Sako wins Canadian Forces sniper rifle contract

Finland-based Sako has won its second rifle contract with the Canadian Forces, with a deal to provide the bolt-action TRG-M10 to arm this country's military snipers.

In classic Canadian army fashion, the rifle will carry its own in-house branding, so to speak. In its military role here, the rifle will be known as the Multi-Calibre Sniper Weapon (MCSW). That name gives away one of the TRG-M10's key features that the military supposedly found desirable: Its ability to switch from .338 Lapua Magnum to .308.

The Canadian military previously used the bolt-action C14 Timberwolf MRSWS, built by Prairie Gun Works and adopted in 2005. The C14 is chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. It replaced the earlier C3/C3A1-series rifles, which were based on Parker Hale M85 bolt-actions, and chambered in .308.

The new rifle from Sako follows in the pattern of modern sniper weapons, with adjustable stock, pistol grip, detachable box magazine, and ambidextrous controls. Sako's design includes tactile indicators that reminds the user which calibre they're firing, a potentially useful feature in a rifle that's designed to switch out barrel and bolt, to switch cartridges. That 20-inch barrel is cold hammer-forged stainless steel, with 1-in-10-inch twist for the .338 chambering, and four-groove right-hand rifling. Sako says it's effective out to 1,500 meters in that calibre, which will no doubt prove useful if the CF ever gets into another shooting match that runs along the same lines as the War on Terror in Afghanistan, where Canadian snipers made recorded shots to that range and far, far beyond.

An 11-round magazine comes standard for .308 configuration, and an eight-round mag is standard for .338 Lapua Magnum configuration. The has a two-stage trigger, and comes with no iron sights (as you'd expect), but plenty of rail space for whatever optics the user wishes to mount.

No write-ups or press releases we've seen say what this deal is worth in monetary terms, but Sako is supposedly filling the order immediately. The tender for the new rifles was issued in 2021.

It's a surprisingly rapid turnaround, considering how long it took to settle the issue of the Rangers' replacement rifles (which Sako also won), and the current ongoing and dragged-out replacement process for the Canadian military's pistols.

For a more complete break-down of the Sako TRG-M10's specs and capabilities, see here. Note that the rifle we see issued in Canada may have different configuration from the commercially-sold model.