Sniper rifle

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The M40A3 is a precision weapon of the US Marine Corps with a caliber of 7.62 mm .

A sniper rifle is a long-barreled rifle with a rifled barrel ( rifle ) designed to hit targets at great distances. The term precision rifle or precision rifle is mostly used in connection with precision shooters in the police, for example precision shooter commands . The principle of operation is to fight a target with as few or as few but effective shots as possible . It is differentiated from the Designated Marksman Rifle .

Sniper rifles are used militarily by snipers and police by precision shooters to secure a large area, such as at large events, or to fight an outstanding individual target without being detected yourself. During a police operation, the “final rescue shot” is carried out with this type of rifle due to its high precision . Even hunters and gamekeepers use such weapons for hunting wide open spaces. In shooting sports , they are used for long-distance shooting.

historical development

The first rifles for snipers were the German fighters in the 18th century bushings , which the hunters brought the hunter battalions in Hesse and in Prussia in the early days itself and otherwise served for hunting.

In the United States, American rangers used long muskets and the rifled Kentucky rifles . The Sniper Corps ( 95th (Rifle) Regiment ) set up in England in 1800 and King's Royal Rifle Corps , which had been set up in the North American colonies as Royal Americans from American colonists and was later renamed the 60th Regiment of Foot , were with Baker Rifles equipped.

Early known victims of a sniper were among others

Sniper rifles first appeared in large numbers in the American Civil War , when sniper units were set up on both sides, for example the 1st and 2nd US Sharpshooters on the Union side . At the beginning of the war, rifles they had brought with them and rifles imported from Europe (privately) were often used until the Union troops were uniformly equipped with Sharps rear - loading rifles in the spring of 1862 . Probably the most prominent sniper victim in this war was John Sedgwick , a Northern general. He died from a sniper because he didn't take cover. His last words are: At this distance the Confederates cannot even meet an elephant .

Other military weapons appeared between 1890 and 1910; they were modified weapons from series production or adapted hunting weapons.

During the First World War , the War Ministry in Berlin ordered 15,000 sniper rifles of the type Gewehr 98 with telescopic sights from the manufacturers as early as autumn 1914 after the advance had stalled and trench warfare became apparent. This order could not be completed until 1916. In addition, telescopic sights were also acquired from the hunters. The first specialized sniper rifles were then used from around 1916. These weapons were built outside of series production and tested with different barrels as well as designs and calibers. From then on, sniper rifles were also used in subsequent wars.

Second World War

In the interwar period, sniper rifles were no longer in use, as the good shooting training and shooting skills of the infantry, which mostly consisted of professional soldiers, would supposedly not have justified the equipment of the troops. In the Second World War , every country reintroduced such rifles.

Germany

The Wehrmacht only reintroduced sniper rifles and snipers after the start of the Russian campaign and the experience they had there with Soviet snipers and incorporated their own snipers as telescopic shooters into each infantry group or deployed them under a company in independent sniper troops. One of the first sniper rifles to be produced in large numbers was the German 98k carbine in 7.92 × 57 mm caliber with a telescopic sight . Around 130,000 of this rifle had been built by 1945. Besides was G43 - Self-loading rifle used in the sniper role, while the STGW-44 ZF caliber mm 7.92 × 33 rather the role of the extended fire support approached in the protecting group.

Soviet Union

The Red Army sniper rifle was a variant of the Mosin-Nagant M1891 / 30 with the PE or PU telescopic sight as a sniper weapon. In order to be able to mount the telescopic sight, the bolt handle was extended and cranked by 90 °. In addition to the Mosin-Nagant, which was manufactured over 200,000 times, the SWT-40 was used, of which around 50,000 were made of the sniper version.

United Kingdom

The British Army's sniper rifle used modified selected Lee-Enfield MK.4 rifles.

United States

The US Army snipers used the Springfield M1903 .

Type and caliber

The Barrett M82A1 is an "anti-materiel" weapon with a caliber of 12.7 × 99 mm.

Most sniper rifles are repeater rifles . Self-loading rifles have a lower Eigenpräzison as repeaters and are therefore rather used as Scope Rifles ( English " Designated marksman rifle " ).

When the police use a sniper rifle as a precision shooter , it is not the sequence of fire that counts, but rather the precision for the final rescue shot.

Today, sniper rifles have a telescopic sight as an optical sight with up to 24x variable magnification. These are supplemented by night vision devices such as residual light amplifiers or thermal imaging devices . Some have a mechanical emergency visor for close range only . A laser rangefinder is usually used today as additional equipment for the observer .

Common calibers for sniper rifles used in western countries today are 7.62 × 51 mm NATO (.308 Winchester) and, with a stronger propellant charge, .300 Win Mag (7.62 × 67 mm) such as the G22 or .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6 × 70 mm). New developments such as the Barrett M99 use the hunting caliber .416 Barrett (10.6 × 83 mm).

Examples of widely used or well-known weapons in the 7.62 mm caliber are the Heckler & Koch PSG1 and MSG90 , the Steyr SSG 69 , the Walther WA 2000 , variants of the Remington 700 rifle , such as the M24 or the M40 , which were used by the US American Army and various police authorities, the AWM series and the G22 derived from it of the German Bundeswehr .

The Dragunov sniper rifle has the caliber 7.62 × 54 mm R . By the attacks by enemy snipers and civilians at fighting as snipers in the Yugoslav Wars involved, the non-NATO countries widespread Soviet Dragunov sniper rifle has become publicly known. The sniper rifle of the Spetsnaz and long-range reconnaissance aircraft is the Wintores sniper rifle , a silenced weapon in the 9 × 39 mm caliber.

Large-caliber weapons such as 12.7 × 99 mm NATO (.50 BMG) are also used for fighting targets at long distances of up to two kilometers, and mainly hard targets and material targets . Guns with this caliber are u. a. Barrett M82A1 , HS .50 , PGM Hécate II , Desert Tech HTI or McMillan Tac-50 .

The NTW-20 has a caliber of 14.5 × 114 mm .

There are also isolated rifles with a smaller caliber, such as the 5.56 × 45 mm NATO on the SIG 550-1 or 5.8 × 42 mm on the Chinese QBU-88 . However, due to their shorter range, these are less suitable for military use and more suitable for police use.

Special ammunition

Raufoss Mk.211 special ammunition in .50 BMG caliber with armor-piercing, explosive and incendiary effects

Today, the sniper can choose from a large number of different types of ammunition within the caliber used. Armor-piercing, incendiary, high-explosive or multi-purpose ammunition can be used, especially for larger calibers.

As early as the Second World War, German snipers fired “B ammunition” of caliber 7.92 × 57 mm . This type of ammunition was originally developed for aiming machine guns in fighter aircraft. B stood for "observation cartridge". The projectiles exploded on impact, indicating the location of the sheaf. The MGs could be adjusted quickly with this optical aid. The production of this ammunition was very complex and correspondingly expensive at the time. This meant that it was reserved for its original use until around 1944. By contrast, the Soviet army used high-explosive projectiles as rifle ammunition at the beginning of the war. Because of their high effectiveness, the captured weapons and ammunition were very popular with the Wehrmacht.

At the beginning of the 21st century there was the EXACTO research project , with which precision-guided ammunition was developed for sniper rifles .

Range

The maximum effective range differs depending on the weapon, as it depends on the type and caliber. For military weapons, it is around 1,000 meters on average  . In special designs with a large caliber, however, it can also extend up to 2,500 m. Police weapons are usually designed for shorter ranges due to their more frequent use in built-up areas.

Especially at great distances, weather conditions such as wind, temperature and air pressure, the caliber used in relation to the barrel length and the firing angle play an important role, which can increase or decrease the actual effective range. The ammunition with the bullet weight and the amount of propellant charge also have a significant influence on the range. For this reason, special types and shapes of ammunition for sniper rifles have been developed that have, for example, better aerodynamics (VLD projectile) or an optimized structure of the powder charge.

Greatest combat distances

In 2012, a Barrett M82 fired the most fatal shot to date . Two snipers from the Australian 2nd Commando Regiment fired at suspected Taliban fighters at about the same time. The hit at 2,815 m measured by GPS rangefinder could not be assigned to either of the two shooters and was not confirmed by the Australian military.

The hit that was scored and confirmed at the greatest distance was scored by Craig Harrison , a soldier in the British Army , in Afghanistan with an AWM L115A3 in November 2009 (as of February 2011). Harrison fought an enemy rifleman who, according to GPS measurements, was 2,470 m away. This placed his target about 1,000 meters out of the effective range of his weapon. According to Harrison, the ideal weather conditions enabled him to hit the target - absolute calm, clear visibility and low temperatures, as excessive heat would have caused flicker and air rising from the ground. It took Harrison and his observer a total of nine shots to determine the sight setting and score the first hit. He could also see that a second man was taking over the gun of the dead rifleman and hit him in the stomach with the next shot. Then he destroyed the machine gun with another aimed shot.

Acquisition

Bushmaster 50 BA Carbine

The same provisions apply to precision rifles in Germany as to other rifles. The acquisition is possible with a gun possession card for hunters and sport shooters.

In Austria, such rifles are subsumed under Category C of the Weapons Act and are freely available to people aged 18 and over. Models that are classified as " anti-tank rifles " within the meaning of the War Material Ordinance belong to category A, forbidden weapons and war material, and may only be acquired and owned with a special permit. This essentially includes all models of the .50 BMG caliber . Whether a model is to be classified under the umbrella term anti-tank rifle depends on the current legal situation and the availability of "armor-piercing" ammunition. For example, models in caliber .408 do not fall under category A, because armor-piercing ammunition is not available on the market or, under realistic conditions , you can not labor yourself .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Special visor No. 34 . 2004, ISBN 3-9809243-2-7 .
  2. ↑ Website for the K98k (French) ( Memento from March 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Vic Thomas: The Sniper Rifles Of The Red Star. Mosin Nagant M91 / 30 and Variants. In: mosinnagant.net. Retrieved July 19, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Mick Toal: The Soviet 91/30 PU - Sniper Rifle of the Red Star. In: russian-mosin-nagant.com. Retrieved July 19, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Alexey Ramm: Vintorez: Sniping rifle of intelligence officers. (No longer available online.) In: in.rbth.com. October 28, 2014, archived from the original on August 1, 2015 ; accessed on November 28, 2016 (English).
  6. ↑ Albrecht Wacker: In the eye of the hunter . The Wehrmacht sniper Josef Allerberger. 8th edition. VS-Books, Herne 2009, ISBN 978-3-932077-27-2 , pp. 163 ff .
  7. ↑ Chris Masters: Taliban remain in fear of lethal strikes. In: www.dailytelegraph.com.au. The Daily Telegraph (Australia) , October 29, 2012, accessed October 10, 2015 .
  8. ↑ British sniper shoots down Canada's bragging rights
  9. ↑ Brit Sniper Makes Double-Kill at 1.54 miles with .338 Lapua Mag, (accessed February 11, 2013)
  10. ↑ § 1 Z 1 lit. b War Material Ordinance, Federal Law Gazette No. 624/1977
  11. ↑ Finding W170 2104835-1. Federal Administrative Court of Austria , November 24, 2015, accessed on December 5, 2017 . Decision Ro 2016/11/0003. Administrative Court of Austria , December 15, 2016, accessed on December 5, 2017 .