While not dealing specifically with sniping, Rifles of the White Death does provide an interesting look at one of the world’s most accurate military service rifles. Without a doubt, the rifles of Finland have long held a reputation for high quality and accuracy. In a day when the best a person might expect of a … Read more
Senior Airman Jennifer Donaldson from the Illinois Air National Guard has become the first woman to be trained at the only U.S. military sniper school open to females. She graduated from the National Guard Sniper School’s first counter-sniper course for Air Guard security force personnel on April 14. March is the traditional month for celebrating … Read more
The M-1 Garand may have been a fine battle rifle, but as a target rifle straight from the box it is not competitive. It is common for a CMP issue rifle to shoot 3 MOA or worse. There are, however, several steps that can be taken to help the accuracy. Unlike working on an AR-15 … Read more
Cool Under Fire, Snipers Don’t Miss Canada’s sniper have ducked mortars and dodged bullets in eastern Afghanistan in the last two weeks. They were nearly shot to pieces by a US Apache helicopter gunship – it stopped firing just in the nick of time. They are said to have the highest number of confirmed kills … Read more
Every once in a while we see an item and say ‘Why didn’t I think of that’? The Pod-Loc from KMW is one of those items. The Pod-Loc is a simple lever-locking device that replaces the “knurled nut” on a Harris S type bipod, FIRMLY locking the swivel action in place yet easily releasing it … Read more
In recent years a movement has been afoot within the police sniper community to shorten their sniper rifle to better fit the environment in which they serve. Clearly there is little need for a full length field rifle nor must an officer put up with the extra weight and cumbersome handling of the typical 26” … Read more
Equipment needed A basic hand held tool like the “Lee Loader.” Full length resizing will be a little tough on large cases but the Lee Loader is designed for portable, simple, low volume use. Once you decide that you want to do more than a few rounds, a bench mounted tool is more appropriate. For … Read more
By now most of you have heard of the .338 Lapua, but few have heard of the .338 Ultra. The .338 Lapua has earned a great reputation as a 1500 meter sniping round. It is head and shoulders above the .300WM and offers most of what a .50BMG, in anti personnel roles, does, without the … Read more
The ELCAN (Ernst Leitz Canada) C79 telescopic sight was adopted by Canada in 1989 and is currently in-service on the C7A1 rifle (Canada’s version of the M16A2) and C9A1 light machine-gun (Canada’s version of the FN Minimi). While this scope is not exactly a sniping scope in the sense that we are accustomed to seeing … Read more
David Tubb is a well known name in the shooting community, so when I found his product, David Tubb’s Final Finish, at www.zediker.com I was very interested. The product was advertised as “a better barrel in a box.” It promised to reduce fouling, ease cleaning, give better velocities, and improve accuracy. So I figured I’d … Read more
Moly destroys your barrel by attracting and trapping water in the barrel causing severe pitting. Even if you live in a dry climate, temperature changes experienced during the hunting season (gun inside warm house – gun outside in the cold) causes the metal to sweat. My barrel was destroyed by pitting after only 154 rounds … Read more
As a service to its readers and for instructional purposes only, Sniper Country provides on-line adjuncts to sniper/countersniper training. This information is based upon the U.S. Army’s sniper training programs at Ft. Benning’s Sniper School and Ft. Bragg’s Special Operations Target Interdiction Course. The primary authors are a current duty-slotted sniper with his own web … Read more
I have just had the opportunity to get back into learning about some gear that many of us peripheral sharpshooters either take for granted, or at greater value during UKD shooting activities. When attending the Carlos N. Hathcock II Memorial Sniper Match this past October, I learned a valuable lesson about packing the pre-requisite gear … Read more
There are few things simpler than checking your equipment for performance and function. Unfortunately, most of us put it off for the proverbial “rainy day”. While everyone likes to punch paper to verify the status of their rifle and telescope, few will take the time to really put their rifle, scope and ammunition through their … Read more
The 40-X series of rifles have been with us for about 40 years. The 40-X was the brainchild of Mike Walker, one of “Big guns” of Remington in the 1960’s and an avid benchrest shooter. He wanted Remington to have a “factory” target rifle that would beat anything in the field, including the famed Winchester … Read more
Rifle The term “cover and concealment” is frequently used in the military. Although the two words go hand in hand, there is actually a distinct difference. “Cover” protects the soldier from direct (i.e. small arms) and indirect (i.e. artillery and mortar) fire. Concealment prevents the soldier from being detected. Although applying proper camouflage such as … Read more
This is kind an unusual topic for a tactical rifle oriented website such as Sniper Country, but has been a real Hot Potato on The Duty Roster a number of times in the recent past. A Single Well Placed Shot is the credo of this particularly unique shooting website, so the I.T.A.P.P.D.S. (Individually Targeted Anti … Read more
Flinching, and how shooting positions affect it: I am developing an awfull flinch or anticipation when shooting the .308 after about twenty or thirty rounds to the point where I am almost shutting my eyes before the shot. I guess I am becomming more recoil sensitive the older I get but can anyone help me? … Read more
The ExBal Ballistic Program I have played with computer generated ballistics programs for over 13 years and seen many good programs. While no computer generated program with be exactly on the money in the real world, many are close enough for the intents and purposes of exterior ballistics study and to get a shooter into … Read more
A year ago I wrote an article for Sniper Country. The piece was my attempt to guide interested readers on such niceties as to how to choose a proper tactical scope based on their perceived and more importantly, real needs. One conclusion stated that a Law Enforcement sniper was better served by a variable power … Read more
In Hot Tips & Cold Shots …Fieldcraft… Thermal Detection, there are some pretty gloomy postings about IR detection. As an electrical utility thermographer, I might shed some light (pun intended) on the subject. To qualify this, I am using the latest (I think) commercially available FLIR product, and am a level II thermographer, (total formal … Read more
This was essentially the conversation I had with Becky Bowen, a product representative for Bushnell, and how I ended up getting one of the company’s HOLOsights to review for Sniper Country. I met Becky during the final phases of Dave Lauck’s Tactical Marksman Match at D&L Sports in Wyoming in August of 1998. I was … Read more
Tapered or Flat? I am often asked if one should buy a tapered or flat base. The person asking the question often seems to be under the impression that the tapered base will be stronger and more versatile. This is not necessarily the case and often you may be making a better choice going with … Read more
Well folks, after several months of extensive testing and evaluation we finally completed our spotting scope review on Thanksgiving Day! Before I say another word I have several people that I need to thank; without their assistance this review would not have been possible. First is Chris Farris from S.W.F.A., Inc. This comparison would not … Read more
The Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) provides an enhanced capability for the 21st century infantryman, with the potential to selectively replace the M16 rifle, M203 grenade launcher, and M4 carbine. Program guidelines were derived from the Small Arms Master Plan (SAMP) and Joint Service Small Arms Master Plan (JSSAMP). OICW-ATD is … Read more
Smart bullets that follow the twists and turns of their victims after they have left the barrel of a gun are being developed in a US Air Force project. According to recently declassified research by the Department of Defense, the new bullets will allow snipers to hit targets several kilometres away. “This technology could change … Read more
Barrel twist rate: Hi can someone comment on the relation between twist rate and bullet weight for the .308? I understand that in the .223 faster rate is recommended for the heavier, longer bullets where 62-80 gr can use 1-8 or faster rate. Is there a similar relation for the .308? What’s a good weight … Read more
Normalcy is not something that I am particularly noted for, and my tastes in edged weapons often follows suit. My interest in this product lies in the applications of yet another potential “Tool for the Toolbox,” honing some practical skills that may be considered “job related,” and (at the risk of parroting some information from … Read more
I recently had the opportunity to look though a set of IOR Valdada B/GA 7×40-R Range finding binoculars. At the time I did not have a chance to do more than a cursory mental evaluation. I was immediately impressed with the quality of the glass. The image quality was such that I knew instantly that … Read more
First, the disclaimer: In the U.S.A., we live in a litigious society, and for those of you who live in Rio Linda, this means that fools will do really stupid things, and then sue someone else, because “It’s their fault, they told me I could do it!”. For those of you that don’t know what … Read more
