American Mercenary
Verbatim Post
Verbatim Post
Recently ArcticPatriot did a post on "the whites of their eyes" and explained why that is a very poor tactic for a freedom fighter (or terrorist if they lose) to adopt. The practice of holding your shot until you knew it would count is fine when the enemy is on par with you. When the enemy has an advantage in numbers, equipment, armor, and logistics support you need to adopt better tactics. A little fish can eat a big fish, but only by taking many bites.
For an insurgent to "take many bites" he needs to out range the oppressor, or adopt a technique like an IED that negates some of the advantages of having armored vehicles. But in the vein of "taking many bites" I'd like to talk about historic sniper rifles.
The old British L42A1 sniper rifle was topped with the Mk32 scope. This scope had very "crude" 1 and 2 MOA adjustments compared to the 1/8 moa, 1/4 moa, and .1 mil (right around 1/3 moa) adjustments found on current scopes. The 1903A4 sniper variant was aimed using the "holdover method" by many GIs. The M91/30 PU sniper variant still remains the most produced sniper rifle ever fielded, all with a 3.5 power scope with no ranging capabilities built into the reticle, and the accuracy standard was 5 shots of 147 gr Light Ball ammunition into a group around 1.2 MOA at 100 meters.
But what does this tell you about the art and science of sniping? First off that repeatability is more important than fine adjustment. In practical terms 2 MOA is fine for chest shots out to about 600 yards. The human chest is a plenty big target, and it isn't difficult to disrupt something that makes the blood go round and round or the air go in and out in that area. Defeating body armor makes that a different story, so shots either need ammo capable of defeating body armor, or aim for something that isn't covered by Kevlar or ceramic. Trust me, no one wears body armor all the time.
Second, huge magnification isn't required to place effective fire on target. A good rule of thumb is 1x magnification for every 100 meters that you would like to shoot, but you can get by just fine with .5x magnification for every 100 meters. A 10x scope is overkill for most shots under 400 meters, but it is a pretty good compromise for a weapon system designed for shooting between 400 and 800. Most European nations issued a fixed 6x scope for snipers until the recent rash of high power variables made everyone want to go all high speed low drag modern. However, most of those variables hover around the 6x to 10x average power (Schmidt & Bender 3-12x, or any of the 4-16x scopes on the market).
What you want is good glass with repeatable adjustments. If your optic is of 1/4 MOA when you return to zero don't let some snob tell you that you need to go out and buy a Nightforce or Leupold Mk4. Practically anything under 1 MOA is insignificant to the target on the receiving end. Don't let the quest for "one ragged hole" interfere with "first shot on steel" at any given range.
Now, I'm not going to say that long range marksmanship is easy. I will say that it isn't impossible. It is something that you can get started doing by reading books freely available from your local library. Most snipers I know have a really hard time keeping below 1 moa without an artificial rest. Most high power shooters when fully slung up are good for 1 to 2 MOA, I don't know many who can stay sub MOA even fully slung up every trigger pull. There are some masters out there who can clean the X ring standing unsupported, but that comes from years of practice.
Practice is still largely unregulated and there are no laws against dry firing. And I'd rather someone have a 1,000 extra trigger pulls with their match load behind a 300 dollar optic than a 1,300 dollar scope with no trigger time.
It doesn't take benchrest level accuracy to put a bullet where it needs to go. This is why Grandpa's Rem700 in 30-06 with a 3-9 power scope on top is considered a "dangerous long range murder weapon" by those who want to ban guns. They understand that the capabilities of a 2 moa rifle off the shelf that can kill a deer at 500 meters can do the same to a jack booted thug.
Now, as far as ultra long sniper shots, yes they happen. It also takes a dang long time and a little bit of luck to get good enough to pull them off. The Brits teach their snipers that the "sweet spot" for sniping is between 400 and 800 meters, and there are good reasons for this. Most jack booted thugs don't shoot well past 200 meters so return fire is largely ineffective, and a longer distance raises the detection threshold so you might stay concealed longer and have more time to leave unmolested.
None of this is "secret" data, folks can get this from watching the History channel and reading books in the library. But put it all together and you can turn knowledge into skills. And skills can save your life. Train with what you've got, get to know your limitations in terms of range and weather conditions, and above all, fight smart.
For an insurgent to "take many bites" he needs to out range the oppressor, or adopt a technique like an IED that negates some of the advantages of having armored vehicles. But in the vein of "taking many bites" I'd like to talk about historic sniper rifles.
The old British L42A1 sniper rifle was topped with the Mk32 scope. This scope had very "crude" 1 and 2 MOA adjustments compared to the 1/8 moa, 1/4 moa, and .1 mil (right around 1/3 moa) adjustments found on current scopes. The 1903A4 sniper variant was aimed using the "holdover method" by many GIs. The M91/30 PU sniper variant still remains the most produced sniper rifle ever fielded, all with a 3.5 power scope with no ranging capabilities built into the reticle, and the accuracy standard was 5 shots of 147 gr Light Ball ammunition into a group around 1.2 MOA at 100 meters.
But what does this tell you about the art and science of sniping? First off that repeatability is more important than fine adjustment. In practical terms 2 MOA is fine for chest shots out to about 600 yards. The human chest is a plenty big target, and it isn't difficult to disrupt something that makes the blood go round and round or the air go in and out in that area. Defeating body armor makes that a different story, so shots either need ammo capable of defeating body armor, or aim for something that isn't covered by Kevlar or ceramic. Trust me, no one wears body armor all the time.
Second, huge magnification isn't required to place effective fire on target. A good rule of thumb is 1x magnification for every 100 meters that you would like to shoot, but you can get by just fine with .5x magnification for every 100 meters. A 10x scope is overkill for most shots under 400 meters, but it is a pretty good compromise for a weapon system designed for shooting between 400 and 800. Most European nations issued a fixed 6x scope for snipers until the recent rash of high power variables made everyone want to go all high speed low drag modern. However, most of those variables hover around the 6x to 10x average power (Schmidt & Bender 3-12x, or any of the 4-16x scopes on the market).
What you want is good glass with repeatable adjustments. If your optic is of 1/4 MOA when you return to zero don't let some snob tell you that you need to go out and buy a Nightforce or Leupold Mk4. Practically anything under 1 MOA is insignificant to the target on the receiving end. Don't let the quest for "one ragged hole" interfere with "first shot on steel" at any given range.
Now, I'm not going to say that long range marksmanship is easy. I will say that it isn't impossible. It is something that you can get started doing by reading books freely available from your local library. Most snipers I know have a really hard time keeping below 1 moa without an artificial rest. Most high power shooters when fully slung up are good for 1 to 2 MOA, I don't know many who can stay sub MOA even fully slung up every trigger pull. There are some masters out there who can clean the X ring standing unsupported, but that comes from years of practice.
Practice is still largely unregulated and there are no laws against dry firing. And I'd rather someone have a 1,000 extra trigger pulls with their match load behind a 300 dollar optic than a 1,300 dollar scope with no trigger time.
It doesn't take benchrest level accuracy to put a bullet where it needs to go. This is why Grandpa's Rem700 in 30-06 with a 3-9 power scope on top is considered a "dangerous long range murder weapon" by those who want to ban guns. They understand that the capabilities of a 2 moa rifle off the shelf that can kill a deer at 500 meters can do the same to a jack booted thug.
Now, as far as ultra long sniper shots, yes they happen. It also takes a dang long time and a little bit of luck to get good enough to pull them off. The Brits teach their snipers that the "sweet spot" for sniping is between 400 and 800 meters, and there are good reasons for this. Most jack booted thugs don't shoot well past 200 meters so return fire is largely ineffective, and a longer distance raises the detection threshold so you might stay concealed longer and have more time to leave unmolested.
None of this is "secret" data, folks can get this from watching the History channel and reading books in the library. But put it all together and you can turn knowledge into skills. And skills can save your life. Train with what you've got, get to know your limitations in terms of range and weather conditions, and above all, fight smart.
Also remember that a wounded thug will eat up additional resources plus provide a mental factor with his pain.
ReplyDeleteAlso remember that a wounded thug will eat up additional resources
ReplyDeleteYes, in fact the 7.62X39 was designed with this in mind.