The USAMU Custom Firearms Shop produces top-quality, match-grade rifles, pistols and shotguns, as well as much of the ammunition for the Army Marksmanship Unit. The Firearms Shop has a proven track record of providing the Army with its precision long-range small arms. The USAMU Custom Firearms Shop developed and built the weapons that became the sniper systems employed by the Army for more than five decades. The small arms innovations resulting from the Unit’s effort to achieve the highest levels of accuracy and precision in national and international competition have directly contributed to improving the Army’s small arms capabilities. USAMU works closely with Soldier Requirements Division, Small Arms Branch, MCOE, to assess the latest technologies associated with weapons and ammunition for application to capability documents and/or improvements to current systems.
USAMU also provided rapid production and fielding of precision small arms in direct support to FORSCOM Units deploying to combat. In response to two Operational Needs Statements (2004 and 2006) submitted by 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) to HQDA for modification of M16A2 Rifles for their Squad Designated Marksmanship program, USAMU built 296 SDMRs to add to the capability and lethality of 3ID dismounted squads in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
The USAMU enhances the Army’s recruiting effort, raises the standard of the Army’s Marksmanship proficiency, and supports the Army’s small arms research and development initiatives in order to raise the Army’s overall combat readiness.