Thread: Tell me about sniper training

Originally Posted by Siиdяed

Slayer is an overgrown child that likes cat-girls.

What nation would arm such an individual.

HEY


I am not overgrown...

"Stay on topic, stay on topic . . ."

"I can't shake him! I'm gonna—" ~X-wing explodes.~

Originally Posted by slayer

I've watched a lot of specials on the History and Military channel about snipers. I don't know why, but I absolutely love snipers.

I just want to know some general things about snipers. Like, what kind of training they have to go through. Exercises they do that can be done at home. What kinds of guns they use, and if I could purchase a gun to use for hunting. What kind of gear they have and stuff like that.

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

My cousin just left for sniper training in North Carolina. He's a Marine. I am also in the process of joining the Marines but I will be an officer so it is very unlikely that I could ever be a sniper, though it is something I would be interested in if I were enlisted. I'll be able to tell you a lot more about it after my cousin gets back. What I do know is that there isn't as strong an emphasis on marksmanship as there is on stalking. It takes a lot of patience and a lot of knowledge about stealth and camouflage. They say that there is a very high wash-out rate and it is mainly due to inability to stalk. Marksmenship is still important but it is easier to learn than stalking. And marksmenship at long range isn't as simple as putting the crosshairs on the target and shooting. There are so many factors to consider it makes your head hurt, it truely is an art (a very gruesome art.) There are things such as air pressure, wind, air temperature, barrel temperature (first shot is colder than subsequent shots,) you have to compensate for distance and movement of target, and on the really long shots you have to take into account the coriolis effect (rotation of the earth!) The longest shot in recorded history was made by a Canadian in Afghanistan. It was 1.509 miles over a valley between two mountains. Supposedly the cross wind changed three times during the bullets flight, meaning it started straight, then it curved left, then it curved right, then it curved left again before it hit its target. This was all calculated into his shot beforehand, pretty amazing if you ask me.

As for the people talking about Columbine and whatnot, there is nothing psychologically wrong with a person who wants to be a sniper. I think it is a very honorable profession. They aren't training to shoot civilians. Snipers are one of the only groups that you can be sure won't have any collateral damage accidents, it is a precision attack, only the person you want dead will be shot. The practicality of snipers has been ever increasing since WWII. Its not only about putting a bullet into somebodies head, it's also about security and reconnaisance. There are plenty of documented cases of snipers spotting IED's on the side of the road and having them disarmed before a friendly unit passed by. Snipers save more lives than they take.

Also I recommend reading a book called "White Feather." It's the biography of Carlos Hathcock, the greatest sniper to walk the Earth (Also a United States Marine.)

Originally Posted by Caprisun

...I will be an officer so it is very unlikely that I could ever be a sniper...

It is, however, more likely that you will be sniped.

Originally Posted by Mark75

It is, however, more likely that you will be sniped.

Not if I'm 30,000 feet in the air, but thanks for the thought.

Originally Posted by Caprisun

-stuff-

That's some great info! 1.5 miles, that insane stuff. I was watching this thing on the History channel about this sniper guy that got a shot off at like 800 or 1,800 (can't remember) yards. I thought that was pretty awesome. But that's only half a mile. I couldn't imagine pulling off a shot that's 1.5 miles away.

stead aim, breath control, and trigger squeeze.

make sure you're not breathing when you shoot.

and when you squeeze the trigger, the pad of your index finger should be on the trigger, not the bend.

the shot should come as a surprise when it goes off.

For practice, I recomend buying a air-rifle, the kind that shoot metal pelets. While i was in cadets we had target shooting and that shit with those kinds of air rifles, they work pretty well but they are only accurate within a certain distance.

After you get pretty good at that, you can try shooting moving targets like small animals and birds. Make sure you clean up the bodies and feed them to your dog or something. You don't want dead animals with bullet wounds lying around lol. Don't shoot domestic animals like cats and small dogs no matter what though. People will notice them missing and people give a shit about these animals even if they are strays so best not to mess with them. Personally thats not for me, but if you want to you could do that.

You can get a manual on sniper training here: http://www.stevespages.com/page7c.htm

There's a fair bit of scrolling to be done, but the manuals are characterizez by a numbering system due to the sheer. The Sniper Training manual is listed as FM-23-10

That should give you the basics.


Good luck with joining the military if that's the route you wanna go, and remember to get in shape for basic. You will need to start training before you get in to make sure you are in the right shape for the military.

Thre is also a great fitness manuals on there that i downloaded for myself since it offers some great info on conditioning and just basic fitness stuff that you may not be sure of.

Originally Posted by Akono

the same one that lets people join the army at 18, but drink at 21.

What's wrong with this?

On topic: If you really want to be a sniper I suggest you read up on STA (Scout Target Acquisition). They're the most elite snipers in the Marines.

EDIT: Read the book Jarhead, it told from the perspective of a STA Marine.

@mav...that used to be one of my biggest complaints when I was in and under 21.

also slayer, you should learn how to zero your weapon (if applicable)

Originally Posted by Caprisun

Not if I'm 30,000 feet in the air, but thanks for the thought.

Originally Posted by ClouD

Haha! Somehow I don't think the Taliban snipers are capable of doing that.

I've been looking around and I found that History, Discovery, and National Geographic have all done several full programs on various sniper teams and sniper related things. One of them even had a series where a bunch of sniper teams had competitions and stuff... I watched a bit of it and it's alright.

Youtube, or any torrent sights should have them. As far as finding the names of them jsut goto the networks websites and find them...

Hope this helps.

I believe they showed a lot of stuff on the Military channel and what not because they called it "Sniper Month" or something.