Secret Service Eyes New 6.5mm Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle

Yahoo

21-03-2025

The U.S. Secret Service is looking at replacing its 7.62x51mm M110 designated marksman rifles with a new gun chambered to fire the 6.5mm Creedmoor round. A 6.5mm Creedmoor rifle would offer greater range, as well as improved accuracy and terminal performance at long distances.
The Secret Service published a contracting notice seeking information about potential 6.5 Creedmoor rifles to supplant its M110s earlier today. The M110, also known as the Semi-Automatic Sniper System (SASS), is a variant of the SR-25 from Knight's Armament Company (KAC). It is in widespread use across the U.S. government, including with all branches of the U.S. military. SR-25-series rifles, which are also in service with various military and security forces globally, are notably used by spotters alongside shooters with bolt-action sniper rifles in Secret Service counter-sniper (CS) teams.
'The USSS-Office of Training has a need to replace its inventory of, M110 SASS rifle systems, to better serve our Agency's needs,' according to the contracting notice. 'The USSS-Office of Training aims to purchase up to one hundred and fifty (150) rifles to support operational and training requirements throughout the life of this contract to the USSS, and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) components, via a multi-year Firm Fixed Price Contract vehicle.'
'The USSS Office of Training develops and implements a broad range of weapons training programs on a continuous basis, since the James J Rowley Training Center (JJRTC) trains all special agents and Uniformed Division officers,' the notice adds.
An attached set of requirements call for a gas-operated semi-automatic 6.5mm Creedmoor rifle with a barrel length between 15.5 and 16.5 inches, an overall length of no more than 40 inches with a collapsible stock in its shortest position, and a weight no greater than 9.5 pounds with a sound suppressor (but not other accessories) fitted. For comparison, an M110 with a standard 20-inch barrel is 40.5 inches overall and tips the scales at just over 17.4 pounds with its sound suppressor and scope, according to the U.S. Army.
The requirements say the gun can use either the direct impingement method of gas operation or a gas piston. Direct impingement, which is how the M110 works, involves propellant gas siphoned off from the barrel during firing blowing directly into the main action to cycle it. A piston system keeps the gas, and particulate matter within it, away from a gun's core components. This, in turn, reduces the chance of fouling and offers other advantages when it comes to ease of maintenance and overall reliability.
Besides a need to be able to accept a suppressor, either screwed directly onto the barrel or attached via quick-detach mount, no other explicit accessory requirements are included in the contracting notice. The factory Semi-Automatic Sniper System configuration for the M110 includes a scope and bipod, as well as a suppressor and various other accessories. The rifles can also be equipped with night vision and thermal imagers, laser aiming devices, and laser range-finders.
Though it has a smaller bullet, 6.5mm Creedmoor uses a modified version of the same cartridge case as the NATO-standard 7.62x51mm round. This has long made it easier to adapt existing 7.62x51mm rifles to fire 6.5mm Creedmoor, and there are various rifles on the market now that could meet the Secret Service's requirements. This includes variants and derivatives of the Armalite AR-10, as well as related designs like KAC's SR-25-series (which is more of a scaled-up derivative of the 5.56x45mm AR-15/M16 pattern that was originally scaled down from the AR-10). In addition to new-build rifles, KAC offers 6.5mm Creedmoor caliber conversion kits for existing M110s, which could be an attractive option for the Secret Service.
As already noted, 6.5mm Creedmoor rifles offer better range, accuracy, and terminal performance over comparable 7.62x51mm types. The U.S. special operations community has already been leading a push to adopt 6.5mm Creedmoor rifles, as well as light machine guns, in recent years for exactly these reasons. U.S. Special Operations Command has said in the past that rifles chambered in 6.5mm Creedmoor could double a shooter's probability of scoring a hit on targets up to 3,280 feet away (1,000 meters). The stated effective range of an M110 is just under 2,625 feet (800 meters), per the Army.
Accuracy and terminal performance are of particular interest to the Secret Service, which is charged with protecting the president and vice president of the United States, and their families, as well as a host of other top-tier VIPs. The critical importance of this mission was underscored by the attempted assassination of then-candidate Donald Trump last year, which was foiled by CS team members, as you can read more about here.
Last year, the Secret Service also announced it was looking to buy new bolt-action sniper rifles that could be configured to fire one of four different cartridges: .300 Winchester Magnum, .300 Norma Magnum, .300 Precision Rifle Cartridge (PRC), and .308 Winchester. The primary sniper rifle for CS teams is currently a .300 Winchester Magnum bolt-action type that is very similar to the Mk 13 Mod 7 previously in service with the U.S. Marine Corps.
New 6.5mm Creedmoor designated marksman rifles offering greater range, accuracy, and ballistic performance over existing M110s now also look to be on the horizon for the Secret Service.
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