A 3D Printed M-200 Sniper Rifle Model Opens the Door to the Sniper’s Craft

The CheyTac Intervention, an American-made, bolt-action sniper rifle, is manufactured by CheyTac LLC. With a 7-round detachable, single-stack magazine, the M-200, as it’s also known, fires .408 caliber or .375 Chey Tac ammunition and is highly accurate to ranges of up to an astonishing 2,500 yards, making it one of the most effective long range weapons among modern-day sniper rifles.

The M-200 Intervention currently holds the world record for the best “group” at distance. An expert marksman placed three rounds within 16⅝ inches of each other from 2,321 yards out in a test near Arco, Idaho. In keeping with its legendary efficacy, the M-200 was featured on an episode of the Discovery Channel show Future Weapons, and host Richard Machowicz, once a United States Navy SEAL, placed 3 out of 6 shots on a human-sized metal target from more than 2,500 yards.

The company’s website includes a video which states that a Texas man hit an MOA target 3 times at a range of some 2.07 miles distant.

Such weapons have become the source of much fascination among the public as the work of military snipers has entered the public consciousness via movies and video games. Faced with the problems of wind, rain, dust, targets on the move and a list of other exotic difficulties, it’s little wonder that the sniper holds sway as the most feared combatant in war with their ability to inflict death and psychological terror on enemy forces.

From soldiers like British Corporal Craig Harrison (who killed two Taliban fighters with consecutive shots at a distance of some 8120 ft to the most prolific and deadly sniper in history), Finnish soldier Simo Häyhä (who totaled his tally in the 100 days of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union), snipers have mastered a craft which includes a nearly bewildering array of variables.

A sniper’s bullet leaves the barrel at three times the speed of sound, and in Harrison’s case, required a compensation in aiming of some six feet above and two feet to the left of the actual target to strike the intended spot. A .338 caliber, very-low-drag rifle round fired at 830 meters per second can take approximately eight seconds to reach a target 3,000 meters distant. 

So it’s little wonder that a 3D printed version of the M-200 would draw some attention, particularly when it’s as realistic looking as this version by a 3D modeling designer who calls himself “ZaczacP” on Reddit and KingKongGourd on our forum.

“I believe that many boys like guns,” he says. “Especially the shape of a cool sniper rifle or rifle. For example, I like this M200 so much, but I can only see the picture of it and can not see the real one.”

That led KingKongGourd to design and 3D print his own version of the iconic weapon – which, it should be noted, is not operative but simply a model.

“Since I’m a modeling designer, why not build the model by myself, print it with my 3D printer and paint it?” he says of the project.

The designer built the files in 3DSMAX, and he says the parts took some four days in total to print with his Mankati XT Plus printer. His 3D printer, with a 260 x 260 x 300 mm build envelope, allows for larger models to be printed–though not quite large enough to accommodate a full rifle design.

In order to create a realistic, near-life-size model, he had to split the design into “many parts” to allow for desktop 3D printing. Once he had the design set, he used slicing software to produce an ideal printing layout for each part, and after printing it all came down to assembly and post-processing.

With all the parts now printed and assembled, he is still working on completing the entire design with paint and finishing. When the entire rifle model is ready, he says he plans to share the STL files with the community, as well as guidance on his method and materials.

What do you think of this highly realistic, 3D printed, M-200 sniper rifle? Let us know in the Sniper Rifle forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out more photos of his creation below.