Sniper

The traditional definition of a sniper is an infantry soldier especially skilled in field craft and marksmanship who kills selected enemies from concealment with a rifle at large distances. Typically and ideally, a proficient sniper approaches an unaware enemy presence, uses a single bullet per target, and withdraws without being seen. The word originates from the snipe, a game bird difficult for hunters to sneak up on.

Sniper equipment

Sniper rifles

Good equipment is helpful, but does not substitute for careful selection of personnel and thorough training. A military sniper from a selective, highly trained formation, equipped with a mere hunting rifle, would be far more effective than a hunter with an expensive, precision sniper rifle.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Historic military sniper rifles were almost the standard service rifle of the country in question. They included the German Mauser K98, U.S. Springfield 1903 and M1 Garand, Soviet Mosin-Nagant, Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen, Japanese Arisaka and British Lee Enfield No 4.

Related Topics:
Mauser - Springfield 1903 - M1 Garand - Mosin-Nagant - Krag-Jørgensen - Arisaka - Lee Enfield

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

These were selected because they were, and in some cases still are, the more accurate models of those in service. They might add a scope or bipod. The standard open iron sights were usually left as a back-up in case the optical sight should fog or break.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Modern sniper rifles are specially-built for the purpose. The critical goal is reliable placement of the first shot within one MOA (minute of angle). Most include special features for this purpose. These can include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Rifles are built to tight tolerances. In particular, the headspace is as small as possible.
• The barrel is precise. The production method is less important. Good barrels' rifling can be cut with a lathe or swaged with a button. Some barrels have metallurgical treatments to reduce their internal strains, and thus the amount they bend or twist with temperature.
• A "free-floating barrel" is often used. The barrel is attached to the rifle at a single point, screwed into the action, not touching the forearm, "front furniture" or sling. This makes the first shot more repeatable since it helps isolate the barrel from outside mechanical and thermal effects.
• The action is affixed carefully to the stock. Often a plastic "bedding" compound is used. It increases the rifles' repeatability by reducing tolerances between the stock and action. Some engineers claim it raises the mechanical resonant frequency of the rifle, reducing the wavelength of resonances, and thus the total error from them.
• Most sniper rifles have heavy barrels to increase the resonant frequency (again) and slow the rate of heating, which reduces thermal distortion of the barrel as more rounds are shot. This is why the M24 Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle is actually heavier than the older M21 Semiautomatic Sniper Rifle.
• The end of the barrel may be counter-sunk a few millimeters to protect the critical exit-end of the rifling.
• The trigger sears may be polished so the trigger releases crisply. This reduces the shooter's tendency to jerk the trigger, and move the point of aim. A good trigger lets off or 'breaks' cleanly without any 'creep.' It is said to feel like snapping a glass rod.
• A low-mass (often titanium) hammer and pin reduce the time between the trigger pull and the primer ignition. This reduces the distance that a human being's irreducible quiver can move the point of aim.
• Military sniper rifles tend to have longer barrels of around 600 mm to allow the cartridge propellant to fully burn and get the fastest bullet velocity for a given charge. Some police sniper rifles have shorter barrels to make them easier to handle. The shorter ranges at which police operate permit lower bullet velocities.

Perhaps the three best-known sniper rifles in current service are the U.S. Army's M24 SWS, the U.S. Marine Corps' M40 and the British Accuracy International L96 and AWM. The M24 and M40 are precision rifles built based upon the civilian Remington 700 bolt action rifle, the best selling bolt-action in North America and dating back to 1962. The British L96/AW was designed by Malcolm Cooper, a British civilian Olympic shooter.

Related Topics:
M24 SWS - M40 - Accuracy International - L96 - AWM - Remington - Malcolm Cooper - Olympic - Shooter

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sniper rifles' sights are almost always telescopic. The reticle of the scope often contains markings other than the cross-hairs found in hunting rifle scopes. Some markings are to assist in range estimation by corresponding to standard objects at different ranges; other marks, such as mil-dots, assist both in "aiming off" for windage and in "holding off" to adjust for distance and elevation. Mil dots are also used for range estimation. Army mil dots are round, while the Marine Corps dots are oval.

Related Topics:
Telescopic - Mil-dots

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sniper rifles' scopes rarely magnify more than 11x; the AW in British service has a fixed magnification of 10.5x. Modern sniper rifles often forgo open sights, relying entirely on the scope. Examples include the U.S. M21, M24, and M40. The British AW is still equipped with auxiliary open sights. Some scopes have fixed magnification as low as 3x. Police sniper rifles often have an adjustable zoom scope, as much police work is done at close range and a high magnification scope restricts the field of view.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some sniper equipment includes an image intensifying adapter to convert the normal scope for night work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Semi-automatic sniper rifles are currently less common than bolt-action rifles, with the notable exception of the Russian Dragunov in 7.62x54 (the old Soviet rimmed battle rifle cartridge originally chambered in the Mosin-Nagant). The Dragunov is relatively common in the sphere of influence of the former Eastern bloc. The Dragunov in 7.62x54 is not as precise as the M21, M40 or AW series. A precision semi-automatic rifle is expensive and most sniping doctrines make the semi-automatic function superfluous. Precision semi-automatic sniper rifles exist for specialised applications, such as the Heckler & Koch PSG1 and Knight Armaments SR25M.

Related Topics:
Dragunov - Eastern bloc - Heckler & Koch - PSG1 - Knight Armaments - SR25M

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A sandbag helps one to achieve the best accuracy, although these are typically only available in target shooting, police stand-offs, and base defense. In the field, a bipod is more common, although any soft surface such as a rucksack will work. Any of these will steady a rifle and help ensure consistency. In particular, they help one fire from a prone position, the most accurate position for firing a rifle. They also help one hold any firing position for an extended period of time. Many police and military sniper rifles come equipped with an adjustable bipod. It should be noted however, that a wealth of equipment will never compensate for bad marksmanship.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since 1985, some services have adopted sniper rifles that fire rounds larger or more powerful than a standard battle rifle's.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Such rifles are used for anti-materiel missions and for extreme long range. U.S. doctrines call "anti-materiel" roles hard target interdiction. They are big, heavy, cumbersome, very loud and expensive. In many sniping missions these would be a disadvantage, but these big rifles do have their tactical niche.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Such rifles include the Barrett M82A1 chambered in the .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) cartridge. This cartridge generates about six times the energy of a 7.62 x 51 mm NATO cartridge. Splitting the difference between the huge .50 BMG and the 7.62 x 51 mm in the power stakes are the .338 Lapua and .408 Chey-Tac. A new Sniper rifle undergoing testing is the Barrett XM109 rifle, firing a high-explosive 25 mm round.

Related Topics:
M82A1 - .50 BMG - 7.62 x 51 mm NATO - .338 Lapua - .408 Chey-Tac - Barrett XM109 - High-explosive

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ammunition

Most snipers are issued match-grade military ammunition. Ammunition with a boat-tail (narrowing at the base end) are often selected for long-range sniping.

Related Topics:
Match-grade - Ammunition

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Though target shooters often assemble their own ammunition from components to more precisely control the load and tune it to the specific rifle and task, this is practically unknown in military and police circles.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ideally, a shooter would acquire rounds from a single lot (batch) of manufactured ammunition, zero the rifle to that lot, and then use only that ammunition until it runs out. This ensures that every bullet is as similar as possible to the previous one, and assists consistency (as well as confidence). However this is rarely practicable. A sniper will enter all types of information into a data (dope) book. This can include lot number, temperature, wind speed/direction, humidity, altitude and so on. If he should ever encounter the same conditions, he already has valuable data to assist him in making an accurate shot. Most information gathering must start over if the barrel is replaced with a new one. They all shoot differently.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Speed and distance of a sniper bullet

Sniper rifles are among the most powerful personal firearms. If pointed at the right angle, a sniper rifle can fire over a mile high, and over two miles horizontally, but the bullet's actual velocity and the rate at which it slows down can be quite important.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Depending on the rifle, a sniper today can fire a bullet at a speed of over 884 metres per second (0.549 mile per second); this is 3180 kilometres per hour (1980 miles per hour), about two and a half times the speed of sound (330 metres per second). A bullet traveling at that speed crosses the length of 7 full size football fields in one second. In reality, the bullet slows down considerably due to friction with the air over those distances.

Related Topics:
Mile - Speed of sound

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A thought experiment by Galileo (originally applied to horses, rather than firearms) has interesting consequences for ballistics: if a bullet is fired horizontally and another bullet is simply dropped, providing they were released at the same time and from the same height, they will both fall and hit the floor at exactly the same time. The situation is in reality a bit more complex for high-velocity objects due to interaction with air, but this experiment illustrates the basic problem: A bullet's range depends on how far it can travel before gravity pulls it to the ground. This is why it is critical for a sniper to know his rifle's ballistic statistics.

Related Topics:
Thought experiment - Galileo

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The best rifle and marksman combination is still unable to reliably hit targets beyond 1000 meters. At extended ranges, small factors like air density, wind, bullet drop estimations, variances between individual rounds, etc. all stack up to throw the projectile randomly off its intended course. It is not uncommon for the effective range of a sniper system to be given at 600 to 800 meters. Accurate hits at greater distances become exponentially less likely.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Camouflage

Good camouflage, combined with movement discipline, is what makes snipers so hard to see and detect.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The glint of the scope's optics is the only part of a sniper that cannot be camouflaged, but shine can be reduced by using a piece of fabric or a metal mesh over the scope. Snipers should avoid anything that glints or clanks, including glasses and white faces.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Snipers against well-equipped forces must camouflage themselves in Infrared (or IR). They use material with a thin layer of evaporated aluminum to reflect the IR, such as plastic foil blankets. Originally these were thermal blankets, covered with local foliage or material. The foliage or material is taken from at least 275 m (300 yards) away so the sniping position's natural cover is undisturbed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tick suit

The best-equipped snipers use a Tick suit. This consists of IR-proof material that hangs in folds over the sniper, breaking up the outline on a scope. The outer layers of a tick suit resemble a ghillie suit, camouflaging the sniper in visible light.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ghillie suit

Snipers with extreme requirements for infiltration and camouflage use a ghillie suit, also known as a yowie suit. The ghillie suit was originally developed by Scottish deer hunters as a portable hunting blind.

Related Topics:
Camouflage - Ghillie suit - Scottish - Hunting blind

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ghillie suits can be constructed in many different ways. Some services make them of rough burlap (hessian) flaps attached to a net poncho. US Army Ghillie suits are often built using a pilot's flightsuit, battle dress uniform (BDU), or some other one-piece coverall as the base. Unscented dental floss is used to sew each knot of fishnet to the fabric, in the areas to be camouflaged. A drop of Shoe Goo is applied to each knot for strength. The desired jute is applied to the netting by tying groups of 3 to 4 strands of a color to the netting with simple knots, skipping sections to be filled in with other colors.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A ghillie suit is usually prepared by assembling it, beating it, dragging it behind a car, and then rolling it in cow manure or burying it in mud and then letting it ferment. This makes it very much like wearable humus. As with the foil blankets mentioned above, a ghillie suit that closely matches the actual terrain of the zone of operation will stand out less, so elements of that general environment (local foliage or other matter) may also be included in the netting.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An inherent problem with ghillie suits is internal (and sometimes, external) temperatures. Even in relatively moderate climates, the temperature inside of the ghillie suit can soar to over 50 °C (120 °F). This can also cause fire concerns, and usually suits have spray on flame retardant applied.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~