Baker Special Sniper?

[Zigjib]

Does anyone know who used the Baker Special as the Stock for their sniper rifle?
A gentleman here gave me the full build specs a few years ago but i've lost the specs after we canned the build when McMillan stopped making the stock.
If anyone has the details, would you mind posting them?
Thanks
Carso

 

[USMCSGT0331]

SEALs uses them, but not too much is known about the rifles. There are only a few original SEAL used stocks floating around in private collections. I've owned 3 of them and they're the only 3 I've ever seen. 1 black, 1 green and 1 tan. At least one of them, if not all 3, use an "L" shaped recoil lug like the Mk13 Mod 0's have. The stocks use a Remington 700 long action receiver, probably with a "B" or "C" serial number prefix. The rifles are chambered in .300 Win Mag and probably had a Douglas barrel, since that's what they were using on the pre-Mk13's and other rifles at the time.

This is why the Vintage Section is the best forum, more information that you won't be able to find anywhere else!

Here's the tan stock, it's awesome! The stock still has it's original sniper paint and I paired it with an original SEAL used painted barrel (not matching camo). The barrel appears to be an actual Baker Special barrel, since the unpainted portion on the underside is the exact same dimensions as the stock's forend. The camo paint is different, but I'm 99% sure that the barrel came off a Baker Special. This is the only original stock/barrel set that I'm aware of, so the new owner is extremely lucky to have it! All of my Baker Special stocks and the painted barrels came out of Crane long ago and I trust the source, so they're legit.

The barrel is only marked with the last 4 digits of the receiver's serial number, the serial number pic is one of my M91 barrels (I didn't take a pic of the serial number on the Baker Special barrel, so this is a stand-in photo for the missing pic, it just gives you and idea of what the marking looked like). The other 2 pics are the Baker Special barrel with what appears to be an original SEAL used RAD M91 barrel. I have 3 of these possible M91 barrels, all 3 are painted and are possibly war used. The 3 M91 barrels are available, in case anyone wants one......

3 possible M91 barrels are for sale, buy all 3 and you can screw the legs to brackets attached to a seats, and you'll have the world's most awesome stool! I've checked the unpainted area with a variety of original sniper rifle stocks, they dont fit anything that I have in my collection (M83, M24, Mk13, etc.), so all we can think of is the M91. They each have the last 4 digits of the receiver's serial number stamped on them and all 3 are chambered in 7.62x51.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

Here's the black and green SEAL used Baker Special stocks, the green one still has it's sniper paint, the black stock is unpainted.

 

[USMCSGT0331]

I'm going to also include this SEAL sniper used stock as well, since it's pretty much unknown and we've been calling it "the missing link." This is a HS Precision sniper rifle stock that was used with a Remington 700 long action receiver and chambered in .300 Win Mag (probably a Douglas barrel too).

What makes this stock very interesting is that there was also another version of it that was used by the SEAL shooting team. The SEAL shooting team version of the stock had an adjustable saddle cheekpiece, that was the only difference that I've heard about. Both stocks also used the infamous "L" shaped recoil lugs.

We think that this stock could be the missing link between the "L" shaped recoil lugs and the Mk13 Mod 0's. We've alwyas been told that the unique recoil lug came from target shooters and carried on over into the sniper rifles, with the hopes of squeezing out every bit of accuracy as possible. Since the other version of this stock is a shooting team stock and it has the "L" shaped recoil lug, it stands to reason that those rifles are the target rifles everyone refers to when they make the link between target rifles and sniper rifles that used the lug. So, this could be where the "L" shaped recoil lug started it's life in US military rifles!

I have no idea if this is the correct history, since I don't know when these black HS stock rifles were made. If they came vefore the Baker Special and the pre-Mk13's, then it's history is solid. If it came out at the exact same time or possibly later than those other 2 rifles, then my theory is out the window. I'd like to think that this is where the "L" shaped recoil lug started out, but I don't have any solid proof. If this rifle is the first sniper rifle to use the "L" recoil lug, then this would be a grail piece for Mk13 collectors, since whoever owns it can complete the lineage that led to the pre-Mk13's. If you're a Mk13 collector, this stock would really complete your collection! But again, this is all guess-work, hopefully more information surfaces in the future.

This is the only one I've ever seen, I have no idea if there's any others in private collections. I just pulled this stock off gunbroker a few days ago and sold it to a friend. I hope he does a clone build with it!

I hope you guys found my 3 posts interesting! I think it could be the start of a really great discussion and possibly a new thread to be tacked to the top of the Vintage forum page.

 

[Random Guy]

Does anyone know who used the Baker Special as the Stock for their sniper rifle?

Here's what was relayed to me by Pat Mitternight, who was a long-time employee at Crane and knew the early history of the 300 WinMags:

1990-1991 : Crane made some 300 WinMag sniper rifles for NAVSPECWAR DEVGRU only - and John Clements at Crane had developed a recoil lug that increased the bedding surfaces and bedding rigidity, given the 300 WinMag's recoil forces. (Anecdotal: A Navy vet from that era knew a left-handed SEAL who in 1992-93 had a 300 WinMag sniper rifle built at Crane on a McMillan Baker Special stock, presumably with a left-handed action, but it wasn't totally clear to me. So it appears that operator-specific configurations exited back in the early 1990s, in an era that reportedly lacked "process control"). I have no idea how many Baker Special stocks were purchased by Crane, but it sounds like a SEAL Team 6/DEVGRU thing to me - based on anecdotals. I will also note the Baker Special is a competition stock so the Navy Rifle team could have used them for 1000 yard competitions as well. (AMU was also using the 300 WinMag in long-range competitons).


The other NSW teams continued to use the 7.62x51mm sniper rifles built by Crane since 1982. In addition, around 1990-91, Redick Arms Development (RAD) provided the Navy/Crane with approx 300 long action M700 sniper rifles in 7.62x51mm NATO, as replacements for the M86 SOCOM sniper rifle. The nomenclature was M91. (The M86 was a short action 7.62x51mm made by the then defunct G. McMillan Rifle Company).

My comments:
The Bausch & Lomb (B&L) 10x Tactical scope was initially used, which comports with the order of these scopes that the Navy procured in 1989-1990 for the old M14 Physical Security Sniper Rifle. However, the fixed 10x Leupolds were also reportedly in the inventory and were presumably used as well. I think there was a lot of 'operator flexibility' during that era, before 9/11/2001 and all the SOCOM-based missions that followed.

Late 1993 appears to be when the DEV GRU teams with their WinMag sniper rifles got the newly developed Mk 248 Mod 0 ammo, and thus were 'officially' married up, so to speak. (This was the first time that 300 WinMag ammo with the 190grain SMK bullet was officially "approved for combat" use...per US military lawyers).

1994 (per John Clements): Crane provided a sample recoil lug to Precision Reflex Inc (PRI) and they offered the lug as a commercial item, apparently called the 'Big Foot' lug. Not sure how long it was offered as a commercial item. I was told that some benchrest shooters used this lug.

1995 (Per Pat Mitternight): It was decided to provide all SPECWAR SEAL teams with 300 WinMag sniper rifles, and thus Crane converted the M91 rifles to the 300 WinMag caliber. The rifle was simply called the ‘Rifle 300 Mag Rem 700’. My understanding is 1995 is when the solid grey McMillan A2 stocks were ordered - and the 300WinMag rifle became more standardized, including a left-handed and right-handed NSN number, etc. (Note: These rifle were later updated with McCann rails and became the Mk 13 Mod 0/1, and new tan A2 stocks were ordered, etc)

 

[Zigjib]

SEALs uses them, but not too much is known about the rifles. There are only a few original SEAL used stocks floating around in private collections. I've owned 3 of them and they're the only 3 I've ever seen. 1 black, 1 green and 1 tan. At least one of them, if not all 3, use an "L" shaped recoil lug like the Mk13 Mod 0's have. The stocks use a Remington 700 long action receiver, probably with a "B" or "C" serial number prefix. The rifles are chambered in .300 Win Mag and probably had a Douglas barrel, since that's what they were using on the pre-Mk13's and other rifles at the time.

This is why the Vintage Section is the best forum, more information that you won't be able to find anywhere else!

Here's the tan stock, it's awesome! The stock still has it's original sniper paint and I paired it with an original SEAL used painted barrel (not matching camo). The barrel appears to be an actual Baker Special barrel, since the unpainted portion on the underside is the exact same dimensions as the stock's forend. The camo paint is different, but I'm 99% sure that the barrel came off a Baker Special. This is the only original stock/barrel set that I'm aware of, so the new owner is extremely lucky to have it! All of my Baker Special stocks and the painted barrels came out of Crane long ago and I trust the source, so they're legit.

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The barrel is only marked with the last 4 digits of the receiver's serial number, the serial number pic is one of my M91 barrels (I didn't take a pic of the serial number on the Baker Special barrel, so this is a stand-in photo for the missing pic, it just gives you and idea of what the marking looked like). The other 2 pics are the Baker Special barrel with what appears to be an original SEAL used RAD M91 barrel. I have 3 of these possible M91 barrels, all 3 are painted and are possibly war used. The 3 M91 barrels are available, in case anyone wants one......

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3 possible M91 barrels are for sale, buy all 3 and you can screw the legs to brackets attached to a seats, and you'll have the world's most awesome stool! I've checked the unpainted area with a variety of original sniper rifle stocks, they dont fit anything that I have in my collection (M83, M24, Mk13, etc.), so all we can think of is the M91. They each have the last 4 digits of the receiver's serial number stamped on them and all 3 are chambered in 7.62x51.

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awesome info as always mate!
Thankyou so much!

 

[Charlie112]

This information is outstanding!!! THANKS TO ALL!’️

 

[Aaros143]

May not exactly be vintage but didn't some tacops rifles get built in the Baker stock?

 

[USMCSGT0331]

May not exactly be vintage but didn't some tacops rifles get built in the Baker stock?

A better place to ask that question would be the huge Tac Ops thread in the Bolt Action section. Mike hangs out there, so you'll be able to get an answer directly from the owner of the company.

 

[Int1968]

The alpha-66

Sure wish McMillan would build some stocks or sell the molds to someone who would

 

[API Norway]

Mine old Baker Special , now in .223 , and I think it will stay like this.

 

[wildcats]

On a 40X single shot. (30 LBFM Lazzeroni Based Forras McPherson) 15 + years ago.