Set to be fielded in fiscal year 2023, the Mk22 Mod 0 Advanced Sniper Rifle incorporates the caliber agnostic 7x35 power Precision Day Optic and is fed from a 10-round detachable magazine. It will replace all legacy M40A6 and Mk13 Mod 7 rifles. (Marine Corps)

Marine snipers are about to trim their sniper rifle inventory by combining two in one with a new multibarrel weapon that will give shooters three caliber options and replace two existing rifles ? one of which jarheads have been carrying since Vietnam.

Marine Corps Systems Command ? all things gear for Marines ? announced Thursday that the Mk22 Mod 0 advanced sniper rifle has nearly completed testing as it approaches fielding in 2023.

It is a bolt action, precision rifle system. The system part is important. That designation includes a bipod, sound and muzzle flash suppressor and a caliber agnostic 7-by-35 power Precision day optic.

The rifle will replace both the Mk13 Mod 7 and the M40A6 sniper rifles currently in use.

The Army previously announced that it also would replace its M107 sniper rifle and M2010 enhanced sniper rifle with the Mk22 Mod 0.

The M40A6 is a heavily modified version of the original M40, which first fielded during the Vietnam War and fires a 7.62 mm round.

The A6 model began fielding in 2016. It is built by Winchester.


Marine Corps Sgt. Christophe Frazier, a scout sniper with Weapons and Training Battalion, fires the Mk22 Mod 0 Advanced Sniper Rifle during a testing and evaluation range aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, March 24, 2022. Slated to be fielded in fiscal year 2023, the Mk22 will replace all legacy M40A6 and Mk13 Mod 7 rifles in the Marine Corps. (Marine Corps)

The Mk13 Mod 7 was the M40 replacement the Corps selected in 2018; it fires the .300 Winchester Magnum round. Accuracy International/Remington Arms makes the Mk13 Mod 7. U.S. Special Operations Command fielded an earlier variant.

Barret Firearms Manufacturing produces the Mk22. The weapon alone weighs 15.2 pounds, according to the company website.

The Mk13 Mod 7 weighs 11.4 pounds. The M40A6 weighs approximately 16.5 pounds. Both use a five-round magazine.

The Mk22's effective firing range is 1,500 meters.

The M40A6 effective firing range is 800 meters. The Mk13 Mod 7 effective firing range is 1,300 meters.

All three rifles are bolt action.

The Mk22 Mod 0 is also called the MRAD, which stands for, “multirole adaptive design.”

That’s in part because Barrett makes civilian and versions of the weapon in 10 different calibers, ranging from 6.5 Creedmoor to .338 Lapua Magnum.

Barrett has provided .50-caliber sniper rifles to various military units for decades.

Initial fielding is slated for fiscal year 2023, which could mean as early as October.

The rifle uses a 10-round magazine. The caliber agnostic scope is another key distinction. This rifle will have four different barrel options, so a versatile scope is necessary.

Snipers can swap out either the .338 Norma Magnum, .300 Norma Magnum, 7.62mm and, for a limited time, the .300 Winchester Magnum.

That gives shooters ways to adapt shooting to specific mission sets that might require more distance or more punch to get through barriers or body armor.


A Marine Corps scout sniper fires the Mk22 Mod 0 Advanced Sniper Rifle during a testing and evaluation range aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, March 24, 2022. Slated to be fielded in fiscal year 2023, the Mk22 will replace all legacy M40A6 and Mk13 Mod 7 rifles in the Marine Corps. (Marine Corps)

“Instead of having to learn multiple weapon systems, we just have one,” said Staff Sgt. Cruz Nuanez, a scout sniper instructor with the Advanced Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry-East, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The 7-by-35 Precision day optic gives “greater magnification and observation capabilities” when compared with the current 5-by-25 optic, said Sgt. Christopher Frazier, marksmanship instructor with the Scout Sniper Instructor School and systems command liaison.

That improved optic gives snipers greater standoff and survivability.

They can “reach out and touch someone” from a good bit farther.

With those new accessors and capabilities comes more weight in the single package. But it technically reduces overall weight because shooters won’t have to carry an extra rifle, and all of the associated logistics and maintenance pieces.

Early issues will include four barrels, one for each caliber.

But the .300 Winchester Magnum barrel is a “one-time” issue, officials said. That’s to ease the shooting transition, since currently Marine snipers can choose from the 7.62 mm and the .300 Winchester Magnum in existing rifles.

“It’s definitely more efficient,” said Frazier. “Rather than putting one gun away and getting the next gun out, we can quickly change the barrels, and then we only have to carry ammunition and that extra barrel, not an entire extra gun and extra magazines.”

All three Marine scout sniper schools and Marine Corps Special Operations Command snipers assessed the entire package during evaluation periods, according to a press release.

“This event is a bit unusual for a program to do at this point,” said Nick Berger, project officer for the Mk22 program. “However, it is important for us to make sure the sniper community has what it needs to be successful, and the timing of this event allows us to identify issues before fielding and to correct as necessary.”

So far, according to the release, early feedback has been good.

“They are very user-friendly,” Nuanez explained. “It comes with all the tools you need and the tools are also user friendly. Taking the barrels off and putting them back on, as well as the bolt faces — there should be no issue.”

Though new snipers will get a better rifle out of the box, the course qualifications for the scout sniper community will remain the same, according to the press release.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/modern-day-marine/2022/05/11/marines-to-field-multibarrel-sniper-rifle-to-replace-two-existing-weapons/

MRAD's are fuckin awesome.

I'd rather have one over a 50.

I am disappointed in their use of he word multibarrell. I was expecting a Gatling sniper rifle, or at least side-by-side

Wouldn't interchangeable barrel sniper rifle be more accurate here?

Finally.

This

Me too. I'm getting old and only have so many boners left, don't make me waste one with deceptive descriptions.

It seem these are more like what we were expecting.

What in the ADHD riddled random threads of thought fucking brain drippings bullshit article was that?

Half way through it I was expecting the author to shout "scrotum licker" or "ball hair."

Goddamn random assed points bouncing all over fucking hell and back.

LOL

I can't remember the last time I read a new report that sounded like someone had passed high school journalism.

When
What
Why
How
Who.

And in complete sentences.  I'd get fired if I wrote an engineering report like these boners write news articles.

Thank you for putting into words what I was thinking.

Writer should toss a bum’s salad.

Yeah this.

When one barrel is not enough

Its just trickling down from JSOC

yup...

For me to notice or care it has to be really bad.   When you cause me severe WTF derp face and force me to jump back to a paragraph to say "wait what?"  

My cat's name is mittens...


God it is just terrible.

I wanted a drilling

Within a week one barrel will be lost, one eaten, and one will be pregnant.

Good for the USMC!  There are three USMC Scout-Sniper Schools?

Lemme guess.  San Diego, Quantico and Camp LeJune?

I was hoping for a double barrel rifle based on the title.

MRAD is bad ass and I really want one but they are priced out of reach for me. The premium for the folding stock blew my mind.

I wish them well. Getting it approved and in the system was quite the feat.

Seriously. My PSA AR 10 could fit the multi barrel sniper rifle description as laid out. Anyone have a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel I could borrow?

where's the "multi barrel" looks like interchangeable barrels?

Bolt guns rule for pure accuracy.

For a Gatling sniper rifle, do you mount a scope to each barrel?

I had a brain aneurysm the third time I read "7-by-35".

I see everyone is synced in the think here.  Gatling MK87 Mod0 Sniper Rifle for me Sir!  Thank you, SIR!!

This is the way I understand gyrenes!

MRAD seems like all that and a bag of chips.

The AI rifles with QC barrels return to zero pretty well.

Some are very repeatable. No reason to think these won't be. It's not a huge deal either way when the main reason they'll be switching barrels is to save some money by using cheaper ammo.

Glad I am not alone. I was like that's awfully small for a SNIPER rifle.

Damn  I've got to think of something to sell to the military

Article must have originally been written in crayon stubs and made my brain hurt.

Same

What’s that rail piece back on the left side of handguard meant to mount on these rifles?

Was that article written by a bot?

This only works if they actually procure the other barrels.  But if they actually do this, and simplify logistics and parts? It's what they, and the rest of the military, should've been doing for a long-assed time.

Unless I'm mistaken, it is shipped with all those barrels. Also one burns out, order/send it back for replacement/repair etc and use the other one(s) in the interim.

also appears 308 is mainly going to be used for training due to some range limitations on higher calibers.

Obviously needs to be in .300 FURY.

Why not 2 different .300 magnum loads? Close/medium and long range. Dial the POI difference in and send your love.



It's not like sniper ammo clogs the logistics chain. And the days of handing an M1D to Willie and Joe are long over.

Just seems a little overcomplicated, and they still don't have a CQB suitable weapon, like an auto could be pressed into.

Rifles cool

would have been a lot cooler if it had two barrels

The year is 2022.

The military is still not only using a belted magnum, but also ensuring the cross compatibility with .308.

And god wept.

How long until we see some 6.5 Creedmoor’s popping up. When it’s just a barrel switch away I bet we see some in the mix.

Field swappable barrels is going to be the new standard, same for semi autos. In reality it’s pretty straightforward and works quite well.

Install barrel and mount scope, go zero like you would for any other new rifle -> remove barrel, install different cartridge barrel, go zero like you would for any other rifle -> write down difference -> swap back and forth as much as you want.

That’s going to end well.

While I don’t care for belted magnums the use of 308 for training makes a lot of sense.

That’s how it works for the large number of western units fielding rifles with that capability. Well.

It is not a “new multibarrel weapon.”

It is a rifle that can be readily converted to fire different cartridges.

A “multibarrel weapon” is an M-134D.

A “new multibarrel weapon” would be too heavy to be useful to a ground pounder.

Love mine have the 300wm and 308 barrels and as soon as they are in stock i will add the 300 norma and the 338 norma barrel changes take like 2 minutes and they dont lose zero when you put the barrel back on