British Sniper pictures

[Peter Laidler]

That's right splicenut. That's because these slings, left over from the 1st war after languishing in Ordnance stores at Didcot were resurrected for use with and issued for sniper rifles. Mind you, they weren'y as popular as webbing slings because once they were damp, they got slippery. The webbing rifle sling was too short to use in the leather sling way. But salvation was to come in the form of the longer Bren gun webbing sling. And you'll see this on some of the other earlier pictures

[Bruce_in_Oz]

A certain Australian infantry battalion used to have an XM-21 kit in their sticky paws. It was a the real deal, complete with the hand-engraved markings, Sionics muffler, and the Leatherwood optics.

When I last saw it about eight years ago, it was a goer. Nobody in the unit knew anything of its history, or even what it was. I got strange looks because I knew exactly what it was.

It has probably been "rendered innocuous" by now; can't have the troopies playing with "foreign" toys can we!

[trooper554877]

A certain Australian infantry battalion used to have an XM-21 kit in their sticky paws. It was a the real deal, complete with the hand-engraved markings, Sionics muffler, and the Leatherwood optics.

When I last saw it about eight years ago, it was a goer. Nobody in the unit knew anything of its history, or even what it was. I got strange looks because I knew exactly what it was.


It has probably been "rendered innocuous" by now; can't have the troopies playing with "foreign" toys can we!

And what where you doing sniffing around that certain battalion bruce???!!!!
I know of one other and belonged to ?????
Still a firer.
Cheers
Ned

[Peter Laidler]

Phew............ now we've got away from the fishing trip, can I ask whether the XM-21 was/is the sniper version of the M-14 I saw with 8 RAR and mentioned earlier

[trooper554877]

Phew............ now we've got away from the fishing trip, can I ask whether the XM-21 was/is the sniper version of the M-14 I saw with 8 RAR and mentioned earlier

LOL
Probably
At least we can eat our fish fresh, you have have to pickle it or something and then give it a silly name like kippers or something!!!
Cheers
Ned

[Brian Dick]

The M21 is the M14 National Match rifle, (glass bedded and accurized/tuned), converted to a sniping role with the addition of the Leatherwood ARTI and later ARTII telescopes. I had six with the ARTII scopes in my care as a young Armorer at Fort Bragg, NC in the 80's. The M24, (Remington 700), was just in experimental stages at the time and issued a few years after I left the Army. The later ARTII telescope left much to be desired and wouldn't retain zero. However, the snipers candidates that went on course at Fort Bragg seemed to like them just the same. Maybe Longbow would care to comment??

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Trooper,

"Sniffing"?

I was there "on loan" for a bit of work.

[longebow]

Yes, the M21 was the M14 NM with a telescope. The history of the M21 can be found in several sources, but an excellent one is: US Rifle M14 - From John Garand to the M21. The US Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) were the pioneers in refining the M14 into the National Match rifle, which had many modifications done to enhance accuracy. The earlier XM-21s used James Leatherwood's ART-1 (automatic ranging telescope) which had a Redfield 3-9x scope that had a reticle (first focal plane) that when the stadia lines subtended 30 inches (belt line to top of the head), you would just use point of aim, point of impact. The ART-1 had a ballistic cam on it designed for the M118 ammunition (175 FMJBT at 2610 fps at the muzzle), and with the ranging system, you could shoot from 300 to 900 meters. As one rotated the cam, it would raise the rear end of the scope, compensating for the bullet's trajectory. Believe it or not, head shots at 300 were possible at 3x, but hits at 900 meters were doable, just more challenging. The "new and improved" ART-II used the similar cam concept, but introduced a system (looked like a poker chip) allowing the shooter to disengage the power ring from the cam ring. That way, one could increase the magnification, but for closer ranges. Also, another difference: the ART-II used the thicker "duplex" horizontal crosshairs to subtend 1 meter (39 inches/ from the crotch to the top of the head). When I went through the 101st's sniper school in the late 80's, my company M21/ART-1 performed like a champ. The Soldiers with the ART-II had to reconfirm zeros every time they dismounted the scopes from the rifle.

A link to the book above: Collector Grade Publications - Bookshelf #4 - Gun Books - FAL Rifle, US Rifle M14, Black Rifle M16

Hope this helps.

Longebow

[Surpmil]

Notice the screw in the forend as done by a British Armourer!

Quite! Not to mention the Long Branch convex middle band, and missing sunshade on the ocular end of the scope. And of course the very nice fresh coat of black paint with no brass showing, in marked contrast to the originals above. Note also the careful way the sling is tucked under the rifle to protect it from that nasty piece of granite, as though a soldier would bother - well, one in a hundred maybe! (And the wrong sling to boot)

The point that stands out from most of the genuine looking photos, as opposed to staged in the rear areas, is the almost complete lack of camouflage. Most of these "snipers" were probably little more than platoon or company marksmen in fact, rather than the kind of free agents operating in their own autonomous section under a battalion sniping officer that were usual in WWI, AFAWK.

[trooper554877]

Trooper,

"Sniffing"?

I was there "on loan" for a bit of work.

Bruce
"on loan"?
sniffing- having a look around, having a bopeep.
Ned