sniper rifle vs long distance rifle

[Woodsmaster]

If you hand your rifle to a sniper it becomes a sniper rifle, if they hand you theirs it's just a rifle. Unless you're a sniper too.

 

[MCMXI]

Don, you obviously don't have a clue about long-range shooting. First off, you've got one of those over-priced, crappy, low quality Mark 4 scopes so I doubt you can even see the target let alone hit it!! Second, you're using separate rings and a one-piece base ... don't you know that those things are about as stable as a one-legged elephant? Nice barrel, stock and bipod though!!

 

[woodybrighton]

if you take an issue sniper rifle against a proper target rifle even though they have iron sights your be the one buying the beers
its two completely different games "that sniper ammo isn't really match grade"
"another decade of shooting and your be coming on quite nicely"


they were way to smart to try stalking anywhere and then working out the distance taking the shot and getting away without being seen

 

[Jmacalpine]

LeftEye wins!!

 

[Karl Hungus]

I was going to go shooting the other day, but then I thought "what if I get in a conversation with somebody and end up using the wrong term for something???". I got so freaked out that I just stayed home and yapped on a message board all day.

loosen

up.

The world doesn't have to be that complicated.

I have yet to actually kill or even shoot at any snipe.

 

[USSR]

1858,

Yeah, that Leupold and Badger Ordnance hardware is crap.

Don

 

[SHvar]

Long range target rifle.
I cant count how many people at ranges have asked the question "wow, is that a sniper rifle".

 

[sarduy]

Long range target rifle.
I cant count how many people at ranges have asked the question "wow, is that a sniper rifle".

you're not alone.... i get the same question from young and not so young people at the range... and i'm just shooting my "hunting rifle" not even a match rifle...

 

[P.B.Walsh]

Mabey it's the bipod and stock pack.....some people are plain stupid.

 

[SeekHer]

Would someone please tell me the difference as I have shot in Tactical/Sniper competitions and still shoot 1K benchrest (light gun) and I can assure you that neither rifle is remotely the same in size or shape...There is also a difference between types of sniper competitions where sneak and pop are emphasized and others where it's just target acquisition, range estimation and number of shots to kills ratio against a clock...

Tactical Rifle - Sniper Rifle - Long Range Hunting Rifle - Varmint Rifle

Notice the forend on this 50 yard rimfire BR rifle, same style as on my 1K rifle but nowhere, ever, seen on your sniper rifle but perfect to fit into a rest...


I've also shot in some LEO sniper competitions (which are usually under 100 yards) and those are different guns as well and I'm also shooting extreme long distance 2,500 yards and beyond...and have made a recorded kill at 2,650 yards on a groundhog...I plan on taking on the "Two Mile Prairie Dog Challenge" as soon as I get my gun by the 1st week of July...which looks something like this one only in purple...42" 1.3" barrel which will have mounted an US Optics Model SN-9 10-42x80mm scope on it and final weight will be 63½ lbs...
E.D.M. Ultra
US Optics Model SN-9

The military sniper rifle is just a bolt action varmint rifle and has been since Remington donated their 700 ADL Varmint guns to the Marine Corps in competition against Winchester who where supplying the Army rifle teams with their target and later converted to sniper rifles, standard Model 70 Heavy barrel...to this day they still are with the exception of the radical designs like EDM, Blaser, Sako etc. with a completely unsupported barrel...
Unique Alpine...

There is a world of difference between the different disciplines, tactics, equipment, usage but it all comes down to one thing and one thing only -- the shooter! One thing that I can emphatically state, if you're good on one you might just be terrible on the other and I'm not referring to drawing a bead on a human target and squeezing off a round...shooting at known distances and shooting "in the rough" and having to guess/estimate the distance isn't easy or a LEO who can take the eye out of the target's face at 100 yards can't hit the paper at 1,000!

They are the same! They are totally different! Both statements are correct! Both statements are false!

USSR - Yours is just one form of target rifle there are many others F-Class, service rifle, bullseye, 10M air etc...These are two of mine -- 10M Air and 25 yard all position rimfire!
Steyr LG110
Anschutz

 

[Karl Hungus]

SVhar and Sardguy - I hear ya. Every time I go to the range I get asked a bunch of dumb questions too.



I just call them rifles. You squeeze the trigger, there's a "boom", a bullet flies downrange and hopefully hits what you were aiming at. But no - everbody's gotta ask "whut the heck is that there thang?" or "whut the heck ya got that fer?". It's getting to the point where I'm seriously thinking of not wearing a ghellie suit and low crawling from my truck to the line.

 

[hillbillydelux]

A REAL sniper rifle as issued by the military is ruggedly built to stand rough treatment while still delivering good accuracy.

A real sniper rifle is a remington model 700. This is proof that any gun can be either. A deer rifle can be a sniper rifle just as a sniper rifle can be a deer rifle. All the difference is who is using it and what they are using it for.

 

[cipher]

Sniper Rifle....Expensive, high speed low drag stock, some kind of ridicules, 'you can't see me' paint job(rustoleum), only the utmost expensive scope( has to have a NSN, and a name you can't pronounce), every nut, bolt and screw on the thing takes a 1/2" impact gun to tighten, may have duct tape and pieces of an old seat cushion tapped on the butt stock for a cheek piece(if no HSLD stock available), has some kind of mythical special rifling in the barrel, detachable magazine fed bolt action rifle, short action most of the time, over sized bolt knob, can be carried, can be abused, must have mystical stories of phenomenal shots taken, must shoot MOA.

Long Range Gun... Expensive, high speed low drag stock, Mercedes Benz paint job on stock, stock MUST make a statement, higher end optics will do, however the scope must be at least 24X, Must be able to 'ride the bags' well, highly polished metal, must look like a F-86 Saber, Custom proprietary action named after the inventor, fluted bolt, barrel must resemble a length of off shore oil rig drill steel, no more than common torque wrench needed for maintenance, single shot bolt action rifle, any length action will do, but the shorter the better, minimum weight of 23lb., only a very large man would even attempt to carry it, must NEVER be abused, must be handled with loving hands only, must have actual targets shot which set new records, MUST shoot BETTER than MOA.

I love this guy.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

First of all, there doesn't HAVE to be a difference between the two. I use my "sniper-type" rifle, a Remington 700 Sendero, .300WM, with barrel set back 1/4turn, rechambered, barrel free floated & threaded, trigger adjusted to 2 3/4 lbs, and scope base welded on. The barrel muzzle was also turned down in the event that I wanted to add adjustable sights. It carries a Leupold 6.5-20x40mm with mil dots. I set it up for a longer range sniper rifle ( I have been trained as a police sniper), but use it at Camp Perry for the 1000 Wimbledon (the only match that allows optics). If I want to do the whole long range thing (which include the metallic sight requirements) at Perry, I have to get proper metallic sights on the gun. The big difference is in how you USE the gun. Competitive long range match shooting is done without aided support, i.e. you can use the sling, but you are prone and up on your elbows, gun unsupported by any object (bipod, bag, etc). In sniper matches, anything that aids the shot goes. So, a proper sniper rifle can be used in the Wimbledon match, but the long range matches demand more of the shooter and are thus more difficult. If you train without support, to shoot in conventional long range matches, it should just be easier to shoot over a bipod or sandbag, or to make a long shot WITH support.

 

[Walkalong]

I think the real difference was hit on early in the thread. A sniper rifle is set up to be able to take some abuse and still be very accurate, using glass that is good for varying conditions & distances. It's set up to be rugged, reliable, versatile, and accurate. A target rifle mostly just has to be accurate. No ones life is on the line if it fails, and it is coddled from the vehicle to the firing line.

 

[SeekHer]

It seems that if it's wood with receiver and hooded front target sights it's called a target rifle...

If it has a scope, a fat barrel and wooden stock it's a varmint rifle...

If it has the above but set into a synthetic stock then it's a sniper rifle...

The difference between a long range hunting rifle and a sniper/tactical rifle is absolutely nothing, they are one and the same, one isn't more or less rugged, accurate or light...

The difference is the intended target, whether human, paper/steel or game animal and the distances shot...

Why can't my regular hunting rifle be a sniper rifle, it can as long as the target is human (flesh of target) just as my sniper rifle can and does get shot at prairie dogs...During the Civil War Berdan's Sharpshooters used their own, personal, heavy barreled, under hammer, chunk (target) guns as sniping weapons as did the Germans and Allied forces during the Great War until a suitable inventoried weapon could be procured and supplied...

A snipe resembles, I believe same species, the woodcock...

The dedicated sniper rifle, M40 by the Marine Corps used a Unertl 10x scope and on the larger calibers--.300 Win Mag or .338 Lapua a 12x...It's much easier to judge distances and your shot with a fixed scope and you have your spotting scope for glassing the area in detail and binoculars in semi detail--usually the same power as the rifle scope but with a much wider field of view......

 

[C-grunt]

Couldnt it be possible that the guys he was shooting next to were actual snipers?

And I dont care who you are or what you do, if you have a M24 or a M40, you have a sniper rifle! Thats exactly what it was built for.

 

[Misstreeshot]

Thanks everyone for the help. The guys I was shooting next too were former military and were firing an Accuracy International rifles - http://www.accuracyinternational.com/

 

[sarduy]

Thanks everyone for the help. The guys I was shooting next too were former military and were firing an Accuracy International rifles - http://www.accuracyinternational.com/

are you sure if wasn't a remnington 700 with a AICS stock?

 

[SeekHer]

Are you sure it's a Remington action?

I ask because Borden, Phoenix, Pierce and Stiller etc. all have the same footprint and are considered interchangeable...

 

[takhtakaal]

People shy away from the term "sniper" because of the negative implications.

Think "long range tactical interdiction specialist."

 

[HarleyFixer]

Long range target rifle.
I cant count how many people at ranges have asked the question "wow, is that a sniper rifle".

Couldn't be a "SNIPER RIFLE", it is not black/camo

 

[5whiskey]

I still prefer the term precision rifle. It's PC as to not pee the antis off, it's factually correct, and it discourages internet commandos from weaving ghillie suits by night... but it does still sound cool



BTW, does anyone know what an 8541 is?

 

[mljdeckard]

Interestingly enough, I just spent two weeks translating for the marines in a foreign country. (DISCLAIMER: The marines DO NOT teach sniping to this country.) I was living with their scout/sniper section, and I got to sit in on a lot of their classes. I even got to do some shooting. (So for those of you who say a 'sniper' rifles is defined by its intended user, I have fired one.) When the instructors realized I knew a little bit about what I was talking about, they let me supervise the trainees' cleaning.

We had some U.S. officers nosing around on the range, they were asking questions about the rifle. The instructor told them that these rifles cost about $6k, if one were to build one. They were shooting 7.62 175 grain reloads, I asked if they were sized to individual rifles, they said no, but they tried to find good lots and stick with them. 1000 meters, no problem.

As we were walking away, I told the visitors, (who were a little bit freaked out by how much I know about this stuff,) that if they wanted to do it on their own, they should be able to get a Remington 700 VS in .308 and some good optics for in the neighborhood of $1000. This will do just about everything the M-40 A3 will do.

As for all the semantics between sniper, sharpshooter, police, military, civilian, competition, field, hunting, If you know what you're doing at range, the guy at the other end of the bullet will never know the difference.

 

[SHvar]

Harleyfixer, it doesnt have to be black and or camo to be a sniper rifle. In fact coating/painting sniper rifles is a more recent feature, most just used a cover of some type, or camo'ed the rifle with cloth strips, etc. Many sniper rifles were simply wooden stocks and tough decent scopes on a bolt action rifle known to be pretty accurate.
Example.

"A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military centerfire cartridge."