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| Walther WA 2000 | |
|---|---|
 Walther WA 2000 |
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| Type | Sniper Rifle |
| Place of origin |  West Germany |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1970s |
| Manufacturer | Walther |
| Produced | 1970s-1988 |
| Number built | 176 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 6.95 kg (unloaded, without telescopic sight) |
| Length | 905 mm (35.6 in) |
| Barrel length | 650 mm (25.6 in) |
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| Cartridge | |
| Action | semi-automatic, gas-operated |
| Effective range | 1000 m |
| Feed system | 6-round detachable box magazine |
| Sights | Schmidt & Bender 2.5–10 × 56mm telescopic sight |
The WA 2000 is a semi-automatic bullpup sniper rifle that was produced by the Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen company.
Contents |
Design
The WA 2000 was designed in the 1970s. The bullpup design was chosen because it would allow a standard length (for a sniper rifle) barrel to be used whilst the overall length would be shorter than a conventional rifle.
The WA 2000 used the PV4 night vision sniper scope.
The .300 Winchester Magnum round was chosen as the primary caliber because of its long range accuracy and its consistency at all ranges. The entire rifle is designed around the barrel. The WA 2000 fires from a closed bolt and uses a bolt with seven locking lugs. The rifle features a six round magazine capacity.
Variants
Only 176 total rifles were ever produced in three different variants: one chambered for the standard .300 Winchester Magnum round, another chambered for the popular 7.62x51mm NATO round, and the final version for the 7.5x55mm Swiss round.
The two variants can be differentiated by the type of flash suppressor used: the first, the older model, uses a "can" type flash suppressor; whereas the second and newer model uses the more conventional "flash-hider/compensator" design.
Production
The rifle was produced from the late 1970s through November 1988 when production was stopped due to high production costs. The final retail cost for a base rifle in 1988 was in the range of $9,000 to $12,500.
Of the 176 units that were produced, only 34 were exported to the U.S., 11 of which are owned by Earl J. Sheehan Jr., President of Walther USA[1]. Due to its rarity the WA 2000 can be worth over $20,000 to $40,000 in the open market.
References
External links
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