Sniper Rifle Selection

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I'm sitting here on the sofa drinking coffee and thinking about what rifle I would purchase. Being 61 with too much money, I think I'd just hire a sniper if I needed one. There seem to be a lot of them around and they come with a rifle, right?
 
It's my poor man's M40A1. Remington 700 VS, bolt and barrel trued, squared. Barrel is cut to 22'' and a nice crown. A decent 10X scope that shoots under a minute even with my old eyes and bones. It will chase the plates out to 600 yds, as far as we have cleared. The memories stay alive, the heart beats a little faster and believe it or not, I can still get in my bubble.
 
Doc' here; or Top SGT; will leave at that as I age. I am a Sniper in baby school; then a Counter Sniper to top it off; hate to say it but it is not the rifle really but the shooter; always has been. I have led the best teams; with the best gear; but the lousy shots made were by idiots who just made bad shots. My era? M14 or M21 system only. Kills all made by that system. At 1000 yds and under. In order to even graduate all of the silly stalk and shoot targets werre mostly under a thousand with coffee drinkers trying to spot you. Not the real world. In the real world it is you and another group or sniper trying to kill you and the ole 8 steady hold factors mean more than the tool you carry. I prefer finely worked weapons that are proven rather than gadgets used by high strung folks with digital additions. (I am an IT PhD; not against tech; but well still have a code of honor about sniping) Only did a few; as my teams never saw TOP take out targets so I had to do so for the sake of establishing that I could ORDER kills as well as stomach them. 600-700 for most and only 3 beyond that. Not proud of it; still haunts me a bit; as in the end the ENEMY is our friend and trade partner once again; and the kids we shot were just amatures. Fish in a barrel. Pick your weapon; and learn to shoot; and don't talk smack until you have to kill with it; beyond a prairie dog.
 
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What are the 8 steady hold factors?

You know, I've stayed in Holiday Inns for decades, and I still don't know the answer to that question. :banghead: I want a refund. :D

Geno
 
;) LOL!

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Some great stories written here,,,, but the fact is the 7.62X51 can do everything that needs doing.

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...MJ...
 
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I think an ideal combonation would be a bolt action 7mm rem mag (or WSM) for 500yd+ work and a semi auto 260 or 6.5 creedmore for rapid fire sniping. While I LOVE the 6.5x55 it is a Mauser length action and is not very compatable with our current short action designs.
 
Yes and no. Short answer no. You had to have CO permission to take a pistol, and it had to be a NATO round (they said .45 would be okay, it ended up being 9mm only). Not many people did it either because of the guys wanting to take .44's, they ruined it. Infantrymen are all different types, from highly skilled and intelligent, to dumber than a rock. I wasn't SF either, but I worked close to them, mostly their gunsmith. I was an SDM instructor at the Stryker Brigade Advanced (Infantry) Skills Center. You can look up info on it here: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA512136 but it doesn't really say much. Scroll down to section 09, the sbct. "Developing Agile Adaptive Soldiers". You can get the idea that we were trying out new ideas and you may find the article informing. The article is by my former bosses, Col. Brown, CSM Dedrich, the only guys this school answered to.

This is where I saw an E7 (the chief) cuss out an O3 too. He did half of it standing at attention. He got promoted two months later to E8, and I bet you don't see much of this in the real Army either and it is most certainly against regs. SHE came to an infantry school and told us we had to teach her POG unit how to use M4's. She wanted us to cancel a scheduled course to do this. The chief handled it wrong, but he didn't take crap from nobody and working at that school didn't exactly make you a "by the book soldier". Quite the opposite. I felt like "The Dirty Dozen" the whole time I was there. We had our own uniform and, well, got away with murder. I told you it was the perfect job. Anyway, that article refers to the school as "SBASC" and is in context to a larger picture of the Bde. and shooting was only part of what we did. In addition to this, we "hosted" a sniper course (the real deal, how many of those are done at Ft. Lewis? War creates special situations I guess) Barrett sent one of their guys to give a class on the XM107 (where we smoked an armor plate with Raufoss ammo) and I gave demos to the US War College. I still have the coin.

As for rifles, you weren't SUPPOSED to mod them, but they didn't say anything either. It kind of all started when we got a new 1SG that was a ranger hero. They let him get away with murder because he was supposed to turn the unit into a killing machine. He was pretty bad@ss, short as a smurf, but hardcore. I was 6'2" 220 and I wouldn't mess with his 4'10" (maybe with boots) 130lb (wet?) frame. Anyway, we got him because of this and when he got to that unit, he took shooting very seriously. On day one, he did an informal QA with the company. Some answers were: worked on Lynch mission, Army, SF, SEAL?, Marine and foreign sniper schools, 40 something confirmed kills. I'll never forget that answer, this unit had never deployed and CIB's were rare in the Army then.

Also, in the beginning like I said, SDM's did not get SDM rifles, they got a bipod, an ACOG, and an old cotton Garand sling. So concessions were made for this in particular. At the school, we (the instructors, not the students, although once or twice a student brought a toy in) regularly brought our own gear. Some was for formal and informal testing, some just for fun.

I have all of the SDM course on a disc, it has pictures of us playing with some of this I think, but I can't put it on here, sorry. Wife is home, time for dinner, take care!
Repeat, you did NOT get away with murder.
 
Taking a personally owned weapon is a violation of General Order Number 1. Says it twice: 2. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES:
a. Purchase, possession, use or sale of privately owned firearms, ammunition, explosives, or the introduction of these items into the USCENTCOM AOR...(2.k.)(3) No weapon, munitions, or military article of equipment obtained or acquired by any means other than official issue may be retained for personal use or shipped out of the USCENTCOM AOR for personal retention or control.


I have led the best teams

Really? Which ones? I hope you're not going to say "7th Group", because I would have just rather had a squad of regular infantry than those clowns.

Only did a few; as my teams never saw TOP take out targets so I had to do so for the sake of establishing that I could ORDER kills as well as stomach them.

I'll gladly take evidence of that. You can start my PMing your full name and retired rank. That should be enough to prove the bare bones of your story, though the specifics...I've never heard of "Top SGT" before- what is that, exactly?

John
 
For the record. I'm not a sniper, nor a Snake Eater, nor an Eagle Scout,nor operator AT&T or other. I served, I was legs, and the only personal items I carried was the bowie knife my grandfather gave me, a medicine pouch my grandmother gave me, and a spoon.

This is my p-dog / varmint gun I built.

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5 @ 100 (69grainers)
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I'm accurate out to 600 yards with it. Same goes for my other bolt actions. Because I regularly practice static on targets to 600 yards. Plus, in the field I work in tandem with my son spotting, ranging and doping.
 
I'm not sure how taking personally owned weapons to combat works, but it CAN happen. The unit we replaced on my last tour to afghaniland had a E7 that broght his personal 1911 with him I saw it, but never talked to him. One of my buddies did and I guess he just needed some kind of written approval. Like I said, I'm not sure how it works, but it can happen. That was only last year btw..
 
At some point I'd like to take a long distance shooting class (300 to 1000 yards). I'd start with either of my Rem 700 bolt actions that I already own. One is a .308 and the other is a 30-06. Both are capable of 1 MOA or better (still better than I am). I have a 3-9 Leupold scope which ought to be good enough. Since I'm not likley to be a competitor or solely focus on long disantce shooting, I wouldn't upgrade my equipment. I"d mostly be curious to see how I do with I own.

To date, the longest distance shooting I've done was with a 30-30 lever action (my favorite rifle bar none) at 400 yards on 2'-2' steel. It was fun and I'd like to try longer with one of my bolts.
 
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OP, you made more of a statement than ask a question. I will ask this: I have a Remington Sendero, .300 Win Mag, that was worked up into a tactical rifle. It will easily do this "500-600 yard" thing. However, it will also deliver to 1100 yards within the mil-dot scale, needing only windage correction. In qualified hands, it is an 1100 yard rifle this way, and with 55 clicks up, it will do it at 1200. Why settle on any system, or cartridge, that delivers less? A "sniper rifle" is a precision piece of equipment, not a range toy, so it will only be shot for limited practice, and primary use. In otherwords, the .300Win Mag isn't going to pound you if you are only firing necessary shots to train or act upon a sniping assignment. Why settle for less?
 
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I'm sitting here on the sofa drinking coffee and thinking about what rifle I would purchase. Being 61 with too much money, I think I'd just hire a sniper if I needed one. There seem to be a lot of them around and they come with a rifle, right?
Dude, you almost made me blow spaghetti and meatballs all over the computer!

"Repeat, you did NOT get away with murder."

Whatever, it is figurative, not literal. We got away with a lot that others didn't.
 
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Steel Talon,

Oh, I've heard of Top. And, in the right schools, I've certainly heard of "Top Gun". "Top SGT", as a title, not so much. You really expect me to believe the 1SG- who I have never heard addressed as "Top SGT"- has to go shoot some folks so he can command respect from the snipers under him? :D

It would make a great movie. For the incredibly gullible.

John
 
JShirley
"Top SGT"- has to go shoot some folks so he can command respect from the snipers under him?

LMAO,,How in the heck did I get to that statement:cool: Every 1st Sgt I knew only had to look at you to kill you. Shooting was the responsibility of the SSGT.

All I was doing was pointing out that "Top Sgt" is a common reference (amongst the NCO's. the CO and XO) At least when I was enlisted ARMY70/74
I believe the term came about when horse soldiers were commonly referred to as troopers in the later part of the 1800'S.

Times are very different..
 
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Exactly. :)

I reference this post, namely still have a code of honor about sniping) Only did a few; as my teams never saw TOP take out targets so I had to do so for the sake of establishing that I could ORDER kills as well as stomach them.
 
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