Someone to Talk

[Sasquatch the Reaper]

Well, he's a civilian now. But he's had to make a deal with a mercenary/criminal mastermind, to help out his sister. Up until that point, he'd been using his personal hunting rifle (a Savage 308) for long distance shooting. But the mercenary has access to some high tech weapons.

In this instance, long range I would put at about 100 yards.

I guess I'm a bit stuck on what kind of rifle he'd use if he wasn't taking long distance shots. Can you help me out?

[Yournamehere]

If 100 yards is what you'd consider long range, then just about any quality built carbine with a magnified optic will do just fine. Most carbines will be short enough for CQB purposes and accurate enough to deliver precision shots at 100 yards (and probably a bit further than that).

Before anyone recommends a build, AR building culture has been a thing for a long time, but the modern, or should I say postmodern, build explosion with all the cool free float rails and lightweight barrel profiles and different gas systems didn't become totally mainstream until I'd say about 2009-2010 which is a little bit after when your story is set. I think your character would be better suited to using something pre-built, especially if he's more of a military man who got an issued weapon and smiled than a gun guy who would strip a pre built rifle into all of its components and build 5 different guns from the guts.

That being said, I've never been a fan of zebra calibers like 6.5 Grendel or 6.8 SPC because they are/were boutique rounds that offer slight performance upgrades above standard 5.56 without compatibility or service history. They are dare to be different rounds that don't offer enough to warrant the loss of the benefits of 5.56. They are basically what .40 S&W would be compared to 9mm if it was never adopted by the FBI, or what .357 SIG is compared to 9mm now.

Honestly, and this is a little boring, but I would recommend giving him something similar to a rifle he would have used in service. An M4 SOPMOD style rifle (or Colt 6920 SOCOM, or the vanilla version with some kind of quad rail) with an ACOG or an EOTech and a 3X magnifier is probably best for a true .mil character.

[Sasquatch the Reaper]

That actually makes more sense than what I had in mind. Thank you very much.

[commando552]

Alexander Arms started making 6.5mm Grendel rifles and uppers in 2004 so it would be fine to have them used in 2007. However it isn't really necessary if you are only shooting over a few hundred meters, with the Grendel designed to go out to 1000 yards or so.

I don't know if Grendel was ever tested by the military, but 6.8 SPC was operationally used by Special Forces as early as 2004. However this doesn't really fit with a "sniper" mindset as this round was developed to have better close range effectiveness and is in fact less effective at long range than 5.56x45mm. However, if you are only going out to, say, 300m the 6.8 SPC is still more effective.

If you want the rifle to seem more "snipery" then I would go for a longer barrel than 16", either 18" or a full 20". In particular if you were to go for Grendel then it would be a waste out of a 16" barrel (I believe that the inventor has stated that the compromise between range and mobility would be around a 20" barrel, with the majority of Grendel users having a long 24" barrel to get the most out of the round).

A Mk 12 SPR would make sense to me, as it was (at that time) used by the military, has a compromise 18" barrel, and is pretty modular for accessories. If the weapon is illegally procured and is a real military one, this also has the advantage of still having a full auto lower receiver.

[Sasquatch the Reaper]

Thanks Commando, but I'm gonna go with the previous poster's idea.

[Mandolin]

I'd skip the offset iron sights and just have a little red dot on top of the scope, or just go with an Aimpoint/EOTech plus magnifier. And 5.56 all the way.

So, basically what everyone else said.

Originally Posted by Yournamehere

They are basically what .40 S&W would be compared to 9mm if it was never adopted by the FBI, or what .357 SIG is compared to 9mm now.

And the FBI is dumping the .40S&W for 9mm now.

Originally Posted by commando552

A Mk 12 SPR would make sense to me, as it was (at that time) used by the military, has a compromise 18" barrel, and is pretty modular for accessories. If the weapon is illegally procured and is a real military one, this also has the advantage of still having a full auto lower receiver.

I'm pretty sure the Mk.12 is semi-only, Kris Kyle mentioned in his book that after he got back from sniper school, he put his Mk.12 upper on an M4 lower. Partially for the collapsible stock and partially for the full-auto option. He never went full-auto with it, but he wanted the option.

[Sasquatch the Reaper]

On another note, it makes sense for a person (fictional character), if they had different duties, to have two different uppers for their AR, right? They'd have the same lower, would save the hassle of carrying more than one type of rifle ammo, and would have a pretty versatile weapon, right?

[commando552]

Originally Posted by Sasquatch the Reaper

On another note, it makes sense for a person (fictional character), if they had different duties, to have two different uppers for their AR, right? They'd have the same lower, would save the hassle of carrying more than one type of rifle ammo, and would have a pretty versatile weapon, right?

Do you mean on a mission, or in a country? If you mean in a country, then yes. For example, I know that the UK special forces have long barrel and short barrel uppers for their L119A1 carbines which they switch depending on the mission.

If you mean would it make sense to carry an extra upper on your back if you wanted to make a long distance shot or something, then no. Manufacturers over the years have tried to tout the idea of switching uppers out for different needs on the fly, but as far as I know it has never been done like this. You would be much better off just carrying a second whole weapon. You don't want to have to be stripping down your rifle in the field, and fumbling to get the bolt out of one weapon and in the other being defenceless the whole time.

[Sasquatch the Reaper]

By that, I meant, say a person normally carried a PDW 5.56, but then had to go on a mission.

Could that person feasibly have a second upper that they could swap out on at HQ, go into battle with the upper (It would go from a 10.5 inch barrel to a 14.5 inch barrel), then later on come back and put the PDW upper back on?

Or does it make more sense to just have two separate weapons?

[commando552]

Originally Posted by Sasquatch the Reaper

By that, I meant, say a person normally carried a PDW 5.56, but then had to go on a mission.

Could that person feasibly have a second upper that they could swap out on at HQ, go into battle with the upper (It would go from a 10.5 inch barrel to a 14.5 inch barrel), then later on come back and put the PDW upper back on?

Or does it make more sense to just have two separate weapons?

In that scenario, yes it makes sense. British special forces can do exactly that, swapping between a 16" upper or a 10.5" one. It would only ever be something done by special forces though, every one else has 1 gun and makes do.