Back in 2023, we covered the story of Geissele Automatics winning the $23 million SOCOM MRGG-S (Mid-Range Gas Gun, Sniper) award for a full-time suppressed 6.5 Creedmoor rifle with a 20-inch barrel, MOA accuracy, and a fully adjustable stock.
This thing, seen largely as the replacement for the FN SCAR 20 in use by SOCOM
Then last week came the news of the Navy Surface Command dropping $40 million for 17,367,760 rounds of DODIC AC58 6.5x49mm Special Ball Long Range Ammunition.
Now we have a big development, with LMT Defense picking up a $93 million award for the more compact (14.5-inch) new Medium Range Gas Gun-Assault (MRGG-A) carbine.
We have been in contact with LMT, so you can expect to see much more in the coming days.
The Naval Surface Warfare Center has issued a contract for millions of rounds of 6.5mm Creedmoor ammo for use by Special Operations and the Marine Corps.
The $40 million maximum award, to South Dakota’s Black Hills Ammunition Inc., was announced by the Pentagon earlier this week, with Black Hills beating out submissions from five other companies. The pre-solicitation notice issued last December was for 17,367,760 rounds of DODIC AC58 6.5x49mm Special Ball Long Range Ammunition.
The 6.5 Creedmoor rifle cartridge was officially introduced by Hornady in 2007 as a long-range flat-shooting round with manageable recoil. Tested by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in 2017 for the Precision Intermediate Caliber Ammunition program, it was qualified for use by USSOCOM units the following year.
In late 2023, Geissele Automatics announced its MRGG-S (Mid-Range Gas Gun, Sniper), a full-time suppressed 6.5 Creedmoor rifle with a 20-inch barrel, MOA accuracy, and a fully adjustable stock.
The MRGG-S went on to win a $23 million SOCOM contract with the gun type classified by the military as the Mark 1 Mod 0 rifle.
The Geissele Mid Range Gas Gun – Sniper (MRGG-S), Mark 1 Mod 0 rifle. The new sniper support weapon and designated marksman rifle, chambered in 6.5 CM, was ordered “to improve the intermediate range sniper rifle lethality, reliability and performance when suppressed during 50-1,500 meter engagements,” according to its 2023 Pentagon contract announcement. (Photo: Geissele)
The new ammo contract follows on the heels of a 2020 award to Hornady.
Work will be performed in Rapid City, South Dakota, and is expected to be completed by August 2030.
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
