Who was the barrel manufacturer?
(see pic in post 73)With all the interest in the XM25 i'm reintroducing this post in the hopes that someone can shed light on this question,someone has had to of seen them,someone had to of marked them,but the question is what did they actually stamp on them
Majikani has talked to the (retired) BPT owner and thus has more info than me, but for more back ground, please see this link re XM25/M25 topic: http://photos.imageevent.com/badger...icalfolder/M14 RHAD Online Edition 070603.pdfWas BPT around before the XM25/M25 Project was being developed by the 10th? Where did they pull all the M14's for this endeavor and was it solely for the SF community? As the pot gets stirred more questions come to mind. Thanks for more background.
...my understanding is that a maximum of 250 XM25 rifles could have been made (as Mitch previously implied that only 250 stock liners were made by BPT), presumably the majority of US Army SF XM25s were made b/t 1988-1991, after which the Army standardized the M25 and dropped the stock liner from the specification, due to the time and effort to make and install this part. Also from the same source...XM25 and M25
The M25 rifle is an improved version of the M21. In 1986, the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Devens, MA had its own machine shop and ammunition reloading shop to support the unit’s sniper weapon systems. While the ART II scope and side two point scope mount design were great improvements for the M21 over the original XM21 configuration, these optical systems were still prone to loss of zero when knocked around in the field. The condition of the bedding compound in the XM21 and M21 rifles deteriorated with removal of the receiver and barrel for cleaning and maintenance. The bedding compound in use at the time was also susceptible to chemical attack from various oils. Loss of the bedding material further worsened accuracy by causing the receiver to shift around in the stock.
To alleviate these problems, 10th Special Forces Group armorer Sergeant First Class (later Master Sergeant) Thomas E. Kapp, now deceased, sought to improve the M21 rifle. So, he and Master Sergeant Bill Amelung, worked with Mitchell E. Mateiko, owner of Brookfield Precision Tool (BPT), to develop the XM25 rifle between 1986 and 1988. Master Sergeant Amelung was the Non-Commissioned Officer-In-Charge of the 10th Special Forces Special Operations Target Interdiction Course. Mitch Mateiko had served in the Army National Guard and worked as a tool and die maker for the M14 project at Harrington & Richardson, Inc.
...so it was developed for the SF community (5th and 10th Army Special Forces), and reportedly Sfc Kapp and Mitch Mateiko both went to Crane Indiana in the early 1990s and taught the Navy Armorers how to build the M25 sniper rifle, which was subsequently used by Navy SEALs, etc. I wish production information was available, but I have not seen it. Hope that info helps.In 1991, the U. S. Army designated the XM25 as the M25. The XM25 / M25 saw combat service in Panama in 1989, the 1990-1991 Gulf War, and in Afghanistan in 2002. Units issued the M25 (M14SSR for the U. S. Navy) in the 1990s included the 5th and 10th Special Forces Groups in the U. S. Army and the U. S. Navy SEALs.
The U. S. Navy SEALs used the M14SSR until at least 2000. In May 2000, the U. S. Navy awarded a sole source contract to Knight’s Armament Company for 300 SR-25 rifles built to its specifications. The Navy version of the SR-25 was adopted as the Mk 11 Mod 0. The M25 still serves admirably as the spotter’s rifle in the U. S. Army Special Forces.