The Bor is a Polish bolt-action 7.62×51mm NATO and .338 Lapua Magnum caliber sniper rifle. The weapon received the code name Alex during development, after the name of the lead designer Aleksander Leżucha, creator of the 12.7×99mm NATO Wilk anti-materiel rifle. After the development phase, the rifle received the military designation 'Bor'. Development After 1999, when Poland became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, there was a need for new firearms for the Polish Armed Forces compatible with NATO standards. Starting in the early 2000s, at the Mechanical Equipment Research and Developing Centre (Ośrodek Badawczo Rozwojowy Sprzętu Mechanicznego – OBR SM) in Tarnów, engineer Aleksander Leżucha started his work on a new standard sniper rifle. The work on the Alex had financial backing of the Polish Science Research and Information Technology Ministry in a joint venture construction with the manufacturer OBR SM Tarnów. It is intended that this sniper rifle will ultimately replace all precision rifles of this caliber in Polish service (currently (2009) mostly SVD). In the summer of 2005, testing of the new rifle began. The Bor was first unveiled at the 12th International Defense Industry Exhibition MSPO in September 2005 in Kielce. The weapon then went into production in 2006, when a short series was made. In the spring of 2007 the 7.62 mm Bor had passed all the tests required to be introduced into Polish inventories. The Polish Armed Forces planned to acquire 36 Bor rifles in 2007. In 2008 the manufacturer received an order for the delivery of a batch of 81 Bor rifles chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge by 2010. In June 2011 the manufacturer received an order for the delivery of 55 modified Bor rifles chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge by 2013. Several years of operations, including missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, has allowed to gain experience with the rifle. In accordance with the suggestions of users several improvements to the sniper weapon system were introduced including a 15 MOA forward canted Rail Integration System mounted over the receiver and a forward mounted tri-rail for mounting aiming optics and a new night vision device (Carl Zeiss Optronics NSV 80 Night Sight Attachment). Further the bipod, trigger, magazine well and bolt action were modified and the original barrel was exchanged for a new barrel with increased durability and corrosion resistance. Design details The Bor is a bullpup-configuration bolt-action magazine-fed sniper