Marine Corps – Guns Holsters And Gear

Marines: Hey Lets Train with Our Actual Weapons!

The US Marine Corps has decided to train as it fights. Â At weapon qualifications, Marines will be allowed to use the weapons and approved optics they carry into battle.

“The intent is to ensure Marines train with the weapon system with which they will fight, â€ wroteÂ Lt. Gen. Richard Mills in an administrative message.

Not being a Marine, I didn’t realize this, but it seems that firearms qualification scores are part of how promotions are calculated. Â Therefore, in an effort to ensure “fairness” in the promotional process, it appears the Marines have not allowed their personnel to qualify with what they carry.

For example, the free-floated barrel on the Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR) could provide an accuracy advantage to the shooter as compared to a Marine shooting a standard M16 or M4, and therefore could have been removed from qualifications to promote the concept of fairness.

Heym SR21: Marine Corps Is Looking for a Few Good Rifles

The Marine Corps announced in August they are looking for a sniper rifle chambered in .300 Win Mag. One of the rifles the Corps may be looking at is the Heym USA’s SR21 sniper rifle.

Heym is known for high end double guns, both rifles and shotguns. Peruse the Heym website and you will see many photos of dangerous game taken by their customers in Africa. Interested in buying one of their guns? MSRP is “contact us.” I’m thinking that might be a touch out of my price range. In fact, I would get in trouble with my wife if she knew I was even looking at their guns.

Heym’s standard SR21 can be seen on the Heym site. The Marine Corps has the sniper version for T&E. I’ve seen the standard SR21 in .300 Win Mag sell around $4000.

So why does the Marine Corps want a .300 Win Mag rifle? The Corps wants to engage targets beyond 800 yards. The problem? Many of their snipers do not have the skills to reliably hit targets at 800 yards.