Reaching out and touching someone

After dealing with the issue of fire support, the next item was long range precision fire- or a sniper rifle as most people would call it.

As I reviewed the matter and considered how a team might operate I realized that what I wanted wasn't actually the classic sniper and his rifle, but instead what is called a Designated Marksman.

As a member of a Project Team, their role would be to support the maneuver of that team. This is a different role than that of the classic 'lone wolf' (or pair of wolves as the case may be) sniper team. And it calls for different weapons and training as the ability to deliver rapid fire is a major concern.

Once I settle that question, the next was the desired chambering. I could stick with the same 6.8mm SPC that I selected for the main Assault Rifle, adding a scope, longer barrel and other improvements over the base rifle. The advantage of common cartridge should be clear. However that round isn't well suited for long range (up to 800 m) use.

Changing it would improve the proformance of the weapon at the cost of a different ammo type. Here I had two choices: the 6.5mm Grendel and the tried and true 7.62mm Nato. The latter became a clear choice given that I had already selected it for the M240E6 Machinegun. I might not have a common cartridge with the assault rifles- but I'd have a common cartridge with my team fire support.

That just left the rifle itself, and the HK 417 with 20" barrel was the natural choice given my previous selection of the HK 416 as the standard rifle. Common design would make things easier for the users in the field.