C14 Timberwolf rifle
Encyclopedia
The C14 Timberwolf MRSWS (Medium Range Sniper Weapon System) is a manually operated bolt action sniper rifle
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...

 built by the Canadian arms company PGW Defence Technologies Inc
Prairie Gun Works
Prairie Gun Works Defence Technologies Inc., also known as PGWDTI, is a small company in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that specializes in building state of the art military grade sniper weapon systems, sound suppressors and associated components....

. In 2005 they won the contract to supply the Canadian Forces Land Command with the C14 Timberwolf MRSWS for $4.5million.

The military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 version of the rifle, which is being used to replace the C3A1 sniper rifle, started as a civilian precision sport rifle. The military rifle however has several modifications to make it better suited for military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 use and many accessories are available.

The official military designation for the rifle is C14 Timberwolf Medium Range Sniper Weapon System (MRSWS).

History

The Timberwolf rifle was originally developed as a civilian long range hunting and sport shooting rifle for super magnum cartridges by the Canadian company Prairie Gun Works, now PGW Defence Technologies Inc. The civilian Timberwolf rifle is offered in several chamberings, up to the .408 Cheyenne Tactical cartridge and the .416 PGW cartridge, a wildcat cartridge based on the .408 Cheyenne Tactical. These rifle cartridges are dimensionally larger and are more powerful when compared to the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge used in the C14 Timberwolf used by the Canadian military.

During the 1990s the Canadian Armed Forces formulated a requirement for a sniper rifle that could fulfill an anti-personnel role up to 1,200 m (1,312 yd). This long-range anti-personnel rifle would replace the aging C3A1 bolt-action rifle which fired the smaller 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge which had been in service since 1970.

In 2001 during trials for new sniper rifles at CFB Gagetown
CFB Gagetown
Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, referred to as CFB Gagetown is a large Canadian Forces Base located in southwestern New Brunswick.- Construction of the base :...

, the C14 Timberwolf MRSWS was picked to become the new designated anti-personnel sniper rifle for the Canadian Forces. The C14 Timberwolf MRSWS went into production for the Canadian Forces Land Command in 2005.

Since the introduction of the C14 Timberwolf MRSWS, the C3A1 rifle has been slowly removed from active service and the C14 Timberwolf MRSWS is now the main sniper rifle in the Canadian Armed Forces arsenal and is highly rated by snipers. Besides the rifle this is also due to the additional effective range and penetration the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge offers over the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge.

The C14 Timberwolf's accuracy potential is stated by its manufacturer as sub 0.75 MOA
Minute of Angle
Minute of angle is the measurement of a ballistic round's deviation from its initial heading due to gravity and/or the effect of air resistance on velocity. Informally known as a "Bullet's Trajectory" or "the rainbow effect". Long range weapons must account for this effect because a fired round...

 with proper ammunition. The Canadian Forces accuracy standard was evaluated by hit probability with a requirement of hitting a chest sized target at 1,200 m (1,312 yd) 90% of the time. PGW Defence Technologies Inc. averaged over 95% on this standard and every weapon delivered under the Canadian Armed Forces contract was evaluated for accuracy and witnessed by DND officials.

Design details

The C14 Timberwolf MRSWS rifle is chambered for the .338 Lapua Magnum rifle cartridge. The rifle achieves a maximum muzzle velocity of 838 m/s (2750 ft/s) with 19.44 g (300 gr) Sierra Matchking very-low-drag bullet
Very-low-drag bullet
Very-low-drag bullets are primarily a small arms ballistics development of the 1980s–1990s, driven by shooters' desire for bullets that will give a higher degree of accuracy and kinetic efficiency, especially at extended ranges. To achieve this the projectile must minimize air resistance in flight...

 loads. Such loads are much more powerful compared to loads of the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge used in the C3A1 rifle which fires smaller and lighter bullets at 732 m/s (2400 ft/s).

Operating mechanism

The Timberwolf action
Firearm action
In firearms terminology, an action is the physical mechanism that manipulates cartridges and/or seals the breech. The term is also used to describe the method in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism. Actions are generally categorized by the type of mechanism used...

 is a manually operated stainless steel bolt action with a right-hand side bolt and ejection port. The bolt is a rotary bolt with dual front locking lugs plus one locking lug at the rear. It requires a 90-degree bolt rotation. the bolt is partly helically fluted which reduces weight whilst maintaining strength. A double plunger ejector and hook type extractor are used to remove fired cartridge cases. This helps create a very smooth action which is very reliable. The extra locking lug at the rear assists in preventing the bolt from becoming jammed when chambering another round.
Though not in Canadian military use the manufacturer offers a titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....

 receiver as an alternative for the stainless steel used in the C14 receiver. The use of titanium reduces the weight of the Timberwolf bolt-action.

The single stage trigger is adjustable for weight, creep, and over-travel.

Barrel

The barrel
Gun barrel
A gun barrel is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity....

 for the MRSWS is a modified, heavy free floating Kreiger made barrel. It comes in 660 mm (26 in) standard but a 737 mm (29 in) custom barrel is fitted to the civilian precision hunting rifle variant, however this can be used on the military version as well. The 338 Lapua Magnum barrels are supplied with a 254 mm (1 in 10 inch) twist rate optimized to stabilize long, heavy very-low-drag bullets like the Sierra HPBT MatchKing and Lapua Scenar .338-calibre 19.44 gram (300 grain) bullets. The barrels are cryogenic stress relieved and partly helically fluted
Fluting (firearms)
In firearms terminology, fluting refers to the removal of material from a cylindrical surface, usually creating grooves. This is most often the barrel of a rifle, though it may also refer to the cylinder of a revolver or the bolt of a bolt action rifle....

 which reduces weight whilst maintaining most of the structural strength and contains a detachable proprietary stainless steel muzzle brake
Muzzle brake
Muzzle brakes and recoil compensators are devices that are fitted to the muzzle of a firearm or cannon to redirect propellant gases with the effect of countering both recoil of the gun and unwanted rising of the barrel during rapid fire...

 which reduces the recoil.

Feeding

It has a 5 round detachable box magazine which is positioned just ahead of the trigger guard
Trigger guard
A trigger guard is a loop surrounding the trigger of a firearm and protecting it from accidental discharge.Some assault rifles can have their trigger guard removed or positioned as not to impair firing with gloves for example in Arctic conditions....

.

Sights

The rifle has no default iron sights
Iron sights
Iron sights are a system of shaped alignment markers used as a sighting device to assist in the aiming of a device such as a firearm, crossbow, or telescope, and exclude the use of optics as in telescopic sights or reflector sights...

 but it is instead fitted with a length of integral picatinny rail
Picatinny rail
The Picatinny rail or MIL-STD-1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail or a "Tactical Rail" is a bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform. A similar system is the Weaver rail mount.-Description:...

 with a 25 MOA
Minute of Angle
Minute of angle is the measurement of a ballistic round's deviation from its initial heading due to gravity and/or the effect of air resistance on velocity. Informally known as a "Bullet's Trajectory" or "the rainbow effect". Long range weapons must account for this effect because a fired round...

 forward slope on which an optical sight can be mounted. It also contains two small lengths of MIL-STD-1913 or Picatinny rail
Picatinny rail
The Picatinny rail or MIL-STD-1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail or a "Tactical Rail" is a bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform. A similar system is the Weaver rail mount.-Description:...

 at the forefront of the stock. The Canadian Forces use a Leupold Mark 4 16x40mm LR/T M1 Riflescope as standard, but other day telescopic sight
Telescopic sight
A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is a sighting device that is based on an optical refracting telescope. They are equipped with some form of graphic image pattern mounted in an optically appropriate position in their optical system to give an accurate aiming point...

s and night sights can be fitted. Simrad night sights are mounted by custom scope ring sets and UNS or MUNS night sights are mounted via a PGWDTI proprietary mount. Tactical lights and lasers can be fitted to the two front lengths of MIL-STD-1913 rail.

Stock

The stock is a McMillan A5 polymer stock which has an adjustable saddle cheekpiece and spacer plates to regulate the length of pull to tailor the stock for the individual shooter. It is an upgraded version from the M40A3 McMillan A3 type stock. The stock is made from high strength fibre glass with a PGWDTI-Titanium Cantilever Monoblock beddingblock which provides both added comfort and strength.

Accessories

The C14 rifle can accept the customary accessories for sniper weapons systems like; telescopic sight
Telescopic sight
A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is a sighting device that is based on an optical refracting telescope. They are equipped with some form of graphic image pattern mounted in an optically appropriate position in their optical system to give an accurate aiming point...

s and other optical sights, MIL-STD-1913 rails
Picatinny rail
The Picatinny rail or MIL-STD-1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail or a "Tactical Rail" is a bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform. A similar system is the Weaver rail mount.-Description:...

 (Picatinny rails) to mount optical sights and other accessories, bipod
Bipod
A bipod is a support device that is similar to a tripod or monopod, but with two legs. It provides significant stability along two axes of motion .-Firearms:...

s, muzzle brakes/flash-hiders and silencers
Suppressor
A suppressor, sound suppressor, sound moderator, or silencer, is a device attached to or part of the barrel of a firearm which reduces the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon....

 (sound suppressors) and (carrying) slings.
Further it can be delivered with cleaning kits and soft and heavy-duty transit cases and various maintenance tools.

Related Rifles

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  • Accuracy International AWM
    Accuracy International AWM
    The AWM is a sniper rifle manufactured by Accuracy International. It is also known as the AWSM , which typically denotes the .338 Lapua Magnum version.-The Arctic Warfare Magnum system:...

  • Sako TRG
    Sako TRG
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  • list of sniper rifles
  • Canadian Army

External links

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