The Colt Canada C20 DMR is a 7.62×51mm NATO

designated marksman rifle A designated marksman rifle (DMR) is a modern telescopic sight, scoped high-Accuracy and precision, precision rifle used by infantrymen in the designated marksman (DM) role. It generally fills the engagement effective range, range gap between ...

created by

Colt Canada Colt Canada (formerly called Diemaco) is the Canadian division of American firearms manufacturer Colt located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The facility produces small arms for the Canadian Armed Forces, Canadian law enforcement agencies In ...

, in response to a request by the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

to replace their earlier 5.56mm

C8 carbine The Colt Canada C7 is a Canadian family of military rifles, manufactured by Colt Canada (formerly Diemaco prior to 2005), having similar design and function to the Colt M16A3. The C7 and its variants have been adopted as the standard issue ri ...

in sniper sections. The weapon is intended to enter service in the Canadian and Danish militaries, beginning in 2021. C20 rifles are fitted with the

Schmidt & Bender Schmidt & Bender (often abbreviated as S&B) is a German company specialized in producing high end telescopic sights for hunting, sports, law enforcement and military arms. The company was founded in 1957 by instrument maker Helmut Schmidt and mast ...

3-20×50 Ultra Short riflescope.

Design

The C20 DMR is a

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-act ...

that uses 20-round 7.62×51mm NATO box magazines. A major part of its design philosophy was making sure that it was reliable in extreme conditions, such as those specified in the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

D/14 standards for safety, in which aspects of the weapon such as the

kinematics Kinematics is a subfield of physics, developed in classical mechanics, that describes the Motion (physics), motion of points, Physical object, bodies (objects), and systems of bodies (groups of objects) without considering the forces that cause ...

, safety features, recoil, and barrel strength are put under the most severe strain. During these tests, the C20 fired 8,000 rounds without any stoppages and achieved an accuracy of 0.66

MOA Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

over 144 five round groups. The C20 DMR barrel features 4 groove

rifling In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the pro ...

with a 1:254 mm (1 in 10 in)

twist rate In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the pro ...

. Colt Canada also advertises the weapon's versatility, offering features such as: * An optional chrome-lined

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

Upper receiver In firearms terminology, the firearm frame or receiver is the part of a firearm which integrates other components by providing housing for internal action components such as the hammer, bolt or breechblock, firing pin and extractor, and has th ...

integrated with a previous Colt Canada weapon, the Modular Rail Rifle * MIL-STD-1913 44 or 48 slot top rail with 0 MOA or 20 MOA integral incline *

M-LOK M-LOK, for Modular Lock, is a firearm rail interface system developed and patented by Magpul Industries. The license is free-of-charge, but subject to an approval process. M-LOK allows for direct accessory attachment onto the "negative s ...

slots in the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions * Double-stage trigger * Adjustable buttstock

Users

* : First rifles delivered in November 2020, and to become standard issue in March 2021. A total of 272 rifles, including spare parts, were bought by the

Canadian Department of National Defence The Department of National Defence (DND; french: Ministère de la Défense nationale) is the department of the Government of Canada which supports the Canadian Armed Forces in its role of defending Canadian national interests domestically and i ...

for 8.5 million CAD (6.35 million USD). * : Bought for the

Danish Armed Forces Danish Defence ( da, Forsvaret, fo, Danska verjan, kl, Illersuisut) is the unified armed forces of the Kingdom of Denmark charged with the defence of Denmark and its constituent, self-governing nations Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The De ...

to replace the

Heckler & Koch HK417 The Heckler & Koch HK417 is a battle rifle designed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Being the larger caliber version of the Heckler & Koch HK416, and chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO rifle cartridge, it is intended for use where the penet ...

, the first rifles are set to be delivered in the first quarter of 2021. Designated the ''Finskyttegevaer, Kort'' (FINSKGV K). The

Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization The Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) ( da, Forsvarets Materiel- og Indkøbsstyrelse, FMI) is a joint service unit under the Ministry of Defence, tasked with purchase, service and support of equipment within the Danish ...

publicly confirmed their purchase of the rifles on 23 September 2020.

References

{{Colt's Manufacturing Company 7.62×51mm NATO semi-automatic rifles Semi-automatic rifles Designated marksman rifles Rifles of Canada Colt rifles ArmaLite AR-10 derivatives Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2019 Sniper rifles of Canada

Design

Users

See also

References