The Colt Canada C20 DMR is a

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, straight walled, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first be ...

designated marksman rifle A designated marksman rifle (DMR) is a modern telescopic sight, scoped high-Accuracy and precision, precision rifle used by infantry in the designated marksman (DM) role. It generally fills the engagement effective range, range gap between a serv ...

created by Colt Canada, in response to a request by the

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

to replace their earlier 5.56mm C8 carbine in sniper sections. The weapon is intended to enter service in the Canadian and Danish militaries, beginning in 2021. C20 rifles are fitted with the Schmidt & Bender 3-20×50 Ultra Short riflescope.

Design

The C20 DMR is a

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single round each time the Trigger (firearms), trigger is pulled while automatically loading the next Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. These rifles were developed Pre-World War II, and w ...

that uses 20-round

box magazines. A major part of its design philosophy was making sure that it was reliable in extreme conditions, such as those specified in the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

D/14 standards for safety, in which aspects of the weapon such as the

kinematics In physics, kinematics studies the geometrical aspects of motion of physical objects independent of forces that set them in motion. Constrained motion such as linked machine parts are also described as kinematics. Kinematics is concerned with s ...

, safety features, recoil, and barrel strength are put under the most severe strain. During these tests, the C20 fired 8,000 rounds without any stoppages and achieved an accuracy of 0.66 MOA over 144 five round groups. The C20 DMR barrel features 4 groove

rifling Rifling is the term for helical grooves machined into the internal surface of a firearms's barrel for imparting a spin to a projectile to improve its aerodynamic stability and accuracy. It is also the term (as a verb) for creating such groov ...

with a 1:254 mm (1 in 10 in)

twist rate Rifling is the term for helical grooves machined into the internal surface of a firearms's barrel for imparting a spin to a projectile to improve its aerodynamic stability and accuracy. It is also the term (as a verb) for creating such groov ...

. Colt Canada also advertises the weapon's versatility, offering features such as: * An optional chrome-lined

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

* Upper receiver integrated with a previous Colt Canada weapon, the Modular Rail Rifle * MIL-STD-1913 44 or 48 slot top rail with 0 MOA or 20 MOA integral incline *

M-LOK M-LOK, for Modular Lock, is a firearm Rail Integration System, rail interface system developed and patented by Magpul Industries. The license is free-of-charge, but subject to an approval process. M-LOK allows for direct accessory attachment ...

slots in the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions * Double-stage trigger * Adjustable buttstock

Users

* : First rifles delivered in November 2020, and to become standard issue in March 2021. A total of 272 rifles, including spare parts, were bought by the Canadian Department of National Defence for 8.5 million CAD (6.35 million USD). * : Bought for the Danish Armed Forces to replace the

Heckler & Koch HK417 The Heckler & Koch HK417 is a battle rifle designed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Being the larger caliber version of the Heckler & Koch HK416, and chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO rifle cartridge, it is intended for use where the penet ...

, the first rifles are set to be delivered in the first quarter of 2021. Designated the ''Finskyttegevaer, Kort'' (FINSKGV K). The Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization publicly confirmed their purchase of the rifles on 23 September 2020.

References

External links

Official description of the C20 Semi-Automatic Sniper Weapon
{{Colt's Manufacturing Company 7.62×51mm NATO semi-automatic rifles Semi-automatic rifles Designated marksman rifles Sniper rifles of Canada Colt rifles ArmaLite AR-10 derivatives Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2019

Design

Users

See also

References

External links