I always assume it was the white box Match M72 and XM118.
I'm sure they used what they had but was the white box Match ammo common to see.
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I always assume it was the white box Match M72 and XM118.
I'm sure they used what they had but was the white box Match ammo common to see.
Johnny, It has been documented that Carlo Hatchcock use M72 ammo. Can't speak to the subject of 7.62mm ammo. Rick
I think it was mentioned in "Marine Sniper". Hathcock's biography. I'd have to find the book to look.
Hathcock used a Unertl 7.8 powered scope on a match grade Model 70 Winchester in 30-06 with a special, straight from Lake City, lot of international match ammo utilizing 173 gr BT bullets at 2550 fps, as did all the early Marine snipers. Hathcock's rifle only shot 2 MOA. He made good use of that 2 MOA. His longest shot was 2500 yards with an M-2 with the same scope mounted that he used on his rifle. Excellent Marine who deserves a lot of respect. He certainly has mine.
Jim
All the snipers I encountered had M40 rifles and M118 Match ammo. XM118 Match was standardized as M118 in 1965 as I recall.
20 years ago I shot up a can of XM118 '63 before I realized what I had. I still have 2 cans of '66 M 118 and 2 cans of '68 M118 will probably never shoot it.
I have heard that Hathcock's rifle was a 2 MOA rifle. Maybe the Standard M72 @ 2650 FPS. would have shot a little better. My prewar M70 target will shoot 1 MOA with it. But I never laid in the bush with ants crawling into my shirt and pant and tried it.
In my mind, Hathcock's greatest achievement was killing Apache. He made many incredible shots, and had courage in boatloads. He was a true blue combat Marine.
Jim
4-groove Model 70 .30-06's shoot the old M72 real good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny in Texas
International Match was a low velocity, low recoil round produced for 300M International Shooting per Hatcher's spec. IIR the velocity specified was ~2200 to 2300fp and was loaded exclusively by FA. Do you have a source that you can point me toward for that bit of information?Quote:
match grade Model 70 Winchester in 30-06 with a special, straight from Lake City, lot of international match ammo utilizing 173 gr BT bullets at 2550 fps, as did all the early Marine snipers.