Now I have something to research. I am not aware of any specific magnification in our POST rules in which a rifle becomes a "sniper rifle".
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I understand. I just have never seen any such determination in GA POST's rules.
I pulled up the qual course, and this is the language on it:
"Any standard precision rifle that is equipped with a telescopic optic and isused by departmental personnel for precision or long range rifleengagements."
Those terms are not defined.
I would do horrifying things to have this combo over our stock Mk18's, especially the LAW folder.
With a folding stock, it is backpack sized, without, its either obviously a gun (which can be hard to avoid telegraphing when surrounded by NGO workers) or my rifle draw time now includes an "combine the receivers and load the gun" step.
In addition to the black rifle bags we have some hiking-pack looking bags that fit the assembled Mk18, but yeah, they're conspicuously long and are still a backpack. The LAW would at least let us told it up perfectly inside a less conspicuous bag like the VertX Gamut.
I'd love to have B&T MP9s to put in smaller bags. I'd settle for MP5K-PDWs like the cool kids have, or the new B&T APC9K that the DOD is using now. They're at least a workable option that is already in the system.
As an aside, both my buddy, and one of his duty partners, passed the precision rifle course for SPD, using their duty rifles with personally owned awesome glass; still no relief on the 1x4 limit. So it wan’t that, at least so far as bumping up to another tier of qual.
#logic
It's good to hear there are better bag options, but still...
If I am going to a "long" gun, why would I want a pistol caliber one? We just got away from a blowback pistol caliber carbine, why go back to the 80's tech? I could see the baby MPX with a folding stock, but not another 9mm wonder. It is one of those situations where I wonder if the rule of cool overwhelmed all the other factors.
The idea being that a 9mm PDW that weighs 3lbs is still a better option than the 10lbs rifle you don't have with you.
Weekly I see operations where we could have someone bring a venue bag or Mk18 but it gets left behind because the weight is prohibitive when wearing a suit. Shit doesn't carry the same as when you're wearing "agent casual."
This is the same reason that the cool kids had, still have and still use MP5K-PDWs even though they already have folding Mk18s available.
I put a LAW Tactical folder on a Colt M4 and in a Vanquast Rackit sling pack. After T&E’ing both we decided to keep them. The officer that has them uses them to walk around some of the various events we have in town. Like you said, it’s a bit long but it doesn’t exactly scream gun either. It’s covert enough not to put the soccer moms on alert anyway.