U.S. Sniper Rifle to get an upgrade...

This, I believe, is old news, but posting it gives me a chance to provide an update on the progress I'm making on The Last Bartender. First, the article, from Popular Mechanics:  The U.S. Sniper's More Accurate, Quieter Rifle.

"For snipers, every war is different. Recognizing the differences between conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is now selecting a contractor to upgrade the 22-year-old Remington bolt-action rifle to become a more effective killing machine. The Army will pour about $5.6 million into upgrades to the M24, with the new gear expected to be delivered to troops by this fall. The M24's barrel is being modified to shoot heavier .300 Winchester Magnum rounds, instead of the 7.62mm NATO ammunition, which should extend the rifle's maximum effective range by hundreds of yards to a maximum of about 1400 yards. The suppressor will reduce the noise and flash of the gun so snipers can stay in their hiding positions much longer after they fire."

In The Last Bartender, former army sniper Justin Gardiner uses the old school, bolt-action M24 chambered in .300 WinMag.  Existing M24s are typically chambered in .308 Win (7.62x51mm NATO), but were also available in the more muscular .300 WinMag. The rule of thumb was that the .308 was fine for distances up to around 800 yards, the .300 WinMag up to around 1,000 yards. The article indicates that they've extended that maximum range out to 1,400 yards - I don't know if that's right or wrong, but I suppose that an updated, round-specific barrel twist rate and rifling, and superior optics could help in that regard.

So where is The Last Bartender? Well, the Kindle Edition has been available for a couple of months now. I've finished formating the manuscript for a print edition, and expect to have the cover art in hand by the middle of next week (I've already signed off on the design). So, hopefully, everything will be submitted to the publisher by the end of next week, and the print edition should be available on Amazon by the beginning of June.

Right now, the Kindle Edition remains on sale for 99 cents. After I submit the (print) manuscript to the publisher, I'm going to update the Kindle Edition so that it matches the book version (there were some copy-editing corrections, some minor formatting changes and a small handful of re-written paragraphs). At that point I'm going to raise the (Kindle) price to $3.49, the same as the rest of my ebooks. Still reasonable, I believe...

So if you've been waiting on the book, hang in there. It's on the way...