Many military snipers sleep with their weapons in field environments. The rifle has to feel like an extension of yourself in order to maximizing your effectiveness with the weapon. Handling your weapon often will make leveling the rifle and capturing good sight picture a matter of muscle memory, allowing you to focus on your environment instead of your actions. There are many types of rifles a sniper may use that include different firing mechanisms and ammunition, based on the situation and the sniper’s preference.
When firing, practice making adjustments to the parallax, windage and the elevation to gain a better understanding of how each adjustment affects the impact point of your round. There are many different variations of rifle scopes that allow you to make adjustments in different ways and in different increments. Use one scope as your primary optic until you are as comfortable with it as you are with your weapon.
Try counting down from five slowly as you squeeze the trigger to ensure you do not pull the trigger and shift the weapon. Shifting a fraction of an inch at the point of the weapon can result in missing by inches or even feet at the target.
Breath out slowly and squeeze the trigger in between breaths. Firing during inhaling or exhaling could shift the weapon slightly, sending it off course.
If the wind is blowing around you and the target in the same direction, you may need to adjust the windage further than usual to compensate for the wind the round will pass through on the way to the target. Wind traveling in an opposing direction may require reducing your adjustment, as the wind traveling left to right at the target may negate some of the effect of wind traveling right to left around you.
You should become as familiar and effective with your sidearm as you are with your primary weapon, as it will be your first line of defense in close quarters combat. Proper marksmanship fundamentals affect pistol accuracy as well as the rifle, but it may take more practice to get accustomed to firing a pistol under stress due to a lack of stability and shorter barrel.
Common forms of concealment utilized by snipers include face paint, camouflage and even incorporating the fauna and plant life in the area by placing it on or attaching it to their clothing. Proper concealment should stop incoming gunfire. Large rocks, buildings and thick trees could all serve as cover. However, car doors, drywall or plywood will not stop rounds and should not be utilized as cover.
In a city, the environmental baseline would likely include the sounds of traffic, lots of people conversing, and crowded streets. In a wooded area, the sounds of insects, wind in the trees and far off highways may create the baseline. Pay attention to your surroundings and use previous experiences to inform you as to what to expect.
The tendency to think abnormal things going on will work out fine is called the “normalcy bias” and it can prevent you from reacting to dangerous situations quickly enough. If you notice something out of the ordinary, make note of it but don’t focus all of your attention on it.
With your attention held by a possible target in front of you, you may not notice other threats forming behind you. Like driving in a car, you don’t stare at the guard rail hoping not to hit it, but you maintain your awareness of it while looking at the road ahead of you.
By predicting the actions of those in your field of view, you will notice unusual behavior from individuals sooner than by strictly observing them. The more you observe and predict, the better you will become at picking out unusual circumstances.
You may have unconsciously noticed something that increases the risk factor of your current situation, but failed to consciously consider it. Finding a new vantage point is always better than compromising the mission or losing your life because you disregarded your gut feeling.
Keeping a cool head will allow you to properly utilize your training and expertise to handle the situation at hand. There are many stories of snipers being surrounded by enemies in combat situations that survived because of their ability to remain calm and concealed as the enemy passed.
Getting too comfortable and allowing your mind to drift is a form of complacency. Complacency kills in a combat zone, as you must always be aware of your surroundings. Mission accomplishment is, and should always be, the number one priority of a sniper.
Snipers must be among the most physically fit combatants on the battlefield. Incorporate a good deal of running and some weight training into your workout regimen as a sniper.
Chris Kyle, a highly decorated Navy sniper, often taught people to focus on the lives they were saving by engaging the enemy, rather than on the lives of the enemy that they were taking. Although you may spend a significant amount of time observing your target, it’s important not to allow yourself to become attached to them.
Just like playing sports, frequent practice can help you to do the things you need to do even when the situation around you is hectic. By training how you would perform in a real scenario, you can help your body adjust to the stresses of combat ahead of time.
