What Rifle Did Chris Kyle Use?
BY Herschel Smith
9 years, 11 months ago
In my review of American Sniper, readers Comrade X, Ned Weatherby and I had a discussion about the rifle Chris Kyle used. Here it seems to be answered affirmatively correct for all of us.
Being a highly trained Navy SEAL, Chris Kyle had used many weapons over the course of his military career. There were two rifles Kyle liked to use, one of which he used to make the record-setting long distance shot.
A lot of Kyle’s marksmanship was done while using the Remington 700 Long Action chambered to fire a .300 Winchester Magnum round. This is a very common hunting rifle that can be purchased for less than $500 from Cabelas. But of course Kyle’s rifle had several expensive modifications.
In his autobiography, Kyle mentions his love of Nightforce scopes for the quality of the optics and its durability in harsh conditions. He also reduced the trigger pull weight to 2 pounds, stating he liked to be surprised when the gun went off, he didn’t want to jerk the gun when pulling the trigger. “I used a 2 pound trigger on my rifles. That’s a fairly light pull. I want the trigger to surprise me every time; I don’t want to jerk the gun as I fire.”
The .300 Winchester Magnum round is one of the most popular rounds used by American hunters. It is extremely effective at ranges around 1,000 yards, and a skilled operator can easily hit a target at the maximum effective range of 1,210 yards. The round is effective against elk, moose, and even brown bear. In his book, Kyle spoke of the round, saying, “I used the .300 Win Mag for most of my kills. It’s an excellent all-around cartridge, whose performance allows for superb accuracy as well as stopping power. It shoots like a laser. Anything from 1,000 yards and out, you’re just plain nailing it.”
It’s useful to see tactical advice, in this case accolades for Nightforce scopes. But that’s not the end of the matter.
During his later tours, Kyle was given a McMillan TAC-338 rifle. This is a far more advanced and expensive weapon system than the average hunter would shoot an elk with, costing north of $5,000. This superior rifle fires a much larger round, the .338 Lapua Magnum.
“I used a .338 on my last deployment. I would have used it more if I’d had it,” said Kyle, “The bullet shoots farther and flatter than a .50 caliber, weighs less, costs less, and will do just about as much damage. They are awesome weapons.”
Kyle made his record-setting shot with this .338 round. It has a maximum effective range of 1,910 yards, which makes Kyle’s 2,100-yard shot even more impressive.
Yes, tactical bolt action rifles are extremely, extremely expensive, except for the Tikka T3 CTR weighing in at around $1000.
On January 22, 2015 at 12:39 pm, Ned Weatherby said:
I read in a gun rag years ago that Poland had adopted the Savage 110 BA .338 Lapua. I now can’t find the reference. But even those are over 2000 bux. But the gun is pretty well regarded – except for those who think Savage to be junk.
To those who think it was lucky, holding over by + – 190 yards at over a mile takes considerable experience to dope, and actually hit the target.
On April 26, 2018 at 11:10 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
Savage Arms is one of the best-kept secrets in the firearms industry. I am confident in making that assertion after a lifetime of sporting use of their firearms, as well as working in the retail FA industry.
Savage is one of the few companies making mass-produced firearms that makes its own barrels, right in house. The heart of any rifle is its barrel; without a good barrel, it is difficult for any rifle to shoot well, regardless of the skill of the person behind the trigger or the condition of the rest of the firearm – trigger, sights, etc.
Savage rifles are known for out-performing rifles costing 2-3 times as much. Sure enough, the Savage rifles I have owned over the years have consistently shot sub-moa even with factory ammunition, a reflection of the quality of their barrels, overall construction, as well as their superb patented Accu-Trigger design, which is both safe and fully-adjustable for pull weight.
That’s not all. Savage rifles, because they are manufactured with a barrel nut to secure and head-space the barrel, are easy to modify or substitute for an after-market barrel, should you wish for some reason to make this modification.
Savage does not have the cache of certain upmarket firms, but they consistently deliver the goods, in terms of price, performance and value. If you are in the market for a value-priced firearm which out-performs platforms costing thousands more, then consider a Savage – you’ll be glad you did.
On April 24, 2023 at 2:41 am, Charl du Preez said:
I can’t seem to wonder given newer cartridges like the 7mm PRC for instance, how that would have affected his shot-to-hit ratio and overall kill count. Yes, I know, impossible to actually quantify, but just cool to wonder about.