By John McHale

REDMOND, Wash. — U.S. Army Rangers at Fort Benning, Ga., continue to obtain a high percentage of first-round hits with the MK Ranger high-angle trajectory sight and mount from B.E. Meyers in Redmond, Wash., claims Brad Meyers, company president.

The MK Ranger is a high-angle trajectory mount for grenade launchers and machine guns, B.E. Meyers officials say. This mount adapts either to the MK-64 or the MK-93 cradles and enables the MK-19 to aim at targets near the maximum range of the weapon — even in total darkness — with a 40-millimeter laser mandrel inserted in the bore.

"It can launch multiple high-explosive rounds accurately out to targets farther than 2,000 meters," as long as there is sufficient light to see the target, Meyers says. Targets are more difficult to hit at night because of the high-angle trajectory and lack of an efficient night-vision sighting device.

However, the MK Ranger enables instant target acquisition, even in total darkness, making the MK-19 nearly as accurate at night as during the day, company officials claim.

One laser illuminates the target area and one pinpoints the target with a red dot, Meyers says. There are thousands of them in use by the U.S. military, he says.

The device originated from a request from the Dismounted Battle Lab at Fort Benning. "We initiated development of a high angle multi-purpose sighting system that would adapt to existing mount cradles such as the MK-64 and MK-93 and ensure first round hits" in darkness using standard PVS-7B night vision goggles in the dead of night, Meyer says.

Each MK Ranger high-angle trajectory mount is available with two bore-sighting laser systems, B.E. Meyers officials say. These lasers are precentered for accuracy and include a mandrel that simply slips down the bore of the prospective weapon. Each mandrel also includes an all-weather targeting cloth for each laser.

A 10-meter length of cord is included for the correct distance setup. Visible red lasers for the 40-mm MK-19 and the 0.50-caliber machine gun consume less than five milliwatts. Both operate with AA batteries, which are easily replaceable without altering the accuracy of the laser-bore sight mandrel, company officials say.

B.E. Meyers engineers also recently released the Durable Illumination Aiming Laser — DIAL-100 — that can be used with the MK Ranger. The DIAL-100 provides infrared night aiming and a higher-energy daytime visible aiming laser, Meyers says. The infrared and illumination lasers aim and align together through the same lens. The device also weighs less than 10 ounces with the battery — one AA or one CR123 lithium battery.

"When the DIAL-100 is combined with our Flash Terminator and Bore Sighter it eliminates the need for tracer rounds," Meyers claims.

For more information on the MK Ranger or B.E. Meyers contact the company at 425-881-6648 or online at www.bemeyers.com.