Category Archives: sniper

What in the scrim…

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It happened some 85 years ago this week.

Two Lovat Scouts pictured in sniper camouflage, Bisley, Surrey, 9 July 1940. Note that the first man is clad in what looks like a soccer net while his buddy wears a tarp or poncho that has been painted, while both sport the Great War classic Mk III* SMLE rifle.

Official period caption: “Two effective types of camouflage. The British Army have the Scouts trained to hunt down snipers. Here are Lovat Scouts camouflaged, demonstrating during Army maneuvers. (Censored: For Records Only, Not Release).”

Photo by Captain Len A. Puttnam, War Office official photographer. IWM H 2145

Originally recruited from the gamekeepers on Lord Lovat’s estates, these men were already very capable individuals able to hike, climb, hunt, and make themselves at home in sub-zero temperatures while soaking wet, with all of them being expert shots. Men who mastered field craft at a young age and are often credited as “militarizing” the ghillie suit, a simple Scottish hunting scrim that has since then gone well Gucci.

The Scouts proved adept in training the “Stay Behind” units of the Home Guard, which would serve in an insurgent role should the Germans come post-Dunkirk.

Of note, the British Army introduced a 70×30-inch hank of camouflage scrim net to individuals, commonly known as a face veil or scrim scarf, in 1942, and it was a favorite piece of kit for more than half a century.

William Ewart Fairbairn shown with the issue face veil scarf, Denison smock, Fairbairn-Sykes dagger, toggle rope, and other late-war essential commando kit

NSWC MK13 Mod 3 sniper rifle in the wild

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CMP has a rare and very legit NSWC MK13 Mod 3 sniper rifle up for grabs at auction. The heavily modded AICS platform built on a Remington 700 Long Action in .300 Win Mag has a Harris Ultralight bipod and McCann scope mount but sadly, no glass. Of course, it wears a five-color desert camo all over, and the images are sure to be of interest for cloners.

It was a workhorse among Navy SEAL snipers in Afghanistan and Iraq back in the GWOT. Coupled with Mark 248 and Mark 248 Mod 1 ammo, it was credited with some very long shots.

The auction ends 5/3/2025, and proceeds go towards the CMP’s mission of promoting marksmanship, primarily to America’s youth.

Looking for an Iraq-used DARPA XM3?

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Just listed on CMP’s auction site, an Iron Brigade Armory DARPA XM3 sniper rifle with scope, was issued to Marine units in Iraq, where it logged 127 rounds. 

Deets:

Serial Number: S6544479
Receiver: Remington 700 Short Action
Caliber: .308
Bolt: Large Ball, Last 4 of SN on the bolt handle
Scope: Nightforce NXS 3.5-15×50, SN: Q04935 noticeably clear and crisp
Rings: Nightforce
Receiver mount: Iron Brigade Armory, Last 4 of SN stamped on the bottom
Markings & Other information:

Iron Brigade Armory assembled DARPA XM3 Sniper Rifle system in STORMCASE iM3200 case.

• The entire rifle is painted camouflage.

• Barrel is clean and well maintained. The last 4 of SN are stamped on the left side.

• USMC Weapon Record Book (part 2) which indicates 127 rounds fired in Iraq with an estimated 700 total rounds fired. The record book has a mistake in the listed SN leaving out one of the 4s.

• Rifle case also includes:
• J. Dewey cleaning rod
• serialized tool case w/ basic hand tools and a torque wrench.

This rifle has not been test-fired or worked in any way by CMP personnel and is in As-received condition. It is sold AS IS with no warranty expressed or implied.

The auction runs 12 days, starting 17 February, and, like all CMP rifle sales, goes to help support the program’s youth marksmanship training missions.

Warwickshire Cuckoos

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Some 85 years ago this week, the regulars of 2 Battalion, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, part of the 2nd Infantry Division, British Expeditionary Force, drill in their snow-covered trench near Rumegies, Northern France on 22 January 1940 during the eight-month “Phoney War” or “Sitzkrieg” period between the fall of Poland and the invasion of France.

Note the Great War-era “tin plate” Mk. I Brodie helmets and Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield Rifle No.1 Mk IIIs, items very familiar to the trench life in France.

Photo by Leslie Buxton Davies and Stanley Hedley Kessell, War Office official photographers, IWM F 2212.

And seen the same day in platoon formation in the snow, complete with Bren guns, gas mask chest bags, and at least a few men wearing sleeveless leather jerkins, another Great War throwback:

Drink in that Pattern 37 kit. Men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment on parade in the snow at Rumegies, 22 January 1940. Photo by Leslie Buxton Davies and Stanley Hedley Kessell, War Office official photographers, F 2207.

And how about this gem, taken the same place and date:

2nd Battalion, the Warwickshire Regiment sniper in a tree taking aim with his rifle. 22nd January 1940.

The above lads saw much action in May 1940, with several of their men massacred at Wormhoudt after being captured by the Waffen SS, but managed to evacuate at Dunkirk, sans anything that couldn’t be carried while swimming. Dedicated to the defense of England until the time was right, they came back to France with lots of friends in June 1944 and fought across Belgium and Holland to Germany.

Raised in 1673 as an ad-hoc force and made official in 1685 as the 6th Regiment of Foot, the Warwickshires were reliable campaigners and earned no less than 15 honors ranging from Namur to Niagara and Corunna to Khartoum before picking up another ~70 during the Great War, the latter so high due to the fact that they had raised 31 battalions for the fight against the Kaiser.

Recruiting poster, 5th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, c1905, via NAM

In WWII service, the Warwickshires still managed to raise 11 battalions and earned 16 honors (Defence of Escaut, Wormhoudt, Ypres-Comines Canal, Normandy Landing, Caen, Bourguébus Ridge, Mont Pincon, Falaise, Venraij, Rhineland, Lingen, Brinkum, Bremen, North-West Europe 1940 ’44–45, Burma 1945).

Post-war, they were amalgamated several times until the traditions of the unit were handed down to the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in 1968, with their current RHQ in the Tower of London.

Today they field an active duty armored infantry battalion (1st) equipped with Warriors while a TA unit, (5th bn) is equipped as light infantry.

Cold Canuks

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80 years ago today. Infantrymen of the French-Canadian Régiment de la Chaudière, who are wearing British winter camouflage clothing, on patrol, Bergendal, Netherlands, 24 January 1945. This is either a training course or a unit’s sniper section. The rifles are No.4 Mk.I (T) or No.4 Mk.I* (T). Equipped with No. 32 scopes.

(L-R): Sergeants R.A. Wilkinson and René Letendre, Lieutenant Pierre-Paul Elie, Corporal W. Arsenault and Private Jean-Paul Drouin. Department of National Defence. Library and Archives Canada, PA-137987 by Lieut. Barney J. Gloster

Formed as a reserve unit in 1869, the regiment sailed for Britain in July 1941 and garrisoned the islands until landed on Juno Beach at Bernières-sur-Mer, France, on D-Day, 6 June 1944, from HMCS Prince David and fought their way across Northwest Europe over the next 10 months as part of the 8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.

Private Jack Roy of Le Régiment de la Chaudière preparing to disembark from HMCS Prince David off Bernières-sur-Mer, France, 6 June 1944. Note the No. 38 field wireless set across his chest, E-tool slung over his shoulder, helmet skrim, and wrapped Enfield. PD-371 LAC 3396561

An unidentified infantryman of Le Régiment de la Chaudière, 8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, preparing to disembark from HMCS Prince David off the Normandy beachhead, France, 6 June 1944. Note that his Enfield is in a protective plastic bag. PD-360. LAC 3202207

They earned 19 battle honors for their time in Europe.

Still on the Canadian rolls, as a reserve unit, they are garrisoned in Levis, Quebec.

Help the Sniper Monuments!

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Both the Army’s USAMU program and the Marines’ (recently retired) Scout Sniper program seek to have memorials produced.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is holding a special auction of a highly collectible SA M1D Garand sniper rifle (SN 3112737), including all original GI parts such as the original MRT 2-52 leather cheek pad, T37 five-prong flash hider, and correct M84 scope (13712).

The rifle will be available on CMP’s Online Auction site beginning Nov. 18, with bids accepted until Nov. 30, to raise funds toward a U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) Exhibit at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia “in the hopes of contributing to the preservation and legacy of U.S. military marksmanship programs and ensuring future generations learn the significance these units have played in national defense and marksmanship excellence.”

Marine Scout Sniper Monument

The Marine Scout Sniper War Memorial is a planned monument in the Semper Fidelis Memorial Park at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia that will honor the legacy of Marine Scout Snipers.

The memorial will feature a bronze World War I observer with a Brodie helmet and a slung M1903 rifle, assisting a more modern Marine sniper with an M40A6 rifle.

The USMC Scout Sniper Heritage Foundation is raising the cash needed to build the memorial. One way is by selling raffle tickets for an authentic Marine M40 sniper rifle used in the Vietnam War, complete with an original “Greenie” Redfield scope.

It seems to be a tack driver.

Of Banned Shooting Positions and Great Rifles

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Some 80 years ago today, in recently liberated Holland. “A sniper demonstrates the superior ‘Hawkins’ prone firing position (right) next to another in the standard position, at the 21st Army Group sniping school near Eindhoven, 15 October 1944.”

As detailed by the photo card in the Imperial War Museum penned by Sgt. Carpenter, No. 5 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit, who took the image: “The Hawkins position was barred at Bisley after the originator won all the prizes using it. It is NOT barred in warfare!”

IWM (B 10972)

In the above, note the snipers’ tam o’ shanters or “tammies” complete with the badge of the 5th Battalion, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, while their rifles are scoped Lee Enfield Number 4 Mark 1(T)s with the “T” for Telescope.

As noted by CaptainStevens, some 24,708 No.4 (T)s of all kinds were produced for the Commonwealth forces during the war, with most being BSA-made guns converted by Holland and Holland and subsequently fitted with the No. 32 MK I Scope and Mount from late 1942 well into 1946, a superb weapon that was later developed into the L42A1 sniper rifles that remained in service until 1992!

An excellent example of a late-WWII British Enfield No.4 Mk I (T) sniper rifle fitted with the correct and matching No 32 MKIII scope Via RIA https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/70/2559/world-war-ii-british-no-4-mki-t-enfield-sniper-rifle#detail

Before the No. 4 (T)s creation, a variety of WWI sniper rifles were in use. These included:

  • Ross MK. III sniper rifle with Model of 1913 Warner & Swasey Musket Sight (sniper scope) or Winchester A5 scope for Canada
  • Pattern 1914 Mk. I W (F) [renamed in 1926 No. 3 MK. I (F)] with “Fine” iron sight
  • Pattern 1914 Mk. I* W (F) [renamed in 1926 No. 3 MK. I* (F)] with “Fine” iron sight
  • Pattern 1914 Mk. I* W (T) [renamed in 1926 No. 3 Mk. I* (T)] with Model 1918 scope
  • No. 3 Mk. I* (T) A with Aldis scope. 421 were converted by Alex. Martin in Glasgow

As for the Hawkins position, it is still banned at Bisley except for the McQueen C (classic) match, which, appropriately, is restricted to pre-1945 sniper rifles– sans optics, of course.

Chuck has hung up his rifle for the final time

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Marine Sgt. Charles “Chuck” Mawhinney in Vietnam, left, and in 2013 while at Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, California. (Photos: USMC)

Charles Benjamin “Chuck” Mawhinney was born in Lakeview, Oregon in February 1949, and, the son of a Marine Corps WWII vet, volunteered for service in October 1967 during the height of the Vietnam War. Assigned as a rifleman in the 5th Marine Regiment in Vietnam, he was later reassigned to the regiment’s scout sniper section and, in 16 months while working with not only his Regiment but also in support of ROK Marines and U.S. Army units, was credited with 103 confirmed NVA-VC kills and 216 “probable.”

This left him with the legacy of being the most successful sniper in the service’s history. 

After rotating back CONUS and serving as a marksmanship instructor at Camp Pendleton, Mawhinney left the Corps in 1970 as a sergeant and returned home to Oregon. There, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service until he retired in the 1990s.

Mawhinney, as reported by local media in Oregon, passed in Baker City on Feb. 12, aged 74.

Ironically, Mawhinney outlived the scout sniper program he was associated with, as Marine Corps brass recently moved to terminate the program, seen as unneeded in an age of drones.

Geissele Wins $29 Million SOCOM Sniper Rifle Contract

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Pennsylvania’s Geissele Automatics last week picked up a fat contract from the U.S. Special Operations Command. 

The 10-year award has a maximum ceiling of $29,263,029 for what SOCOM describes as “a new sniper support weapon, designated marksman, rifle taking advantage of advances in ammunition and weapons technology to improve the intermediate range sniper rifle lethality, reliability and performance when suppressed during 50-1,500-meter engagements.”

The background on the award is part of the MRGG-S, or Mid-Range Gas Gun (Sniper) program (“Margie-Es”), which would be used primarily by the Naval Special Warfare community. The fortune cookie version of the MRGG-S requirements was a full-time suppressed 6.5 Creedmoor rifle with a 20-inch barrel, MOA accuracy, fully adjustable stock, and strict weight/dimensional requirements. Other requirements included a low-backpressure suppressor and the ability for the user to quickly swap out the 6.5CM barrel to one chambered in .7.62 NATO in under five minutes.

First kicked off in 2019, MRGG-S has seen most of the big names in precision military rifles submit variants for consideration, including FN and LMT. 

At the end of the day, however, it seems Geissele has gotten the nod for the new frogman sniper rifle. 

This thing, seen largely as the replacement for the FN SCAR 20 in use by SOCOM

More in my column at Guns.com.

Sako becoming the Sniper Platform of Choice in the Baltic

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The Estonian Defense Forces announced that a combined submission by Sako and Steiner has won a toughly fought tender to become the Baltic country’s new sniper rifle.

The new 40 million euro seven-year contract, made public in late April, covers the delivery of the modular Sako TRG M10 sniper rifle in .338 Lapua with a Steiner M5Xi 5-25×56 precision scope using an MSR-2 reticle. Also included are thermal imaging attachments and suppressors for the rifles.

The modular TRG M10 is a bolt-action magazine-fed rifle that is capable of caliber swapping on the fly via barrel/bolt/mag changes, swapping between .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6x70mm in European parlance), 7.62 NATO, and .300 Win Mag. All the tools needed to swap between calibers are stored in compartments in the bolt knob and forend. (Photo: Sako)

A similar package was already chosen by the Finnish military as part of a joint development project, with the Steiner M7Xi 2.9-20×50 and Sako’s M23 as the rifle system. Likewise, the Swedish military has entered into a joint agreement to field the same platform. 

More in my column at Guns.com

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