Snipers

For most of us, the word "sniper" evokes some unsettling imagery -- a lone gunman, undetectable, on the hunt.

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
A Marine sniper emerges from the water.

A sniper is a highly trained soldier who specializes in shooting targets with modified rifles from incredibly long distances. They're also adept in stealth, camouflage, infiltration, and observation techniques.

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
A U.S. Marine Sniper sights a target through a scope on
a 12.7 mm .50-caliber light Fifty Model 82A1 Sniper Rifle.

In a blocking action, snipers set up to help secure a position that is controlled by their platoon. They may set up on a roof and help ground forces defend their position.

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
Snipers on a rooftop in a blocking action

Because of the nature of their missions, snipers travel with very little gear, patiently moving under the cover of brush or night. But they never travel alone. Snipers teams often have to stay completely still for hours or days at a time to avoid detection, waiting for the right moment to take the shot. In the next section, we'll learn how sniper teams work together to achieve "the perfect shot."

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
A U.S. Marine Corps sniper team at work in the Korean War.

Here's the general process:

• The sniper team uses maps or photographs to determine the best route to the objective.

• They walk or "stalk" (more on this later) from the drop-off point to the objective.

• They set up a position.

• They verify that the position is well camouflaged.

• They establish an escape route and a second, well-camouflaged fallback position in the event they are separated.

• They locate the target (or know it's on its way).

• They get into position:
  • The sniper takes a spot on the ground that offers him the best field of fire.
  • The spotter lies on the ground next to and slightly behind the sniper. He places his spotter scope so that it is as close to looking down the rifle barrel as possible.

• They work together to range the target, read the wind, and angle and adjust for other variables that may affect the shot.

• They wait for the target.

And in the words of Army Ranger Sniper, "Then you just take your shot and get the hell out of there."

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
A training sniper confers with his spotter.

Sniper Rifles

"One shot, one kill" is the sniper motto. Accomplishing this would not be possible without the specially modified rifles used by snipers in the field. A sniper rifle such as the M-21 or PSG-1 in the hands of a highly trained sniper can be a deadly weapon from more than a mile away. Army Ranger Sniper used an M-21: "It was a military M-14 with match-grade upgrades -- hollowing out the wood, fiberglass-seated receiver, different trigger mechanisms and optics."

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center As part of a training exercise, the members of a sniper team man a 7.62mm Springfield Armory M21 Sniping rifle (left) and sights through the scope of a 7.62mm M24 Sniper rifle (right).

Match grade means the rifle has been fine-tuned by a professional gunsmith to ensure the highest possible accuracy and reliability. Match-grade rifles are also used for competitive shooting. A match-grade rifle coupled with handmade, match-grade ammunition ensures the consistency that is so important for a marksman.

In addition, sniper rifles sport a free-floating barrel to ensure that the barrel touches the least amount of the weapon possible. This reduces vibration from the recoil. Also, sniper rifles are usually designed or modified to incorporate fiberglass or composite stocks to avoid the effect of humidity on the receiver. Any swelling of the wood can affect the accuracy of the shot.

Sniper rifles are generally bolt-action rifles. That means the sniper must load and chamber each round he fires. Once he has fired, he has to clear the shell casing and load another round. Though they are more difficult to operate and have a much slower rate of fire, bolt-action rifles are preferred because they have fewer moving parts than automatics. There are semi-automatic sniper rifles, though, such as the M-21. Army Ranger Sniper had this to say about how the nature of the different rifles can affect a sniper in the field: "If you fire something on a bolt action, you have to reload one, and that movement could give you away. But also, the round flying out of the rifle could give you away on the semi-automatic." In the end, it comes down to the personal preference of each sniper.

There are many different types of sniper rifles manufactured by countries all over the world. On average, they cost between $8,000 and $15,000.

Sniper Scopes

After the rifle itself, the second major component of the sniper-rifle weapon system is the sniper scope. A sniper scope is basically a specialized telescope containing components that lay a targeting reticule (crosshairs) over the amplified image.

Sniper scopes are essentially specialized telescopes. Here you see a basic telescope design.

The Unertl sniper scopes used by the U.S. Marine Corps house the optics in steel tubes that are mounted to a bracket on the top of the rifle. They weigh 2 lbs, 3 ounces (~1 kg) and are 10 inches (~25 cm) long. They are fixed, 10-power scopes with a 32mm objective lens. This means that they are capable of magnifying an image to 10 times its size. The sniper uses the wire reticule with mil dots to range and sight the target. The mil dots surround the target center and allow the sniper to estimate the distance between objects and make adjustments for wind or moving targets.

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
A sniper sights in a target on a range.

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
Snipers modify a type of camouflage clothing called a ghillie suit to match their surroundings.

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
American snipers of the 166th Infantry exchange fire with German snipers on the outskirts of Villers de Fere, France,
July 30, 1918.

There is a plaque on the wall of the Marine Sniper school at Camp Pendleton that has a translation of a Chinese proverb that reads, "Kill one man, terrorize a thousand."

Observation Training

Since most of a sniper's time is spent on reconnaissance missions observing the enemy, his observational skills have to be flawless. USMC Scout Sniper School has developed some unique "games" to hone student snipers' ability to look at things critically. This section details the games used to teach advanced observational skills.

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center Snipers in Iraq.

Army Ranger Sniper details one training exercise called the KIMS game:

...they would put different objects on the table: a bullet, a paper clip, a bottle top, a pen, a piece of paper with something written on it -- 10 to 20 items. You'd gather around and they'd give you, say, a minute to look at everything. Then you'd have to go back to your table and describe what you saw. You weren't allowed to say "paper clip" or "bullet," you'd have to say, like, "silver, metal wire, bent in two oval shapes." They want the Intel guys making the decision [about] what you actually saw.

Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
A sniper team stalks in an open field in Iraq.