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XM21 reproduction & early scope set info

31K views 37 replies 18 participants last post by  mjmd 
#1 ·
I've been researching the US Army XM21 sniper rifles (Viet Nam era)for awhile & am in the process of building an accurate reproduction, there seems to be a bit of confusion about these rifles & the scopes they used & often ARTII scope sets are advertised & sold as Viet Nam era which isn't correct. The Viet Nam era scopes are as follows:
1) Commercial redfield 3x9 scope mkd "Redfield 3x9", these were commercial scopes which were modified by changing the reticule which had stadia ranging lines added & affixing a cam to the power adjuster ring of the scope which matched the M118 match cartridge the rifles were designed to use. These scopes were in commercial blue finish & the mods were done by the army & mounted on an Army designed mount which had a cam pin at the rear which raised/lowered the rear of the scope in the mount when the cam was turned, these mounts used a "1 point" mounting system, 1 screw held the mount to the rifle, the cams on these scopes were fitted over the original power rings.
2) Commercial Redfield 3x9 mkd "Redfield 1" tube", this is the same scope but a later marking variation, all the above applies to this variation
3) Military contract AR TEL (adjustable ranging telescope), these were mfg by Redfield for the Army, approximately 2000 mfg, these were based on the above commercial 3x9 designs but were mfg w/the military reticle & had the original power adjuster ring replaced by the M118 ballistic cam & were finished in a matte finish, they were marked AR TEL on the turret. These scopes are often erroneously called ARTI scopes in collectors circles.
4) ART scope, this is the first ART scope, it was a Leatherwood design, he was a Lt in the Army at the time & the scopes were reportedly mfg by Realistic, some were used on the M16 & a few may have been tried on the M14/XM21 at the very end of the Viet Nam war but was not issue w/the XM21, these scopes were mkd on the body ART, this could more properly be termed ARTI although not the official designation.
5) ARTII scope, this scope is a developement of the above scope w/minor improvements in the scope & a major modification of the mount, the original AR TEL 1 point mount could come loose from firing etc, the ARTII scope utilized an improved 2 point mounting system, the front mount was the same as the AR TEL but added a second screw attachment to the clip guide on the receiver & was more stable in use. This set was a post war (VietNam) developement, it was mfg by Leatherwood after he left the service & became the standard scope set on the standardized M21 in late 72-73. part of the confusion on these seems to stem from the fact that the XM21 was an "experimental/developemental" arm during the Viet Nam war, it became standardized in the Army as the M21 in 72-73, early on the wartime era XM21's became M21's overnight & some soldiered on for a few years in their original configuration alongside newer production M21's w/ARTII sets, some may have been refitted w/ARTII's subsequently also during refit. The bottom line appears to be though that the XM21 Viet Nam service rifles utilized the 1 point AR TEL/Redfield system, the ARTII/Leatherwood system was a post-Viet Nam introduction on the M21 standardized sniper rifles after Viet Nam, officially & technically there was no ARTI system, rather the developemental versions which led to the ARTII were being worked on/tested near the end of the war & were known as the ART scopes.
The XM21 itself was not a National Match M14 as far as they weren't necessarily built from production national Match rifle production, rather they were built from M14 receivers w/National Match modifications done by the AMTU (Army Marksmenship training Unit) utilizing NM barrels within a specific guage tolerance (tailored for the M118 match round), unitized gas cylinder/band, special operating spring guides, epoxy impregnated walnut stocks (to resist changes from humidity/heat etc) & bedded to a very specific tolerance as required by the AMTU, trigger groups were worked to a pull of 4.5-7lbs, handguards were kept free of any contact w/the barrel & stock & the rifles were assembled to extreme tolerances by the armorers. They were designed to be used specifically w/M118 match cartridges (although anything can happen in the field). In my time in the service 71-72 basically anything that had to be done to them required the attention of a specific armorer trained & approved to work on them (again, lots of s..t happens in the field). Also they had the selectors replaced w/a button lock rendering them semi-auto although there are reports some were refitted in the field w/full auto capability.
The reproduction (if you want one it's gotta be a repro, M14's are considered NFA & are a nono) I'm working on uses an pre ban, 86 production Springfield Armory Inc full NM rifle which appears to have all the obvious points listed above done (some of the mods done to the XM21 subsequently became NM standards rather than the other way around, remember these rifles were fighting the good fight in 1968!), I started by geting 2 early (60's) commercial Redfield 3x9's & a Springfield Armory Inc MKIV mount, using these makes a very accurate (cosmetically) setup for a VN era XM21 since the scopes are what the actual AR TEL scopes were made from. I subsequently located an original AR TEL mount on the loose & of course, right after spending all that money found an original AR TEL scope/mount set complete w/the original rubber/plastic redfield lens covers these originally were supplied with (& usually fell off when it got hot!, they tended to swell). I'm awaiting an exc original GI walnut stock & dummy selector button & arm, then the rifle & stock are going to be bedded to the 1969 AMTU specs for the XM21.
Sorry for the long post but there has been a bit of interest in the XM21 lately & a lot of confusing info going around, I set up a small album on my rifle including the scopes & scope sets so if anyone is looking to a reproduction of an XM21 you can see what your options are for a VN era setup, they range from fairly expensive to nuts!
All the info (opinions?) above are mine & mistakes are mine, there is good info in Senichs "One Round War" & the "US Army Sniper", also the Govt pubs on the XM21 & AR TEL. If anyone has any more info or corrections please let me know & I'll add it to the album as time & the work on the rifle goes on! here's a link to the album/pics:
http://imageevent.com/willyp/firearmsalbums/usspringfieldxm21sniper
 
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#33 ·
Couple more pictures, First is an early Redfield ARTel and then a "Cobrey" Military Armament Corp Leatherwood I purchased from Jim 20 - 30 years ago. Enjoy - Skid
Looks like Pic's got mixed, #4 5 & 6 are the MAC Cobrey
 

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#36 ·
hope this helps Dan

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- .308 Win. cal., 24 in. barrel, re-creation of the 1966 Model 700 M40 to the U.S.M.C. specification of 1966, wood stock, endorsed and authenticated by the U.S. Marine Corps Scout/Sniper Association. 1,000 mfg. 2006-2007.
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