When the Navy SEALs fired the shots that Easter Sunday that now made them even more famous than they already are, they did not use just any rifle; what they most probably had with them were MK11s – the rifle that is touted as “one of the finest semi-automatic sniper rifles in the world”.
Its official name is the US Navy MK11 Mod 0 Sniper Weapon System (SWS). One can say that this rifle is made-to-order; it was designed specifically around the requirements stipulated by the Navy SEALs. It is based on the highly accurate SR-25 semi-automatic rifle designed by Eugene Stoner and crafted by Knight’s Armament Company. That being said, it is the “weapon of choice” of the United States Special Operations Command, and is also being used by certain members of the Israeli Special Forces. Civilians can also purchase the rifle – sans the sound suppressor unit; but they have to be willing to cough up what most might consider is a significant amount for a rifle.
The rifle operates like an M16 or an M4A1. It has the ability to deliver a 7.62mm round from as far as 1,500 yards. Included in the MK11 system is the rifle, 20-round box magazines, QD scope rings, Leupold Vari-X Mil-dot riflescope, Harris swivel-base bipod on a Knight’s mount, and QD sound suppressor. Being a semi-automatic, it is not capable of fully-automatic fire. Its excellent accuracy can be attributed to the free-floated RAS (Rail Accessory System) fore-end; the aluminum fore-end does not come into contact with the barrel forward of the receiver.
Even if the SEALs were equipped with such impressive weaponry, included in their extraordinary training is the ability to be patient and strike only at the right moment, and using precise actions. We have already mentioned it before: three shot, three hits, all right on the mark. Amazingly, we read from a feature written by a former army soldier that the SEALs were most probably not aiming directly at the head or chest or wherever in the body their target was. The “hit” was probably due to the fact that the SEAL was aiming at the ground directly in front of the casualty.
