| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <shadowrn@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Sniper Rifles (Was Re- |
| Date: | Tue, 3 Dec 1996 01:17:12 +0000 |
Sanction <david.s.thompson@****.EDU> writes
<I said:>
>>If you're shooting at a bus, sure. If you're trying to hit a person,
>>that's appaling. Think what crosswind alone would do to your shot. Not
>>to mention what the least error in range calculation could do: fifty
>>yards of range error would result in a clean miss.
>>
>No one said it was easy to shoot someone from 400m. It isn't point and
>shoot, snipers have to take into account the ammount of drop and aim "high,"
>crosswinds also have to be taken into account, and they would be a factor no
>matter what. Wind can do some evil things to a bullet in flight -- source:
>a Marine I know.
Sure, but then I trained with some Royal Green Jackets snipers who
pointed out a few facts of life too. Remember, snipers have to
_estimate_ range. They also have to estimate wind, and allow for weather
and target movement. This is why sniping at long ranges is difficult.
>
>BTW, why are you all assuming that sniping rifles are subsonic -- that seems
>ridiculous. Why would you take a rifle designed to fire accurately over a
>great range, and then cripple it with a slow round.
Because these _aren't_ designed to fire accurately over long ranges. If
they were, they would match at least the range for MMGs if not HMGs.
These are assassination weapons designed to minimise the exposure of the
firer.
Devices exist to determine the direction of origin of a shot to within
ten degrees, _today_, using the N-wave (the shockwave of a supersonic
bullet passing). A subsonic bullet is relatively immune to detection by
those.
>Oh, and someone also
>mentioned using MG's in single shot. There is a precedent for this.
>Marine's did this with .50 cal machine guns during Vietnam (I think). Read
>that somewhere when researching a character of mine.
Gunny Hathcock, who killed a man at 2,500 yards with one round from a
Browning M2HB. Admittedly, he'd sighted in on a particular rock, and was
surprised to later see a NVA soldier pause by that very rock, but that
didn't stop him taking the shot and killing his target.
>>This isn't a rifle, it's a mortar :)
>Exactly! Takes some serious skill! (Reflected with that TN 9)
But, again, if it's a precision, tight-toleranced high-velocity .300 Win
Mag or .338 Lapua, why is it less accurate than a standard-issue medium
machine gun firing less powerful ammunition?
There are no precision high-velocity sniper rifles in SR at the moment.
An example might be the Accuracy International PM: 9S damage, HMG
ranges, single shot, ten-round internal magazine, would fit reasonably
well.
--
There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and
praiseworthy...
Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
