Brugger & Thomet APR-338 Swiss Sniper

The Brugger & Thomet APR-338 Rifle (Anti-Personnel Rifle) was designed from the outset to be a military rifle, with police use a secondary thought; it was not meant to be a civilian rifle. The receiver and action are milled from a single block of high-grade steel. Atop this receiver is a 9.5-inch length of MIL-STD-1913 rail, with an up to 40-MOA slope to help align optics. Though the buyer may mount any optic he chooses, the standard scope is one of Schmidt & Bender’s line.

The rear of the MIL-STD-1913 rail and the front of the barrel just behind the muzzle have flip-up iron sights. The safeties include a fully-protected bolt stop/release, and bolt uses a short throw. The bolt handle curves a bit to the rear, as this was found to be most ergonomic for use with the Brugger & Thomet APR-338 Sniper Rifle. The barrel is 27 inches, free-floating, and fluted, and the barrel can be removed and replaced with a simple wrench rather than requiring a special tool. The barrel is tipped with a two-baffle muzzle brake, and the muzzle has a cap which protects threads that allow the use of a silencer (the one which comes with the rifle fits over and covers the muzzle brake). The upper receiver is bolted to an aluminum lower receiver, and the fore-end has a removable bipod adjustable for height and cant. An accessory groove underneath the fore-end allows for the installation of a hand stop. The stock is of aluminum and polymer, and is adjustable for length of pull, cheekpiece, and height of the butt. It also folds to the right.

The APR-338 weapon system is basically consisting of a bolt action rifle cal. .338 LM with suppressor, a rifle scope and a user specific cartridge. The system is intended to be a soldier's primary weapon and serve him as anti personnel rifle. The system must be able to hit a head-sized target up to 600 m distance or a torso-sized target over 1300 m and more with a first round hit probability of over 99%. Although being a precision-instrument, the system must resist the harsh military use and remain functional in typical operational environments.

As the rifle was designed according to CIP-standards, every cartridge .338 Lapua Magnum and 8.6x70 LM (with exceptions as stated below) manufactured according to the same standards can be used with the rifle. CIP standard according cartridges normally carry a proof mark on the box. Best results have been achieved with Lapua Scenar 250 grs. With respect to the muzzle brake and especially when using the rifle with mounted suppressor, the use of bullets which disintegrate at the muzzle departure is forbidden. The shrapnels are very likely to hurt people sidewards to the weapon or can choke the suppressor. This concerns namely sub-caliber bullets with sabot.

The lower receiver is the core of the rifle. Integrated is the manual safety and it also includes the bipod assembly and a forend assembly with ergonomical panels. The more, the forend is offering mounting interfaces for further accessories, e.g. laser designation systems and Anschutz front handstop. At its rear end, the folding stock is attached; folding stock and lower receiver are forming something that is close to the stock of a conventional rifle design. On its top, the upper receiver is attached. Therefore, the surface between upper and lower receiver is what in conventional rifle designs is called the bedding. Under the receiver attaches the trigger group. Unlike conventional rifle designs, the trigger is not attached to the receiver and therefore the classical distinction between "firing unit" and "carrying unit" is hardly applicable for the actual design. The manual safety is designed as ambidextrous lever safety and it allows to load and unload the weapon in safe mode.

Main components of the upper receiver are a housing, in which a locking ring is permanently fixed, and a Picatinny rail as interface to the rifle scope. Integrated in this scope mount rail is the rear part of the emergency sight, designed as factory zeroed flip-up sight. Into the above mentioned locking ring, the bolt locks by rotation; thus, receiver with locking ring, bolt and barrel are forming the breech of the rifle. The bolt assembly features mainly a body with handle for operation and carries extractor, ejector and firing pin. The bolt head shows three strong locking lugs for maximum strength and opens at a 60° angle.

The barrel is a one-piece construction of forged steel. A special barrel steel is used, providing at once best corrosion resistance and longevity. The barrel shows very distinctive flutings which reduce the weight of the stiff, heavy contoured barrel. With its chamber end, the barrel becomes screwed into the receiver and presses onto the locking ring. On the muzzle side, a highly efficient muzzle brake is fixed. The trigger is a so called double-stage trigger. It is designed in a way to allow an external adjustment without dismantling the trigger group. The trigger pull is adjustable as well as its path. In the large trigger guard, the magazine retainer is integrated. It is holding the magazine in two positions: one is fully inserted for magazine feeding, the other position is offering comfortable round-by-round manual feeding.

Around the central tube of the rifle scope, two rugged rings are tightened (one with Simrad adaptor). Those rings are attached to the mount base, showing a Picatinny interface to the rifles upper receiver. Scope and mount are clamped on the Brugger & Thomet APR-338 rifles Picatinny rail by the tension of two levers, allowing the operator to quickly remove the scope in case of failure or while cleaning or transporting. Detaching and attaching the scope repeatedly will not affect the zero. The scope itself is a model out of the well established Schmidt&Bender PMII line, featuring a unique reticle and a Double Turn elevation turret for maximum adjustment range. Basically, the muzzle brake reduces recoil by over 40%. Its rugged steel body also carries the front part of the emergency sight, the flip-up front sight. The more, its design provides the possibility to attach a suppressor directly on the muzzle brake, which therefore never has to be removed. The muzzle brake assembly includes a thread protector to protect the thread if no suppressor is mounted.