CheyTac M200 Intervention

Hey guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com. I'm Ian, I'm here today at Rock Island Auction Company. I'm taking a look at some of the guns that will go up for sale at Premier Auction September 2016. This, of course, is something that a lot of people are going to recognize, but I think not a lot of people necessarily know much about it. What information there is about these is mainly about Airsoft guns that look like these, which is really a bit silly in a way I think. And then you'll get information about the movie "Shooter," and you'll get information about... cardboard models of this gun.

And then at some point you will find information about the weapon itself. This is a CheyTac M200. ...The action itself, as in all of these, is actually done by EDM Arms. And it is a precision, long-range, bolt-action rifle. Or dare I say sniper rifle? ...Strictly speaking, this is a bolt-action, magazine-fed precision rifle. There are two reasons why this gets so much press. One of them... is that it legitimately is an extraordinarily accurate and well-made rifle. However, EDM Arms and CheyTac make several different models of extremely accurate and high-quality rifles. And this is the one that gets all the attention, and that's because it looks different.

It's got this carrying handle, it's got this sexy cool bipod, it's got this collapsible stock, this one is all painted an original green and tan. And that visual image really catches people's attention. Honestly though, that visual has nothing to do with the accuracy of the gun. You could take this same basic action and barrel system, put it on a traditional style stock and shoot it just as well. It just doesn't have the tactical appeal that this one has. Now, first of all, this rifle is chambered for the .408 CheyTac round, which is relatively new. In fact, it was only registered in the C.I.P. in 2013, thus becoming an internationally standardized cartridge.

And it was designed by a guy named John Taylor as an intermediate between the .50 BMG and the .338 Lapua Magnum. Now, the .338 has long been the favorite precision rifle cartridge for people looking to deliver a lot of power, and not just a very accurate bullet. The 6.5mm is sort of the de facto standard for long-range precision shooting, but if you go up the size you can get more bullet weight on target. And of course, above that you had to go to the .50 BMG. Well, the .50 was designed as an anti-tank rifle projectile and later as a heavy machine gun projectile.

It's not really intended for super precision. And frankly, with today's computer technology we can do much better than the .50 BMG for long-range ballistics, and that's what pushed the .408 CheyTac into something really designed for precision fire that was in the ballpark of . fifty. BMG. It has a couple of different loads. Now, the standard load is a 419-grain bullet traveling at 2,850 or 2,900 feet per second, which is a ton of muzzle energy, about 8,300 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. To put that in comparison, a typical .338 Lapua Magnum will get you about 6,300 pounds. A typical .50 BMG will give you about 14,000 foot-pounds. So the reduced muzzle energy actually gives you reduced recoil as well, which is good, about a third less recoil than a .50 BMG.

The weight of this rifle will also reduce recoil. This thing weighs about 29 pounds unloaded, which is a ridiculously heavy gun. People might wonder why there is this large, oddly shaped carry handle, well that's because you really need a large carry handle to carry this. You put it down because people are going to put a very expensive scope on top. And you don't want to have the handle too far forward because then everything will be out of balance. This is approximately the center point of the rifle, this is where you want the carry handle. You can leave it here and not interfere with your scope, not have to raise the scope above the carry handle, nothing like that.

That's probably the most visually distinctive element of the gun, and that's why it's there. It's because this thing is too heavy to reasonably transport any other way. Now, this tube here is a floating tube attached to the receiver, so it doesn't actually touch the barrel. Which means that the weight on the bipod does not affect your point of aim. This is a very important concept, but it is well recognized in precision shooting and has been for decades, if not hundreds of years. This is a box magazine fed rifle. This magazine is a 5 round magazine, they... also make 7 round magazines for this rifle.

The difference is really negligible, not that you'll be doing many super fast reloads on this. It's just a matter of convenience to have several rounds in the gun at once, so you don't have to change your position to check for fresh cartridges while turning the bolt. It's got a rear monopod that's folded in here, which is certainly useful for... locking the gun into position for firing. Now, something that I think a lot of people don't really take into account, or recognize, is that a rifle like this is just one part of a much larger equation of what you need to get it right. say, 2,500 yards.

This rifle, according to the manufacturer, has a good range of 2500 yards, its angle will remain under one minute. Which means less than... a minute of dispersion. Well, one minute is equal to 1.024 inches at 100 yards and we usually round it up to 1 inch at 100 yards. So a one minute angle cone at 100 yards is a one inch circle. When you get to 2,500 yards, you're looking at roughly a 24-inch circle. About two feet in diameter, that's one minute of angle, a cone one minute of angle wide. What is typically the limiting factor in a rifle's performance at extreme ranges is that when the bullet passes through the sound barrier (going from supersonic to transonic, to subsonic), it typically... hits its own shock wave, and the Interference there destabilizes the bullet.

It makes it much harder to keep it accurate beyond that distance. Well, the .408 CheyTac bullets will stay supersonic out to about 2,200 to 2,500 yards. Beyond that, there is evidence that they actually work very well in transonics and remain quite accurate after that. But the company does not come out to make that statement officially. Although some people have certainly hit these rifles at 3,000 and 4,000 yards, which is truly mind-blowing. Now you have to consider the target size in that range, but regardless. So, in addition to having a super fantastic and surprisingly accurate rifle, you have to do a lot more to get it right at long range.

You have to be a good shooter, you have to have control of the trigger to pull the trigger when the sights are right on the target. More... harder than that, you have to be able to understand a wide variety of environmental factors that are going to affect the fate of the bullet. So today we have little portable calculators, like the ones on our phones, that can take a lot of this into account, things like humidity, temperature, and elevation. You're looking for ambient air pressure which varies with elevation, varies with temperature. What is the density of air?

We have meters, we can read them, we can calculate them. We need to know the exact drag coefficients of the bullet, to know how fast it will decelerate in air. And of course the density of the air influences that. ...The hardest part, probably, is reading the wind. You have to know, well, how fast is the wind going and in what direction? Because it's going to divert that bullet from the target. That's really an acquired skill because, yes, you can measure the wind right where you are with a neat little Kestrel weather station. But that's only what the wind tells you here.

The wind at 3,000 yards that way will be something totally different. Different speed, different direction. And you could have any number of wind patterns between where you are and where the target is, going in all kinds of different directions. Especially if you're photographing in areas with hills and canyons, all kinds of things that can change wind patterns. Therefore, it takes an incredible amount of time, skill, effort, and practice to be able to read wind patterns by observing environmental factors. Look at the grass, look at the trees, look at the flags if there are any. At the end of the day, frankly, looking at the mirage in your scope can help you know where the wind is going and how fast.

And it is necessary to be able to estimate it properly and account for it. Match which direction different wind patterns are going, calculate an average net wind, mark it on your scope, and then shoot. So...someone who just picks up one of these rifles probably can't make that kind of hit. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that you can't just take that swing unless you have a substantial amount of practice under your belt working with a system like this. So in a way, the amount of fawning adoration for weapons like this is quite misplaced.

They are, don't get me wrong, fantastic weapons, but this is the easiest part of the equation. You can go out and just buy this and have it. Getting the real skills means you have to put in the time, effort, and practice to acquire those skills. Now, if you're one of those people who has practice under your belt, maybe you've been making a lot of 1000 yard shots with a 6.5 and are ready to move up to something a little longer. -range potential, super long range potential, well maybe this is the rifle for you. If you take a look at the description text below, you'll find a link to the Rock Island catalog page on this type.

You can view their pictures and descriptions, and you can bid online. It comes with a fantastic Nightforce scope here, they have all the details about it on the catalog page. ...Of course, it also comes pre-painted in sort of green and tan and you know what? It really looks great. So I'm sure he'll hopefully find a good new home with someone. Thank you all for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video. I hope you learned something today.