XM2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle

The XM2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle (ESR), formerly known as the M24 Reconfigured Sniper Weapon System, is a sniper rifle developed by PEO Soldier for the United States Army. It is derived from the M24 Sniper Weapon System and is intended to replace existing M24s. After winning a competitive bidding process, Remington was awarded the production contract. Up to 3,600 weapons will be procured. The Army had anticipated fielding upgraded weapons to deployed U.S. Army Snipers near the end of December 2010. Later project manager for Soldier weapons Colonel Douglas Tamilio said the XM2010 expected fielding will happen in January 2011.

The XM2010 system differs from the prior M24 Sniper Rifle in that the XM2010 fires .300 Winchester Magnum ammunition to provide approximately 50% additional effective range relative to the M24's 7.62x51mm NATO. This chambering to dimensionally larger cartridges is possible because the M24 was designed to use the "long-action" version of the Remington 700 receiver. The U.S. Army hopes that the additional effective range helps their snipers in engagements in mountainous and desert terrain in which the War in Afghanistan is fought. The general penalties for using bigger, more powerful magnum rifle ammunition compared to smaller, non-magnum standard rifle cartridges are increases in recoil, jump, flash, weight, and barrel wear.

Design


The XM2010 differs from 7.62×51mm NATO chambered M24 Sniper Weapon System in that XM2010 sniper weapons are:

According to Remington Arms each rifle is tested to meet (and typically exceeds) the requirement to fire ≤ 1 MOA (less than a 2-inch shot group at 200 yards) before being released for fielding.
 * Chambered to .300 Winchester Magnum.
 * Barreled to a 610 mm (24 in) long, 254 mm (1 in 10 inch) twist rate (using Obermeyer 5-R rifling) hammer-forged free floating barrel.
 * Fitted with a new chassis (stock) assembly that maximizes the amount of physical adjustments for the sniper to provide a better user customized fit. The chassis has a folding buttstock that shortens the system for easier transport and better concealment during movement and accommodates the mounting of accessories via removable Mil Std 1913 Picatinny Rails.
 * Fitted with a five-round detachable box magazine.
 * Fitted with a quick-attachable/detachable Advanced Armament Corp. sound suppressor with muzzle brake to reduce recoil and jump and audible and visible signature with an available thermal sleeve that reduces mirage effect on heated suppressors.
 * Fitted with a Leupold Mark 4 6.5–20×50mm ER/T M5 Front Focal variable power telescopic sight featuring a 30 mm tube diameter, first focal plane Horus Vision H-58 grid system range estimation reticle and Bullet Drop Compensation,  fielded with the AN/PVS-29 or AN/PVS-30 Clip-on Sniper Night Sight.
 * The application of advanced corrosion resistant coatings throughout the system.

Ammunition
In 2009 the U.S. government purchased MK 248 MOD 0 and MOD 1 .300 Winchester Magnum match-grade ammunition for use in .300 Winchester Magnum sniper rifles like the U.S. Navy Mk.13 SWS or reconfigured M24 SWS's. This ammunition was developed as a .300 Winchester Magnum Match Product Improvement (PIP) and uses the (190 gr) and 14.26 g (220 gr) Sierra MatchKing Hollow Point Boat Tail (HPBT) very-low-drag bullet fired at a nominal muzzle velocity of 869 m/s (2,850 ft/s) ± 15.2 m/s (50 ft/s). According to the U.S. Navy this ammunition should increase the maximum effective range of .300 Winchester Magnum sniper rifle systems to 1,370 m (1,500 yd), decrease wind deflection on bullets in flight and use a reduced muzzle flash propellant that remains temperature stable across an operational temperature range of -32 °C to 74 °C (-25 °F to 165 °F). According to JBM Ballistics, using the G7 ballistic coefficient provided by Bryan Litz, the MK 248 MOD 1 .300 Winchester Magnum cartridge, when fired at its nominal muzzle velocity of 869 m/s (2,850 ft/s), should have approximately 1,286 m (1,406 yd) supersonic range under International Standard Atmosphere conditions at sea level (air density ρ = 1.225 kg/m3).

History
The U.S. Army is likely to upgrade its 2,500 M24 SWS to XM2010 standard.

Operational deployment
The U.S. Army issued three XM2010s to snipers at the United States Army Sniper School 18 January 2011. Army snipers have been using the XM2010 in combat in Afghanistan since March 2011.

Users

 * 🇺🇸 United States: United States Army.