Barrett
https://www.barrett.net/
The MRAD, or Multi Role Adaptive Design rifle, is a new class of rifles from the Barrett. What makes this rifle unique is that it can be swapped out to other calibers with a few turns of an allen wrench. They are calling it a 1500 meter modular sniper system, which is bigger and better than anything you generally see coming from the usual suspects in the consumer market. This rifle is going to be available to civilian consumers in 2011, as well as the military and police customers already using Barrett products. The MSRP is somewhere around $7,000 I believe (I asked at range day). My understanding is that it will be available in a number of calibers, and this production version of the gun comes in .338 Lapua Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .308 Winchester. It has an aluminum monolithic upper and stainless steel lower and internals.
I feel like kind of a schmuck because I’m not part of the “special operations community” for whom this gun was designed. I know a lot about guns, but I can’t even imagine why you would want to carry around a whole other barrel and maybe even bolt for this gun in .308 Winchester, when you could just carry more .338 Lapua Magnum ammo. The world of actual battlefield design is so different from the consumer market that people like me can’t even imagine why on earth a lot of the battlefield stuff is the way it is.
What I can say is that Barrett has been a cornerstone of support in outfitting our troops for the 21st Century battlefield and I’m sure this rifle will find it’s way into our armed forces very quickly. If you are part of the “special operations community,” I’m sure this rifle will be on your requisition list as well. Barrett puts a lot of passion into everything they make and I’m sure every feature of this gun was made for a specific need on the battlefield. On this one I don’t expect a review gun anytime soon. But something tells me that Barrett can be trusted to test the gun at least as well as GunsAmerica Magazine though, so you should be OK just ordering one when they become available.
I would buy a savage 110BA instead and pocket the considerable difference,nice gun though and would look nice as a set for my AR 50 a1.
No doubt you “know a lot about guns” but you completely miss the boat on the concept here. You don’t carry another barrel and bolt rather than more ammo. You tailor the cartridge/barrel for the mission at hand and mount out accordingly. In addition to the reduced cost of practicing with the 308/300 Win Mag vs the 338, there are plenty of times and environs where the range of the 338 isn’t needed and the over-penetration potential is a major detriment.
This way, all the comfort and confidence gleaned from constant use of one rifle is maintained and the ammo/barrel adapts the system to the mission at hand. Additionally, many other systems are moving in the same direction for the same reason. Pretty basic concept, surprised it went over your head.
Fascinating article. It’s great to see so much interest in the LD shooting discipline. Maybe we will see a MRAD on our ranges one day soon.