Barrett Firearms Manufacturing

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Not to be confused with Beretta.
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing
Type Private
Founded 1982[1]
Headquarters Murfreesboro, TN, USA
Key people Ronnie Barrett (founder & CEO)
Industry Firearms
Website http://www.barrettrifles.com/

Barrett Firearms Manufacturing was founded in 1982 by Ronnie Barrett. The company's main product is the Barrett M82 anti-materiel rifle.

Contents

[edit] History

Barrett introduced the M82 in 1982 but did not make any significant sales until 1989. These first large sales were to Sweden. Soon afterward, the M82 was purchased by the United States armed forces, and it was deployed in the Gulf War. Today the company has contracts with dozens of countries to supply sniper rifles.

The success of the M82A1 has led the company to develop several other models of .50 BMG rifles, including the M95, M99, and M99-1. These are lighter and lower cost bolt-action rifles.

A U.S. Army sniper with Bravo Company, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division stands ready to engage targets during a mission on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 28, 2005.

In current US military use the M82A1 is designated M107, and is described as an anti-materiel rifle. While the M107 is highly effective against soft targets, and is used by explosive ordnance disposal teams with special military HEIAP ammunition, its power is not required for anti-personnel use: the heavy recoil and weight are an unnecessary penalty.

The M82A1 has been purchased by over 40 military organizations worldwide. It became legendary in the first Gulf War for disabling Iraqi armored personnel carriers from a mile away. Fighters in the Bosnian Army used just one .50 caliber rifle to great effect in fending off Serb forces in Srebrenica during the Bosnian War of the early 1990s. Florin Krasniqi and his associates acquired dozens of the rifles in the late '90s for use in the Kosovo War. They found that they afforded a psychological advantage, once the Serbs and the international press discovered that the Kosovo Liberation Army forces were armed with Barretts.

Barrett Firearms is currently working on two projects for the military. One is the REC7 upper receiver for the AR-15/M16 platform, chambered in 6.8 mm Remington SPC. This is more powerful than the 5.56x45mm NATO standard round used in most current U.S. issue assault rifles. Early testing among Special Operations Forces units has met with approval.[citation needed] The second new product is the XM109, a variant of the M82A1 designed to fire a 25 mm munition.

In response to California's ban of civilian ownership of .50 BMG rifles, Barrett suspended sales and service to all law enforcement agencies in California.[2]

Barrett has also developed the .416 Barrett, a rifle round based on the .50 BMG. The purpose of this round is to allow first round hits out to 2,500 metres (2,730 yd) from a cold bore and is not prohibited for sale to civilians in California.

In October 2008, Barrett introduced the new M98B. The M98B is a bolt-action rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. The new rifle will go on sale in early 2009.[3]

[edit] Products

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Barrett Rifles". http://www.barrettrifles.com/about_history.aspx. Retrieved 2008-06-21. 
  2. ^ "The Gun Zone RKBA -- Ronnie Barrett". http://www.thegunzone.com/rkba/rkba-50.html. Retrieved 2008-09-28. 
  3. ^ "98Bravo.com". http://www.98bravo.com. Retrieved 2008-10-15. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_Firearms_Manufacturing"