Army M24 now considered "vintage"?

[Eric B.]

The army M24 sniper rifle with its Remington 700 long action, HS Precision stock and 7.62 x 51 NATO chambering has been out of use for over a decade now. Is it "vintage" yet? (Yeah, I know the Army "re-purposed" the action into the XM 2010 chassis sniper rifle in ,300 Win mag.)

Eric B.

 

[Huskydriver]

Vintage to who?

 

[sandwarrior]

Yep, we now consider them vintage. There's a bunch of threads on here about them.

It's not so much we just retired them, it's that they started life in 1988.

 

[Reverie Ranges]

I wouldn't put it into the "vintage" category quite yet. The platform is still fairly current for todays market and is easily upgradable (scope, threaded, floorplate, etc. There should be a major change in platform requirements before being emotionally downgraded. There are over 300 'Vintage" M21s in Gov warehouse that Military units can requisition. Wish my unit would have paid shipping on some of those before deployment.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

For the purposes of this forum... discussion probably belongs here as this is where they will be most appreciated. That and their lineage is relevant and definitely vintage!

cheers, Sirh

 

[Strykervet]

Shit, you guys make me feel old.

 

[skipjack]

Shit, you guys make me feel old.

Your not kidding. I was about to say the same thing.

 

[sandwarrior]

Shit, you guys make me feel old.

And I'm older than you! ...?

The funny thing is the M24 POST-DATES me by three years. I had suggested in my time in S-3 that we get something like the Marines. As in a "built for sniping" bolt action rifle. I got a lot of "That's just stupid," "Ain't never gonna happen," "We need real firepower, not single shots," responses. Lo and behold, the bolt action rifle is introduced, and fielded?, three years later. What a dumbass I was to ever suggest such a thing.

 

[Random Guy]

There is a long thread over the past 3 years re the M24, which might be of interest:

https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/army-m24-build-thread.6252616/#post-6252616

 

[mjh30]

The army M24 sniper rifle with its Remington 700 long action, HS Precision stock and 7.62 x 51 NATO chambering has been out of use for over a decade now. Is it "vintage" yet? (Yeah, I know the Army "re-purposed" the action into the XM 2010 chassis sniper rifle in ,300 Win mag.)

Eric B.

Pretty sure its still in use by several units.

 

[Reverie Ranges]

Is the Ma Deuce "vintage"? It is still in use and likely not to be replaced anytime soon... We have other weapon systems that augment it, but do not replace it.

 

[jbell]

Just because it’s still in use doesn’t mean it isn’t vintage. When there is a weapon system that is still in use but it out dates every person on the planet I think it qualifies...

 

[Random Guy]

The question is overly subjective. I'd say its "quasi-vintage" if it applies to the original configuration, which is over 30 years old. The newer M24A2 configuration that I think is used by the US Air Force (and presumably various foreign military's too) is a more modern configuration. These are not my rifles, but the pic came off that thread I posted earlier. Top is a circa 1988 M24 and I'd call that 'quasi-vintage' as that was the best technology at the time (late 1980s). The rifle on the bottom was described as circa 2013 M24A2 - and I'd call that configuration contemporary/modern, as it is using some much new technology. (ie, newer optics, night vision/laser desginator/weapon light mounting capability, sound suppression, adjustable/ergnomic stock to accommodate various users and optics, detachable magazines, etc).

My guess is the M24A2 platform will extend the life of the M24 for military usage, esp in foreign countries like Israel and other foreign militarys that adopted the M24 back in the 1990s or 2000s, etc. So I don't think 'vintage' applies to the M24A2 configuration...

FWIW, when it comes to the local 'Vintage precision rifle match' held by Quantico's Shooting Club twice a year, the M24 in any flavor
is considered in the 'modern category'. The other categories are 1. vintage (pre-1953 per CMP rules), 2. Vietnam era, and 3. Modern.

 

[sandwarrior]

A different take on things is going back to the original design. That was 1948 with the models 721 and 722. They preceded the model 700 by 14 years but for all intents and purposes it is basically the same design. It’s really the first modification of a Mauser rifle (in 50 years) to not use a claw extractor. And, the design was intended to keep the bolt in tighter alignment with the cartridge stack. The purpose of which was to keep cartridges in better alignment with the chamber. Controlled round feed rifles tend to “lever” the cartridges as they are picked up by the claw. Benchresters are always looking for anything to eliminate what might put a cartridge out of alignment.

Anyhow the first combat use of the design, which was by then renamed to the 700, was 18 years after it’s inception. The Army FINALLY (40 years) figured out that a bolt action was what you need for long range precision. Of course teaching the Army what precision was was difficult enough in itself.

So yeah, that design concept is 70 years old. I’d call that vintage.