Accuracy Engineering Tactical Rifle

     Notes: The reaction to seeing one of these rifles is often something like, “Isn’t that a version of…”  That is because, using a Remington 700 base, AE combines stocks by Harris Gun Works, Macmillan, or H-S Precision, with a chrome-molybdenum steel barrel machined to extremely close tolerances, and Teflon coatings.  These weapons were never mass-produced; instead, they were made to order for specific police or military snipers, and the actions and measurements are designed specifically to the person ordering it, in a process involving a great deal of measurements and questions about methods of shooting and sighting.  Though the statistics below are generic, actual weapons may vary widely. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: By the time of the Twilight War, less than 50 of these rifles had been built, with most of them being found in the Continental US and Canada. 

Alexander Arms GSR

     Notes: The GSR (Grendel Sniper Rifle) is, as the name suggests, a precision sniper rifle built around the 6.5mm Grendel.  Due to its chambering, it straddles the line between a DMR and true sniper rifle; however, it has a number if features that sniper rifles have and DMRs generally don’t.  Starting with the stock and furniture, the stock is a Magpul PRS adjustable for length of pull and cheekpiece height.  The pistol grip is an Ergo.  The round, ventilated composite handguards have short MIL-STD-1913 rails near the front of those handguards, and these can be repositioned up and down the handguards.  The charging handle has been moved to the bolt.  The GMR is based on the AR platform, and operates via gas impingement.  Atop the receiver is a MIL-STD-1913 rail; the GSR has no iron sights and no provision for a front sight.  Under the toe of the stock is a very short length of rail for the attachment of a monopod. The magazines are proprietary and a bit on the small side.  Barrels are 20 or 24 inches, heavy profile, and fluted; they are tipped by a compact muzzle brake.  Finishes for the GSR are black or Desert Tan.

American Precision Arms APR

     Notes: The APR (All-Purpose Rifle) is also known by APA as the “Do it All Rifle.”  Unlike the high-tech platforms being used and experimented with by the various militaries of the world, the APR is more meant for civilian use or military designated marksman use, and not meant to be the end-all of military sniper rifles.  Impromptu marksmanship, police tactical snipership, as well as civilian hunting and even target shooting and plinking are the prevue of this rifle.  The McMillian HTG stock is mated to an APA Genesis action and a Boughton custom heavy-contour barrel 22 inches long, and specially pillar bedded. The barrel even has a stud for a bayonet. The APR can take Accuracy International AW or AICS magazines.  The APR is fitted with a Timney match trigger.  The standard stock and external finish is KG Gun-Kote Sage Green, though other finishes can be given to the rifle upon request.  Under the front of the fore-end is an attachment for a bipod; the one normally supplied with the APR is adjustable for height and cant.  Iron sights are not fitted except upon request, but there is enough drilling and tapping available to mount just about any optics mount or night vision gear.  APA calls the APR “the cheapest custom rifle you can buy.”

American Precision Arms Paragon

     Notes: The Paragon is built around the guts of a high-accuracy rifle, the Genesis.  The stock is in hardwood and the exposed metalwork finished in black; the result looks very much like a high-adjustability variant of the M-24.  APA will build the Paragon around either a 5.56mm NATO or 7.62mm NATO action.  The Paragon is sort of a blend of many of the best features of other rifles.  The receiver is topped with a MIL-STD-1913 rail or Weaver rail according to the customer wishes; the magazines used are either Accuracy International AE or AW magazines.  The 5.56mm NATO barrel is 20 inches long; the 7.62mm NATO barrels are 22 inches long.  The barrels are stainless steel and match grade, and of heavy profile. Both are tipped with a beefy muzzle brake; this may be unscrewed and replaced with an even beefier suppressor. The stock folds to the right and also has an adjustable cheekpiece and adjustable length. The butt has a thick rubber recoil pad.

Armalite AR-30

     Notes: This is a smaller-caliber, magazine-fed weapon related to the AR-50 antimateriel rifle.  The stock and receiver are built primarily of aircraft-grade aluminum alloy, with the buttstock portion being equipped with a simple adjustable polymer shell for a cheekpiece, and a padded buttplate.  The stock may be removed for storage or transport (but cannot be fired without the stock).  The free-floating barrel is of chrome-moly steel and is triple-lapped; it is heavy, 26 inches long, and in the case of the .338 Lapua chambering, a huge multi-baffle muzzle brake is standard.  (This muzzle brake is an option with the other chamberings.)  Most operating parts are also of steel.  The receiver contains a V-shaped block in which the action is bedded, which gives the action rock-solid operation to further enhance accuracy and reliability.  The fore-end has a groove which can be used for mounting a bipod, sling swivel, or certain other accessories.   The pistol grip is identical to that of an M-16A2.  All steel parts are manganese phosphate-coated, and aluminum alloy parts are hard anodized.

     Currently, the chamberings available for the AR-30 are 7.62mm NATO, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .338 Lapua Magnum.  Armalite also produced and marketed a small number of AR-30s in .30-06 Springfield and .243 Winchester, but these did not prove to be popular with the public and were quickly withdrawn; they are quite hard to find today.  Originally, both 5 and 10-round magazines were produced for the AR-30, but only 5-round magazines are made today.

     The AR-30M is essentially a product-improved AR-30, with a MIL-STD-1913 receiver rail, a new muzzle brake, a new bipod attachment point, and a triple hand-lapped heavy fluted barrel that is specially bedded with V-shaped aluminum bedding blocks.  Other special features are as on the AR-30, though the stock is fixed in length but has an adjustable cheekpiece.  Though the .243 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield chamberings have been dropped, new chamberings have been added. The AR-30A1 accepts only 5-round magazines.  Barrels are 24 inches for the 7.62mm and 6.5mm; other calibers use 26-inch barrels. Muzzle brakes are standard, though they may be removed and replaced with other muzzle devices.

     The AR-31 is a short-action, short-barrel version of the AR-30.  It is currently chambered only in 7.62mm NATO, but Armalite hints that there will be further chamberings in the future.  The AR-31 features a full receiver-and-handguard-length MIL-STD-1913 rail, as well as short rails on the sides and bottom of the handguard. (The bottom rail normally mounts a bipod, but can be used for other purposes.  Gun writers say it is “built like a tank” and it is rather heavy.  The chassis is of thick steel manganese-phosphated aluminum, and the octagonal action is of beefy steel, without an overly-large ejection port. The size of the action allows to be fed by AR-10B magazines as well as magazines designed for the AR-30. The bolt has a floating bolt head design, ensuring that the lugs maintain even contact with the action.  The stock is skeletonized and fully adjustable for cheekrest, length of pull and recoil pad height. The pistol grip is a standard AR-15A2 grip.  The underside of the forend is wide and flat for a good rest. Some say the safety is too difficult to reach with the fingers. Sometimes, it is difficult to actuate, requiring one to slightly pull the bolt back and then switch the safety.

     The AR-31’s barrel is 24 inches long and tipped by a large muzzle brake, though the barrel tip is threaded and can be replaced by other devices.  The barrel is just short of a bull barrel in width, and is fluted to save weight. The free-floating barrel is of chrome-moly steel and is triple-lapped.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This is a rare weapon, appearing just before the Twilight War; however, all five calibers are available, if you can find an AR-30 at all.

Arms Tech Magnum Super Match Interdiction

     Notes: Originally developed as a private venture by a company named Arms Tech, the MSMI was designed to provide a precision sniper rifle that is not a huge or cumbersome weapon, but has range beyond that of the 7.62 NATO-firing weapons that are normally standard in Western militaries and police forces, and also allows for quick follow-up shots.  It is based on a Belgian sporting rifle known as the FN BAR, with a change in caliber to .300 Winchester Magnum, an extended free-floating barrel, and a special optics mount able to use most Western military and police telescopic sights and night vision devices, and change them repeatedly with the shooter losing his zero.  The barrel is made by the unusual technique of cold-forging, which makes for a stiffer and stronger barrel.  The barrel is threaded so a suppressor may be added, and a special cap is provided to protect the threads if a suppressor is not used; this cap also functions as a muzzle brake. 

Barrett M-98     

     Notes: The M-98 was designed for snipers requiring lightweight firepower, but not one of their larger-caliber weapons.  It has an unusual design with a very heavy barrel, but otherwise as light as possible construction.  The weapon doesn’t have iron sights, but does have a MIL-STD-1913 rail.  Many of the details listed below for the M-98B are also applicable for the M-98.

     Though the new M-98B is not that closely related to the M-98, it’s close enough that for simplicity’s sake, I will include it here.  Like the M-98, the M-98B is under evaluation by several country’s special operations troops to fill the gap between 7.62mm NATO sniper rifles and the big .50 BMG-chambered rifles.  The heavy barrel is fluted to reduce weight, and the receiver, fore-end, and MIL-STD-1913 rail are machined in one piece from the same block of metal.  The receiver has a number of cuts, recesses, and slots; these not only save weight, but provide additional cooling to the chamber, receiver, and barrel.  The 27-inch barrel is tipped with an effective yet compact muzzle brake.  There are no iron sights.  The stock is adjustable in the cheekpiece and for length of pull, and includes a screw-in monopod for long hides and extra stability and a thick rubber recoil pad.  Trigger pull is very light at 2-2.5 pounds.  The bipod is a Harris bipod adjustable for height and cant.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The M-98 proved to be a very popular rifle amongst NATO and US snipers in the Twilight 2000 timeline.  It was also used by Taiwanese, South Korean, and (strangely enough) Chinese snipers. The M-98B is not available in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

     Merc 2000 Notes: These are both runaway best sellers on the international arms market.

Barrett MRAD

     Notes: The MRAD (Multi-Role Adaptive Design) is sort of an evolution of the M-98 and M-98B.  It was developed in response to US military requirements (the Precision Sniper Rifle competition), particularly special operations.  The MRAD features a skeletonized stock adjustable for length of pull, angle of butt, and cheekpiece.  The stock also folds to the right, primarily for carrying.  The action changes to bolt-action, but it feeds from the same magazines as the M-98 and M-98B (or modified ones in the case of the other calibers).  Controls are easily reachable from the trigger and are available from either side.  The pistol grip is a standard A2 pistol grip, and the controls are standard AR-15 controls.  The receiver has a MIL-STD-1913 rail that extends the full length of the handguard, and there are three one-third-length rails at the front of the handguard at the 3 o-clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock positions. The three smaller rails can be moved to any position between the front of the handguard to the rear of the handguard. The three 4-inch rails can also be exchanged for 8-inch rails. Depending upon the barrel length, the barrel may be heavy, fluted, floating, and be tipped by a muzzle brake. The muzzle brake can be easily removed and replaced with a silencer or suppressor.  Barrett says that future versions of the MRAD will have barrels that will be user-exchangeable. The bipod used is the ubiquitous Harris bipod adjustable for cant and height, but the MIL-STD-1913 rail means that many types of bipods can be used.  No iron sights are mounted in its standard configuration, though iron sights can be mounted on its upper MIL-STD-1913 rail.

     After extensive trials in the Precision Sniper Rifle competition. The MRAD was accepted for service with USSOCOM in 2019 as the Mk 22 Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR), with the ability to convert between 7.62mm NATO, .300 Norma Magnum, and .338 Norma Magnum.  USSOCOM’s ASR is topped with a Leupold 5-25x56 scope.  The US Marines also intend to replace their M40s with Mk 22s, with the ability to convert between 7.62mm NATO and .300 Winchester Magnum.  The US Army also plans on acquiring the Mk 22, replacing M107 and M2010 rifles currently in service.

     The MRAD has been adopted on a limited basis by Special Operations forces both in the US and other allied countries.  Some police forces worldwide have also acquired the MRAD.  The Mk 22 and MRAD have seen combat use in Syria, Israel, and Ukraine.

     The 17 and 20-inch-barrel versions of the MRAD were tested early on in the MRAD’s development as short-barreled sniper rifles and were dropped early on, and not proceeded with.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The MRAD is not available in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Bluegrass Armory Moonshiner

     Notes:  The Moonshiner is a bolt-action bullpup sniper rifle which is compact yet accurate for such a short rifle.

     Atop the receiver is a MIL-STD-1913 rail; on the sides of the fore-end are two more very short rails, and underneath is another very short rail, usually to mount a bipod. Furniture is largely aluminum, with an A2-type pistol grip and controls (except for the magazine release).  There are several sling attachment points around the receiver and stock.  The trigger guard is enlarged, and the magazine well is flared for easier reloading.  The Moonshiner has both active and passive safeties.  Despite being a bullpup, trigger pull is only three pounds.  The receiver is made from billet aluminum that is machined into shape, and specially shaped to bed the fire control and Barrel Retention System. The receiver has no welds. The stock is not folding, but has an adjustable length and cheekpiece and a recoil pad at the butt.  Finishes may be Desert Tan, OD Green, and Tactical Black.

     The Moonshiner can fire three calibers, with primarily only a barrel change necessary.

     The barrel is 21 inches long, tipped with a long Recoil Relief muzzle brake and a threaded barrel to allow other muzzle devices to be mounted. It is made of 4140 Chrome/Moly Steel and the barrel profile is heavy and match-quality.

Bulldog Terminator

     Notes:  This is a modern, up-to-date copy of the World War 2 De Lisle Silenced Carbine.  The primary area of improvement is modern sound suppressor technology, making the Bulldog Terminator much quieter than even the De Lisle; in game terms, the Bulldog Terminator creates less than even Class I noise – little more than whispered speech.  Other improvements include a fiberglass stock and modern metals.  The basic mechanism remains the same, but the sights are calibrated for the new weapon. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Approximately 200 of these weapons were used by NATO forces in Europe and the Middle East.

     Merc 2000 Notes: This is basically a curiosity weapon; not many exist.