morning routine. They are cleaned prior to patrols and upon returning. When in camp we clean them once or twice per week as part of our equipment care regimen. The weapon is the reason you're out there, so it takes priority over all other kit care, including personal hygiene and feeding.

[edit on 26-3-2008 by PaddyInf]

reply to post by fritz


fibre-optical !!!!!!!
what is that. dont talk about things u dont understand. fibre cant be overtested!

Originally posted by fritz

Originally posted by Ste2652 It's nice to see the MoD spending money on something useful rather than upgrading their offices in Whitehall.

Ah come on mate, be fair! They haven't wasted money on new offices. They've wasted it on DII[F].

Our computers keep having to be rebuilt electronically about 3 times a month. The fibre-optical/broadband links are tested to within a micron of their lives every week.

Nice sniper rifle though. About time poor guys like Paddy got some decent kit.

MOD are a joke 3 years ago they purchased 180 executive office chairs at the price of £4500 each...
And the payments MOD people get for injuring a finger is beyond a joke. I wish i could get £250,000 for straining my thumb while typing.
What about the MOD paying for a soldier to get a sex change!!! The same soldier got around £200,000 for being sexually harrased.
Now lets look at the poor soldier who looses both his legs an arm and gets brain damage £175,000. This is sickening.

I doubt it's $45,207.49 for a rifle. That's a little steep. Some of the finest new match-grade civilian rifles today retail for $4000 max. The SL8 for example, retails for around $2500. Really all a rifle is, is a metal tube with a rotating metal tube at the end. Throw in some plastic/wood around it and you have yourself a rifle!

I think the Army's just asking for a boost in thier defence budget

Wrong rifle in that video.

That was a sennybridge shoot on the L96A1.

Your thinking I hope of the L115A3, now that does cost the bomb! (however, the L96A1 performed beyond expectations in Iraq with PWRR in CIMIC house seige).

The only trouble they had was that the rifle didn't have the 'legs' to reach the really juicy targets hanging back as fire controllers / morter fire spotters.

Hence the need for a bigger further reaching rifle.

My mistake, didn't read the 3rd post

The reason the L115A3 is going to cost so much is because it chambers a brand-new round (8.9mm). Factories, Mags, Spares, and of course, new guns will have to be built in order to ensure this weapon system's sucess.

Not to mention excellent Western European Craftsmanship