The M24 is a military and police sniper rifle, based on the Remington 700. It is one of the current service sniper rifles in the U.S. Military.
Background:[]
In the 1980's, the U.S. Army set the specifications for a sniper rifle for use in the flat, desert of the Middle East. A bolt-action, stainless steel barrel rifle with Kevlar-graphite stock, and an effective range of up to 1000 meters were being asked for. Competing with the Steyr SSG, the Remington Model 700 BDL was eventually chosen, and given the US Army Model 24 designation and entered service in 1988. One reason the Model 700 was chosen was because it could chamber the .30-06 Springfield round, a then-obsolete round but the change was eventually made to the 7.62x51mm NATO.
Current Usage[]
The M24 sees current usage in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. Military forces.
Remington 700 Variants[]
The United States Marine Corps uses a Remington 700 with a fiberglass stock, designated the M40 by the USMC armorers at Quantico. The primary difference between the Army's M24 and USMC's M40 is that while the M40 uses the short action version of the Remington 700/40x (designed for shorter cartridges, such as 7.62x51mm NATO, 7 mm/08 Remington, .243 Winchester), the M24 uses the long action version of the same rifle. The long action of the M24 can use the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, but is mainly designed for full-length (such as the .30-06 Springfield) and magnum cartridges (such as the 7 mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum, .338 Lapua Magnum).
The United States Navy uses the Mk. 13 Sniper Rifle, which was a Remington 700 that chambers the .300 Winchester Magnum round. It was built by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division.