| From: | Paul Jonathan Adam <Paul@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Sniper Rifle Ranges |
| Date: | Mon, 29 May 1995 19:41:48 GMT |
> Friday night's game, one of my players was using a sniper rifle. Extreme
> range is 400 metres, or about 1/4 mile. He was complaining that this was
> incredibly low. I don't really know enough about guns to comment, so I
> was wondering if any of you can enlighten me - is this range too short?
By a long way. All the Shadowrun ranges are too short. Mostly they're in
the right sort of proportion, though.
> [We discussed wind conditions, and the guy claimed that a modern scope
> will compensate for wind - how?]
A modern scope won't, not on small arms. A good sniper can cope well
with moderate amounts of crosswind, though. It's a skill and judgement
thing, not much harder than leading a moving target: it needs ability
and a lot of practice.
Meterological correction is common on tank guns (they have a little
sensor pack at the back of the turret to measure wind and air temperature)
and they also include corrections for barrel wear and temperature. It
seems feasable that a package like that could be scaled down to fit a firearm:
in fact it's probably a smartlink :-)
> Also, if a Mag-3 scope counts Extreme range as Short range [ie target
> number 4 before modifiers], then shouldn't ranges become possible beyond
> this? The bullet doesn't simply stop, after all, although I tend to
> assume that the ranges are the maximum accurate ranges - and that after
> that, aiming is impossible because of wind deflection, etc.
One fix we used for a long time was that with a scope (or imaging cybereye)
you took the "real" range (say 800 metres) and divided it by (scope rating
plus one). So a Mag-I scope would give an "effective" range of 400 metres,
a Mag-III an "effective" of 200 metres, and so on.
The version I use now is similar, but just adds extra range increments.
For a sniper rifle, Extreme is out to 400 metres. Extreme+1 is 401-800
metres and is TN 12: Extreme+2 is 801-1200 metres and is TN 15: and so forth.
Using scopes works as normal.
A bullet will travel much further on a ballistic path (five miles or so
for a 7.62mm) than it will go with a chance of hitting a chosen target.
The key is dispersion: how great the random variations of wind, weather,
bullet imperfections, et cetera become. A sniper rifle with match ammunition
should be able to group inside 0.5 MOA: half an inch at 100 yards. If you
extrapolate that, at one mile your rifle will put every shot into an eight-
inch circle.
Of course, you have gravity. Air temperature: a difference of ten degrees
Celsius / 18 degrees Fahrenheit can throw a bullet fifteen inches off at
that range. Different altitudes and barometric pressures can introduce errors
of feet at this distance. And wind and range...misjudge wind by five miles
an hour and your bullet is off by six *feet*. Misjudge range by 100 yards,
and your bullet is high or low by nine feet.
None of this is insurmountable by any means: but it does mean that a snap
shot from the hip is unlikely to score. As a rule of thumb, try forcing one
Simple Action of aiming (with no TNo benefit) for every level of Extreme-Plus
range the shot is at.
All this, by the way, is from "Shadow over Babylon" by David Mason, which
is a very good thriller about a sniper and his support team sent to assassinate
Saddam Hussein. The sniper uses a .338 Lapua Magnum from 1200 yards, and is
one of the best shots around.
--
When you have shot and killed a man, you have defined your attitude towards
him. You have offered a definite answer to a definite problem. For better
or for worse, you have acted decisively.
In fact, the next move is up to him.
Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
