The United State Secret Services (USSS) has issued a solicitation for a Precision Bolt Action Rifle System consisting of a multi-caliber rifle, for use in all environmental conditions. What’s more, the weapons system must be offered in a Right and Left-hand configuration. Additionally, It has to be an off-the-shelf rifle, commercially available and in serial production.
The required calibers are 300 Winchester magnum, 300 Norma Magnum, 300 Precision Rifle Cartridge, and .308 Winchester. The rifle must have a single stage trigger and the metal parts must have a subdued, rust/corrosion resistant finish.
The rifle must be accurate within 1 MOA. It can weigh no heavier than 16 pounds, 0 ounces without accessories (300 Winchester Magnum configuration).
All weapons procured under this contract shall be of new manufacture and offerers have to be the OEM manufacturer. Rebuilt, overhauled, remanufactured, or “seconds” shall not be accepted.
Furthermore, offerers cannot submit more than two (2) specific nomenclature model firearms from each contractor shall be submitted for solicitation testing and considered for contract award. There are no set asides, making this a full and open competition.
Although they are asking for a multi-caliber option, the deliverables for the down select specify a rifle chambered in 300 WIN MAG and it must come with one magazine, an extra chassis and a suppressor.
They’ve already selected a suppressor, the Thunder Beast Arms Magnus-SR 30 caliber Suppressor, with secondary retention non-timed brake (SR NTB). Interestingly, if a candidate rifle fails utilizing the requested suppressor a Thunder Beast Arms Ultra 9 shall be installed and tested. If the rifle fails with the Ultra 9 then the submission will be eliminated.
The ammunition used for PHASE II evaluations will be Berger 300 Winchester Magnum 215 gr Hybrid target load or Black Hill Ammunition 300 Winchester Magnum 210 gr Sierra OTM and be supplied by the USSS.
Test firing during the down select will be accomplished by a minimum of four shooters selected from a cross section of USSS end users and all shall be qualified Law Enforcement personnel. So as not to influence the shooters, the weapon manufacturer and model information markings will be obscured from user (via duct tape).
Additionally, during the down select evaluation, the candidate rifles will be mounted with an Nightforce ATACR – 7-35x56mm scope or equivalent.
Details here.