A bullet built for F-Class and long-range prone competition is going into a military cartridge.
Berger’s 6.5 mm 140-grain open-tip match projectile has been selected for the M1200 6.5 Creedmoor Special Ball Long-Range round, ammunition intended for U.S. Special Operations Command shooters engaging targets beyond 1,500 meters. Capstone Precision Group, which manufactures Berger bullets and loaded ammunition, won the work as an approved supplier under the Special Operations Unique Munitions Requirements program. Several million rounds will be assembled at the company’s Mesa, Arizona, plant, with first deliveries to SOCOM units scheduled for spring 2027.
Requirements for the M1200 are demanding in a specific way. Rather than raw velocity or terminal performance, the cartridge is graded on precision and reliability when fired suppressed from semi-automatic platforms—a harder combination than it sounds, since gas-gun cycling and a can on the muzzle both introduce variables that a bolt gun on a bench never sees. Consistency across millions of rounds, not a single good group, is the actual test.
“We’re proud to partner with the defense community,” said David Hamilton, Berger’s plant manager, who described the program as an extension of the company’s long-range precision work.
For Shooting Sports USA readers, the lineage here is worth noting. Hornady introduced the 6.5 Creedmoor in 2007 with across-the-course and long-range competition squarely in mind, and the cartridge spent roughly a decade proving itself on match firing lines before SOCOM adopted it for semi-automatic sniper systems in place of the .308 Winchester. Berger’s 140-grain OTM followed a similar path, earning its reputation on F-Class and prone firing points where a few thousandths of ballistic coefficient spread decides matches.
Capstone Precision Group produces Berger bullets and ammunition in Mesa and serves as the U.S. distributor for Lapua components and ammunition, Vihtavuori powders and SK rimfire ammunition. Capstone is part of Nammo Group.
