M25 Sniper Rifle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

M25 Sniper Rifle
The M25 Sniper Rifle
Type	Sniper Rifle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	United States
Wars	Gulf War
Production history
Designer	10th Special Forces Group's
Designed	Late 1980's
Variants	M21 Sniper Weapon System, M14 Rifle
Specifications
Weight	4.9 kg (10.8 lb)
Length	112.5 cm (44.3 in)
Barrel length	56 cm (22 in)

Cartridge	7.62x51mm NATO (.308 Winchester)
Action	Rotating bolt, Gas operated, Air cooled
Rate of fire	Semi-Automatic
Maximum range	900 m (983yd)
Feed system	Magazine
Sights	Bausch & Lomb Tactical 10×40

The M25 is a joint venture sniper rifle, built for both the US Army Special Forces and the US Navy SEALs. It was originally developed by the 10th Special Forces Group base at Ft. Devens for the challenge for a "match grade M14 for Special Forces sniper teams. SOCOM was calling the rifle the 'Light Sniper Rifle', and its also known as the 'Sniper Security System' and 'Product Improved M21'"^[1]. It has been named "White Feather" in honor of the legendary U.S. Marine Corps sniper, Carlos Hathcock.

The M25 is similar to the M21 in many regards; it's a National Match M14 glass bedded in a McMillan fiberglass stock, uses a special gas piston, a National Match spring guide and a BPT (Brookfield Precision Tool) Advanced Scope Mounting System. Most rifles use the B&L 10x Tactical scope. Some of the Army rifles use some of the Leupold Ultra MK4 series of scopes. (Both the M3 and M1), and the Navy rifles have been also seen with Leupolds (MK4s and VariX-III LR M3s). Ops Inc suppressors have also been used on some of the rifles.

The M25 is not a replacement rifle for the M24; it was requested by the USSOCOM to fill a specific need, and it served extremely well in the Persian Gulf war.

The rifle was once called the XM25, but now it is simply the "M25". The "X" Designation is used to refer to a prototype or unofficially adopted weapons system.