History of Accuracy International

Accuracy International is a specialist British firearms manufacturer based in Portsmouth,Hampshire, England and best known for producing the Accuracy International Arctic Warfareseries of precision sniper rifles. The company was established in 1978 by British Olympicshooting gold medallist Malcolm Cooper, MBE (1947–2001), Sarah Cooper, Martin Kay, and the designers of the weapons, Dave Walls and Dave Caig. All were highly skilled international or national target shooters. Accuracy International's high-accuracy sniper rifles are in use with many military units and police departments around the world.

Accuracy International went into liquidation in 2005, and was bought by a British consortium which has resulted in the original design team now being back in control of the company.

The company is currently (2009) equally owned by two directors, Dave Walls and Tom Irwin along with Paul Bagshaw. Dave Caig remains in the business as a consultant.^[1]

The Accuracy International rifle system has gained success, due in part to the design considerations put into the overall rifle. The rifles are hand-built. The AWSM (Arctic Warfare Super Magnum) set the record for the longest confirmed combat kill.

The rifle stock design is designed for good ergonomics. The comfort in holding the rifle and the reduced recoil aids accuracy.

The barrel is interchangeable with other calibres; this can be done in the field in about 15 minutes. With the barrel clamped in a barrel vice, the barrel is removed from the action, and another one screwed into the action and tightened in place with a torque wrench.

The inherent accuracy of the rifle is due to the action being bolted with four screws and permanently bonded with epoxy material to an aluminium frame to which all major rifle components are attached. As it keeps the action from moving away from zero, the accuracy of the rifle is very high. Adding a folding stock handle, this sniper rifle can be used for both HALOinsertions and walking deployments of sniper forces.

Accuracy International introduced their new AS50 .50 BMG calibre semi-automatic rifle at the 2005 SHOT Show in Las Vegas.

The UK government announced in March 2008 the award of an £11 million contract to produce rifles for the British Army.^[2]

(Sources from Wikipedia)