LAS VEGAS — The company that made its name building .50-caliber long-range sniper rifles for the U.S. military has a smaller, but just as formidable, sniper rifle that recently won a defense contract.
Joel Miller, director of global military sales for Barrett Firearms, talked with Military Times at this year’s Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show here about both weapon systems and some changes to a venerable long-distance shooting platform.
Miller said that the MRAD contract for the Department of Defense, which is for an undisclosed number of rifles in .300 PRC, emerged from work on other government programs — the Precision Sniper Rifle and, later, the Advanced Sniper Rifle programs.
The ASR program asked industry to give the military a bolt-action sniper rifle that could be chambered in .338 Norma Magnum, .300 NM and 7.62mm NATO, with a platform for engagements beyond 1,500 meters.
by Todd South