Sniper hints, tips, and secrets...

D

Dad2Jane

New member
My hat is off to qualified, professionally trained snipers... to be GOOD takes a lot of patience, ability and training...

I'd love to hear some tips, hints, & secrets for being a good sniper...

I'm NOT particularly interested in types of weapons, loads, velocities, trajectory, etc... there are other forums, etc for that... thta's why I didn't put this under "the Rifle".

I'd love to hear more about "hides", the approach, camo techniques, etc... I've read several books on snipers by military trained snipers. I've also looked at various web sites. They were all very informative.

If there are military trained snipers here, I'd love to hear some true & factual "stories" from your days as a sniper.


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Stand against evil, lest evil have its way...
 
Guns & Ammo March 1997

Good article on Army sniper training school, qualification, gear, ghillie suits

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
 
Ultimate sniper was a great book about techniques/fieldcraft and shooting without going on and on about rifles/cartridges. had the BEST expanantion of clickups and downs on a military retical scope.. very easy to understand. I was given the book as a gag gift.. but ALL my varmint hunter friends borrowed it to read.

I'd also recommend taking a DCM rifle course 9just so you can SEE hoe far 600 + yards really is.


We give out the annual Colorado Hunt Club "goat sniper" award every year for the longest shots on antelope. I think the current record is a one shot kill at 425 yards (moving at a trot) with a Ruger 77v 25-06 and a burris 6x18 vriable scope (my dad made that shot).

The BIGGEST thing I've learned in shooting long range is that MOST of us tend to OVERESTIMATE distance, and long range shooting requires patience, and controlled breathing and a bi-pod (for shooting past 300 yards).

I can out shoot my hunting partner snap shooting and when my adrenaline is up... but he's a FAR better long range shot than me because he doesn't hurry and pays close attention. His best shot was a 310 yard heart shot in wind high enough to rock the jeep we were in. We ALWAYS spot for each other whenever possible. You have to be careful to recognise when a shot goes UNDER your target instead of OVER (this can be tricky). You benefit IMMENSELY from a spotter.. since with a high power rifle you will be off target as SOON as you squeeze the trigger.

Most of the guys I hunt with shoot with bi-pods but i do not (prefer not to carry the weight in the feild) I DO use a leather GI sniper sling to stabilize my shooting.

Groovy shooting tip from the varminting crowd: LAY YOUR THUMB on the side of the stock on TOP of your trigger finger.. this will prevent you from 'oversqueezing" the trigger and moving the stock... try it and the range next time, it really works.

Also practice dry firing your rifle, if you have a magazine.. have a friend load it with a snap-cap or two along with live rounds, not ONLY will you learn if you are flinching you'll learn to clear that dud round in a hurry.

Hope this helps,

Dr.Rob
 
You know - along with DELTA and SEALS - The US ARMY SNIPER SCHOOL is the 3rd most attended training program out there... ;)

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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud
 
DrRob, "you'll learn to clear that dud round in a hurry."

I'm OK with the snap cap for the flinch check but everything I know says when you have a round not fire, you wait 10-20 seconds (with muzzle downrange) in the event of a hangfire. Having the bolt half open when (if) the round does go off could be a bad thing. 'Course, in a tactical situation sometimes the rules get bent a bit.

Shooting Times (2/2000) just had a brief overview on some SWAT sniper-types & a target one gent shot over a period of (?) a few months. Just one shot (out of a cleaned & then one-shot fouled bbl) each time for zero under many varying conditions. Point was to see where bullet impact would be for first shot. Doesn't matter if your rifle shoots 1/4" groups if the first bullet's a "flyer" 2" off zero.

Besides having a rifle equiped to perform (optics, bedding, trigger! proper rest, & did I say trigger!?), ranging is critical, not to mention the physical/mental aspects. You must be in condition to take the physical "abuse" required to get in (oh, & out BTW), hang out for quite some time, be able to actually take the accurate shot & there's something a bit "different" about looking at (targeting) a live head through a scope.

Different types of snipers. A police-type mainly picks a spot for observation to report to squad & (eventually, if needed) to drop hostage-taker with one shot & no chance at subsequent threat to hostage. Range is usually fairly short (relatively) & bullet placement is absolutely critical as muscle reactions can cause perp to hose hostage when perp is hit. Severing medula oblongata (~brain stem) is prefered target as it totally cuts motor functions - target drops/no after effects/threat to hostage.
 
have a friend load it with a snap-cap or two along with live rounds, not ONLY will you learn if you are flinching you'll learn to clear that dud round in a hurry.

Better still (perversely):
Went to Cooper's rifle course. Couldn't bring much ammo on the plane, so bought some Chilean military surplus ammo from a random gun shop. About 1 in 5 rounds wouldn't fire (hard primer); freaked me out at first, but 300 rounds later learned to unemotionally clear duds quickly.
 
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