A ? for Military Snipers...about the scopes that are actually used in combat

[davee1]

Hi folks,

I was just watching a TV program about Military Snipers, and once more I heard something that raises questions about what I have learned on my own. I was in the Navy...'76-80, but I did not go to sniper school. My training consisted of shooting a .22 at a range for a day or two, and some out at sea, shooting at clay pidgeons and objects thrown into the water. The rest of my training came before the Navy, and now, with my airguns. I dont have a job and shoot every day. I've come a long way from when I first fired my 350M about 5-6 years ago. I like to use 3-12, 4-16, and 6-24 magnification in my scopes. I haven't been able to try 8-32 yet. 3-9 is ok for me at close range, but 3-12 is way better, andout at 75~100 yards, the 6-24 power is the best for me.

I heard on this program that the military was pairing sniper rifles with 3-9 magnification scopes. This makes no senseto me. I dont see how to reach out and touch somebody at a mile and beyond with a 3-9 power scope. I know that the bullets can reach that far and beyond, but how can a man make a shot with a scope like that. With the 3-9 scopes that I have tried, it would be hard to even *see* a man at a mile, and even worse yet, a man hiding. Seems to me that higher power magnification would be needed, especially if needing to get that "one shot one kill" thing goin on.

Is it really true that 3-9 power scopes are used in sniper shots out at a mile? If so...why? Wouldn't it be better to use much highermagnification? It is not my intention to offend or take anything away from guys that do this stuff. Just trying to understand.

[Gene_SC]

Well they must of come a long way since I was in the military. Back then they would issue low powered scopes to a snipe on point in a platoon. Also back then we used filters because of the foliage. You also must know that there are different classes of snipers or at least back then there were. And I ran across other guys from the different branches of service that had different equipment than I had been issued. Depending on the logistics and priority of the objective would depend on what equipment you were issued as well. Each assignment would be different. It could be that since we are fighting in a desert arena now where there are not many trees or high brush that the clear low powered wide angled scopes are faster to acquisition there targets.

In real life this is a terrible subject but I can understand you questioning this. Also remember that you will only get information that the government will give out. For sure we are not going to give out information about what tools our men are using to combat war with..

Gene

[daveshoot]

Amile (1760 yds!) is a very extreme range for a military (or any) sniper. I would guess our recent desert experience has increased the opportunities for longer shots, but with a .308 in battlefield conditions, 1000 yards is a more practical max. A sniper can do his unit a lot of good in the 300+ range, especially in "insurgent" type attacks. They often zero at 600 yds. The holdovers are extreme.

Much as been made of the Barrett .50 sniping, which isa good choice forthe one mile challenge. The only Barrett I got to mess with (not shoot) had a 20x Swarovski. It was in a collection. A mile kill shot on a man-sized target would still be a stellar achievement with this rig, in real world conditions. The .50 is nice for wind resistance which is an extreme concern at these types of ranges.

Standard sniper issue is still the 7.62mm NATO (.308) which makes sense since it is interchangeable with other battlefield ammo in emergencies (although snipers use the specialM118 round). Usually they are on a Remington 700 chassis and they are issued with a 10x.

http://www.snipercentral.com/m40a3.htm

http://www.snipercentral.com/m24.htm