Way back in the year 2006, Remington did something that made sense for once. They got Iron Brigade Armory to help them make a faithful reproduction of the sniper rifle adopted and issued to the USMC in 1966 for use in Vietnam. Of course being Remington, they made it a limited run and have not made any again.

If you bought one there at SHOT show, they sent the large coin on the right with the rifles when delivered. The smaller coin on the left was sold there at SHOT show at the promo booth.

Of course it took about 10 years for Leupold and Badger Ordnance to wise up and make repro scopes and rings for the M40 so owners could complete an accurate set up. More or less..

The “Redfield” is just a green Leupold VarX-II that says Redfield on it. Hey thats close enough! But stupidly they put a Mil-dot crosshair inside… Stupid.

Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers as it says some where or other.

So now they are worth a small car, or 1 Bitcoin. But how do they shoot? Who is dumb enough to actually use one of these things? Me and friends of course.

The above 5 shot group is from 100 yards using Federal Gold Medal 168 grain match. All groups were shot from bench and bags.

Above three shot group is Federal 168 gold medal at 100 yards.

e Above, the three shot group is 175 grain Federal gold medal at 100 yards. The center 5 shot group is 175 black hills at 200 yards and the larger group below is Black Hills 175 grain match at 300 yards.

Those are the best groups produced for the day. The M40 has a 1/12 twist and doesn’t always do great with the 175s. Like most decent .308s it likes the 168 grain matchkings though. No shock there. Its a popular round for a reason even though the 175s are superior if your rifle will shoot them. If you have a 308 rifle that doesn’t shoot a match 168grain load well, then get rid of it. That is a flawed rifle.

When I was young I read books from ‘Nam snipers and a few mentioned the painful recoil from the M40. I thought this was odd, How could a 308 kick so hard? I’d never fired a 308 I though was all that bad. Even sporters. How could a heavy barreled match/sniper rifle with a walnut stock be so brutal? Well, it is. Maybe it’s the steel checkered buttplate? Or middle age… I don’t know. But the M40 is not fun to shoot for extended periods. I wore a shooting jacket to make it easier on myself.

I wish Remington had keep making these so more people could enjoy them. Take a look at what they go for now. Jesus Christ. Now that Vietnam stuff and Sniper stuff are so popular you’d think Remington would have made these forever. LOL not Big Green! Apparently they take advice from former Colt executives about how much the market wants retro guns.