SLEEK SNIPER: New, Lightweight .50 Caliber Semi-Auto Rifle

Looks like the U.S. Navy SEALs just got a brand new tool for the War on Terror. The boys at NSWC Crane (Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Indiana) have apparently been busy little beavers over there. One of the projects they've been working on is this little .50 BMG badboy. It's called the AS50 Semi-Automatic Rifle, and it's the result of NSWC Crane's teaming with Accuracy International (AI).

At approx. 27 pounds empty/dry weight (according to the AI representative at their booth), the AI AS50 is relatively lightweight. DefenseReview got a chance to handle it (and lift it) at its SHOT Show 2005 debut, and was surprised at how light it felt, for a semi-auto .50 caliber rifle. One of the pictures DefRev shot at SHOT (which we will be releasing soon) shows...


three targets, each shot at 100 meters. On all three targets, all the rounds are touching.

The Accuracy International (AI) AS50 Semi-Auto Rifle (.50 BMG) was designed specifically for U.S. military Special Operations (SPECOPS) personnel/snipers. More specifically, it was designed for the U.S. Navy SEALs to provide them with anti-materiel/long-range interdiction capability, combined with fast follow-up shot capability, in a combat-rugged, lightweight weapons package that can be assembled and broken down quickly and easily, and maintained easily. However, although the AS50 rifle was designed specifically for Naval SPECWAR end-users, DefenseReview has no doubt that other elements of SOCOM (USSOCOM) will be taking a good look at AI's latest .50 caliber creation. And, we wouldn't be surprised if U.S. NSWDG (U.S. Navy DevGroup) and certain U.S. Army Special Forces units out of Ft. Bragg, NC and Ft. Campbell, KY were already field testing the AS50 on enemy insurgents, in the Sandbox.