MK338 ESR

The **MK338 ESR** (Enhanced Sniper Rifle), formerly known as the XM338 and MK24 Reconfigured Sniper Weapon System, is a sniper rifle developed by Rubicon Corporation. It replaced the MK40A3, MK24 Sniper Weapon System, and was designed to give snipers longer range in the mountainous, various treacherous terrain of various landmarks on different planets of the EXM63 Galaxy.

## History

The widely considered antique MK24 SWS has been replaced by the MK40A3 sniper rifle that has considerably aged in combat, both manufactured by Holt's Firearms Incorporated. It is the main basis of Rubicon for manufacturing the MK338 ESR. In Nick "Wolf" Bale's birthday, he formally requested the sniper rifle for both military and civilian use, which is requested by Lieutenant Frank Carlington of the APMC. Since the MK24 SWS and the MK40A3's 7.62mm SDC cartridge are typically effective at 1000 yards, it is a little lackluster when used in reconnaissance operations/sniper ops where the sightlines on the enemy territory are past 800 meters.

This quickly baffled Holt's Firearms Incorporated on staying on the 7.62x51mm SDC round for their production of current or new sniper rifles to sell for law enforcement and military use. Which regrettably degrades the company's dominance and popularity in the arms industry of the Panamoan Republic, claiming it to be a recession. Sergio Rubicon gleefully accepted Nick Bale's request for a new bolt action rifle. Meanwhile Rubicon's working staff had tirelessly manufactured the weapon's chassis, and every other components. Albeit proptotypes, are said to look more skeletonized than the final design, looking similar to the MK40A4's chassis.

13000 prototypes were divided into four categories that had certain designations. As with all Rubicon Industries firearms, TX25E1 is for units that performed flawlessly during the course of putting multiple rounds in extensive testing; TVN246J for passing certain requirements bet held back by a few setbacks, MCFg678 for flawed unit/prototype and RAEGUN for the weapon suffering from reliability problems.

Whilst successful in the market, the Panamoan Army and the Amphibious Panamoan Marine Corps quickly adopted it in 2004, it did not face any major competition from competing rifles for the MK700 Replacement Program. Until in 2010s the sales of the MK338 ESR had faced competition with recent designs, such as the MK-308 SPR Mod 0, MK408 Interceptor, RIA-338 SASR and Holt's last legacy MK40 rifle, the MK40A4.

### Black Pegasus

Although the MK338 ESR was initially requested by Nick "Wolf" Bale, it was cut from being a usable sniper rifle in game. But in all campaign missions, the **MK338 ESR** had a major role, being used by Panamoan Army snipers, ICPF police officers, Panamoan Intracore officers, and APMC marine snipers/scouts. They are typically issued with Epzayne MKIII scopes, RIA Accupoint 1-5x25 telescopic sights, Bipods and Monolithic suppressors. They are always found with camouflage patterns, like the Scorpion Camouflage, Digital Woodland and the Spectral Camouflage

## Design

The MK24 Sniper Weapon System (SWS) was born in the late 1980s as a militarized from of the original Holt MK700 of 1959. The MK24 SWS designation was applied to the series by the Panamoan Army who adopted the type as its standard tactical sniper rifle in 1969 and preceded to use it in the Panamoan Wars. From this excellent package has come the modern incarnation of the weapon through the Rubicon MK338 Enhanced Sniper Rifle (ESR) maintaining all of the qualities of the original with changes better suited to the modern battlefield. The Panamoan Army and Marine Corps has since moved on reconfiguring 3,600 of its existing MK24 SWS/MK40A3 stock to the new aluminized Nevium MK338 chassis, giving birth to the MK40A4. Service entry of the rifle was in 2004 with over 2,500 already in circulation (2005).

With its sound pedigree, the MK338 ESR carries over the accuracy and reliability of its predecessor and serves in the long-range tactical battlefield role. Externally, the system is quite a departure from the clean, solid stock version of the 1960s, incorporating more modern qualities such as an adjustable butt-plate and cheekpiece along its lightweight right-folding stock (the stock titled as the "MK338 Aluminized Nevium Chassis" - ANC). The folding stock allows for a much improved carrying profile by shortening the overall length of the weapon when in transit. Viking tactical slings also allow a shoulder strap to be used. Picatinny rail sections have been added over the receiver and at the handguard for the mounting of optics and various accessories including a folding bipod. The pistol grip is well-contoured to fit the hand with the magazine well (detachable box) situated just ahead of the MK24-style trigger unit but slung low under the mass of the receiver. The fore-end of the weapon is slotted around the 22" long cold-hammer-forged Nevium rifled barrel. A Mil-spec Monolithic Suppressor is fitted over the muzzle and considerably reduces muzzle flash and aids in recoil. Overall length - with the suppressor fitted - is 52" and 46.5" otherwise. Overall weight is 10.13b. The detachable box magazine seats five 8.6x70mm (.338) cartridges, or ten/fifteen round through extended magazines and is managed through a manual bolt action operation. It's rifling consists of 12 Grooves, with a 1:4 right hand twist, and coupled with a heavy duty 22 inch barrel it had an average precision of 0.6 MoA at 2000 meters; that rivals the far more advanced AI L338.

### Specifications

* Lenght: 1,180mm
* Caliber: **8.6x70mm Interceptor**
* Effective Range: 1500 Meters
* Weight: **10.13** Pounds (Fully Loaded)

## Traits and Capabilities

The MK338 ESR is supposedly the last sniper rifle unlocked, at level 66.

A major thing to note is that the MK338 ESR is statistically similar to the AI L338 in almost every way. They have the same base damage, magazine size, and multipliers. The only differences are the unlock times, as the AI L338 is unlocked with Create-a-Class, whereas the ESR must be unlocked at level 66. As well, the MK338 ESR cycles the bolt and reloads faster, and thus, has a higher rate of fire and reload time over the AI L338. It also has a larger/ more circular scope than the AI L338, giving more peripheral vision during ADS.

## Attachments

### Rail

* AAI MKIII
* Epzayne MKIII
* ACOG TA31RCO
* RIA Accupoint 1-5x25
* RIA Accupoint 10-50x112
* RIA Accupoint 20-100x224
* RIA Accupoint 40-200x448

### Underbarrel

* Foldable Bipod
* Heavy Duty Grip

### Magazine

* Extended Mags
* Hi-Cap Mag

## Trivia

### General

* It's appearance to the public in 2006 was widely praised, despite the ongoing semi automatic precision rifles that were currently being developed for a suitable replacement for the "antique" MK24 SWS and the aging MK40A3.
* The rifle scored a 0.3 MoA average precision/accuracy at 1500 meters, which leads it to be adopted by the Panamoan Army quickly, then the Marine Corps and Navy followed as well.
* Nick Wolfgang Bale was lowkey disappointed that the barrel length is only 22 inches long, as he expected the barrel to be at least 26 inches long

### Call of Duty: Black Pegasus

* The MK338 ESR is the most common Panamoan sniper rifle in the campaign yet it is completely unobtainable nor usable.
* It is typically fitted with a RIA Accupoint 1-5x25 telescopic sights, Mil-spec Monolithic suppressors, and Digital Woodland camouflage pattern.
* Certain modders managed to make the weapon usable, but were immediately banned.