A gun found in the suspects' car--a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle--has been linked by ballistics to 11 of the 14 Washington-area sniper shootings, including one in which no one was injured, Michael Bouchard, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said yesterday.

The AR-15 is the civilian form of the M-16 military assault rifle.

As an Army soldier, suspect John Allen Muhammad received a Marksmanship Badge with expert rating--the highest of three ratings--in use of the M-16, according to Army records.

Police also found a scope and tripod in the blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice they raided at a highway rest stop in Frederick County, Md., early yesterday, a law-enforcement source said. Muhammad and John Lee Malvo, 17, were found sleeping inside, police said.

The rifle uses a 10-round magazine, has a 16-inch barrel and is considered accurate to a range of 50 yards. It sells for about $850.

Allen Faraday, vice president of Maine-based Bushmaster Firearms, said investigators provided the company with the rifle's serial number. He said that rifle was shipped in June to a distributor in the Tacoma area, where Muhammad and Malvo lived for some time.

--From wire reports