Remington MSR

The Modular Sniper Rifle, or MSR, is a bolt-action sniper rifle recently developed and produced by Remington Arms for the United States Army. It was introduced in 2009, and was designed to meet specific United States Army and USSOCOM Precision Sniper Rifle requirements.^[2] The MSR won the PSR competition, and is called the Remington Mk 21 Precision Sniper Rifle in U.S. military service.^[3][4]

History

On 7 March 2013, MSR was declared the winner of the Precision Sniper Rifle competition. Remington announced that the MSR had won on March 8, and it was publicly confirmed on March 9. This was followed by a $79.7 million contract for 5,150 rifles with suppressors, along with 4,696,800 rounds of ammunition to be supplied over the next ten years.^[5][6] The contract was awarded on 12 September 2013. Remington Defense produces the sniper rifles and utilizes two other companies for other system components, with Barnes Bullets for ammunition and Advanced Armament Corporation for muzzle brakes and suppressors; all three companies are subsidiaries of Freedom Group Incorporated.^[7]

By 2015, the U.S. Army was considering the PSR to replace both the .300 Winchester Magnum M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle and the .50 BMG M107 Long Range Sniper Rifle for regular snipers, although no decision has been made.^[8] The U.S. Marine Corps was also considering the Mk 21 to replace their M40A5 sniper rifle,^[9] but is unlikely to adopt the Mk 21 due to the higher cost of the system, particularly the ammunition, as compared to the 7.62mm NATO M40A5.^[10]

Design

The Remington MSR is a manually operated bolt-action weapon with a rotary locking bolt. To facilitate caliber change, the bolt is equipped with removable bolt heads, with bolt faces matched for appropriate calibers. Bolt heads have three radial locking lugs. The MSR rifle is built upon an aluminum alloy "chassis", which hosts a compact receiver, adjustable trigger unit, pistol grip, and fully adjustable side-folding buttstock. The quick-change barrels are free-floated inside the tubular handguard which is provided with a number of user-installable Picatinny type accessory rails. The top of receiver also is fitted with monolithic Picatinny rail used to install sighting equipment (telescope sights or night vision sights). Additional equipment includes detachable folding bipod, and a quick-detachable suppressor which installs over the specially designed muzzle brake.

The model that won the PSR competition is a modified version of the original MSR. It can be chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .338 Lapua Magnum. It is reported to have 0.7 MOA average accuracy at 1,000 m (1,094 yd) with both Barnes and ATK 300 gr (19.4 g) .338 Lapua Magnum ammunition.^[5]

Changes to the PSR version include:^[5]

• Reinforced AAC muzzle brake for Titan QD suppressor^[11]
• Chromoly steel .338 barrel with 1:9.5 twist, 5R rifling, and Melonite (ferritic nitrocarburized) finish
• One piece handguard with 20 MOA top rail
• Barrel nut accessible without removing the handguard
• X-treme trigger
• Light weight, removable buttstock with throw lever adjustments instead of ratcheting adjustments

On 14 August 2014, the Army announced it was seeking sources to produce .338 Lapua armor-piercing (AP) ammunition for use in the Mk 21 PSR to effectively engage targets out to 1,500 m (1,640 yd). The main objective is for the rifle to defeat level IV body armor at 400 meters, whether suppressed or unsuppressed, in temperature ranges of −65 to 160 °F (−54 to 71 °C). Other minimum requirements include a projectile velocity of 1,340 ft/s (410 m/s) or more at 1,250 m (1,367 yd), 1,000 ft·lb (1,356 J) of kinetic energy at 1,500 m (1,640 yd), and the ability to defeat both ³⁄₈ in (9.5 mm) of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) and ¹⁄₂ in (12.7 mm) of cast iron at 800 m (875 yd).^[4]

Users

•  United States: USSOCOM, winner of the Precision Sniper Rifle competition.^[5]
•  Colombia: Colombian Special Forces.^[12]
•  Brazil: Brazilian Special Operations Command.^[13]
•  Israel: "Metzada" take-over unit of the Israel Prison Service.

See also

• Precision Sniper Rifle

References

Remington Firearms and Cartridges
Rifles	Bolt-action JuniorTarget 521TL Remington-Keene rifle M1903 Springfield rifle Pattern 1914 Enfield M1917 Enfield Model 5 Model 6 Model 7 Model 30 Model 34 M40 Model 341 Model 504 Model 511 Model 512 Model 513 Model 521 Model 580 Model 581 Model 582 Model 600 Model 660 Model 673 Model 700 Model 710 Model 720 Model 721 Model 722 Model 725 Model 770 Model 788 Model 798 Model 799 M24 Sniper Weapon System M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle Modular Sniper Rifle Pump-action Model Six Model 14 Model 121 Model 141 Model 572 Model 572 Fieldmaster Model 760 Model 7600 Model 7615 Semi-automatic Nylon 66 Model Four Model 8 Model 24 Model 241 Model 522 Model 552 Model 597 Model 740 Model 742 Model 7400 Model 750 R5 Remington Gas System Model R-15 Model R-25 RSASS Automatic Adaptive Combat Rifle Single shot Rolling Block
Shotguns	Pump-action Model 10 and 29 Model 17 Model 31 Model 870 Model 887 Semi-automatic Model 11 Model 11-48 Model 58 Model 878 Model 1100 Model 11-87 Model SP-10 SPR 453 Break-action SPR 100 SPR 310
Handguns	Semi-automatic 1911 R1 Model 51 R51 RM380 Revolver Model 1858 Model 1875 Model 1890 Derringer Model 95 Rider Single Shot Pistol Zig-Zag Derringer Other XP-100
Cartridges	.17 Remington Fireball .17 Remington 5mm Remington Magnum Rimfire .22 BR .22 Remington Jet .221 Remington Fireball .222 Remington .222 Remington Magnum .223 Remington .22-250 Remington 6mm BR 6mm Remington .25 Remington .257 Roberts .25-06 Remington .260 Remington 6.5mm Remington Magnum 7mm BR Remington 7mm-08 Remington .280 Remington 7mm Remington Magnum 7mm Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum .30 Remington .30 Remington AR .300 Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum .300 Remington Ultra Magnum .32 Remington 8mm Remington Magnum .338 Remington Ultra Magnum 7 mm Remington Ultra Magnum .35 Remington .35 Whelen .350 Remington Magnum .375 Remington Ultra Magnum .416 Remington Magnum .44 Remington Magnum