Ft. Benning International Sniper Competition

General General Discussion
1

Well, I showed up a day early for my deployment and got to see the end of the sniper competition yesterday. Congratulations to all of the teams that competed. There was a nice sponsor’s tent and I thought that you guys might like a brief range report. Sorry, no pics since I do not have my camera on this deployment.

  1. Schmidt & Binder:
    I got to fondle the 1-8X. It is great glass with an easily visible red dot in the bright Columbus sun. It is a much small package than a MK 8 that was mounted on a SR25 EMC in the KAC booth. However, i much prefer the MK8 locking windage/elevation adjustments. The reticle on the S&B was very faint at 1-3X, but very usable at the higher magnifications. Supposedly, there will be other reticles available including the P3 down the road. The “booth bunny” told me that govt and agency orders are shipping this month. Civilian orders will ship in Jan/Feb.

  2. KAC:
    I got to shoulder a SR25 EMC next to a M110. Even with a FMNVS in front of a Leupy MK8, the EMC felt much better. This is THE .308 weapon system that I would want take into harm’s way.

  3. Remington vs Desert Tactical Arms
    The Remington MSR was on full display. Overall, very nice system. However, I was more impressed with the DTA booth. Now, I own a few high end Remington short action builds and a DTA SRS, so I need to give that disclaimer. Having said that, the DTA covert and HTI were very impressive. The covert gives you a suppressed .308 with a 16" barrel in a similar size as a MP5. The HTI brake made it the softest shooting large bore that I’ve ever felt.

  4. Nightforce
    They were pushing their pending F1 5.5-22X. I specifically asked about a 1-8X, but the rep denied any such scope in the near future. Apparently, they want to see how their 2.5-10X does against the competition’s 1-8X offerings. Personally, I’d rather they improve on the daylight illumination in their 1-4X before taking on the 1-8X market.

Well that’s all for now. Sorry again that I did not have a camera.

2

Thanks for the report…the only bolt on my list is a DTA, and if I could find one local I might just have one sooner rather than later. The EMC and MWS are the only .308 semi’s I would personally want to own. NF is kicking back watching the 1-8x circus, it’s not like them to ever hype their latest and greatest until it’s actually ready…weird I know:)

Wish I could have been there for damn sure, awesome stuff described above for sure!

eta…thanks for your service on your future deployment, stay safe.

3

The other piece of news that I forgot to mention is that DTA has their own line of ammo called Desert Tactical Munitions. According to the brochure, they offer match loads in .308, .300WM, .338LM, and .50BMG. It did not list prices, but no one buys a .338LM looking to save money. I currently get 1 MOA with 250 grain Hornady BTHP and 0.75 MOA with 300 grain Lapua Scenars (expected with my abilities, factory ammo, Nightforce 5.5-22X, and a 1:10 twist barrel). However, this new ammo is advertising groups just under 0.5 MOA - something that I can only do off a bench on the best of days.

Also, David Liwanag (VP Military Sales) told me that they plan to incorporate the cheek raiser from the new HTI on the SRS. For those of us who bought the older chassie without a monopod, we can send it back to factory for a retrofit of this accessories. Again, no mention of price, just that it was doable.