SWORD International will be demonstrating this all-new Mark 18 Mod 0 semi-automatic .338 Lapua at the SHOT Show Media Day At The Range, and we’d like to take an informal poll: should we shoot it? This isn’t a scientific survey, but keep in mind that there is only one correct answer . . .
The Mark 18 Mod 0 is based on the AR-15 platform design, although I’d be surprised if parts commonality extends beyond the buttstock and pistol grip. The immense size and power of the .338 Lapua cartridge require a truly massive operating system; even the buffer spring has to be much stronger than anything you’d ever stuff into an AR-15 or AR-10.
This rifle features a free-floated Lothar Walther barrel, a proprietary piston-driven operating system, and a 10-round double-stack magazine that must be the size of a small telephone book.
The MSRP hasn’t been announced, but the similar Noreen ‘Bad News’ .338 semi-auto will set you back six grand if that’s any guide. Whatever its MSRP, this is a rifle I probably couldn’t afford even if it were free: .338 Lapua runs three to five dollars per round.
Cry me a river.
I’ve heard the Pope wears a funny hat. Until I see him wearing one I will not believe it. Until we see you shoot this .338 Lapua we will not believe it exists. We need a video.
I’d pass on this. It’s an insult to the average Joe. Something he could never afford to shoot, let alone hold. And you want to use your status as a popular gun blogger to shoot it for free? Go ahead. This isn’t a gun, it’s a status symbol of wealth. I am all for capitalism but this rifle is just a symbol of excess. Something to flaunt at the show but is really only something the rich can afford. The rest of us will oogle on the sidelines at it but it’s not a realistic firearm. No thanks. This rifle is only an anomaly, like the DeLorean using a stainless steel body, it’s using an exotic cartridge that can’t be found anywhere, unless you have the money.
There’s a guy who prowls the NOVA gun shows with a .50 Beowulf AR. I’ve seen him at just about every show I’ve gone to for the last two years trying to sell it. He bought one of these super charged exotics and now he’s forever trying to get rid of it. He’ll never sell it for anywhere near what he bought it for but he bought into the hype, like all the DeLorean buyers and now he’s stuck with a pariah. Some calibers aren’t realistic for the average guy, and .338 is one of them. I really don’t want to read about how much fun it is to shoot something that no one normal can afford.
I bet you don’t watch Top Gear.
Wow Brad, I don’t know what I did to piss you off.
never understood the .50 Beowulf always though I’d be more practical too just get a semi-auto shotgun that runs well with slugs and an extended magazine, if you wanted to hunt engine blocks like feral hogs then get a saiga 12 and load it with slugs.
So, I take it that you don’t like watching videos of people shooting machine guns? Because cost of an automatic gun makes this contraption look like a cheap whore on a Tuesday morning….
Zimm earns a man card for blasting a bad guy. However the thought of bat shit crazy chick mounting fat boy….well let’s not go there.
Love SIG, but I’m pretty skeptical of this “modular idea”. We all know what happened to the P250, and AFAIK nothing ever came of the Beretta Nano, which was supposed to be modular as well. What I really want to see from SIG is a P226 with a lower damn bore axis.
Actually…if the difference is mainly that the action length is longer than a .308, why not one of thse in .300 win mag or 7mm?
Not to try and hijack the thread.
GEE, CAN I COME? I’LL SHOOT THE SH*T OUT OF IT .. IF YOUALL IS SCARED ..
you guys need a head adjustment if you don’t want to shoot that rifle..
where can I GET ONE????
Robert Seddon
Absolutely. I’m active duty so for me it’s a part of my day. Aside from that I am a firm believer in being prepared for as many situations as I possibly can. Whether I’m stuck in the woods or in the middle of an urban area when SHTF, physical conditioning could potentially be a lifesaving difference…..or Chuck Norris shows up and roundhouse kicks fate in the John Thomas…..whichever
They must mean homicide by cop.
LEO’s have a departmental responsibility to fulfill their quota of city revenue enhancement, one simply cannot expect them to safely handle a firearm as well
I looked up “balanced” in the dictionary to check and see if the meaning had changed. It apparently hasn’t.
So what we have here is political doublespeak with the intent to legalize the transparency of doctor-patient privacy with government officials.
Whatever it takes to block a gun sale and eliminate other rights in the process (privacy).
The main problem with a pump in a vertical rack is that you have to lock the action on an empty chamber to keep the forearm from rattling open the action as you bump down the road. If you allow that sooner or later the round on the lifter falls out making a more complicated mess.
So if you have the action locked on an empty chamber, you have to unlock the action before chambering a round . that is done one of two ways: unlock the action with thef action release or pull the trigger.
After unloading the magazine tube you have to open the action check it, account for the round on the lifter and then turn in the weapon in its required state (usually hammer down)
After a long shift its easy to think the chamber is empty and pull the trigger instead of going through the steps to clear the chamber.
Course the dumbest thing i have been exposed to is wondering if the SG is cocked so just reach over and pull the trigger while its racked . instant roof ventilation.
If you want some interesting reading , read Portland Police Bureau reports on a recent Officer Termination.
What a nice 9mm Glock came out with…….what…..a 380?
“Hey, if the antis can promote gun control as pre-crime, gun rights guys can promote concealed carry as pre-crime prevention. It doesn’t make any sense, but logic rarely intrudes on the gun control debate.”
Fair enough.
Read most of the responses; Dick got what was coming to him IMO. He wasn’t silenced; he wasn’t muffled.. He was a victim of saying something he wanted to say that was job related- in the course of his job- anti towards those that were his real consumers- and he suffers the consequences for his actions. As I see it- it’s no different than that PR lady that put her foot in her mouth not too long ago.
The right to bear arms I believe has already been infringed time and time again; our founding fathers would have been appalled at the idea of getting a permit to carry their guns; or even a permit to hunt. Taking a mandatory class is also an infringement too; yes- you should be encouraged to take one especially if you are new to guns-in the interest of safety- perhaps a free course at the retail store where you buy your first weapon or second or whatever numbered weapon- but not mandatory. We should be working on taking back the areas that we’ve allowed our government to overstep their bounds..Silencers. SBR’s. Full automatics. High capacity mags- to name a few..
Any mandatory course could be misused to provide a less than favorable outlook- if the people giving the class are so inclined. Imagine going to a class and having someone tell newbies that a gun can go off all by itself; someone will believe him.. Or carrying a gun makes you less of a man.. Repeat the lie enough- and some will believe it. This is how it always starts anyways- does it not ?
While the idea of educating your kids by having a mandatory class covering the subject sounds good- it can be used to the anti’s favor- turned to a negative presentation which turns the kids against our ideals; it’s already being used to an extent in our public schools- where they indoctrinate our youth; they figure that over time- they will eventually win. And if we let them continue- they will. Even mandatory “Basic Training” over the course of a summer could be misused by the government to spread whatever ideas that they want to portray; you should not trust your government to not attempt to play into that. Imagine sending your kids off to “Basic Training” to have them indoctrinate your kids into believing that “Only the government and police should have weapons; if it were so- crime would be non-existent” Giving these idiots at any level the ability to stand on their soap box and present their “lessons” is not a wise choice.
Every range in my area either can’t let you or won’t let you use .338 LM. They can’t because the range is cleared for 8mm maximum (assumed to be 8mm Mauser but sometimes 8mm Remington Magnum). Or won’t because the range administrators don’t like the cartridge (but will allow more powerful cartridges such as .404 Chey Tac).
Hey guys, I am a Canadian and a gun owner and I really dont see the problem with requiring a safety course to own a rifle, shotgun or handgun. If you want to put your gun in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to use a gun, be my guest, but I wouldn’t do it. I am absolutely sure that I would not want my local gun shop selling guns to criminals, and so I am happy to go through regulation to ensure that guns are harder to get for criminals. Some people might have problems with this, but the legislation is there in order to protect those who haven’t done anything wrong and allow them to have firearms, while stopping unsafe people from attaining them. If you honestly think that we would be better off allowing absolutely anyone to own a firearm and not know how to use it safely or responsibly, then you are not a responsible person.
A man or woman who gets assaulted when walking through a dark empty alley in a high-crime area at 2:30AM is not to be ‘blamed,’ but they did something dumb. Zimmerman is that kind of person, except he doesn’t seem to learn to take his hand away from the fire.
Bah! Drop the extra 3 and the silly name, show me a reliable feeding carbine, or even 1911, and you have a semi auto with my undivided attention.
Lapua is cool and all, but its always seemed like a solution in search of a problem….edit: just like Kyle said!
Great review, scary price. I was on the fence between a red dot and getting a 1-4x and discovered their 1.25-4x vx-r patrol with the firedot. A little bit better looking price plus the glass is supposed to be gorgeous. Still havent pulled the trigger on it yet but it has to be a better choice then a Burris mtac?
Just as a heads up, looks like Alexander arms is coming out with there own version. Still ridiculously expensive.
Didn’t watch the vid, glad it’s available but my 30 mins is better spent.
That said- either Zim is an asshole or Shellie is crazy. Or both. I have no idea which one, and quite frankly I really don’t care. This has no more relevance for me than any other one of the 918324985 daily domestic violence cases which I care equally little about.
Although as I recall this is now the 2nd time Zim/Shellie domestic issues have involved the cops. Sounds like they should both wise up and go their separate ways.
Now they just need some music talking about how good it is to fight the cartels instead of songs glorifying them. I see a lot o bad stuff here, they need some military advisors aka green berets to educate them in guerrilla warfare. No one is in uniform so anyone can be a target if the SHTF. Another thing is that this has a big chance of going sour real quick, lets just hope they stay honest and dont change their ways if all this dies down and they have defeated the cartels. Other than that, this makes me proud of Mexico.
Such a fascination these people have with “Gun Crime” that they seem to ignore the other types of crime. Any idiot can easily suggest that if you are looking at crime caused by a specific tool, and you largely eliminate that tool- crime with that specific tool will diminish- to an extent. The real question is what is the consequence of removing guns from law abiding citizens? Has crime in general risen ? Has violent crime with guns been supplanted by violent crime wielding knives, base ball bats and other makeshift weapons ? Or crime where the bigger or stronger person prevails based solely upon size?
Pro-gun people should stop using the term “Gun Crime” and focus on the real issue– and ask about CRIME and Violent Crime instead.. Just like we don’t call our modern sporting rifles “Assault Weapons” and correct others when someone else calls them such- well, we should do the same with Crime and Violent Crime when some sap talks about “gun crime”. To me, I see no real appeal in distinguishing between “being killed with a gun” & “being knifed to death” & “being beat to death with a baseball bat” –more of one and less of another does not make the situation any “better”… Any time someone brings up the subject of “Gun Crime”- we should ask- what about crime in general and also- what about violent crime ? Make them think about the bigger picture- not the small slice ..
So, is UK & Australia any safer from crime and violent crime ? Or did they just lose their rights to defend themselves in vain ?
If there is no discipline, no chain of command, just little bunches of pissed off people running around with guns, I want to be away from there. Remember, even if you could form an effective militia, not saying you can’t, it would have to be absolutely no tech stone age, for starters.
The Weaver 1-5x tactical scope does it better:
-glass is clear enough to go both eyes open at 1x
-ffp
-mil based CIRT reticle
-red and green illuminated reticle
-zero at 200 yds
-screw on caps keep adjustments intact and house spare CR2032 batteries
I just sighted mine in last week on a weaver SPR mount which is solid too, even after lapping the rings with a kokopelli 30mm bar, I never got past the hard anodize because the finish is just that smooth – just make sure when you tighten the mount to your picatinny rail to snug up the center jam nut, so nothing comes loose.
With this scope, I was able to get a group of 3 holes touching at 200 yds out of m193 ball ammo, but the reticle works with whatever you wanna shoot as long as you know the velocity and b.c. of the bullet. The lower part of the reticle has 4 lines roughly equal to 20″ shoulder width at “A” 3.438 MOA drop, “B” 8.938 MOA drop, “C” 16.845 MOA drop, and “D” 27.502 MOA drop. If your handloading, just input your data here: http://www.shooterscalculator.com/ and set the chart to output in single yard increments so you can cross reference.
If the pakistanis want weapons they will get them just as any country or person can that said I had a pakistani professor last semester who probably hated America more than al qaeda so I have had a bad experience with pakistanis
I love the Sudafed argument.
If the Bad Guys can’t get pseudoephedrine, they can’t make meth. If they can’t make meth, people won’t get addicted to it. Restrict how much Sudafed people can buy, ask for ID and signatures, and a dangerous drug problem is solved. Pat yourselves on the back for a knee-jerk solution that’s sure to make a better community.
Problem is, restrictions only work until the Bad Guys find a new supplier for ingredients. The meth manufacturers found a new source and they ended up creating a purer product than they could with OTC medications. Now even more people are addicted to the [more powerful] illicit drug.
Sudafed restrictions made the meth problem worse, using it as a ‘pro restriction/good example’ prop piece isn’t the best idea.
PR is PR: Good for them but, here’s a question How did they get on the “short list” if they weren’t trying to sell to Pakistan in the first place? I call BS. But smart PR to drum up business and that is what business is about.
Wow…somebody beat the rifle to death with a huge ugly stick.
Happiness is a Warm Gun
I can’t help buy chuckle when people get so worked up about certain firearms, 1911’s just seem to bring it out.
Guns are just a tool, some are better than others and quite frankly a lot of it comes down to personal preference. I’m a little jaded with AR’s and plastic striker pistols right now because it just seems like the market is flooded with them. Everyone has a new cool design, like that silly Sig that was posted here the other day.
I own an example of most of the popular pistols, and they all have good and bad points. Pretty much all the ones I don’t own I know someone who does and have shot a bunch.
I own the above reviewed 1911 and I also have much nicer 1911’s, and I’d like to add a classic WW1 style to my collection at some point. For the price point if you want the GI look with some nice modern additions this is an excellent pistol. I would classify it as a great shooter, and a great way to add a nice looking gun to your collection for a modest price. Its not a high end gun, but it also doesn’t cost $2k-$3k. Sitting on the gun table at the range next to my Grease Gun, Garand, M1 Carbine, and K98 it looks just fine and shoots just fine. No its not a Glock, but I think a Glock would look rather silly in that company.
About six months ago I purchased a brand new Noreen “Bad News” .338 Lapua Magnum. The gun never ran.
The fail to feed problems were constant and frustrating. At best one could fire 2, 3 or 4 shots without a fail to feed.
Sometimes after the first shot there was a fail to feed. It was very frustrating to constantly be required to remove the
magazine and dig out the jammed brass. Noreen’s customer service is also “Bad News”.
The gun was returned to Noreen on multiple occasions. Each time the gun was returned to me with a
statement that the rifle was functioning properly. Each time on the range thereafter the same fail to feed problems
continued. Noreen aptly named the rifle. In blogs I had read about problems with the Noreen after it was first introduced.
My gunshop people told me that those problems had been resolved so I was excited to get another large caliber semi auto.
While one could suggest user error or bad ammunition, I own other large caliber semi autos which function seamlessly.
Those rifles include a Barrett .50 BMG as well as a Browning .300 Magnum.
I also have a multitude of Sig and Springfield semi auto .308’s that likewise function seamlessly.
I used .338 Lapua ammunition manufactured by Lapua, Nosler, Remington and Winchester. All of the ammunition without regard to
manufacturer had the same results–fail to feed. I was fortunate to have a great gun dealer who was as frustrated with the
gun as I. He took the gun back and said he was sorry for all of the frustration and the poor response of Noreen’s customer
service.