CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

McMillan TAC-50

sniper rifle and anti-materiel rifle

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ660141
Source-derived summary

The McMillan TAC-50 is a long-range anti-materiel rifle. The TAC-50 is based on previous designs from McMillan, which first appeared during the late 1980s. From March 2002 to November 2009 and May 2017 to November 2023, it held the record for the longest confirmed sniper kill. McMillan produces several .50 caliber rifles, based on the same proprietary action, for military, law enforcement and civilian use. It is produced in Phoenix, Arizona, in the United States by McMillan Firearms.

The TAC-50 is a military and law enforcement weapon, which, designated as the C15, has been the standard long-range sniper weapon (LRSW) of the Canadian Army since 2000. Rifles of the TAC-50 family are guaranteed to provide 0.5 minute of angle (MOA) groups with match-grade ammunition under ideal conditions.

Design details

The McMillan TAC-50 is a manually operated, rotary bolt-action rifle. The large bolt has dual front locking lugs, and its body has spiral flutes to reduce weight. The heavy match-grade barrel, made by Lilja barrels, is also fluted to dissipate heat quickly and reduce overall weight, and fitted with an effective muzzle brake to reduce recoil.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “McMillan TAC-50” is sniper rifle and anti-materiel rifle. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through McMillan, TAC-50 and sniper, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2002, 2009, 2017, 2023—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, McMillan, TAC-50 and sniper is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “sniper rifle and anti-materiel rifle” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q660141. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2002, 2009, 2017 and 2023.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “McMillan TAC-50”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow McMillan TAC-50 primary sources, McMillan TAC-50 archive and McMillan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “McMillan TAC-50”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from McMillan TAC-50” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.