Preface
This rifle came to my attention during a visit to the Army Museum Bandiana, in Victoria Australia.
In the small arms section I found this rifle sitting above a Keppler and below a Parker Hale M82.
The plaque had limited information on it but enough to get me interested in learning more.
Unfortunately the information on the plaque was incorrect and that was somewhat of a theme of the small arms plaques in this museum however one part was true, the rifle was produced by Armament Technology Inc (ATI) and tested as a potential replacement for the Parker Hale M82.
This post isn't to talk about the trials as a whole and every offering, just this one interesting rifle.
The majority of information in this post came directly from Andrew Weber in a phone "interview"/conversation we had on the subject in 2021, so bear in mind it is a bit one sided though MR Weber certainly was helpful and struck me as having a realistic and fair view of the rifles.
Background
1996-1997.
In the late 1990's, the current Australian Army sniper rifle, the Parker Hale M82 with Kahles ZF69 scope, was outdated and the rifles themselves tired and in frequent need of maintenance.
ATI teamed with 2 ex-Australian Army members, a Corporal and Major (to best of his memory) who had formed a "Tactical Study Group" in relation to the sniper rifle replacement. At the time the group did not have the depth to produce a sniper rifle for the contract and instead approached ATI for partnership.
At the time ATI were a very small company. in MR Webers words " we had been leaders in custom rifle building for a while. I looked at the M24 and thought "we could improve on it as a small shop."
The rifles ATI built had won 7-8 national championships in Canada and they had confidence that the rifle they would produce could perform.
The rifle
Remington 700 SHORT action:
Work done: Faced the action. Faced Bolt Nose. Lugs lapped. Firing pin spring replaced. Cocking piece polished internally. All parts polished internally.
Coating: Black oxide bath - plugged bore and chamber during this process.
Bolt handle: Made by ATI and then welded to bolt body. ATI were a leader in this area but didn't invent it. started in 86. SSG69 had similar bolt knob before them.
Trigger: Remington trigger of the era. Polished sear etc. Tuned.
Barrel:
Length - 26" (Note, I think this is wrong, the barrel looks to be 24" to me)
Profile - M24 1.2" for 2" length taper to 0.09" at 26" (24?)
Twist rate- 1:11.27 - 5R rifling
Manufacturer- Mike Rock
Coating - Black oxide bath after bead blasting for matte finish
Crown- Recessed Target crown (note, we had some discussion on this. Weber referenced some research done around that time regarding the recessed crown vs a 11 degree crown and the effect that had on the shot signature).
Bottom Metal: Made by ATI. Used M14 magazines. Supplied with 4 extra magazines. "Not an ideal setup, very fussy to configure. The bolt face has very little bite which causes an issue for feeding from these mags".
Stock: HS Precision. Green with heavy black fleck .4th sling stud: Ahead of the trigger guard. (part of requirements). (note, I think it is a PST012 in olive/black).
Sights: Brand- Redfield Model- Palma Bases- Redfield (Same sights as M24).
Scope mounts: Brand- Leupold 2 piece QRW Model
Rings: QRW 1" throw lever QD
Note : Weber originally wanted to use the 1 piece M24 style Base and Mk4 rings however the budget stipulated by the Army did not allow for this, unfortunately (for ATI) the other contenders were not penalised for going over the budget and it's likely ATI could have slipped in the M24 / Mk4 parts.
Scope: Leupold Model- 49212 Vari-x III Magnification- 3.5-10x40 with case/ accessories kit like M24. Mildot Reticle.
As above, Weber did not want to use this scope and said "The Mk4 was in use in Canada at the time, was preferred by them or the Bausch and Lomb 10X".
Ammunition : Lapua 170 LB -open base round (Note: this would be the 170Gn Lockbase and was the round selected with the AI SR98 which won the contract).
Accessories:
Bipod - Harris - Bench Rest Height
Sling- Green Canvas, locally made.
Cleaning kit- Made up themselves. Parker hale rods and brushes. Cordura Roll. Also armourers kit with punches, torque wrench etc.
Case- Hard Case
Bag- soft bag
Notes from conversation with Weber:
What they had to change/ sacrifice to meet tender/ directed to change for cost or other reasons:
The scope base. Scope Rings and scope itself.
Adjustability of stock. (Originally had adjustable LOP and cheek rest).
Accuracy performance during trial: 0.3-05MOA
Who were the other contenders: Webber: Not 100% sure. AI for sure as they "gave us the most grief". Hadn't heard about the Keppler (I mentioned the Keppler as it was photographed with the ATI rifle)
Conclusion:
Ultimately the ATI M24-AT1 rifle was not successful and the Accuracy International submission, the SR-98 , was selected and remains in service.
The M24-AT1 was somewhat compromised by the changes they had to make however the AI was more advanced design and did not have the same compromises.
Photos:
(NOTE: At some stage this rifle has had a Kahles ZF84 scope fitted and a 1 piece mount for that, no info available on where that came from but it was probably superior to the Vari-x 3), also of note the Keppler below has the same optic.
This rifle came to my attention during a visit to the Army Museum Bandiana, in Victoria Australia.
In the small arms section I found this rifle sitting above a Keppler and below a Parker Hale M82.
The plaque had limited information on it but enough to get me interested in learning more.
Unfortunately the information on the plaque was incorrect and that was somewhat of a theme of the small arms plaques in this museum however one part was true, the rifle was produced by Armament Technology Inc (ATI) and tested as a potential replacement for the Parker Hale M82.
This post isn't to talk about the trials as a whole and every offering, just this one interesting rifle.
The majority of information in this post came directly from Andrew Weber in a phone "interview"/conversation we had on the subject in 2021, so bear in mind it is a bit one sided though MR Weber certainly was helpful and struck me as having a realistic and fair view of the rifles.
Background
1996-1997.
In the late 1990's, the current Australian Army sniper rifle, the Parker Hale M82 with Kahles ZF69 scope, was outdated and the rifles themselves tired and in frequent need of maintenance.
ATI teamed with 2 ex-Australian Army members, a Corporal and Major (to best of his memory) who had formed a "Tactical Study Group" in relation to the sniper rifle replacement. At the time the group did not have the depth to produce a sniper rifle for the contract and instead approached ATI for partnership.
At the time ATI were a very small company. in MR Webers words " we had been leaders in custom rifle building for a while. I looked at the M24 and thought "we could improve on it as a small shop."
The rifles ATI built had won 7-8 national championships in Canada and they had confidence that the rifle they would produce could perform.
The rifle
Remington 700 SHORT action:
Work done: Faced the action. Faced Bolt Nose. Lugs lapped. Firing pin spring replaced. Cocking piece polished internally. All parts polished internally.
Coating: Black oxide bath - plugged bore and chamber during this process.
Bolt handle: Made by ATI and then welded to bolt body. ATI were a leader in this area but didn't invent it. started in 86. SSG69 had similar bolt knob before them.
Trigger: Remington trigger of the era. Polished sear etc. Tuned.
Barrel:
Length - 26" (Note, I think this is wrong, the barrel looks to be 24" to me)
Profile - M24 1.2" for 2" length taper to 0.09" at 26" (24?)
Twist rate- 1:11.27 - 5R rifling
Manufacturer- Mike Rock
Coating - Black oxide bath after bead blasting for matte finish
Crown- Recessed Target crown (note, we had some discussion on this. Weber referenced some research done around that time regarding the recessed crown vs a 11 degree crown and the effect that had on the shot signature).
Bottom Metal: Made by ATI. Used M14 magazines. Supplied with 4 extra magazines. "Not an ideal setup, very fussy to configure. The bolt face has very little bite which causes an issue for feeding from these mags".
Stock: HS Precision. Green with heavy black fleck .4th sling stud: Ahead of the trigger guard. (part of requirements). (note, I think it is a PST012 in olive/black).
Sights: Brand- Redfield Model- Palma Bases- Redfield (Same sights as M24).
Scope mounts: Brand- Leupold 2 piece QRW Model
Rings: QRW 1" throw lever QD
Note : Weber originally wanted to use the 1 piece M24 style Base and Mk4 rings however the budget stipulated by the Army did not allow for this, unfortunately (for ATI) the other contenders were not penalised for going over the budget and it's likely ATI could have slipped in the M24 / Mk4 parts.
Scope: Leupold Model- 49212 Vari-x III Magnification- 3.5-10x40 with case/ accessories kit like M24. Mildot Reticle.
As above, Weber did not want to use this scope and said "The Mk4 was in use in Canada at the time, was preferred by them or the Bausch and Lomb 10X".
Ammunition : Lapua 170 LB -open base round (Note: this would be the 170Gn Lockbase and was the round selected with the AI SR98 which won the contract).
Accessories:
Bipod - Harris - Bench Rest Height
Sling- Green Canvas, locally made.
Cleaning kit- Made up themselves. Parker hale rods and brushes. Cordura Roll. Also armourers kit with punches, torque wrench etc.
Case- Hard Case
Bag- soft bag
Notes from conversation with Weber:
What they had to change/ sacrifice to meet tender/ directed to change for cost or other reasons:
The scope base. Scope Rings and scope itself.
Adjustability of stock. (Originally had adjustable LOP and cheek rest).
Accuracy performance during trial: 0.3-05MOA
Who were the other contenders: Webber: Not 100% sure. AI for sure as they "gave us the most grief". Hadn't heard about the Keppler (I mentioned the Keppler as it was photographed with the ATI rifle)
Conclusion:
Ultimately the ATI M24-AT1 rifle was not successful and the Accuracy International submission, the SR-98 , was selected and remains in service.
The M24-AT1 was somewhat compromised by the changes they had to make however the AI was more advanced design and did not have the same compromises.
Photos:
(NOTE: At some stage this rifle has had a Kahles ZF84 scope fitted and a 1 piece mount for that, no info available on where that came from but it was probably superior to the Vari-x 3), also of note the Keppler below has the same optic.
