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USMC M40A1
Thanks to a former OIC of the USMC sniper school
| Caliber |
7.62x51mm NATO (.308 Win) |
| Length |
43.97" (1117mm) |
| Weight |
14.45 lbs (6.57 kg) |
| Barrel Length |
24 inches (610mm) |
| Lands and Grooves |
6 |
| Twist, Right Hand |
1:12" |
| Trigger Weight |
3 to 5 pounds |
| Magazine Capacity |
5 rounds |
| Sight |
Unertl 10x with Mil-Dots and BDC. Specially designed for USMC |
| Stock |
McMillan fiberglass A1 with epoxy filler |
| Chamber Pressure |
50000 psi |
| Muzzle Velocity |
M118: 2550fps (777mps)
M118LR: 2580fps (786mps) |
| Max Effective Range |
1000 yards (915 meters) |
The M40A1 has to be the pioneer of the modern sniper rifle. The USMC has always had a leg
up on the US Army when it comes to sniping (Remember, I am US Army, so it takes a lot to
say this!) and the USMC realized that they needed a standard sniper rifle that could perform
the job up to standard. After testing and reviews the USMC placed the initial order for
700 Remington 700/M40 sniper rifles in 1966. 550 of those had the redfield 3-9x accurange
scope mounted. As time progressed, the weaknesses of the factory M700/40x rifles began
to show. The all wood stocks were very prone to shifting in changes in the weather and other
weaknesses were noted. So a process began to upgrade the M40 rifles. There is no "official"
date (at least that I can tell) when the M40 was replaced by the M40A1, but the process
happened in the early 70's. The wood stocks were replaced by
McMillan fiberglass stocks,
which are known for their ruggedness. The entire system is built by USMC armorers at Quantico,
VA. The redfield 3-9x scopes were eventually replaced by a specially designed scope built
by Unertl to USMC specifications. This happened in the early 80's and this is was the standard
scope being used on the M40A1's and the A3's up until 2006 when the Schmidt & Bender PMII 3-12x
scopes were adopted to replace the Unertls.
The M40A1 is an outstanding system, very capable of extreme levels of accuracy, though the
older M118 ammo tended to hold the rifle back to about 1 MOA, but the new M118LR (designed by the
USMC) really unleashed the potential of these rifles with accuracy
improving to about .5 MOA. The Max Effective range of the M40A1 is listed at 800 meters by
a lot of sources, but the USMC says 1000yards (915 meters) and I would have to go with the
USMC on this one, as we routinely shoot past 900 meters with our M24 SWS, and the M40A1 is
everybit as accurate.
The USMC has replaced the aging M40A1's with the new M40A3's.
A rifle that has been
in the developement stages for some time now. The M40A1's have served extremely well for many
years (over 30). She'll be missed, but the A3 is a capable successor.
For those of you who would like to purchase a M40A1 for your own collection, several manufacturers make excellent
reproductions of the M40A1, some even built to mil-specs. But you cannot purchase an ORIGINAL M40A1.
The last M40A1 built
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