M40a1

M40/M40A1 ( and A3/A5/A6) are built on Remington short actions of various vintage. M24 is built on a Remington long action but still chambered in 308W/7.62 NATO.

At the time the M24 was developed they wanted to leave the option to later upgrades to a 300 Win Mag via a re barrel and new bolt.

"The bdc turret is limited to 800 and isn't very effective. The reticles melted...etc. horrible scopes."

The BDC turret on the Unertl and US Optics copy MST-100 dials from 100 through to 1000 yard increments and qualification for USMC snipers required KD shooting of static targets at that range. I believe that the version manufactured by Unertl Optical Co for the Canadian C3A1 was calibrated in metres and had a max range setting of 800 metres.
 
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I read somewhere that the .300wm option was never intended for the M24. The M24 was originally to be chambered in .30-06 but the army had insufficient ammo supply to adequately field all of the rifles. Thus they decided on 7.62 NATO and left the long actions. Makes sense as the .300WM has, I believe, a larger bolt face.

A quick google search revealed the following: http://www.rifleshootermag.com/remington-history/remington-timeline-1988-m24-sniper-rifle/
 
Very interesting. I had alway heard the 300WM story, which is used in the M2010 and the Army MTU 1000 yard guns of that era, and some alleged limited SF use. Read the article you cited and another which cites the same 30-06 intent by people involved in the program early on-funny.
 
I have lusted after that rifle as well but just can't commit $3-$5,000 for a 1970's 10x scope design. I guess the A1 just isn't an A1 without one though. Same story with the C3.

Check out the CMP website if you know any Americans that could bid for you. There is a USMC Unertl (about as M40A1 as you can get) on there right now for a bid of $3500. They routinely get bid up to ~$5000.

http://cmpauction.thecmp.org/detail....Telescope-1024

Good luck with the search.

*** That scope is now up to 6501 US. *** I've seen a few very well made copies of the M40A1 out here on the west coast a few years ago. For that price you can get some really high end glass and have money to spare
 
Mac308 said:
As I mentioned: dated technology. It was state of the art 1970'-1980's, but time has passed the unertl by. That being said, it is still built like a tank....
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I don't know what kind of a tank you like if the reticle melts that's not a very good tank.
 
r34skyline said:
I don't know what kind of a tank you like if the reticle melts that's not a very good tank.
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Solid. Robust. Sturdy. You could use one to pound in a tent spike into the ground (not entirely sure why they would do that... but they did) and it would still function flawlessly.

Yes, the reticle did melt if the solid steel tube was left in the direct sun light, but Marines being Marines (masters of make-do and do-more with-less) they would find ways around that from happening.

I carried an M40A1 all over coastal North Carolina for a month through all sorts of weather: mid-50*F to low 100*F, high humidity, even the tail end of a hurricane, day and night, crawling through swamps, laying in open fields, and all sorts of other happiness the instructors could think up.....throughout it all, the Unertl never failed me once. None of the other students had any problems of reticles melting because the instructors had experienced it YEARS before and taught the students how to avoid it.

In my opinion it was a great scope, even better than most on the market today. I maintained it as instructed and it never failed me. However, it was dated technology and the eye relief was not the greatest for me.

If anyone here ever personally experienced the reticle melting in their scope PM me, I would be interested in hearing any others personal experience with the Unertl. Thanks

Mac
 
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