Thread: Tell me about sniper training

Originally Posted by slayer

Also, what are some good sniper games (preferably for the PC or 360).

Sniper Elite!!


Also snipers (law enforcement or army dudes) basically spend 99% of their time sitting, waiting, watching in all kinds of weather conditions...

What kind of game do you want to hunt?

I'm not big on killing animals, but I went hunting with my dad a while ago and shot 2 rabbits.

First one I killed in one shot, the other in 3.

I can see myself hunting deer.

I asked my dad to take me out to a target range or something some time.

Hunting can be separated into small game and big game. Small game is stuff like birds, hares, etc. Big game is deer, moose, bear...

Usually small game is hunted with a shotgun. Lots of times the thing you're shooting is running really fast or flying away (not to mention that a bird or a rabbit is pretty small) so there's a lot of marksmanship skill involved. Skeet and trap shooting is also pretty fun (clay pigeons). I'd recommend a pump action 12 gauge, they're cheap, low on maintenance and versatile.

Big game is hunted with a long rifle and usually involves sitting in a hidden spot for hours on end waiting for something to pass by. There's a lot of work involved in attracting the prey, like scouting out the area for good hunting spots, calling, feeding... You see a lot less action than small game hunting but when you do kill a big creature like that it's quite the adrenaline rush. I'd recommend a really popular calibre like a 30-06 or something, the gun and bullets will be cheaper and it's plenty powerful for anything less than a rhino.

I believe I used a .22 rifle of some sort when I went rabbit hunting with my dad.

Yeah some people use small calibre rifles for certain kinds of small game. The disadvantage is that you must be super accurate (because you only have one bullet instead of a hundred pellets spreading out) and your target can't be moving. For the same reason hunting birds with a .22 is pretty much a waste of time.

I think what you need is to spend some time at the shooting range. See if you can try out a .308, a Remington 700 I guess, since I doubt you'll find an M40A3 around locally. They use the same action, actually, I'm fairly certain. Not going to be cheap, but the shooting range or club may have guns they will rent out, I'm not sure. I don't bother with shooting ranges, since I have my own set up at home.

If this is not an option, I'd suggest practicing with a good bolt-action .22LR at decent range. Something like 75 yards should be a good starting point. Find the ammunition your particular rifle likes (my Savage Mark II just happens to love Federal Eagle, which is both cheap and accurate) and stick with it. You can do this by buying a few boxes of various ammo and shooting ten rounds of each, cleaning the rifle between each set. From a bench, preferably. The most accurate ammo will make itself known.

Try shooting at both reactive targets (aluminum cans, tennis balls, ping-pong balls, swivel targets) and static targets (paper bullseyes), with a good mixture of both. This being after your rifle and scope are sighted in, of course. This is an easy enough process that your dad should be able to help with.

Don't hunt just because you like killing, or because you want to be a sniper. you should only hunt because you need the meat, or know someone else that does. If all you want to do is shoot a rifle with skill, there are a huge variety of targets both moving and static that you can build and set up to keep things interesting. I recommend starting with a .22LR (I like Savage rifles, personally, largely for the trigger but also for the amazing accuracy, and CZ makes some amazing ones as well) and working up to a .308 (Savage, Remington, M40A3, etc.) once you're dead accurate with a .22 caliber rifle.

Edit: Oh, and hunting rabbits with a .22 rifle is pretty common around here, too. Shotguns just tend to destroy more meat. However, if it takes you three shots to kill a rabbit with a .22, you're not ready to hunt them yet.

Originally Posted by Man of Steel

Don't hunt just because you like killing, or because you want to be a sniper. you should only hunt because you need the meat, or know someone else that does.

True that. Don't poach/hunt out of season/hunt without a license either.

Originally Posted by Man of Steel

Don't hunt just because you like killing, or because you want to be a sniper.

I never said I liked killing. I just like shooting guns :3
I'll leave the killing in video games, thank you.

However, if it takes you three shots to kill a rabbit with a .22, you're not ready to hunt them yet.

It was cold. The rabbit was behind a lot of branches. >_>

Btw, what is your dominant hand? And which hand do you use to shoot?

I'm right handed, but I shoot with my left hand.

Originally Posted by slayer

I never said I liked killing. I just like shooting guns :3
I'll leave the killing in video games, thank you.



It was cold. The rabbit was behind a lot of branches. >_>

Btw, what is your dominant hand? And which hand do you use to shoot?

I'm right handed, but I shoot with my left hand.

You realize snipers kill people .

And which side you shoot on should have to do with your dominant eye, not dominant hand.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

You realize snipers kill people .

Well yes...

And which side you shoot on should have to do with your dominant eye, not dominant hand.

My dad showed me this trick that if you make a triangle with both of your hands and put an object in the middle of it in your view, then close one eye than the other. You can see which one lines up in the middle and that is supposed to be your dominant eye.

Originally Posted by slayer

My dad showed me this trick that if you make a triangle with both of your hands and put an object in the middle of it in your view, then close one eye than the other. You can see which one lines up in the middle and that is supposed to be your dominant eye.

Can also slowly bring that triangle towards you, it will go towards dominant eye. :3

Originally Posted by slayer

I never said I liked killing. I just like shooting guns :3
I'll leave the killing in video games, thank you.



It was cold. The rabbit was behind a lot of branches. >_>

Btw, what is your dominant hand? And which hand do you use to shoot?

I'm right handed, but I shoot with my left hand.

First rule of hunting (and a prominent rule of gun safety), my friend: don't shoot at anything you can't see. If you don't have a clear line of sight, you hold your fire.

I'm right-handed, but left-eye-dominant, but my favorite rifle has a thumbhole stock made for right-handed shooters, so it varies. If I need to be super-accurate, I shoot left-handed. If I'm just plinking, I shoot right-handed.

I'm in a similar boat, Slayer, though I'm only after marksmanship. I don't exactly
have a need to lay for 10+ hours in the prone position, though I wouldn't mind
testing my patience and ability to keep focus over long periods of time.. Nor do
I have a spotter buddy handy (military snipers always work in pairs). City living
is also relatively restricting on my options. A pellet rifle worked great for
starters, you know, and I was pleased when I could hit 1 inch groups at a
little over 100 yards (remember, pellets). My opportunities to shoot for anything
beyond were limited...

I recently purchased a Mosin Nagant M38 to turn into a scout. The scope
mount actually came in the mail yesterday! Watching the WWII sniper rifle
variants of the Mosin series hit targets from 1,000 yards away is really
something, especially considering the near 70 year age of the gun. That's
always an option too considering how dirt cheap these rifles are, at least if
you're tight on cash. I'd take MoS's words into account, hear him well.
Always good to work your way up, as it were.

Good luck on your pursuit.

You still need to PM me with the details on that Mosin Nagant, man.

Jeez, I thought I did pretty good when I hit a playing card at 100 yards with iron sights. (I still have the card ) Then again, it was my very first time with a high power rifle in my hands, and I assembled the bullet myself. (Springfield .306)

This seems to be lacking, but I'm pretty proud of a 14/20 first time with skeet, and winning an archery competition. But 1 inch at 100 yards with a pellet gun?

I so want to get into rifle shooting more, but family accidents with hunting (not involving me in any way) have kept me off the range. Probably for good.

"Snipering" is, in essence, spending 99.9% of your time preparing for what may or may not happen the other .1% of the time. It's nothing like you see in movies...

Being a military "Sniper" is far from having a "glorious" occupation.
Being an Urban sniper (special ops, police) is probably more 'fun'... considering the police have brilliant negotiators that can diffuse almost any situation when you get called in, you're the last resort and are likely to see action.

Much more satisfying, with 100% less chance of dying is getting into hunting. You can have tons of fun tinkering with your gear, then you get to go out and shoot stuff.

I think it's worth mentioning the designated marksman, who moves and fights along with a squal like a rifleman, but instead has a more accurate semi-auto or bolt action rifle (a sniper rifle, in other words).

Originally Posted by slayer

Also, what are some good sniper games (preferably for the PC or 360).

I really don't know about sniper games specifically.

Only flash games. Hurrrrr

why the hell do you want to be a sniper? sorry, but this just reminds me of the columbine kids right now.

Originally Posted by cygnus

why the hell do you want to be a sniper? sorry, but this just reminds me of the columbine kids right now.

I hold a bit of this feeling too. Do you think that killing people is all fun and games? Do you really think you have the heart to stop someones life that could just as well be turned around and changed? Then again, do you have the heart to disregard such emotions? Will you be able to sleep at night knowing that you've killed a father, a friend, or a person on the verge of change? Etc.

Originally Posted by cygnus

why the hell do you want to be a sniper? sorry, but this just reminds me of the columbine kids right now.

Originally Posted by Spenner

I hold a bit of this feeling too. Do you think that killing people is all fun and games? Do you really think you have the heart to stop someones life that could just as well be turned around and changed? Then again, do you have the heart to disregard such emotions? Will you be able to sleep at night knowing that you've killed a father, a friend, or a person on the verge of change? Etc.

I hope this wasn't directed toward me.

Originally Posted by slayer

I never said I liked killing. I just like shooting guns :3
I'll leave the killing in video games, thank you.

Originally Posted by Sesquipedalian

Jeez, I thought I did pretty good when I hit a playing card at 100 yards with iron sights. (I still have the card ) Then again, it was my very first time with a high power rifle in my hands, and I assembled the bullet myself. (Springfield .306)

This seems to be lacking, but I'm pretty proud of a 14/20 first time with skeet, and winning an archery competition. But 1 inch at 100 yards with a pellet gun?

I so want to get into rifle shooting more, but family accidents with hunting (not involving me in any way) have kept me off the range. Probably for good.

Try cutting a—moving—hanging cord approximately the diameter of the bullet with a .22 at 80 yards. Freehand, of course. Else it wouldn't be much of a challenge for anybody.

Though I will admit, it took me 3 shots because my second shot was a clean miss.

Shots like this really aren't that difficult, though. I commonly pick .22LR shells off a box, laid lengthwise with the rim facing me, with my .22 rifle at 30 yards with open sights. It only sounds hard till you do it. I'd do it much further out, but I hate wearing my glasses when I'm shooting.

Slayer is an overgrown child that likes cat-girls.

What nation would arm such an individual.

Originally Posted by Siиdяed

Slayer is an overgrown child that likes cat-girls.

What nation would arm such an individual.

the same one that lets people join the army at 18, but drink at 21. Require a license to drive a car, but not heavy farm equipment. Allows porn but frowns on prostitution, and has ashtrays in it's airplanes and doesn't allow smoking. A place where you can burn the flag, but you can't have one thats too big.