Basic Sniper Information

  Sniper and Sniper Teams

   This paragraph will deal with Military sniper and teams. The primary mission of a sniper in combat is to support combat operations by delivering precise long-range fire on selected targets. Not only must a sniper be a good marksman; he must also be proficient in field craft. Snipers are trained to operate in 2-man sniper teams. The sniper team consists of two equally trained snipers. When employed, the most experienced of the team will act as the observer. The more experienced sniper is better able to read wind, estimate range and read trace.

The sniper will carry the M24 SWS and the observer will carry the M16A2 rifle with the M203 grenade launcher. Since the M24 lacks the firepower required to break contact with the enemy, the rapid-fire ability of the M16A2 rifle combined with the destructive abilities of the M203 40-mm grenade launcher gives the sniper team a lightweight, easily  operated way to deliver the firepower to break contact. Also depending on the mission, most of the snipers will carry the sniper rifle in a drag bag. The sniper will also be carrying a M4 rifle. Remember you do not want to be walking around looking like a sniper teams.  Again depending on the mission, the observer might carry a different weapon. He might carry a M16A2 flattop with a AN/PVS-4 night vision sight. Or he might have an ACOG or Elcan sight mounted on the A2. He might also carry a M25 SWS. With these different weapons the observer can also deliver rapid, accurate fire on targets.

M24SWS

The M24 Sniper Weapon System is the current sniper rifle being used by the US Army today. The M-24 replaces the M-21 sniper rifle. The M21 is a highly accurized M14, scoped with either the ART 1 OR 2- Day Scope. The M21 is still in the Army inventory, but they are being upgraded to the M25.

The M24SWS is a 7.62-mm, bolt action, five-shot repeating rifle. (The book says it will hold six rounds. 5 in the magazine, 1 in the chamber.) It is built on a Remington M700 long action. The reason they used the long action was because they wanted to be able to convert some of the rifles to 300 Win. Mag. Currently several Special Operation units have M24s that are chambered for the 300 WIN Mag. The barrel is a Mike Rock ( currently Mike Rock no longer makes the barrels for the M24, REM makes them in house) 5R, is 24 inches long and has a right hand twist of 1 in 11.2. The stock is an H-S Precision and is adjustable for length-of-pull. The rifle uses the Leupold Mark 4 M3A scope. The scope is a 10 Power Fixed, has a Mil-Dot reticle, a side Parallax adjustment and a Bullet Drop Compensator. The BDC is set up for M118 Special Ball ammo and is in meters. The BDC can track from 0-1000 meters. Each click of elevation knob equals 1 minute of angle. Each click of the windage knob is 1/2 minute of angle adjustment. The M24 also has a Rear and Front base for iron sights. The rear sight is a Redfield Palma ( The Palma is no longer being used since Redfield has gone out of business. The M24 now comes with a OK Weber RPA sight) sight and the front sight is an International Redfield Big Bore sight ( The front sight now being used is a OK Weber RPA globe sight). This sight combination is a back-up system in case the scope becomes inoperative. The M24 also can be equipped with a night sight. Currently they are issuing the AN/PVS-10 ( currently it is being replaced by the AN/PVS-22). The PVS-10 is a Day and Night scope. It is an 8.5 fixed power scope and it has a Mil-Dot reticle and a BDC setup for the M118 Special Ball just like the M3A. The Elevation and Windage adjustment are also the same as the M3A. This sight is very large and heavy.

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