to Everybody, [/align] I understand that balistically, there are better rifles, and possibly better choices for a tactical rifle. And the true shooters in the military know it too. But we have to play by the rules set by uncle sam. I also used to be part of the school that the .308 was the end all - be all caliber. And I have learned through experience that isn't the case. I great round yes, and tons of uses, but not the ultimate perfect round for all occasions.[/align][/align]ipscshooter: [/align]for the most part, we do not get asay in what rifle or caliber unless you come from a Special Ops Unit. In some infantry units, we might have a choice between a modified M-14 (.308), an M-24 (.308) or the new 5.56 (.223) sniper rifle. I have not seen the issue model of this, so I don't know the nomenclature.[/align][/align] To answer thisquestionipscshooter is for the most part correct. the .308 for military snipers was a logistics issue. the 7.62 Nato round is available anywhere we go to warfromallied forces. Not always match ammo, but ammo is always available. This is the same reason tha there is suchresistance to the military switching to another small arms caliber (I think it was the 6.5 or something like that) if we go to war and need ammo, we wouldbe the only country using it. As it is right now, we get our 5.56 from a lot of countries besides the US. All made to Nato Specs, by Nato countries.[/align] The common military sniping cartridge is 7.62 Nato, or .308 in civilian terms. I know that these are not EXACTLY the same, but in most guns if you can fire one, you can fire the other. At any rate, since military Snipers use this it became popular. Most LE departments did not have dedicated "snipers"years back. Just the guy who was a "sharpshooter" the guy who was a good deer hunter, or shot a lot of squirrels. Then departments started looking to the military to see what they were using, or they had guys with military experience that said, this is what we need to use. This is what I am familiar with...etc. More often than many guys realize, certain calibers get used in the LE field because the military uses or used it first. I don't know that there is a ballistic reason that the military chose the .308. I believe that it was chosen because that is the same round our machine guns fire. That way, when you run out of match ammo, you can always find more ammo in a pinch. This is someting that I think that we are starting to get away from as some units have or are switching to the .300, and some spec ops units are going to the Accuracy International .338 LM. That really is a superb weapon. About 10,000 each I think. That according to the books is the only ( or at least one of the very few)calibers that was develped SPECIFICALLY to be a military Sniper round. Most everything else has been develped by the firearms industry for hunting of one thing or another.[/align][/align]Hope this sheds some light on the matter.[/align][/align]