Special Purpose Rifle" redirects here. For the rifle made by FN-Herstal, see FN Special Police Rifle.
The United States Navy Mark 12 Mod 0/1 Special Purpose Rifle (SPR) is a rifle in service with United States Special Operations Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. SPR initially stood for Special Purpose Receiver, but that nomenclature has been replaced as the weapon became a stand-alone weapons system, and not just an add-on upper receiver assembly (part of the proposed SOPMOD upgrades.) The SPR was eventually type classified by the U.S. Navy as the Mk 12, but the U.S. Army also uses this designation.
The United States Navy Mark 12 Mod 0/1 Special Purpose Rifle (SPR) is a rifle in service with United States Special Operations Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. SPR initially stood for Special Purpose Receiver, but that nomenclature has been replaced as the weapon became a stand-alone weapons system, and not just an add-on upper receiver assembly (part of the proposed SOPMOD upgrades.) The SPR was eventually type classified by the U.S. Navy as the Mk 12, but the U.S. Army also uses this designation.
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Background
This weapon system, used by Special Operations Forces units of both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, is a heavily modified light sniper/designated marksman variation of the AR-15/M16 line of infantry weapons, and is chambered for NATO standard 5.56 x 45 mm caliber ammunition. The SPR concept was originally proposed by Mark Westrom, currently president of Armalite, while working at Rock Island Arsenal. The program was an outgrowth of the desire by both US Army and Navy special operations forces for a rifle with greater effective range than an M4 Carbine but still shorter in length than a standard issue M16A2/A4. The SPR program appears to have grown out of both the SOPMOD Block II program, and the U.S. Navy SEALs 'Recon Rifle' (a 16" flat-topped AR-15/M16 Carbine). The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (often referred to as NSWC-Crane or "Crane") essentially expanded on the Recon Rifle, an expansion that some SEALs maintain was a waste of time and resources
This weapon system, used by Special Operations Forces units of both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, is a heavily modified light sniper/designated marksman variation of the AR-15/M16 line of infantry weapons, and is chambered for NATO standard 5.56 x 45 mm caliber ammunition. The SPR concept was originally proposed by Mark Westrom, currently president of Armalite, while working at Rock Island Arsenal. The program was an outgrowth of the desire by both US Army and Navy special operations forces for a rifle with greater effective range than an M4 Carbine but still shorter in length than a standard issue M16A2/A4. The SPR program appears to have grown out of both the SOPMOD Block II program, and the U.S. Navy SEALs 'Recon Rifle' (a 16" flat-topped AR-15/M16 Carbine). The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (often referred to as NSWC-Crane or "Crane") essentially expanded on the Recon Rifle, an expansion that some SEALs maintain was a waste of time and resources
The exact history of the Mk 12 is still in debate, but there appear to be either four or five prime iterations of the weapon, culminating in the most recent Mk 12 Mod 1 version. One progression has four models: SPR Proto 1, SPR Proto 2, Mk 12 Mod 0 and Mk 12 Mod 1. The other progression has five models: SPR, SPR/A, SPR/B, Mk 12 Mod 0, and Mk 12 Mod 1. The specifications in this article follow the second progression.
There is also increasing agreement among observers and small-arms historians that different U.S. military service branches typically deploy different iterations of the SPR. Available evidence, including both U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) photographs and privately-obtained photographs (like the ones shown below), consistently show most US Army SF operators using the Mk 12 Mod 0, while NAVSPECWAR operators and US Army Rangers have been identified as using the Mk 12 Mod 1 version.
The SPR was not well-known to the general public until rece
ntly, but it has been featured prominently both in media photos of the Iraq conflict and in interactive video games such as the government-created America's Army: Special Forces and in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2. Civilian copies of the SPR (commonly called "SPR clones") have also become quite popular among shooters and collectors in the U.S., with several reputable builders of AR-15 style rifles making civilian-legal copies of this accurate rifle.
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