The U.S. Marine Corps has hit full operational capability for the service’s MK22 Mod 0 Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR), the service announced this week, a feat that took place a full year ahead of schedule due to the rifle already being fielded by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and the Army.
With every Marine reconnaissance and infantry unit, as well as military occupational specialty schools now sporting the bolt-action MK22, the service said it is providing snipers a more versatile and sustainable weapon as Marines prepare for a potential conflict with China.
The MK22 replaces the M40A6 (a derivative of the long-serving Remington 700 platform) and MK13 Mod 7 rifles, and its barrels are chambered for 7.62X51 mm, .300 Norma Magnum and .338 Norma Magnum rounds, which the service said will help Marines hit targets from farther away when needed, and with greater precision.
The MK22 also sports a caliber agnostic 7-35 variable power Precision Day Optic (PDO).
“The M317 Precision Day Optic (PDO) paired with the MK22 is a game changer,” Brian Nelson, MK22 project officer for Marine Corps Systems Command, said in a statement announcing the rifle’s arrival in the force.
While the MK22 is heavier than its predecessors, having one gun that can swap out calibers will benefit the force as it prepares for a West Pacific war with China as part of the Force Design 2030 revamp of the service, the Marines said in 2022, when snipers began testing the new rifle. MK22’s arrival means Marines will only have to have different ammunition and extra barrels on hand in order to cover two caliber types currently fired by the M40A6 and MK13 Mod 7. This saves on logistics, with just one platform having to be supported by armorers instead of two.
The MK22 also features a 10-round detachable magazine and is viewed as a more sustainable weapon by the Marines, with less maintenance time and repairs that can be done at a lower level, eliminating the need to send the firearm to an intermediate repair location.
A so-called “condemned barrel” will no longer take the weapon out of the fight, the Marines said.
Every MK22 kit includes the M317 PDO, its scope mount, a suppressor, tool and cleaning kit and three barrels, with recon and infantry units also getting the .300 Winchester Magnum barrel, scout sniper tripod kit, anti-reflection device and laser filter unit, according to the Corps.
“Marines like the ability to conduct caliber conversions at their level and the fact that they only have one rifle instead of the two it replaced,” Kevin Marion, a logistics management specialist with Marine Corps Systems Command, said. “This shift improves operational efficiency, reduces the logistical burden on units, and lightens the individual Marine’s load.”
The Marines’ new rifle is based on the Barrett Multi-Role Adaptive Design, or MRAD, sniper rifle, which was brought into the fold by SOCOM in 2021. You can read more about SOCOM’s adoption of that rifle here. The Army began equipping its Green Berets with the ASR in 2021, and they have been fielded by the conventional force as well.
Barrett first unveiled the rifle in 2010 and offers barrel lengths ranging from 20 to 27 inches. The Marine Corps’ announcement this week did not make clear which barrel lengths the service adopted.
It’s been a relatively short career for the MK13 sniper rifle, which was adopted by the Marines starting in 2018. The workhorse M40 had been in service since 1966.
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