That posed a significant problem when 7.62 x 54mmR rounds from a Russian-made PKM machine guns were fired at them from up to 1,200 meters away. Beyond 800 meters, 7.62 NATO cartridges lost some of their lethality, the paper said. They shared a copy with Marine Corps Times, which embedded with the unit in Afghanistan last fall.
Scout snipers with 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., outlined the deficiencies of the cartridge in a position paper they sent up their chain of command.
