World Wide Sniper Rifles

The sniper must be able to calmly and deliberately kill targets that may not pose an immediate threat to him. It is much easier to kill in self-defense or in the defense of others than it is to kill without apparent provocation. The sniper must not be susceptible to emotions such as anxiety or remorse. Candidates whose motivation toward sniper training rests mainly in the desire for prestige may not be capable of the cold rationality that the sniper's job requires. The sniper is an excellent marksman with a superb mastery of the weapon and of camouflage and observation techniques. Despite the proven effectiveness of the rifleman in battle, for most of the 20th century snipers were regarded by most soldiers as little more than paid assassins. It was not until the Vietnam War that the undeniable effectiveness of the sniper was fully appreciated by the military, and with the advent of the 21st century, the sniper has become one of the most vital battlefield specialists.

Noted military historian S.L.A. Marshall claimed that during World War II up to 85 percent of frontline American riflemen had not fired their weapons in combat — even when under attack. He attributed the low firing rates to an instinctive aversion to killing at close range. In Vietnam the number of the frontline riflemen who saw the enemy fired their weapons rose to 90 percent, but this is with assault rifles, spraying tens of thousands of bullets for every enemy killed.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, in his book, On Killing: The Psychological Costs of Learning to Kill in War and Society, concluded that failing to fire at the enemy is a universal problem. He observes that humans have an deep aversion to harming others, and only tough, realistic training that conditions soldiers to kill relexively in combat can overcome this aversion, but even this is never completely effective. Even with such training, very few troops are mentally prepared to direct aimed fire at the enemy, preferring instead to spray bullets in the general direction of the enemy.

Only a few troops, perhaps one percent, will actually direct aimed fire at the enemy. These troops are treasured, and set apart, and called snipers. The sniper must be able to calmly and deliberately kill targets that may not pose an immediate threat to him. It is much easier to kill in self-defense or in the defense of others than it is to kill without apparent provocation. The sniper must not be susceptible to emotions such as anxiety or remorse. Candidates whose motivation toward sniper training rests mainly in the desire for prestige may not be capable of the cold rationality that the sniper’s job requires.

A properly selected sniper's position must ensure good conditions for observetion and fire within the effective range of fire of the rifle, it should provide good cover to the sniper from observation by the enemy and from his fire, and it should be comfortable. The position is selected in such a way that swift and covert movemet to back-up and new positions would be ensured. This is sometimes the decisive condition. Especially in cases where a snipetr duel occurs.

In all cases of a combat situation the sniper must necessarily fulfill one important condition: Never select a position located beside readily noticeable landmarks -- that is, ones which stand out from others and naturally attract attention. These may include, for example, a lone tree, a bush exhibiting some unique characteristic, an individually standing structure and so on. The eyes of enemy observers are naturally attracted by such objects, which in the end facilitates detection of sniper's positions and range determination by the enemy.

The primary mission of a sniper in combat is to support combat operations by delivering precise long-range fire on selected targets. By this, the sniper creates casualties among enemy troops, slows enemy movement, frightens enemy soldiers, lowers morale, and adds confusion to their operations. The secondary mission of the sniper is collecting and reporting battlefield information.

A well-trained sniper, combined with the inherent accuracy of his rifle and ammunition, is a versatile supporting arm available to an infantry commander. The importance of the sniper cannot be measured simply by the number of casualties he inflicts upon the enemy. Realization of the sniper's presence instills fear in enemy troop elements and influences their decisions and actions. A sniper enhances a unit's firepower and augments the varied means for destruction and harassment of the enemy. Whether a sniper is organic or attached, he will provide that unit with extra supporting fire. The sniper's role is unique in that it is the sole means by which a unit can engage point targets at distances beyond the effective range of the M16 rifle. This role becomes more significant when the target is entrenched or positioned among civilians, or during riot control missions. The fires of automatic weapons in such operations can result in the wounding or killing of noncombatants.

Snipers are employed in all levels of conflict. This includes conventional offensive and defensive combat in which precision fire is delivered at long ranges. It also includes combat patrols, ambushes, countersniper operations, forward observation elements, military operations in urbanized terrain, and retrograde operations in which snipers are part of forces left in contact or as stay-behind forces. Missing, hanging around and shooting again is not an option in this "one-shot, one-kill" mindset.

With the advances made in computer technology in today's world, "smart" weapons systems are constantly being developed that are increasingly more accurate and able to engage targets at much longer ranges. Conversely, today's combat soldier is trained to engage targets only out to 300 meters. This 300-meter limit is well short of the weapon/ammunition combination's capability. Snipers engage targets at 600 meters and beyond.

The difference between sharpshooting rifles on the one hand and hunting rifles with telescopic sight and assault rifles on the other hand consists primarily in their much wider operational range, wherefore on the telescopic rifle sight means for setting the elevation corresponding to the ballistics of the ammunition being used is required. These consist mostly of an elevation-adjusting drum, with setting marks for the respective distances engraved at their circumference.

For the sharpshooter, however, the main problem consists in establishing the distance, in order to set that value on the elevation-adjusting drum. Since the operation range for sharpshooting rifles can reach approximately 1000 m, depending on the ammunition used, the sniper is totally overburdened in variable terrain- and visibility conditions. Therefore, one has to deal with large mistakes in the distance estimates, which to leads to missed shots even with the most accurate weapons.

There have already been attempts to establish the distance with greater precision with the aid of the rifle telescope itself. Such as with telescopic rifle sights with variable enlargement, oscillating inner tubes with inversion systems and with height- and lateral adjustment screws. The distance measurement is primarily based on the fact that it is possible to evaluate quite accurately the size of the target which is known (body size, rump length, shoulder width, head size, etc) and to compare it with the marks in the sight graticule of the telescopic rifle sight. Hereby again there are two kinds of telescopes with variable enlargement, namely such with variable and such with constant sight graticule. As is the case with the former, a calculation has to be made in the case of the latter, the distance can be established with the aid of an enlargement table.

However, it is evident that this is also not a viable solution for serious situations, since after the distance determination, it is first necessary to set the elevation-adjusting drum on the respective distance mark. For this, the rifle has to be removed from its shooting position in order to read the marks on the telescope and to adjust it accordingly, as far as this is altogether possible under poor visibility conditions (such as dusk, etc.). If after that the sniper seeks his target again, in most of the cases he will find that it has disappeared and he has missed a favorable opportunity.

There has long been a desire among marksmen for firearms to be as accurate and consistent as possible during firing. This desire is particularly characteristic of marksmen who engage in rifle target shooting competitions and military sniper operations. Consequently, considerable effort has been made to eliminate or at least minimize those factors that adversely affect accurate shooting. It is well recognized that barrel vibration which inevitably occurs upon firing of the weapon adversely affects accurate rifle marksmanship. Attempts to eliminate such barrel vibration have involved the use of various types and kinds of bedding materials as shock absorbers and dampeners between the barrel and the action assemblies and stocks of a rifle. The kinds and positions of mounting screws associated with the components of a rifle have been the subject of design scrutiny. Different stock and barrel configurations have been tried. Nevertheless, inconsistent paths of trajectory of ballistic slugs discharged from their muzzles remain inherently characteristic of rifles.

It has been recognized that, in some cases, it is possible to "match" a particular rifle with a particular cartridge to minimize barrel vibration, thereby increasing accuracy. To "match" a cartridge with a particular rifle, it may be necessary to vary bullet weight or type, the type or amount of powder used, or other factors. The best match of ammunition will result in the exiting of a bullet from the barrel muzzle at or as near as possible to an anti-node (i.e., peaks and valleys that correspond to minimum barrel velocity) of the vibration curve representative of transverse barrel vibrations induced by the firing of the rifle.