Anyone know what ammo was used for sniping in Vietnam ?

[Johnny in Texas]

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.

[rickgman]

Johnny, It has been documented that Carlo Hatchcock use M72 ammo. Can't speak to the subject of 7.62mm ammo. Rick

[Sunray]

I think it was mentioned in "Marine Sniper". Hathcock's biography. I'd have to find the book to look.

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

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

[Garden Valley]

All the snipers I encountered had M40 rifles and M118 Match ammo. XM118 Match was standardized as M118 in 1965 as I recall.

[Johnny in Texas]

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.

[Johnny in Texas]

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.

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

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

[bd1]

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.

4-groove Model 70 .30-06's shoot the old M72 real good.

[Chris F]

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.

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?