Arctic Warfare AWM

The Accuracy International AWM (Arctic Warfare Magnum) is a bolt-action sniper rifle chambered for magnum cartridges, derived from the 7.62×51mm Arctic Warfare that the British company developed in the early 1990s for a Swedish requirement. Rifles in .338 Lapua Magnum are unofficially known as the AWSM. Compared with the AW, the AWM has a longer bolt to handle magnum-length rounds, and a revised bolt head, locking ring, extractor and magazines to cope with the larger case and higher pressures. The detachable single-stack magazine holds five rounds. The two NATO-accepted chamberings are .300 Winchester Magnum and .338 Lapua Magnum.

The .300 Winchester Magnum version has a fluted stainless-steel barrel of 660 mm (26 in) with a 1:11 in twist, and offers a flatter trajectory and a longer supersonic range than 7.62×51mm. The .338 Lapua Magnum version is a dedicated long-range rifle with a fluted stainless 686 mm (27 in) barrel, also with a 1:11 in twist, optimised for bullets up to 16.85 g (260 gr). Its 91.5 mm magazine cannot accept rounds loaded to the C.I.P. maximum overall length of 93.5 mm, so military-issue 16.2 g (250 gr) loads that fit the magazine are used instead. Both versions carry a muzzle brake, and the standard sight is a Schmidt & Bender PM II 5–25×56. The rifle is 1,270 mm long and weighs 6.8 kg. In September 2012 Accuracy International phased out the .338 AWM in favour of the AXMC, which has a stronger, longer and wider action and a longer magazine.

Britain adopted the .338 Lapua Magnum AWM as the L115A1 Long Range Rifle, used by the Royal Marines, the Army and the RAF Regiment in Afghanistan and Iraq. In November 2007 the Ministry of Defence ordered 580 L115A3 rifles under the Sniper System Improvement Programme, a package that also included night sights, spotting scopes, rangefinders and tripods; the first were deployed to Afghanistan in May 2008. The L115A3 adds the 5–25×56 sight, a suppressor, a folding stock, an adjustable cheek piece, a butt spike and a new bipod, and has a muzzle velocity of 936 m/s. In November 2009 a British Army sniper of the Household Cavalry set what was then the record for the longest recorded sniper kill, 2,475 m (2,707 yd), in Helmand, Afghanistan, with an L115A3. The L115A4 is a later update to an AX-series chassis that reuses the A3's optics and accessories.

Germany has fielded a folding-stock AWM-F in .300 Winchester Magnum as the G22 since 1998, fitted with a Zeiss 3–12×56 sight, with an effective range of 1,100 m and a muzzle velocity of 885 m/s. The G22A1 serves with special forces, and the G22A2 upgrade moves the rifle to an AX chassis with a Steiner 5–25×56 sight; a 2019 contract brings all G22 and G22A1 rifles to that standard. The Netherlands has used the AWM-F in .338 Lapua Magnum since 1996, first with the Korps Commandotroepen, then with marksmen of the airborne, light and mechanised brigades and, from 2007, the Marine Corps; an effective range of 1,100 m is claimed, and the rifle was used in Afghanistan.

Other users include Cyprus, Indonesia (Kopaska and Kopassus), Ireland (Army Ranger Wing), Italy (9th Parachute Assault Regiment "Col Moschin"), Malaysia (police PGK), Malta, Norway (naval and army special forces), Poland (GROM and the 1st Special Commando Regiment), Portugal (Army), Russia (Alpha Group, with the AWM-F), Singapore, South Korea (707th Special Mission Group and naval special warfare units), Syria (special forces), Turkey, the United States and Ukraine, which received rifles donated by the Netherlands after the 2022 invasion.