The U.S. Army established a need to standardize a sniper rifle in 7.62x51mm NATO caliber, the model being the M24.
The Druganov is OK, but what America has developed can leave the Druganov in the dust! Currently, the US military has three versions of sniper rifle in inventory: The US Army's M21, The US Army's M24, and the USMC's M40.

The M21 is a sniperized M14, that is equipped with an ART scope and can be mounted with a silencer, and is chambered for the .308 Winchester (7.62 NATO) round.

The M24 is a switch barreled Remington 700. It is a long action bolt action that comes with two armorer switched barrels ... one in .300 Win Mag and one in .308 Winchester (7.62 NATO). Most often, you will find it with the .308 barrel.

The M40 is the Marine's modification of the Remington 700 Varmint rifle in .308 Winchester (7.62 NATO). Generally, it is mated to a 10 power scope ... either by Unertl or Leupold.

All three rifles are limited by the ability of the rifleman and the environmental conditions. A rifleman can only shoot what he sees. A human target at 1000 yards literally looks like an ant! The .308 can be counted on to drop a target to about 1200 yards, ballistic-ally speaking.

The M21 can technically fire more rounds per minute (20 round mag versus 5 shot mag in the bolt guns) than the bolt action rifles. However, at distance, recovery time and target acquisition ... it would be a draw between the M21 and the M24 or M40.

While I have shot all three ... and I compete with an M14 and a Rem 700 Varmint Special, the bolt action M700 is less temperamental and more reliable than the M14. So, I feel the M24 or the M40 would be the better sniper rifle.


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