McMillan M-87R

Notes: Another favorite of the US Marine and Navy snipers, the M-87R is a highly modified Remington 700 action with a new synthetic stock and new chamber and barrel. They typically use 20x Unertl scopes. This rifle saw action with the USMC and (in limited numbers) with US Army snipers in Desert Storm. The M-87 has a very efficient muzzle blast compensator to reduce recoil to that similar to a .375 Remington round. The M-87R has an adjustable cheek piece and a bipod. The M-87 is a single-shot version of this weapon.

McMillan 14.5mm Rifle

Notes: This is a limited-production 14.5mm KPV version of the McMillan M-87R (above). This rifle is heavier than the M-87R, but the design is virtually the same. It was in limited use by the US Marines and Navy by the beginning of the Twilight War.

Notes: This is a heavy antipersonnel and antimateriel rifle designed for use at long ranges. The Tac-50 comes in both magazine-fed and single-shot versions; the magazine-fed version is sold primarily to military organizations, while the single-shot version is sold primarily to civilian long-range rifle enthusiasts and police organizations. Both versions feature a stock with provision for butt spacers in the root of the stock and may be detached entirely if desired (normally for transport; the barrel may also be removed for the same reason). The barrel is heavy and fluted, and is tipped with a lightweight but effective muzzle brake. Tac-50s sold to civilians typically have simple scope rings, while those sold to military and police concerns normally have a MIL-STD-1913 rail. In either case, iron sights are not normally provided. The Tac-50 has a pistol grip due to the stock design and has a lightweight but strong bipod. Notable users include US Navy SEALS and the Canadian Army. It was with this weapon (which the Canadians call the LRSW, or Long-Range Sniper Weapon) that a Canadian sniper made the world’s record for a firearms kill. This was done at a range of 2430 meters against a Taliban truck driver. (Thanks to Darwin Liu for the correction on the Canadian sniper record shot and the weapon used.)

Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Notes: Designed by Robert Pauza and at first sold by his company, Pauza Specialties, by 2007 the Pauza P-50 was being sold by Freshour Manufacturing. Though reportedly "many sales" have been made to various governments, exactly who is using the P-50 other than civilian long-range rifle enthusiasts is unknown.

The P-50 appears to be heavily-built and equally heavy in weight, but it’s really about the same weight as other rifles in its class. This primarily due to the use of high-strength, high-grade steel in its construction, as well as a decent amount of aircraft-grade aluminum. Operation is, surprisingly, based upon the old Soviet Tokarev SVT-40 – suitably enlarged and strengthened, of course. The P-50 is therefore gas-operated, with a dropping-bolt action and fires semiautomatically. Barrels are free-floating and tipped with a long (though narrow) harmonica-type muzzle brake. Virtually all external metal is Teflon-coated, and many internal parts are hard chrome-plated. The gas system has three adjustment settings to help the P-50 cope with dirt and moisture. The pistol grip is similar to that of the M-16, but the selector switch is more reminiscent of the M-14. The charging handle, ejection direction, and selector switch can be reversed to accommodate left and right-handed shooters.

The P-50 exists in two versions. The standard P-50 (sometimes referred to as the "P-50 Sporting Rifle") uses a 29-inch barrel. The receiver is topped by a carrying handle, which itself has a Weaver rail mounted on it. The stock is coated with rubber, and it can be detached along with the barrel for transport. A bipod adjustable for height and cant is mounted under the gas block, and this can readily be removed. The stock also has a projection underneath it to allow the shooters nonfiring handed to grasp the stock to steady the rifle.

The P-50 "Carbine" is very similar to the standard P-50, but uses a 25-inch barrel. The P-50 Carbine has a short handguard, and a foregrip may be attached to this handguard, allowing it to be used with the bipod as a conventional antimateriel rifle or as a heavy assault weapon.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The P-50 is an exceedingly-rare weapon in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

RAD SLAMR

Notes: Originally patterned on an Iver Johnson design, Redick Arms bought out the company and redesigned the rifle slightly for military contract sales. An accurate rifle, it has found favor with some SOCOM sniper teams for long-range shots. A special stock-mounted 10-round pouch (included with the rifle) was designed for snipers to have easy access to loose rounds for more rapid reloading. The M-650 is an M-600 with a shorter barrel and fed by a magazine.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The weapon found favor only with a few snipers in the military services; however, a shortage of .50 caliber rifles in 1996 and 1997 (due to foreign sales of the Barrett and McMillan designs) brought their model back to production to fill the void.

Notes: This is a 14.5mm heavy antimateriel rifle that has seen some use by "unnamed parties." The caliber is satisfyingly large, but accuracy can be hampered by the poor-quality 14.5mm KPV ammunition which is generally available. The range is still satisfyingly long, and the rifle is capable of destroying light equipment or damaging light vehicles. The rifle is capable of mounting far better optics and night vision equipment than corresponding Bloc rifles.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The M-614 saw some use by US and British special operations snipers during the Twilight War. Accuracy was hampered due to the generally poor quality of 14.5B ammunition available during that time period, even in the limited amount available of US manufacture.

Notes: Originally designed for long-range competition shooting enthusiasts, the RC-50 has spread into the military and police realms, and is now used by several military special operations units and police forces worldwide.

The RC-50 is basically a conventional bolt-action magazine-fed heavy-caliber rifle in design. The action of the RC-50 is machined from a solid billet of steel and is mated to a 29-inch heavy match-quality barrel which is free-floating and tipped with a large and effective muzzle brake. The stock is a McMillan fiberglass/composite stock, with a raised cheekpiece and a buttplate adjustable for length of pull and with a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad. The trigger mechanism is a modified version of the Remington 700 trigger mechanism, tuned and set at a pull weight of only 2.5 pounds. The forward portion of the stock has a mounting stud for a bipod; the bipod supplied by Robar is manufactured by Parker-Hale, and is adjustable for height and cant. The receiver is topped by a MIL-STD-1913 rail for optics, and no iron sights are provided.

A variant of the RC-50, the RC-50F, is identical to the RC-50 except for the stock which may be folded for transportation. (The RC-50F could conceivably be fired with the stock folded, but the shooter would probably be very sorry…) When unfolded, the stock is held in place by a heavy bolt that screws into a block in the stock.

Twilight 2000 Notes: These rifles are extremely rare in the Twilight 2000 timeline, and rarely seen outside of military forces in the American Southwest.

Notes: This is a heavy-caliber rifle designed primarily for long-range shooting enthusiasts, but also has possible military and police applications. It is a fairly lightweight weapon for its class, and is constructed mostly of Mil-Spec grade alloy steel. Production standards are very high, up to double what one finds in comparable military rifles. The BFG-50 is also designed for simplicity and ease of care and manufacture, which means it can be produced quickly and inexpensively when necessary (though only about 750 have been built; they are mostly made to order). The current design is a single-shot bolt-action model, though production of a magazine-fed version is expected shortly, and semiautomatic prototypes are in the experimental phase. (I have sufficient statistics for a magazine-fed bolt-action version, which is also shown below; I don’t for the semiautomatic model). A "carbine" model and a full-sized model are offered; both are bullpup designs with a simple fixed tubular stock and a rather sparing recoil pad on the butt. They have a short MIL-STD-1913 rail on a raised mount top of the receiver for optics. The muzzle brake is large and beefy (called by the company a "Shark Brake"); an option for this brake is engraving which says "Have A Nice Day." The weight listed below includes a bipod and a scope, though the company does not normally ship the BFG-50 with either.

The BFG-50A is a semiautomatic version of the BFG-50. The BFG-50A uses Barrett 10-round magazines, and operation is via a modified version of that used by the Swedish Ljungman AG-42. The 26-inch barrel is tipped by a different muzzle brake than the BFG-50, called the Shark Brake. In the future, Serbu intends to make other barrel lengths available, and the barrel, barrel extension, and handguards are easily removable to this end. Unlike the BFG-50, the BFG-50A is not a bullpup design.

Twilight 2000 Notes: This rifle does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Notes: This Stoner design was introduced in 1996. It was probably the last Eugene Stoner design produced before his death from cancer in 1997. It is a lightweight semiautomatic design that can mount a variety of sights and optics, though it was normally delivered to military forces with a Leupold 10x scope. It uses an unusual right-hand magazine feed, and the bipod is the same one on the M-60 machinegun. The right-hand feed allows the shooter to take a lower profile than he might be able to if a big magazine got in the way, and allows the receiver to be shorter without resorting to a bullpup design.

Twilight 2000 Notes: During the Twilight War demand by NATO armed forces for heavy sniper rifles for its special operations snipers meant that the SR-50 was used in large numbers As it is more accurate than most .50-caliber sniper rifles, it was much sought after.

Notes: Though relatively new to the firearms scene, Vigilance Rifles is headed by Keary Ritchie, who has about 20 years of firearms designs experience, mostly in heavy-caliber rifles. Though they are currently capable only of low-rate production, the VR-1 is acknowledged by many firearms designers as being a superior rifle. The VR-1, though the fore-end appears a bit lumpish, is a mean brute-looking rifle of considerable capabilities, and comes in four powerful chamberings.

The VR-1 is gas-operated, and coupled with a rotating bolt and a fixed ejector that improves reliability. The barrels are all 24 inches long, and tipped with a large multi-baffle titanium-alloy muzzle brake. The barrel is fluted to save weight, and has a bull profile. The muzzle brake is attached via threading, and it can be removed and replaced with Vigilance Arms’ GSS suppressor (which is also quite large, but effective). The upper receiver is of high-strength stainless steel, and the lower receiver of high-strength aluminum alloy. The stock and fore-end may be of wood or synthetic. (The wood stocks look much better in my opinion.) The butt has a thick rubber recoil pad and the buttplate is adjustable for length of pull. The stock itself has a pronounced cheek swell. Atop the receiver is an integrated MIL-STD-1913 rail for optics. The smallest caliber the VR-1 is chambered for is .338 Lapua Magnum; this chambering was the last one in the current design, as the military has shown interest in a VR-1 chambered in that caliber. The other chamberings are much more powerful: .375 CheyTac, .408 CheyTac, and the unusual chambering of .505 Gibbs.

Twilight 2000 Notes: In the Twilight 2000 timeline, Keary Ritchie makes these rifles at request, assuming you can find his hideaway.

Notes: VM Hy-Tech is run by Valy Rosca, a Romanian immigrant who escaped to the US (via Yugoslavia) while it was still part of the Communist Bloc, and he now lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Working on firearms and machine shops since he was 14, he has since 2005 been producing small lots of some interesting .50-caliber rifles, most of which are bought by large-caliber rifle enthusiasts.

The VM-50R is a bolt-action rifle that is made of all-machined steel and aluminum. This results in a very rugged and durable rifle that can stand a lot of abuse. The action is utterly smooth, and little lubrication is necessary. The 7-position adjustable stock is primarily of aluminum, with an adjustable cheekpiece and a thick Pachmayr recoil pad; the buttplate is also adjustable for length of pull. The magazines are also machined and are as tough as the rifle itself; Rosca was not satisfied with the strength of existing .50-caliber magazines. The VM-50R has no iron sights; instead, the rifle has a MIL-STD-1913 rail above the receiver. At the end of the handguard is a steel VerPod folding bipod adjustable for height and cant.

The barrels of the VM-50R are made by Lothar Walther, and can be 18, 22, 30, or 36 inches with a bull barrel. (Custom profile barrels are also available upon request.) The barrel is free-floating and is tipped by a massive muzzle brake designed by Rosca. The trigger group is adjustable for pull weight (from three to fourteen pounds).

The VM-50S is a single-shot version; other than the lack of a magazine feed, the stock is adjustable for nine positions instead of seven.