Police Sniper

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TIIII tDoI,Icti SNIIDIiII 4 Complete Handbook p8[tcs by Burt Rapp

Transcript of Police Sniper

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TIIIItDoI,Icti

SNIIDIiII4 Complete Handbook

p8[tcs

by Burt Rapp

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THEPOLICESNIPER

A Complete Handbook

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Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility

for the use or misuse of information contained in this book- Itis sold for entertainment purposes only! Be Warned!

THEPOLICESNIPER

A Complete llandbook

by Burt Rapp

Loompanics UnlimitedPort Townsend, Washington(-

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THE POLICE SNIPER: A Complete Handbook01988 by Inompanics UnlimitedAll Rights ReservedPrinted in U.S.A.

Published by:Loompanics UnlimitedPO Box 1197

Port Townsend, WA 98368

ISBN 0-915179-77-6Library of Congress Catalog

Card Number 88-M5201

TABTE OF CONTENTS

lntroduction.. ......1Military Firefighters vs. Civilian Armed

Encounters: How They Differ .....5The Urban Setting .......8Sniping ln The Open Country:

The Rural Environment .. ........12SWAT Missions ...11SWAT Tactics .....29The Police Sniper's Role . ....35Sniping Techniques ... .......S0Barricaded Suspect Types ...TsNight Operations And Tactics .....80SWAT Team Make-Up ...... . .BlSelection Of The Police Sniper ....95Training And Maintaining ..103Weapons ...120Ammunition... ...191Handloading: Low-Cost Practice Ammo ....199Sights And Scopes... .......14STesting: Checking Out Your Scope Sight ...163Auxiliary Equipment .... ....162Appendix I - Ballistics: A Quick Primer ....177Appendix ll: Glossary ... ....194

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INTROIIUCTION

There have been some recent books on sniping,but not one tailored to police needs. Reprinted or re-worked military texts don't give the police sniper arealistic outline of what he needs to know.

One problem is that much of what's been printedhas been adapted from military craft. This approachleaves serious gaps because the civilian police func-tions and needs are quite differ:ent from the all-outwarfare practiced by the military. This requires a de-finite re-orientation and re-planning.

SWAT teams have usually been organized alongthe lines of infantry squads, rather than conformingto civilian police needs. This is why we see SWATteam members designated as "point" and "rearguard," as if they were about to go out on infantrypatrols. This also explains why many SWAT teammembers still dress in camouflage, although thedominant colors in the city are grays and blacks.

This book will deal with the topic differently fromany other so far. We'll first examine the policesniper's role, to lay out what he needs. His duties willdetermine his equipment and tactics. We'll have totake a quick look at what a SWAT team is and doesin order to understand how the sniper fits.

The second part will deal with training and tech-niques. We'll cover selecting the sniper, basic re-

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quirements, and the skills he must have or develop todo the job successfully.

Finally, we'll deal with equipment. This is the leastimportant part of the book, because there are manygood rifles suitable for the police sniper, and despitethe claims of manufacturers of overpriced and over-blown "sniper rifles," superlative precision is usuallynot needed. Precision is also not necessarily costly.

This discussion won't lead the reader down thepath of the high-ticket items. This is a common mis-take, made by people who don't stop to think thatmany agencies don't have budgets to buy superlativeand high-priced equipment. ln fact, most agenciescan get along with much less.

This book will have to generalize in many ways, be-cause it's impossible to lay out a plan or a preciseprescription in print that will be suitable for all de-partments. Small agencies, limited in both manpowerand budget, will have to cope in a different way fromthe large ones. The larger agencies face largerproblems, but their equipment and facilities are oftenthe envy of police administrators who have to makedo with much less.

It's easy to make up an equipment list when thewriter is not the one who has to lay out the money forit. lt's also easy to be dogmatic and specify a trainingday each week for the hypothetical SWAT team. Formany agencies, this is impossible, and even monthlytraining is hard to arrange when the members are ondifferent shifts.

This book also will not make the mistake of dealingexclusively with worst-case assumptions, which iscommon among police planners, a legacy from ourmilitary heritage. With the same outlook as militarystaffs anticipating a "nuclear Pearl Harbor," some

police planners expect a hostage-taker at 800 yards,who is also equipped with a nuclear weapon which hethreatens to detonate if the President doesn't come inperson to negotiate with him.

ln real life, opponents arelar less challenging, andthe worst cases rarely, if ever, happen. While it's re-assuring to be prepared for the worst, you're far morelikely to have to deal with less threatening problems.

We also won't waste time dealing with unrealistictopics, such as leading a target. A military sniper mayget the chance to open fire upon an unsuspectingenemy soldier, but a police marksman can't expect abarricaded felon to present himself as a target bystrolling out in the open. lf the suspect exposes him-self at all, he'll be still, holding a hostage as a shield,or he'll rush from one piece of cover to another.

There are certain issues which are "hot potatoes"and police officers are reluctant to discuss thempublicly. This is a dilemma. lt's a mistake to shy awayfrom difficult issues because of their sensitivity. Atthe same time, an officer who expresses an opinionon a "sensitive" topic, or suggests a controversialprocedure, risks causing a negative reflection uponhis department. This could even result in a lawsuit ifa situation calling for such a procedure ever comesabout. For example, if there's a tacit understandingthat a hostage's life is to be sacrificed to prevent thesuspect's escape, expressing this in print opens thedoor to a litigious survivor or relative. For this reason,it's impossible to express thanks to any particularagency or individual, although many intelligent anddedicated police officers helped in the preparation ofthis text.

The reader will notice certain expressions, such as"manpower," and the use of the masculine pronoun,

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throughout this book. This is not an attempt to besexist, but simply for simplicity. lt's easier to write"he" than "he or she." ln this regard, females can beas competent snipers as males. We'll cover this morethoroughly in the section on selecting snipers.

MITITARY FIREFIGHTS VS.CNILIITN ARMEII ENC OUNTERS:

HOW THEY IIIFFER

This is a basic re-orientation for the police sniperwho has had military experience. lt's necessary be-cause the military's purpose is to take lives and thepolice try to save lives. ln war, prisoners are burdensat best, because they drain resources needed toguard and feed them. Police, on the other hand, striveto bring back prisoners, not corpses, and this objec-tive determines procedures and tactics.

The police officer tries to resolve a confrontationwithout violence, while the soldier accepts deadlyforce as the first choice. The police officer who pullsthe trigger inevitably has to justify his action tosuperior off icers and sometimes to an outside investi-gator. He may also have to prove he's not civilly li-able.

ln war, the objectives are usually to take and oc-cupy territory and to destroy the enemy. lf the fight-ing takes place in the enemy's homeland, there areusually no restrictions on destruction, and any per-son not wearing a friendly uniform is a target. Enemycivilians can be targets as well as their military. Thesniper, however, usually fires at a uniform.

Because the military sniper opens fire at a uniform,anyone in the enemy's uniform will do, although thesniper prefers to "take out" officers. The soldier canfire at a shadow. The police sniper must identify his

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target positively before firing. Unlike the militarysniper who shoots a private by mistake, the policesniper's likely to be sued or even criminally chargedif he kills the wrong person. ln the same way, no "re-connaissance by fire" is allowed. The police snipercannot fire into bushes, rooms, and closets to "clear"them of possible adversaries.

ln war, even friendly civilians take their chances.Police officers have the duty to evacuate and safe-guard bystanders and other innocent people. Offic-ers re-direct traffic and keep civilians at a safe dis-tance with an "outer perimeter."

Life is cheap in wartime, and both soldiers and civ-ilians are expendable. ln civilian life, police officers'lives are not expendable, nor are those of bystanders.Even the suspect has rights.

The military sniper has done his job even if he onlywounds his target, unless he has orders to the con-trary. A wounded enemy requires medical corpsmenand stretcher bearers to take him off the field of bat-tle. He ties up resources in his care and treatment.

The police sniper's first shot must incapacitate in-stantly, especially if hostages are present. "lnca-pacitate" is usually a euphemism for a kill, becausethere isn't any reliable way, using gunfire, to rendera suspect incapable of aggressive action without in-flicting a wound that's likely to be lethal.

The military sniper takes shots at ranges of manyhundreds of yards, and military sniper rifles havescopes suitable for extreme ranges. By contrast,ranges in police work are usually much closer, aswe've seen.

The police sniper must always be prepared to makea hit with the first shot from a cold barrel. ln a civilian

setting, there are no warm-up or sighting shotsallowed.

The police marksman's shot must strike only the in-tended target. When a military sniper fires, a bulletwhich passes through his target and wounds some-one else causes "collateral damage." This is notusually allowed in civilian life. The only possible ex-ception would be two suspects standing in line.

This brief review shows why the military approachto sniping isn't directly applicable to civilian policeobjectives. While the officer with a military snipingbackground may be an excellent recruit toi a similarrole in a SWAT team, he must understand that hisrole will be very different from the one he filled in theservice.

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This is why police officers cannot be free with theirfirepower, but must exercise restraint. lt's the re-sponsibility of the police to evacuate as many by-standers to safety as quickly as possible.

The problem of innocent people endangered bygunfire is actually two-fold. The police must be care-ful not to wound innocents themselves, but they alsohave a responsibility to prevent the suspect from in-juring anyone else. lf the suspect is firing wildly, thismakes the situation urgent.

IIOSTAGES

Hostages are more readily available to the suspect,if he so wishes. Because of the nature of the city, andthe population crush, there are likely to be potentialhostages within reach, as when a supermarket stick-up is interrupted. The presence of hostages makesresolution by negotiation more important than other-wise.

sufficient preparation. The environment is so differ-ent that officers must take special precautions andprepare for the unexpected.

NOTES

1. SWAT Team Manual, Robert p. Cappel, Boulder,CO, Paladin Press, 1979, p.21.

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TIIE MEDAI

The medi a are almost always present when a situ-ation "comes down." This requires officers to keepmedia representatives at a safe distance.

LIFE IN TNE BIG CNY

SWAT operations in the city are different from bothrural policing and military urban combat. A differentset of rules applies, and previous experience isn't

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SNIPING IN OPEN COUNTRY:

THE RURAI, ENVIRONMENT

This is unfamiliar to anyone brought up on citystreets, but more like the situations covered in in-fantry training in the armed services' Woods and

open countryside can affect the situation strongly, as

terrain largeiy determines tactics' The police sniper,

however, cannot revert to any military experiencehe's had, because "fire and maneuver" won't oftensolve the problem.

There are several features of rural SWAT oper-ations that strongly affect the picture:

BACKW AND SUPPITES

Help and reinforcements are often far away, and re-

sponse time can be hours' A negotiator may not be

available when needed. Medical help may be an hour

away by air, and several by road' The rural officersmust be more self-reliant, and in practice they tend

to carry more equipment and supplies with them than

their urban counterParts.

Any supplies you have will be what you bring in

with you.'lf you get hungry, you won't be able to send

down to thscorner for a pizza. You'll be munching on

a Granola bar, if you remembered to bring some'

TONGEN NANGES

-. Ranges are often much greater because of openfields. Buildings are tar apart, and usually not buiit inwooded patches.

RUGGED TENRATN

Because roads are few, it may be necessary toleave vehicles and move in on foot. lt may be nebes-sary to park vehicles many hundreds of yards awayto protect them from gunfire.

QUIET

Although the country has its own repertoire ofsounds, they tend to be soft and rusfling. Foreignsounds such as clicks and ratiles tend to Carry. Thisis why a suspect or officer can betray his locaiion bythe noise from keys, pocket change, and weapons.

WEATEER

Exposure to weather can be a problem if it rains, ifit's too cold, or if it's too hot. Shelter isn't as com-monly available as in the city, and you can't duck in-side a doorway or take up a position in a room.

COWR

Cover is equally important, but can be sparse. lnrolling country, you can find "dead ground,'; shallow

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depressions that hide you from the suspect's posi-tion. There might be only a foot deep of dead ground,but it's enough if you're careful.

A targe rock can provide cover. Just remember to stay low be-hind-it, and not peer over the top where you can be silhouettedagainst the sky.

Woods can be protection. Large tree trunks willstop rifle bullets. A rule, if the tree's large enough tohide you, it's large enough to provide cover.

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follow the line of the treesDon't cross an open field. tnstead,around it.

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Go under the foot-path, into the culvert, rather than exposeyourself.

When taking up a firing position, stay under the bushes, wett inthe shadows. Keeping to the shadows wiil atso hetp avoid re_flections from your scope sight and eyeglasses, if you're wear_ing them.

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shooting over the top of a walt or fence isn't smart. This sil-houettei you against'the sky, and exposes you much more th.an

necessary. lnslead, stay to the shadows beside or under thefence.

SWAT MISSIONS

The procedures and tactics to use will depend veryheavily upon the situation and the type of suspect. ASWAT unit is basically a reactive force, sent in tosolve a problem after it's in full spread. ln certain rareinstances, such as VIP protection and monitoringpublic demonstrations, the SWAT officers will be onhand to prevent potential problems by their presence,and to cope with them if they occur. Let's look at thethree main types of situations to see how a SWATteam might be best employed, with particular atten-tion to the role of the police sniper.

CNOWD CONINOL ANI'PUBLIC I'EMONSTNANONS

This sort of situation can be very explosive, and thepolice commander usually recognizes the need for alight touch. There have been instances in whichheavy-handed actions by the police have touched offviolence, and it's important to avoid the appearanceof a "goon squad." ln a situation which isn't violent,patrol officers should man whatever barriers havebeen put up and work to direct the crowd or paradein a safe direction. The SWAT team should be keptout of sight, as a reserve force, in case of need. TheSWAT officers should be ready to deliver chemical

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munitions if needed, and the sniper should be pre-pared to "take out" armed members of a mob uponthe order of the commander.

Two points need emphasis:

One is that the SWAT team deploys only upon theorder of the commander, and that it usually will workbest if kept behind the main police line. The team isthe last resort, especially in regard to the way aSWAT team is perceived by the public. Until the teamis needed, it should remain in its vehicle, or inborrowed premises, where it won't be seen as a"provocation." The role of the media is paramounthere, and a threatening presence by the police at anon-violent demonstration can seem unduly repres-sive. The TV cameras may show a peaceful crowdand quickly pan to a line of masked and armed SWATofficers on the six o'clock news. This is unquestion-ably a failure in public relations, and can only harmthe image of the police and the SWAT team.

The second point is that it's rarely necessary orjustified to open fire on a mob. Typically, a riotingmob is violent, but unarmed. Chemical weapons areusually enough to regain control.t ln a few instances,some members may have guns or fire bombs, whichjustify deadly force. To be able to "take out" suchsuspects, the police sniper should be pre-positionedon high ground if possible. This places him apartfrom the rest of the team, and makes the use of aradio mandatory. ln this special situation, it's alsovital to have a second person with the sniper. Thiscan be an observer, or a relief sniper, or simply aclose cover officer to protect the sniper. This alsoprovides a second radio as a back-up.

VIP PROTECTION

Escorting VlPs is a special task for which SWATteams are usually well-employed in a supporting role.The protectee has his own team of bodyguards withhim for close protection. They always stay with theprotectee, and work what is called the "inner peri-meter."

The theory and practice of close protection issimple. There are two functions to be served: avoid-ing or escaping the threat and arresting the perpetra-tor. lt's impossible to place an iron ring around theprotectee. lnstead, protective officers depend uponconcentric screens to block or parry threats. Theinner team always stays with the protectee, attendingto his safety and his evacuation, if necessary. Theouter screens of officers are the ones in contact withcrowds, and are the ones who react to a threat bymoving in on the attacker and neutralizing him."Neutralizing" can mean physically overpowering theattacker, if he's within reach, or shooting him.

The sniper has two functions in the protective role.He observes the entire area, and gives warning of adeveloping threat. He also neutralizes a sniperassassin who is within range. The best position forthe police sniper, therefore, is on the highest groundthat will cover the area of his assignment. Positionedon the tallest building, he can observe the rooftops ofother buildings below him.

Because diligent observation requires scanning360 degrees, and because it can be fatiguing, it's bestto assign teams of two or three snipers to eachposition, if the manpower is available. lf not, a sniperand an observer can serve the purpose. The second

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off icer can relieve the sniper on the binoculars, whichhelps postpone fatigue. The sniper will open-f.ire if thesituation demands it, while the second officer willman the radio to keep communications open.

The sniper assigned to VIP protection has to showindependent judgment. Standard procedure for thefirst protective agent to see a threat is to react andcall it out to alert others, simultaneously. Because ofthe sniper's role, the only effective reaction he may

have to a threat is to open fire. ln this context,"threat" means a deadly threat by an assassin, notjust an unauthorized person in a restricted zone' lf itbecomes necessary to shoot, the sniper's partnershould call it out on the radio. This is essential so thatthe close protection agents can decide whether tobegin evacuation or to "maintain" and shield theirVlF. Seconds count in an assassination attempt, andthere must be no delaY.

THE BANRICAI'ED SUSPECT

This is the most common situation. A barricadedsuspect doesn't always fit easily into the category be-cause there are many variations, depending on thesituation, the suspect, and local police practices'

ln certain instances, SWAT team members rou-tinely accompany an arrest team to the site if it's a"high-risk" a'rrest. This is to prevent the situationfroir deteriorating and turning into a barricadedsuspect crisis. The deterrent effect of armed SWATteam officers often persuades a suspect to surrenderquietly.

When the crisis has already deteriorated into a"barricade" problem, there are several optionsavailable:

The simplest is to wait it out' This sometimesworks. lf and when the suspect thinks over hischoices, he may decide that the best chance of sur-vival lies in surrender. lf negotiations are underway,waiting while containing the suspect can be fruitful'lf this doesn't work, the force level can escalate.

Tear gas is the next step. This is a fairly simpletechnique and often works, but there are a couple of

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points to watch. lf there are hostages, gas won'tincapacitate the suspect quickly enough to preventhim from killing them.

The next step is to accede to the suspect's de-mands, if policy or other considerations allow this. lnmany cases, there will be excellent reasons forskipping this prospect. This brings us into the area oflethal force. The commander may give a "green light"on the suspect, or he may plan a forced entry if noother choice is possible. A forced entry may benecessary if there are hostages. ln all cases, thepolice sniper will have a role to fill.

NOTES

Kill or Get Kille4 Rex Applegate,Paladin Press, 1976, pp. 360-362.

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SWAT TACTICS

To understand the place of the sniper, it's basic tolay out what the SWAT team does. A SWAT team isuseful in a variety of situations. ln most, it's best tothink of the functions a SWAT team must perform.This is where we depart from accepted practice ofdescribing functions in military terms. A policeoperation doesn't follow the procedures of militarysmall-unit tactics. lnstead, there are certain functionsto serve.

CONTIUNDIENT

"Containment" means to take over from the first of-ficers on the scene and to continue the surveillanceof the area. lt's also necessary to prevent the escapeof the suspects and to avoid injury to innocent par-ties. Containment also means blocking the escape ofthe suspect by physical barriers or by fields of fire.

PERIilTETENS

We usually think of containment as having at leasttwo perimeters, an inner one facing the suspect andan outer one facing the crowd, if any. The membersof the inner perimeter place themselves to have a

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good view of the premises, while keeping behindcover, and to have good fields of fire. These areusually SWAT officers. The outer perimeter takescare of crowd control, evacuation of innocent parties,and other miscellaneous duties.

_ ln this regard, some favor "invisible deployment."This means having the team members move to theirstations without being seen by the suspect. This may9r may not be possible. lt may not even be necessary,if the suspect hasn't shown any violence towardspolice officers. lt's important to keep this in mindbecause sometimes the SWAT team is called becauseof potential, not actual, violence.

Another factor to consider is the intimidating effectof the suspect's observing the SWAT officers movinginto position. This can cause him to reconsider, andrealize that surrender is preferable to facing thisheavy-duty threat to his well-being.

CROWD CONTROL AND EUACIIATION

It's obvious that bystanders cannot be allowed towander into possible fields of fire. lt's not often easyto keep innocent people safe. lt may be necessary toclose off a street and re-route traffic. lt may also benecessary to evacuate buildings. There's hardly atactical team in the country with enough man-powerto do this, and it's usually necessary to call uponpatrol officers to help.

There's often a need to combine functions,because in cities it may be necessary to evacuateinnocent people from a building while SWAT officersare moving in to use it as an observation or commandpost, or a sniper's post.

BANNICAI'EI' SUSPECTS

There are many tactics possible when dealing witha barricaded suspect. ln many instances, the preludele to employ a negotiator. Former Captain Frank Bolz,of the New York City Police Department, found thatIt. was possible to resolve many barricaded suspectgituations without violence by de-fusing themthrough negotiations.

NEGOTAITIONS

The purpose is to resolve the problem withoutviolence. The method is to discuss it with the suspectand try to persuade him that surrender is in his bestlnterest. This isn't always possible. Some suspectsare irrational. Others are political or religious ideal-lsts and eager to die for the cause. ln other instances,the suspect's demands are impossible to meet. ltshould become apparent early in the negotiationswhich way the situation will go.

Negotiation policy will vary with the department.We find the "soft" vs. the "hard" approach. The softapproach is to let the suspect have what he wants, inorder to save the hostages' lives. The hard approachis to pretend to go along with the suspect's demands,but under no circumstances to let him get away. Thisis the policy that many agencies are reluctant to putin their manuals because of the prospect of a lawsuit.

Who can be a negotiator? There are several theor-ies. Some claim that a "father figure" is best. Otherssay that a sympathetic contemporary is better. ln allinstances, the negotiator should have gone througha training course to prepare him for the task.

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Negotiations can be by bull-horn, but preferably bytelephone. The telephone offers privacy, and therewill be an effort made to provide a telephone if thesuspect doesn't have one.

The negotiator has another function, to play fortime by introducing delays in the process. This is whythe negotiator must never be the police commander.lf the suspect makes demands, he must never get adirect or speedy answer. The negotiator always re-plies that he'll have to ask his commander, who isnever available to negotiate directly.

Spinning the negotiations out has several pur-poses. One is to gain time to gather information andto plan, in case an assault becomes necessary.Another is to gain information about the suspect, asmuch as he's willing to divulge about himself. Thisgives the negotiator a "reading" on him, and enablesforming an opinion regarding whether he'll surrenderor not.

Another purpose is to set him up for an assault oran ambush if this becomes necessary. This tactic isfor situations in which there's little or no hope ofresolving the problem otherwise. lt might be work-able, for example, to promise the suspect a vehicle toget him out from the protection of the building.t

Yet another purpose is to tire him. Fatigue impairsjudgment and reflexes. lt also wears down an emo-tionally over-wrought suspect, and provides a betteropportunity for "talking him down" and persuadinghim to surrender.

The suspect will perhaps start with demands. lf hedoesn't, the negotiator is likely to try for a trade ofsome sort. He may offer food and drink in return fora concession. One important purpose, if there arehostages, is to gain their release. This may not be

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possible, but the negotiator will try to get at least onehostage released because a hostage

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portant information about the suspect and his situ-ation when debriefed.

There are generally two prohibitions in negoti-ations. The suspect must not be given weapons] noradditional hostages. ln some instances, a policeofficer may trade himself for a hostage, but ihis israre.

.lf food is part of the deal, it's almost futile to try toplace drugs in the food. The suspect,s likely to f-eedthe hostages first as a precaution.

Promises made to the suspect during negotiationsa-re not binding. This is both a moral and a legal point.lf the police negotiator has to promise the Jusfect amillion dollars and a jeiliner to obtain release of thehostages, the police commander may renege at anyconvenient point. The negotiations can also be foithe sake of gaining time to prepare an assault.

ONSENUATION

lf negotiations are underway, the police com-mander will expect the snipers to keep the site underobservation and to report any changes. This isvaluable information for both negotiatlons and forassault planning. ln some situations, the sniper will

. hav9. a good view. ln others, there may be almostnothing to report. A variable-power scope sight isvaluable for observing because the power cin becranked up for close viewing.

Because the siege may last for hours, it's importantto have a relief. Close observation through an opticallnstrument can be very tiring, and latigue can

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seriously degrade the sniper's skill when it's mostneeded.

As a sniper, you should always be aware that youmay be required to "take out" the suspect at any time.You should be familiar with the suspect's face, notjust his clothing. There have been reports of suspectschanging clothes with hostages.2 You may be thefirst to notice this and report it, if you're awake andaware.

ASSAULT

This can come about because of a failure in nego-tiations, or because the negotiations were conceivedfrom the start as means of gaining time. There arecertain pros and cons to the assault.

lf there are hostages involved, it's important toknow that the assault tends to worsen their chancesof getting out alive. A study of sieges in Europeshowed that more hostages died when there was anassault to release them than when the suspectssurrendered. 14 hostages out of 390 died when therewas an assault. Only 5 out of 203 of the hostages losttheir lives when the suspects surrendered.s Thisstudy pertained to political terrorism, and we can'tassume that it applied to all hostage crises.

Assault is particularly dangerous if the target is a"rock house," a specially-fortified house used bymotorcycle gangs and drug distributors. A "rockhouse" is a solidly built building with reinforced wallsand doors. There may be steel plating behind eachwall, iron grill-work covering each window, and abarbed-wire fence to deny access to the premises. lnsome instances, attack dogs stand guard, and if the

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occupant has the means and the will, explosivebooby-traps also guard the way.

ln extreme cases, such as "rock houses,,' entry isunwise unless there are hostages which must berescued and no other choice exists. lf only suspectsare occupants, shooting CS into the premises is oneway to start. lf the suspects don't come out, a safeassumption is that they've got gas masks and otherequipment which can make them formidable oppo-nents in a shoot-out. An entry is out of the question,and bullets won't make much of an impression.

There are some types of tear gas grenades whichheat up to prevent throwback. These are the burningtype, and the manufacturers caution that they canstart fires. Throwing or shooting a few into a rockhouse can be decisive in forcingthe occupants out.ln extreme cases, it's important to remember that ifthe structure is gutted by fire, it will be impossible forfire marshals to determine whether a broken bottle ofgasoline was already on the premises or thrown inwith the gas grenades.

THE FORCED ENTRY

- Although kicking down doors has gone out offashion because it's so risky, the forced entry still hasa place in SWAT tactics in certain circumstances.The procedure is far more complicated today, be-cause of increased sophistication on both sides. Theprospect of liability is also a very important factor.

Before entering, there must be solid informationabout the interior layout and the occupants. This cancome from studying floor plans and interviewingresidents and employees. lf any hostages have been

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released, they can provide up-to-date information onthe suspect and any changes he's made in the interiorarrangements. lt's vital to know this. The sniper canhelp if he can peer through a window to observe theinterior. lf he can draw a map to illustrate his obser-vations, it will help the entry team.

Any entry team must anticipate that the suspect isnot totally stupid. lf he has even the most basictactical sense, he'll have the door blocked and thecurtains drawn. lf time allows, and it usually does,he'll have placed obstacles to impede any entry.While explosives usually can breach a door and anybarricade behind it, the entry may be booby-trappedby pieces of furniture strewn about, such as chairswith the legs up to impale anyone who dives into theroom. This is why the "commando" tactics seen inbooks and at SWAT exhibitions are mainly for show,not for real. Entry against determined opposition isvery risky.

The entry team should be as small as possible."Lean and mean" is a better idea than large numberswho fall over each other. The team should rehearsethe entry and the path each member will follow uponentering. This is a vital step, because a carefulrehearsal helps each member understand where theothers will be and to avoid firing in their direction. ltalso shows which members are in the best positionsto deal with various threats that may develop inside.

A standard practice for the entry team is to openfire on anyone inside who has a weapon. The as-sumption is that the suspects will be armed, and thehostages won't. However, it can happen that a hos-tage may make a lunge for a suspect's weapon oncethe assault starts, and be mistakenly shot by hisrescuers. Some entry team members simply write this

off as an inevitable casualty of operations, calculat-ing that the hostage would probably have been killedby hi9 captors, anyway. This is an unnecessarilynegative viewpoint, because there are some stepswhich can minimize the danger to hostages.

One is observation before the assault. Entry teammembers, time permitting, can observe the suspectsand hostages from a vantage point to memorizetheirfeatures. A technical aid for this is the televisioncamera with fiber optics extension. This device al-lows inserting the probe through a hole in the wall toget a television screen image of the room and itsoccupants.

Stun grenades, thrown in just before entry, can in-capacitate everyone in a room by the flash and bang.However, these aren't quite "non-lethal" weapons. ltismore true to say that they're "less-lethal," becausethey can kill if they detonaie too close to the pers6n.The sniper can help in this regard, by advising theentry team of the locations of suspects and hosfagesso that they know where to throw the grenades.

There are several ways of breaking down doors toallow a quick and violent entry:

The battering ram, although simple and common,is mainly useful for breaking down doors when thegltry is unopposed. lf there is a hostile gunman be-hind the door, the officers working the battering ramare in his direct line of fire. By firing straight throughthe door, he can hit several of them before they canreact and get out of the way.

Explosive entry is another method, and one thatcan blast a hole through a wall as well as a door.There are several materials for this, including ,,prima-cord" and linear shaped charges. primacoid workswell against wooden doors. Linear shaped charges

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hfW much more cutting power, and can breach steeldOOru and masonry walls.

A "thermal lance" is a "burning bar" with a hole toallow a flow of oxygen. Depenling on tne moOel,temperatures can reach several thbusands of de_grees, enough to melt any metal. A thermal lance isuseful for silenily burning locks or hinges off a dooror gate. The main probrems with thermar rances arethat the burning bars don't last long befor" in"Vconsume themselves, and the equipment is heavy.

A non-explosive and non-burning device for a quietentry is the "Jamb Spreader." Thisr-s a hydrauric jackthat spreads the door jamb, bringing tne door_locking bolt out of engagement. fne-.lafiO SprJaOeris useful only for a ste-arthy entry, such as breachingthe rear door whire a distractioh is going on at thefront. The Jamb Spreader costs aboui g+O'O.OO Jnd isavailable from:

OMNI CONCEPTS, INC.1056 Taylor StreetVista, CA 92094Phone: (800) 552_9255Attn: Linda Bennett

An important point regarding forced entries iscoordination with the sniper. The sniper may be in aposition to report on events inside, ano cai advisethe entry team. The suspect may have to go io tn"toilet,.for example, and this would be a good"momentto strike. Even if there are severar suspects, havingone of them out of action for a few seconds canprovide an advantage.

The sniper can also "take out" one or more of thesuspects through the windows. Even with murtipre

suspects, neutralizing one or more of their numbercan provide a tactical advantage.

Another way the sniper can help an assault team isby firing a distraction shot through a window on theother side of the building. This can draw away theattention of the occupants long enough for theassault force to gain surprise.

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1.

2.

3.

INTEGruITION

The sniper's tactics must be integrated with thoseof the rest of the team. Although the sniper may playa pivotal role in the effort, his role is to act as part ofthe whole.

NOTES

Sniper Counter Sniper, A Guide For Special Re-sponse Teams, Mark V. Lonsdale, Los Angeles,CA, Specialized Tactical Training Unit, 1986, p.149. Lonsdale considers whether the negotiatorshould be told that his role is to set up the suspect,and advises against it.

Sniper Counter Sniper, p. 145.

Contemporary Terrorism. Edited by William Gut-teridge, Facts on File, NY, 1986, Clive C. Aston,"Political Hostage-Taking in Western Europe," pp.57-83.

THE POTICE SNIPER'S ROLE

The sniper performs several tasks which comple-ment each other and help resolve critical situations.Moreover, the sniper may have several jobs. Unlesshe's a member of a large-city full-time SWAT team,he'll have his primary job in patrol, traffic, or otherfunction. On the team itself, he'll doubtless be cross-trained on another function, so that he may fill in ifneeded. He may be an entry team member, or fillwhatever role the commander requires.

THE SNIPER'S ROIE

Because the police sniper has a telescopic sight,he's better equipped to observe a suspect than an of-ficer who must observe with the naked eye. ln somesituations, the sniper will only have to observe andreport.

Although the object of deploying a SWAT team isto resolve a crisis without loss of life, sometimesdeath is inevitable. lt may be necessary to take a sus-pect's life to save an innocent one.

He may have to open fire on a barricaded sniper.The well-known "Texas Tower" incident of 1966 wasa good example showing the need for counter-sniperwork.

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^ The enlper may have to coordinate with an entrytcam or cover an advance. Both tasks require closeknowledge of what the others are doing.

HOWTHE SMPER OPEruWES

Manpower availability, more than tactical require-ments, will determine how the sniper works. ldeally,he should be paired off with another sniper or an ob-server, but this luxury isn't always available.

The sniper, like other team members, is ,,on call,, 24

hours a day, 7 days a week. This imposes limitationson travel. After the shift ends, and on week-ends, hemust be within reach of a call-out. There's usualiy astandard set for response time, and he must remiinglosg enough to respond within the limit. The sniper,too, is subject to the limitation that no more than acertain number of the team may be on vacation orotherwise unavailable at any time.

This requirement also dominates personal behav-ior. The sniper must be prepared to go on a calloutfit for duty at any time. lf he's just go[ten home aftera tiring day on patrol, and is sitting down to dinner,he must go if the phone or pager ring.

How much can he drink? He may still be fit to driveif he's under the legal limit, but will he be fit for thedemanding duty of a life-and-death confrontation?Will his skill in pin-point marksmanship suffer?Always keep in mind that the sniper's actions may bereviewed in a courtroom one day. His superior'saction in allowing a sniper "under the influence" tocome on duty wili also count.

Another important point is fatigue. Maybe you canstay up half the night and feel that you're not really

impairing your skills because you're not drinking al-cohol. Don't bet on it. Fatigue can wipe you out aswell as booze. lt creeps up on you. You may not feelit at first, but you won't be quite as sharp as you werea few hours ago. You may not be able to see as well,and your hands may not be as steady.

I There may be a limit to the number of years policeofficers can remain on a SWAT team. In practice,there's always turn-over. Some move out of the teamupon promotion, because of agency policy. Othersare "burned out," or their families are. lf there areseveral call-outs a week, wives may object. Theremay be personality changes after a deadly encounter.This is unfortunate, but it sometimes happens. Thesubject of "post-shooting trauma" has gotten a lot ofattention recently, but it's not as common as themagazine articles suggest. The likelihood of thishappening can be cut down by careful personnelselection.

The SWAT team commander will have to decidethe composition of the teams that have the "take-home" cars. Should the sniper be paired off withanother sniper, or should he be part of a mixed team,on the grounds that one team may be all that'savailable on a callout? A two-man team seems ter-ribly inadequate for handling all of the tasks thatSWAT teams perform, but if the nearest reinforce-ments are an hour away, there's no choice. At least,they can hold the perimeter until more help arrives.

SEIECTING A SNIPING POSMON

ln principle, the sniper should be on "high ground,"dominating the surroundings. ln rural areas, thismeans a hilltop, a high tree, or the upper story of a

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Pqln. 11 the city, the sniper should be on top of thetallest building in the area, or at least in a poiition todominate the inner perimeter. The exact positiondepends on the task. lf a suspect's holed up in anapartment on the tenth floor, it doesn't pay to put asniper on top of a nearby thirty-story buildihg.

The sniper must be aware of his cover and hisconcealment. ln many cases they go together."Cover" means protection from gunfire. This ternl isflexible, not absolute. Here's why:

What sort of weapon does the suspect have? lf it'sa handgun, caliber .38 Special or less, a car body willprobably give enough protection to be called "cover."Few such rounds will penetrate both doors of a car,but if the suspect has a rifle, only the engine blockwill stop the bullets.

It's important to keep the effects of high ground in mind whenfacing a suspect who is on high ground. lf you're down behinda car, for example, you'll find that you're not as protected as youthink.

A building's walls may or may not be cover. To gaina better understanding of this, take a look at both pri-vate residences and commercial buildings underconstruction. Especially in private homes, whatseems to be masonry when completed is merely"stucco," a plaster-like material spread or sprayed onchicken wire or lath. Brick walls will stop handgun

T-h.e wrong and the right way to make use of a rooftop position.Allowing yourself to be silhouetted against the s*y mares you1.t?rget. lnstead, try to blend in with the chimney.-tt,s bettei yetif the sun is casting a shadow to hetp hide you.

The advanfages of high ground are that the snipercan over-look objects that otherwise might be uiedas cover or concealment by the suspect. ln both ruraland urban environments, there are areas of ,,deadground" that can serve as cover, but a high viewpointnullifies this advantage.

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bullets, as will many cinder block walls, but if theyhave hollow centers, they'll be poor protectionagainst rifle bullets.

The lesson is clear: don't take any cover forgranted. Examine it closely, and minimize your ex-posure. Tap the wall to check for a hollow sound.Move a piece of furniture against it to give additionatprotection. You've been issued a ballistic vest. Wearit when necessary. Also use concealment to helpprotect you.

Concealment is exactly that; shelter from view bythe suspect. Concealment doesn't have to be behinda solid object. lt can be in the shadows. Rooms offerexcellent concealment, but it's necessary to make thebest use of what's available.

What does the suspect see from his position? tf you're halfhanging out the window like this, you're vutnerable.tf the roomhas curtains or blinds, make the most of them.

It's foolish to expose yourself like this when there's concealmentright next to your shoulder.

This is better. At least,to look out at an angle,

if you have to get close to the windowyou've got partial protection from view.

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This is best of all. Stay well back in the room, taking advantageof the shadow. Your angle of view is narrower, but at least you-'renot exposed.

Pick your firing position in advance, and set up the room's fur-niture to support you. Firing over the back of a couch is betterthan half-hanging out the window.

What's wrong with this position? First, the car's glass is notbullet-proof. The suspect can send bullets through the windowsinto your mid-section. You're also too high and too exposed.

lf you have to fire, don't use the window ledge as a rest.u n n ecessa ri ly ex posed.

I

fre/--

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This is much better. Most of your body's behind the car's engineblock.

When using a car for cover, remember that bulletscan ricochet and skid under the car. lt's bad enoughto have your legs and feet vulnerable, but don't try tolie down under the car!

CAMOIIFUIGE

American SWAT teams have been for years wear-ing Vietnam-era camouflage, of questionable value incities where the dominant colors are grays andblacks. Whether the camouflage scheme is "wood-land cammo" or "tiger stripes," it's only suitable forrural areas. ln the city, simple "urban gray" is moreto the point.

There is one outstanding camouflage scheme,called "ASAT." This stands for All Season, All Ter-rain, and comes in two types. One is tan-base, whichblends in with woods or desert. The other is gray-base, for urban areas.

The ASAT pattern is both disruptive and color-blending. The dominant colors are the base andblack stripes, which produce a very dull effect that'struly hard to see when the wearer stays in the shad-ows.

Available from:

BR IGADE QUARTERMASTERS1025 Cobb lnternational Blvd.Kennesaw, GA 30144Phone: (404) 428-1234

COIIIFORT. FANGW, ANN EXPOSIINE

Because the sniper must work at a high level of at-tention, fatigue comes on more quickly than other-wise. Being comfortable helps. Selecting a comforta-ble position is the first step. Prone is not always best,because of the strain on the neck. A low recliningposition may be better suited for prolonged observa-tion. lf there's room to sit, so much the better. lnsidea room, there should be adequate furniture.

A shooting mat is essential. This is especially trueoutdoors, where a good mat provides insulation fromcold. A rest for the weapon, binoculars, or spottingscope is very helpful. This is where body armor or aload-bearing vest can serve two purposes. Placingthe vest on one piece of furniture and sitting onanother will provide comfort and steadiness.

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ln some instances, exposure can endanger thesniper. Extremes of climate bring on exposure ef-fects. Hot desert and deep cold are equally danger-ous, although in different ways. Any sniper who hasto take a roof-top position, or stay long in an exposedarea, is taking a risk. A blanket can serve as insulationagainst the cold. A sniper should position himself inthe shade for camouflage anyway, and this will givecollateral protection against direct heat from the sun.

The commander must be aware of this, and try torotate the duty as often as possible. lf there's enoughmanpower, he can order the sniper relieved everyh9yr. lf this is impossible, he may have to modify hisobjectives.

FI}WTING ANI' ENFII}U'ING

It'r necessary to borrow military terminology tobring out a couple of tactical points. The commanOershould, if possible, locate his snipers so that thesuspect has the least cover and concealment, and theleast opportunity to break away. lf the suspect,s in abuilding, all windows on all sides should be underobservation. lf the action takes place outdoors,having snipers on at least two sides will let them takethe suspect in a cross-fire

Moving a sniper down the side to get a clear shotfrom another direction is called ,,flanking." This putsthe suspect in a tactically bad position. Flanking canbring another advantage. lf the suspect is behind awall, in a trench, or in a corridor, shooting from theside results in "enfilading" fire. This allows him noprotection at all, and is very dangerous to him.

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Here we see one use of cross-fire. The suspect is behind cover,but can't make the best use of it because he needs protectionfrom two directions. He also has to divide his attention betweenthe two snipers.

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COM]AANICATTON

There should always be communication betweenall snipers and the commander. The situation canchange with dangerous and dramatic suddenness,and the members of the team should be in contact tobest react to any opportunities.

T.EE GNEEN ITGM

Generally, the commander on the scene is the oneauthorized to give a "green light" to the snipers.There should be an established policy for this, andthe policy should be written, in consultation with thedepartmental or city attorney. The policy statementshould also cover the circumstances under whichgiving a green light is authorized. This is to avoidconfusion or controversy over who has the authorityon the scene.

Many departments are reluctant to write a policy onthis. Police administrators are fearful of lawsuits, andany written policy can be subpoenaed by the plain-tiff's attorney. There is a bigger problem of vicariousliability for the department that does not have awritten policy.

lf you get a "green light" from your commander,remember that this does not absolve you of respon-sibility. Be sure of your target. Keep in mind that ifthere's a hostage, the suspect may have changedclothing with him, and remember to identify y-ourtarget by face, not just clothing.

Also be careful about information you receive. Thepolice sniper who shot the jewelry store manager in

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Beverly Hills a couple of years ago was following adescription given him by someone else. Still, thewrongful death is on his conscience.

OPERAITIONAI NECONNS

ln today's litigious environment, keeping records ofoperational details is important. These will be neces-sary to support the police agency's case in court. Oneauthority suggests that the sniper and his partnerkeep an "operational log."t This isn't the best way tohandle records. The sniper team is likely to be oc-cupied with other duties. ln night call-outs, writing ina notebook risks showing a light to the suspect.

The proper place for the operational log is in thecommand post. The commander's assistant recordsall events, orders, and decisions. He's in the bestposition to do so because of his central position,which means that he can record events in proper se-quence and in context.

NOTES

1. Sniper Counter Sniper, A Guide For Special Re-sponse Teams, Mark V. Lonsdale, Los Angeles,CA, Specialized Tactical Training Unit, 1986, p. 2.

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SNIPING TECHNIQUES

Police sniping techniques are quite different fromthose employed by the military and the shootingtechniques used by competitive shooters. This is wh!the lessons learned from these other fields oftendon't apply to police snipers. ln this chapter we'ltcover. the fine points of placing the bullet where youwant it, and how to f ind the right point. We,ll also t-akea look at a couple of sacred cows in precisionshooting, and see why they don't make sense for thepolice sniper.

WIND EFFECTS

There's been much written about the effects ofwind on a bullet's flight, most of it derived fromlaboratory experiments and mathematical calcula-tions. we can predict exacily where a bullet will strikeif deflected by a wind of a certain velocity. Theproblem is that conditions out in the field are not thesame as in the laboratory or the computer.

Military manuals are full of information on how to"dope the wind." The U.S. Marine Corps textbook onsniping has an entire section, pages 96-104, devotedto techniques of doping the wind. lt lists how toapproximate the wind speed:

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Winds under 3 mph cause smoke to drift, althoughyou can hardly feel them on your face. Between 3 and5'mph, you can feel the wind on your face, and a 5to 8 mph wind causes tree leaves to move constantly.Winds between 8 and 12 mph raise dust and loosepaper, and small trees sway when in 12 to 15 mphwinds. The manual also points out that a wind froma 45-degree angle has half the effect of a cross-wind.

This is enough for military operations. Misses aretolerable. lt won't do for police sniping. The reasonis the winds at the shooter's position are not neces-sarily the same as winds down-range. Look at thisdiagram:

@20 mph

15 mph

10 mph

The shooter estimates a 10 mph wind at his posi-tion. 35 yards down-range the wind is '15 mph. At 65

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yards, it's 20. mph. placing the shot accurately wouldrequire the shooter to observe accurately tne iigns otwjnd velocity at each 9ta.ge and calcutdte tne feptnof each wind zone. He'd have to carcurate the etrbcteach would have on his bullet and add them up todetermine the correct hold-off. By the time-fie,Ofinished his calculations, the wind wourd prou"olvhave changed.

Note that this is an over-simplified example,assuming that wind speed remains constant witlioutgusting, and does not include any cross_winds. Let,slook at the effect of what.appeaied to be JIO mpnwind at the shooter's positioh:

Pointed Soft-point ammunition. The range wasexactly 100 yards. The wind was from the right, andgusty. The shooter tried to fire when the wind wasstill. Two shots hit approximately on the center-line'Two were deflected 13/t" lo the left, and one went over21/q" left. This sort of accuracy would have beenbarely enough for a good head shot at that range.The shooter would have been sure of the deflectioncaused by the wind only after having fired and seenthe impact. Would you care to take a head shot at thatrange if someone's life depended on your shot?

ONE NIFIfr.ONE DIIW

This belief carries over from competition shooting,where each competitor has his own weapon, finelytuned to his needs. The reason is that each shootertries to do his absolute best, and tiny differences inweapons can make a difference in shooting. Matchesare won or lost by tiny margins, and each shooter istrying to beat all of the others. Being "good enough"isn't good enough. lt's necessary to be the best towin.

ln police sniping, it's often good enough to be"good enough." As we'll see shortly, it's not neces-sary to hit exactly on the aiming point, even whengoing for a brain shot. In practice, this means thathitting a three-inch circle consistently at one hun-dred yards is "good enough" lor this hypotheticalincident. The three-inch circle establishes athreshold.

When there's a threshold, anything better is uselessbecause it doesn't increase the "score." The implica-tion of this is that it may be permissible for twosnipers to operate with one rifle if the situation re-quires it. This can be important in some circum-

These five shots were fired from a bench, usinq ahigh-precision .308 rifre and Remington 161-9iiin

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stances. A rifle can become inoperative. A sniper cansee it slide down a sroping roof to the cemdnt fiftyfeet below. This can force t-wo men to share one rifle.

To test whether.-two snipers have any hope ofworking with one rifle, we set up a Speedwelt-jHos-laq"'l target at 100 yards. One sniper t6ok a head shotin brig-ht daylight. The second sniper, who naO tiieOthe rifle before, had complained that it was notzeroed totris eye. He took his shot, which hit exacilyone inch from the first one. The second shot, wnlcncould have easily rost the shooter a high-po*"t ritt"

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match, was close enough to do the job perfectlyunder these conditions.

Run your own test with your partner to see howmuch of a margin of error creeps in when using eachother's rifles. Fire at 100, 200 and 300 yards. This way,you'll know definitely what you can do in varyingcircumstances if you have to use one another'sweapons.

NANGE

This has two aspects: estimating the range andhitting at that range. ln the city, estimating the rangeis easy. You know the length of a city block in yourlocale. You should also know the average width of acity street, and the spacing between light poles.These figures will help you estimate the range to yourtarget very closely.

ln rural areas, range estimation is an art more thana science. lf you have a ffidp, you can use that to de-termine the range. The most useful type of map is aU.S. Geological Survey Map. These are topographi-cal maps showing terrain features to scale. Thisallows very precise calculation of the range betweenyourself and your target if you can read a map andidentify features.

lf you're familiar with the terrain, you may alreadyknow some of the ranges. You may know the distancebetween one farm and the next, or may be able toestimate it by counting the power poles.

Using a rangefinder scope or making use of theduplex reticle is an excellent method of determiningthe range. With this information, you can use yourrange card to find the number of clicks up you needto set for this range.

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Hitting at the range you find shouldn't be a verygreat problem. Having confidence in yourself to dothe job can be a problem. This is where your practiceand qualification play important rolei. you knowyour. ability to hit at various ranges. lf you've prac-ticed intensively, you should know the maximumrange at which you can be sure of making a headshot, and the maximum at which you can ma-ke a surebody shot.

NANGE CARI' OR EOTI'.OWN?

Most police sniping shots are at less than 100yards, as we've seen. There is the occasional shot atmucl'r longer range, and it's necessary to be preparedto take it.

There are several ways to compensate for range.The. simplest, technically, is to take up a snipingposition at the range at which your rifle is zeroed-.Ano.ther, using "point-blank," is useful when youdon't need pin-point precision and the range is not!o_o great. lf you need a body shot and the range is200 yards or less, you wontt have to worry riuchabout bullet drop if your rifle's zeroed at 100 yards.

Another way to do it is to use a range card. This isa card with the number of clicks for elevation atvarious ranges. Each sniper makes up his own cardby trial and error, firing at various ranges. A quickway is to estimate the clicks needed by consulting aballistic table, such as those in the Sierra ReloadingManual, to find the amount of compensation neededat each 1OO-yard interval. Translate that into clicksfor your scope and you've got it.

The problem with this technique is that you caneasily forget that you've changed your scop6 settingand go on another callout that requires you to fire at

a different range. This can be a serious oversight. Therisk is even greater if you actually have to fire on asuspect. With the post-shooting paperwork, inter-views with the "shooting team" from internal affairs,and the rest of the excitement, you're unlikely toremember to re-zero your scope.

The best technique is the hold-over. You still needa range card, listing the up or down adjustmentneeded for various ranges. lnstead of cranking thesettings into your scope, you hold over by therequired amount. Let's see how this works for theSierra 168-9rain Match bullet, which typically comesout of the muzzle at slightly over 2600 fps.

With the weapon zeroed for 100 yards, the bulletfalls 4.44" below the crosshair at 200 yards. Using therule of thumb that a man's head is about ten inchesdeep, you hold over by slightly less than half yoursuspect's head. For a head shot, you'd hold slightlyover the top of his head. You could hold right on fora center-of-mass shot.

At 300 yards, the bullet drops 15.8", which meansthat you'li need to hold over 1% times the height ofhis lread. The drop at 400 yards is 35.23", or threefeet. Assuming that your suspect is six feet tall, holdover by half his height.

This may seem very amateurish, but it works. Youavoid the risk of going on a callout with a rifle that'sout of zero. Of course, this system isn't preciseenough for head shots at the longer ranges, but doyou khow anyone who's actually done a head shot at300 or 400 yards?

THE BITI,IET I'ROP COfrIPENSATON

The bullet drop compensator overcomes many ofthe objections of the various systems used to adjust

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for. range. This is a cam-operated knob or ring thatadjusts the elevation to compensate for the bullet'strajectory over a variety of ranges. There are differentdesigns. One type is a cam attached to the variable-power ring. When the shooter adjusts the power ofhis scope to place his target between the stadia lines,as in a conventional range-finding scope, the camraises or lowers the rear of the scope to place thebullet correctly.

Another type is a knob linked to the scope's powersetting. This raises or lowers the reticle as theshooter adjusts the power to bracket the target in therange-finder lines. Yet another type is a knob at-tached only to the reticle. This raises or lowers thereticle as the shooter turns the knob to set the range,which is marked on the outside of the knob. T[isincorporates no range-finder feature, and the shootermust determine the range by other means.

Some of these are pre-set and calibrated for aparticular type of ammunition. One such is theLeatherwood A.R.T. Others are generic, set up toadapt t-o a variety of bullet trajectoiies. Theie ril O.a set of cam knobs, and a chart listing which t<nob isclosest to which cartridge and bullef weight. Theseare approximations, but they may be good enoughfor the purpose.

Another way to do it is to use the blank knob in-cluded with many brands. This allows calibratingyour weapon and your ammunition to the scope.Poilg- so requires patient work on the firing range,but it's worth the trouble.

WATCH TIIE BACKG ROIINI'

. Rifle bullets go far. ln built-up areas, they can en-danger innocent parties by over-penetration. lf you

miss a shot it can travel many hundreds of yards.Even if you hit, a bullet passing through a fleshy por-tion of the body can travel beyond the target.

You should always watch the target's backgroundto estimate the risk of bullet over-travel. A solid wallis fine, but there are a couple of complications withwalls. The same rules apply as when seeking cover.A wall may be simply an interior wall, and if there arehostages or other innocent parties in an adjacentroom, they may be in danger.

Over-travel is another reason for selecting highground for a sniping position. lf you shoot up at a tar-get, a bullet which doesn't stop in your suspect willgo on, possibly for many hundreds of yards. lf you'refiring down at the suspect, a miss or over-penetratingbullet will strike the ground very close.

TflE NEEI' FON A FIRST.SNOT STOP

The urgency when the police sniper gets the greenlight is extreme. There are two problems. The first istime. The decision to use deadly force almost nevercomes when events are moving along in a relaxedmanner. The green light often comes when the sus-pect has already killed a hostage or has threatened todo so. There's a need to put him down before he canact.

The second problem is that the hit must beinstantly incapacitating. ln practice, this means aquick kill because it's almost impossible to producea wound that "stops" a suspect without being aserious hazard to his health.

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. Ol" of today's prominent authorities on gunshotinjuries, Dr. Vincent Di Maio, affirms that there is nolaglc bullet or caliber which will guarantee a stop.rDr. Di Maio's discussion concerns pistol bullets, butthe same is true of rifle bullets and projectiles fromshotguns. lt's essential to strike a vital organ to causean instant "stop." The size and power of the projectileare much less important than the site of the hit.

Fairbairn and Sykes describe an instant ,,stop"caused by a caliber .380ACP bullet which hit asuspect near the spine.z Rifle bullets generally causemore severe wounds than pistol bullets because oftheir much higher velocities.s

NIFIE BI]LIfrTS

One important effect of a high-speed rifle bullet is"hydrostatic shock," the pressure wave it producesby displacement of water-carrying tissue. This resultsin a temporary cavity many times the size of thepermanent cavity drilled by the bullet itself.+ Thepressure wave damages tissue far from the woundtrack, and can destroy an organ that the bullet doesnot hit directly. A true understanding of the tempor-arycavity did not come until it could be confirmed byhigh-speed photography showing the effects oibullets striking water, gelatin blocks, and anesthe-tized animals. This explains the many serious bulletwounds which have small entrance and exit holes.Failure to understand this has led to some myths andmisunderstandings about incapacitating wounds inpolice sniper work.

Another effect of a bullet is to cause "secondarymissiles," pieces of bone broken off and sent into thebody with some of the transferred force of the bullet.This effect is much like what happens when one

marble hits another and sends it on its own path.Each secondary missile creates its own wound track,although not with the same explosive force as thebullet.

This effect enhances the destructive force of abullet but it can also cause a problem. lf the suspect

ris holding a hostage very close to him as a shield, asecondary missile can hit the hostage. The hostagewill probably be splashed with the suspect's blood inany case, but a solid object increases the risk. Youmay decide to take the shot anyway, calculating thatthe risk to the hostage will be greater if you donothing, but you should be aware of the risk and howto minimize it.

The danger zone begins at the point of impact, as secondarymissiles can go in any direction. lf the bullet strikes bone or ahard object in the pocket, there may even be bullet fragmentsflying.

I

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It's best to fire when the suspect is behind thehostage, rather than alongside oi in front. This mayseem to be a silly point, because a suspect wiilu.sually hold the hostage as a shield, but keep in mindthat if there's more than one police mhrksmandeployed, the suspect will be visible from differentviewpoints. ln such a case, the sniper who has thebest shot fires. "Best shot" in this meaning isn't thelargest target area, but the view that will hav-e to bulletpath farthest away from the hostage, and not con-tinuing through the suspect to hitlhe hostage. lt'salso preferable that the hostage not be in tnl tAO_degree arc that begins when the bullet hits thesuspect. This is the danger zone for secondarymissiles.

TNE CENTruN NENVOAS SYSTEM

_ lt's. generally agreed that the central nervous sys-tem is the preferable target when it's necessary tostop a suspect. A shot in the spine will cause a 6ub_ject to. drop immediately, because it interrupts theneryq impulses that control voluntary movement. lfthe hit is high on the spine, it can kill 6y stopping theheart-beat and respiration.

The brain is the best part of the central nervoussystem to destroy for an instant stop. The brain hasseveral parts. Roughly they are the cerebrum, whichcontrols thought, the cerebellum, which controlsmuscles, and the medulla oblongata, which controlsthe heart and lungs. The belief has come about thatthe preferable target is the medulla, because itsdestruction stops the vital processes. The medulla isthe smallest part of the brain, and sits between therest of the brain and the spinal cord. lt's harder to hitthis small area than the whole brain. Fortunately, it's

not necessary to be so precise to "take out" a suspectwith one shot.

A rifle bullet that hits anywhere in the brain cavitywill destroy the entire brain because of hydrostaticshock. lf this seems hard to believe, look again at thecolor photo of the Kennedy assassination. The frameshows the moment President John Kennedy was hitby the bullet. A pink cloud is visible in front of hisforehead. This is pulped brain matter spewing out,propelled by hydrostatic shock. A drawing of the

. bullet path through President Kennedy's head showsthat the bullet did not hit the medulla directly.s lt mayhave grazed it, but the entire brain was destroyedanyway.

Confirmation of the instantly lethal effect of adirect hit by a 3O-caliber rifle bullet in the cranialcavity is in a photograph of a soldier shot in the head,which shows the extensive damage.6 lt's worth notingthat a bullet penetrating the skull is likely to do moredamage to the tissue in the immediate area becauseof the confined space. The net effect is an instant lossof consciousness and a stopping of life functions.

The brain takes up most of the top of the skull. lt'sabout four inches wide, and roughly three or fourinches deep, tapering somewhat at the bottom as itblends into the medulla and spinal cord. Seen fromthe side, the brain is about five inches long, with adepth varying from about four inches at the back toabout two in front. The brain cavity is filled withliquid. This has a double effect. On one hand, theliquid cushions the brain in normal circumstances. ltalso provides an excellent medium for the transmis-sion of hydrostatic shock, and a bullet entering theskull will have an explosive effect even though it doesnot touch the brain.

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When going lor a head shot, it's important tovisualize the brain as it appears from different view-points. When firing from the front, anywhere on thecenterline of the face will hit the brain or spinal cord.Anywhere in the top third of the skull will place thebullet within the cranial cavity:

Seen from the side, the brain appears somewhatlarger. lt covers more area, but the spinal cord maynot be exactly where you expect it. Any shot in theneck's likely to be lethal because it will damage thewindpipe and/or major blood vessels, but it won't beas instantly disabling as a brain shot. Put the cross-hairs on the center of the brain:

When firing from the suspect's rear, again go forthe center of the cranial cavity. lf you're slightly to theside, allow for this in placing your crosshairs. A neck

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shot would work a bit better, because it would strike

the windpipe and the spinal column, as well as

Jt*.gingi blood vessels ihrough hydrostatic shock'

but the brain shot is sure:

OTHER VITIJJE NABIE ANEAS

lf the range is too long for a sure hit in the brain'try foi a bod-y shot. ln thiJ case, center of mass is also

ifi. ,i,,.'ing 6oint for the best chance of hitting vital

;;;;;;. Aithougtr we remember the locations of the

Ooty't organs from our anatomy books, these mem-

oii"i are usually misleading. People vary in theirOoOV proportions, the sizes oJ their vital organs' and

in"ii iocation. Moreover, these organs are not tied

Jo*n with nylon cord' They move around as the

p"i.on |"nou"r. you can't depend on the heart being

in exactty the same place all the time, even in the

same person.

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Another reason for going for center of mass isreducing the probability of a miss. At long ranges,wind effects are almost unpredictable. Aiming at thecenter of the largest target gives you the best chancefor a hit. Assuring a hit involves getting as close to thetarget as practical, getting into a stable firing posi-tion, and estimating the range closely enough tomake the shot.

ln some instances, the range is short but thesuspect's head isn't visible. lf you're close enough tobe sure of a hit, there are three vital areas to coniiderbecause they're vulnerable to rifle fire.

The spine is vulnerable because cutting the spinalcord will paralyze the suspect instanfly. In thisregard, the exact site of the hit is important. A hit in

the lower spine will affect the legs, but not the arms.The effect of hydrostatic shock over more than a fewinches in undependable.

The next area to consider is the solar plexus,immediately below the rib cage. We all know, fromcommon experience, what a punch into this area willdo. A rifle bullet produces more impact and a severewound, and the suspect doubles over.

Finally, the kidneys are vulnerable because of thenerve complex and the large blood supply. A shotinto the kidney area will shock the suspect, paralyz-ing him until he loses consciousness from loss ofblood.

There is no hard evidence to prove the superiorityof a shot to one area over the others. Any claim thata kidney shot will stop a suspect faster than a solarplexus shot is speculation, not fact. One way ofensuring a quick and total "stop" is for two snipers tofire simultaneously, as described below. Aiming attwo different vital points will greatly increase thechances of instant and total immobilization'

SNIPING POSMONS

Another departure from conventional shootingpractice is in sniping positions. Competitive shootersiire from a number of specified positions because therules require them to do so. A sniper fires from thesteadiest possible position he can find.

It's always best to have the fore-end supported. Abipod can work, but a sandbag or beanbag is morepractical.T Under no circumstances should you restihe barrel on a sandbag, wall, or piece of furniture,

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nor should you have anythingAnything which touches thJresonance, impairing accuracy.

touchingbarrel will

the barrel.affect its

usilg a TV set or microwave oven as a rest is far better thantrying to shoot off-hand. Try to prace something between thewea.po!1 and the support- A piilow or fotded btai*et witt do. tna pinch, use your hand and forearm.

.Supporting the weapon is only one problem. Thewhole body must be supported and steady for a goodaimed shot. lt's important to maintain a ;'spot-riJrd"with the cheek-bone against the stock. rf at ailpossible, the shooting position must be comfortabreand relaxed.

Prone positions are nice, but rarely possible inoperations because of obstructions.'you're mostlikely to be in a sitting position, or a compromisebetween prone and sitting, keeping the body

"s to*

as possible and the rifle suppoited. your firing

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position is also likely to be your observation position,and if it's uncomfortable, you won't be able tomaintain it for very long.

IMI}IOBIIf,1ZING A CAR

This depends upon whether the car is still ormoving. A sniper can easily keep a suspect fromdriving away in a vehicle by placing several shots intothe engine compartment. Although smashing theengine block is unlikely, damaging the very vulner-abi-e fuel and ignition systems is probable. Smashingthe carburetor or distributor will prevent starting theengine at all, and is the best way to do it' Lesseffective are puncturing the radiator or oil pan,because the engine can run for a short time withoutseizing.

Despite some misinformation published about thealleged ineffectiveness of gunf ire against auto-mobiles, most of the time rifle bullets fired straight-on will penetrate a windshield without deflectingenough to cause a miss.a The effectiveness willdepend on the caliber, and the best course for you,as a sniper, is to run your own tests. Seeing isbelieving, and test-firing against windshields fromwrecked cars should provide a credible answer foryou.

You'll find that caliber is importanl' '223 bulletshave a reputation for being too light for effectivepenetration, but they get through windshields andmost bodywork. The newer 63-9rain full-metal jack-eted SS109 bullets penetrate very well. The largercaliber .308 bullets also penetrate very well. Penetra-tion also depends on the angle of incidence, which isthe angle at which your bullet strikes the glass' A

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ninety-degree angle gives the best penetration.Decreasing the angle mlkes it more difficult, and youeve.ntually come up shallow angles wfricir-simpfydeflect builets of rarge cariber. Finiily, vor'il iiii tnrtwindshields and side windows are oiiie"rent co,"nposi-tions. Windshields are laminated. fney;re-;;slnO_wiches" of two rayers.of grass oonoeo-6y an-innerlayer of ptastic. This !. Id prevent snattdrint. biO"windows are tempered glasi, specially n""t_ ii""t"Oto increase strength but atso brittieneis.-Wn"nstr.ugf, they tend to,,craze,' and break ,p-inio small,pebble-sized f ragments.

car bodies are arso tricky. Automobire sheet metaris soft and flimsy, and even a .22 rimt:ire*iii p.n"ir"t.it, but car doorscontain more than one layer of iheetmetal. They arso contain the rock and window mech-anisms, and stiffening memoers wnicn

"r"'tnilt.,steel. These will impede passage of a nuiiet, ". *if fthe glass if the window's roiled-dowr. Fi;;g-;i-"

"",]l^r^11?^flTJ presents. the probtem of pe"n"tiltingrne engrne and firewail. Firing at it from the rearmeans that the builet must penelrate the outer skin ofthe trunk, its contents, and anotner innei'.oiip"rt-ment divider, the rear seat back, to get to reai'ieatoccupants. striking front seat riders-requireJ p"n"-trating the front seat backs too. tt's simfto tb-iir"through the glass.

Th.is is why it's unwise to make any blanket state_T:llt_t^q|p:j p*"tration of car bodi6s.no gLr. ovDurlers. r here are enough ifs, ands, and buts t-o justifycareful gludy by any poiice sniper who thinks ne mayhave to fire on a car 6ne day.

. Firing at a m.oving car is often prohibited bydepartmentar poricy. Hitting a vitar p"rt oi ine cat isuncertain when the car is moving, and ,,taking out,,

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the driver offers more chance of success. There aresome serious problems, though.

Firing with enough precision to hit the driver istricky. The chances of hits on other occupants maymake this option unworkable. Where do misses go?ln a built-up area, the risk to innocent parties may betoo great to justify stopping a car by gunfire.

What happens to the car after incapacitating thedriver? lt doesn't stop on the spot, but continues totravel, out of control. The result will probably be acrash, the severity depending on the car's speed andthe locale. What happens to any passengers? This isa vital question if there are innocent people inside thevehicle. The vehicle can also hit innocent people whoare in its path.

FINING WTM A ITGIIT

ln some instances, it may be tactically desirable tofire with the aid of a high-intensity spotlight. Thetechnique is to locate the suspect, get a rough aim,turn on the light, and immediately fire, turning thelight off after the shot. There are two ways of usinga spotlight as an aiming aid, and a couple of prob-lems connected with its use.

One way is to have a second officer handle thelight, and to fire on a count, as described below. Thelight goes on at count THREE and the sniper fires assoon as he has target identification and a good sightpicture. The other way is to have the spotlightmounted on the weapon so that its beam follows thebullet path. The switch is a small, flat one mountedon the forestock with a piece of VELCRO. This allowsthe sniper to control both the light and the weapon.

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Why " light, anyway? The reason is target identifi_cation. lf there's any doubt, it's imperitive to becertain.that you've got the right person in yourcrosshairs.

lf you're going to use a light, it's wise to be behindcover. Although your spoflight will be on for only asecond or two, it can still draw fire. Also make surethat any officers near you are under cover. Bulletscgn go wild, especially if the suspect or an accom_plice fire in a panic reaction.

FIRING ON T'HE COIINT

ln some cases, there will be a need for two or moresnipers to fire simultaneously, or very close together.This.may be to "take out" several suspects at-once.Another reason can be to hit a suspect iwice to insureinstant ingirp.lcilation.g The simptest way to do this isto count "ONE, TWO, THREE," firing on THREE.

wINItOWS

Whether rifle bullets penetrate windows dependsmore on the composition of the glass than anythingelsg. Ordinary window glass is not a signiiicanlobstacle. Even a .22 Long Rifre builet wiil fenetrateand go on to a target beyond, if fired it ninetydegrees. Structural glass, as found in some modernbuildings, is another matter. Some of this is boththick and stout, and resistant to bullets.

. Some p99pte in the fietd think that the best proce_dure to follow is a breaking shot followed immed_iately by the shot for effect.-There are several prob_lems with this practice. Firing tests conducteo t6 tinothe best calibers and procedures for shooting

through windows showed that the results can be veryinconsistent and unpredictable. First, shootingthrough window glass at a ninety-degree angle oftenresults in a neatly-drilled hole, without shattering thepane. As the angle becomes more acute, the glasstends to break more often. The course of the bulletafterward is surprising. lnstead of skidding off theglass and continuing outward, it tends to deflectinwards, towards the glass.to

TECHMQWS FOR THE TASK

Police sniping is different from both military snip-ing and competitive precision shooting. lt's neces-saly to adapt to the conditions, and change thetech n iq ues where necessarY.

1.

NOTES

Gunshot Wounds, Vincent Di Maio, M.D', NY,Elsevier Science Publishing Company, 1985, p'309.

Shooting to Live, William E. Fairbairn and EricSykes, Boulder, CO, Paladin Press, reprint of the1942 book, pp. 74-75.

Gunshot Wounds, p. 311.

Wound Ballistics, Col. James Boyd Coates, Jr.,and Major James M. Beyer, Washington, DCOff ice of the Surgeon General, 1962, pp. 135-141.

The Witnesses, The Highlights of the HearingsBefore the Warren Commission, NY, BantamBooks, 1964, lllustration #15.

3.

4.

5.

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6. Wound Ballistics, p. 391.7. S_niper Counter fliper, A Guide For Special

Resp_onse Teams, Mark V. Lonsdale, Los Riigetes,CA, Specialized Tactical Training Unit, tgg6,-p. ZS.

8. Tests conducted by Larry Moore, Editor ofS.W.A.L Magazine.

9. Sniper Counter Sniper, pp. 1 1S-1 16.10. Larry Moore tests. See also Sniper Counter

Snip.er, p. 69, .f or a photo of a piece bt pf

"te 11".,neatly drilled by the builet.

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BARRICAIIEII SUSPECT TTPES

There are several types of barricaded suspects withwhich a SWAT team will have to cope. They have dif-ferent purposes and different mentilities. The properaction will depend on the commander's expe6tationof how the suspect will proceed. Let's quic(ty sketchthe different suspect types to get an id.ea of tne ditferent problems they pose

THE CNIMINAI

This is the armed robber whose crime has been in-terrupted, or the career criminal facing arrest. He'sbasically rational, but fearful. He can un?erstand thatthe SWAT team is an overwhelming force deployedagainst him. His main interest is in burviving the en-counter.

Many career criminals are what psychiatrists call"sociopaths," persons who basically have no con-science, and no consideration for anyone but them-selves. This makes them more difficuli to handle, andthis is reason for extreme caution. ln negotiation witha s.ociopath, you can expect him to make a promiseonly to gain a temporary advantage, and to break itas soon as it suits him.

The overwhelming fact about the career criminal or"sociopath" is that he'll look out for his own interests

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first. This is the key to dealing with him. He's not go-ing to be living by any slogans or causes. He's un-willing to lay down his life for an abstraction.

The way to deal with this type is for the negotiatorto establish contact and try to calm him. This is thekey to convincing him that resistance is useless andthat the best course for him is surrender. Even if thecriminal holds hostages, pointing out to him that thepenalty for murder is more severe than the penalty forhis crimes so far will usually persuade him to give uphis hostages. At the same time, the negotiator mustbe wary because the person with whom he's dealingis not quite normal, mentally. His view of the world iidifferent from that held by most people, and his hold-ing to commitments is questionable, at best. Negoti-ating f rom a strong position is the only way to go, andthe negotiator must understand that during theprocess he must cut the suspect no "slack." Depend-ing on a suspect's promises is foolish.

THE "PSYCHO"

While it's medically inaccurate to lump all emotion-ally disturbed persons under one label, the police of-ficer is not a psychiatrist and cannot make a psychi-atric diagnosis. This is why the term "psycho" willhave to do, unscientific as it may be.

The psycho may be simply emotionally over-wrought, an otherwise "normal" person caught up ina crisis he can't handle. An example is the employeewho "goes ape" and tries to kill his supervisor and/or fellow employees. Another is someone involved ina family crisis who has committed violence againstother family members and who is irrational.

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FF

The outright psychotic may have strange ideas,such as thinking that the SWAT team is actually a unitof the Red Army, or that he is on some sort of a mis-sion. This sort of person is "out of contact" withreality, and usually there's no way to reason with him.

The depressed person may be both suicidal andhomicidal. One way for him to end his problems is toprovoke another person, such as a police officer, tokill him. This is what's labeled the "victim-inducedhomicide," and is very difficult to resolve.

The key to coping with the "psycho," if it's at allpossible, is for the negotiator to try to establish anunderstanding relationship and to persuade the sus-pect to trust him. This is easier to say than to do, andmuch depends on the skill and sympathy of thenegotiator. Time is on the negotiator's side, however,because the suspects tend to calm down as the hourspass. Building rapport can involve many hours of lis-tening to the suspect's outpourings, and trying tomake sense of what may well be an irrationalaccount.

ln such cases, the commander may send for apsychiatrist to advise the negotiator. An importantcaution is that the psychiatrist should be experiencedin this sort of situation, as a lot of harm can resultfrom taking advioe from one whose backgroundincludes only a clinical setting. Generally, only thelarger cities have such highly specialized talentavailable.

THE II'EAITST

This type is by far the most dangerous, for severalreasons. The idealist is a political "terrorist" fightingfor a cause, and this absorbs all of his energy. To the

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idealist, his cause is worth more than his life. This iswhy the idealist is often disdainful of the prospect ofdeath. Some welcome it, because their religionpromises them eternal heaven if they die in batfle forthe cause. This is the sort of person who doesn'thesitate to drive a truck bomb into an enemybuilding.

It's unwise to under-estimate the idealist becauseof a derogatory label such as "terrorist." The ,,terror-ist" is not necessarily a scuzzy and cowardly type,and is often a formidable fighter.

The idealist is typically intelligent, and showscourage. He is a skilled and serious opponent. lf hehas hostages, he'll most likely carry out any threat tokill them, regardless of consequences to himself. lt'simportant for the negotiator and the SWAT com-mander to understand this, because often negoti-ations with an idealist won't have any effect in reJolv-ing the-crisis peacefully. The idealist is quite willingto die fighting, and as we've seen, some are eveneager to do so. Therefore, negotiations must be ex-pedient, aimed at gaining time and tactical advan-tages. Persuading the terrorists to release a hostageor two helps obtain information about the terrorisfs,their number and weapons, and the physical layout.This information is vital for an assault team.

Some of these terrorists are very well-armed andwell-trained. This is important to bear in mind, be-cause a small group of armed and trained fanatics9.gn probably out-fight a SWAT team of equal size.This may seem hard to believe, but is evident from thetypes of people who make up serious terroristgrolpf. They're not thinking of returning home totheir families at the end of a tour of duty, and theyaren't trained in "shoot-don't shoot" scenirios. When

they pick up a weapon, they're ready to shoot, period.They also accept casualties because they see them-selves as a military force.

One practical result of this came about in thelranian Embassy incident in London. While the policecordoned off the area, they did not make the assault.This task was for the S.A.S., the Special Air ServiceRegiment, a military unit.

CEOICES

It's a vital first step to get information about thesuspect type. This will lay the groundwork for the de-cisions and the actions to follow. This will alsoprovide justification for the decisions if the case evercomes to court and the SWAT commander has todefend his actions against litigation.

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Pi

NIGHT OPERATIONSANIT TACTICS

Criminals don't call it quits at nightfall. There canbe a callout at any hour, and the sniper has to beready to open fire against a designated target in poorlight.

NIGH'T WSION

The human eye has two types of light sensors,cones and rods. The cones are for acute vision inbright light. Rods are sensitive to low light. lt takestime for the rods to develop their full sensitivity, anda period of accommodation to low light is requiredwhen coming from a brightly-lit area. The policemarksman who has had to drive to the scene may notbe in the best shape to engage in night operations ifhis vision is somewhat desensitized from traffic.

There are several factors which degrade nightvision:

Dazzling

Bright light shining in the field of view can spoilnight vision for many minutes. This is why the snipershould position himself so that he's not staring intoor near a street light or other bright light.

{r

'!:#I

,ii

,#l.

fl

b

Smoking

Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor. lt contracts the smallblood vessels, including those in the eyes. This re-stricts night vision somewhat. This is true whetherthe sniper absorbs the nicotine through the lungs orthrough the mouth, as in chewing tobacco. This iswhy non-users of tobacco are preferable for thesniper role, but under no circumstances should asmoker light up during a call-out. The light of theflame can dazzle him, rendering his night visionuseless for many minutes.

The light of a match or lighter is visible from manyyards away, and can betray his location to the sus-pect, inviting a bullet. This is the origin of the dictumabout "three on a match." At the first flare of thematch, the enemy sees it. Lighting another's cigarettelets him raise his weapon and aim, and if a third per-son gets a light, he fires. Unfortunately, an enemycan sometimes react in less time than it takes to lightthree cigarettes.

Fatigue and lllness

When the body is not in top shape, performance ofits parts will suffer, too. Keeping healthy and observ-ing proper nutrition, including an adequate amountof Vitamin A, will help preserve night vision.t

WII]IT IIEI.PS NIGHT WSION

Try to allow about half an hour to accommodate tolow light. ln this regard, younger officers will accom-modate faster than older ones. ln addition, maximum

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pupil dilation is larger in younger people. Maximumpupil size in younger pe6ple is a5out Z mm. OlOe,eyes have diaphragms that can only expand to about5mm. The smaller aperture admits iess'lighi.

When in transit to a night operation, keep an eye_patch over your shooting -eye,

unless you're ine driue,.and need both eyes for saf-e operatioir of the uehicre.The eyepatch is a simple device, but it works ili tnetime. Another device is a set of goggles wiin reOlenses.

When observing at night, it helps to ,,scan" thearea. This means keeping the eyes moving, and notallowing the vision to bec-ome fiied in one [iaCe. rrnereason is that night vision depends on a chemical inthe rods called "visual purple,;,and that this bleachesout in a few seconds, deactivating those rods.2

lf you see something interesting, try not to look di_rectly at it. The center of your reiina has the cones,for acute vision in bright ti!nt, and you won't iee nestif you stare direcily a[ what you're 6bserving

"Night binoculars'' help low-light viewing. Theseare usually 7x50 or larger, because the larg6 area ofthe objective lens gathers more right than t6e smiirerl.9lrg. o_f "compact" binoculars.-Another aiO ii-tne"big bell" xcope sight, with an objective lens of 56mmor larger. These are burky and eipensive, two factorsto anticipate when considering their purchase. Avaria.ble scope sight can help in low tilnt, becausecranking it down to low power concentrites the lightgathered, as the magnification is less.

., L.10hJ-amplifying viewers and scopes can help in alimited way, and we'il discuss these further in tnesection dealing with equipment.

Protecting lignt vision on the scene is as importantas arriving with it intact. This requires a thoirghtiul

effort from all members of the team, as well as otherofficers on the scene. lf searchlights are to play a rolein the operation, the commander should considertheir effect on his snipers before ordering their use.lf there's to be a forced entry, with stun grenades em-ployed, the sniper should be warned so that he canclose or avert his eyes.

The sniper should have a f lashlight with a red filter,in case it becomes necessary to read or write some-thing during a night operation.

lf the suspect is in a car or building, the snipershould anticipate that he may turn on a light for somereason during the operation. ln some instances, theremay be brightly lit rooms in the building, although thesuspect is not in them. This is when the sniper shoulduse red goggles.

SEIX PROTECTIONDTJNING NIG H'T O PENAN ONS

Before taking a position the sniper should lookover the area, keeping in mind that he needs to beprotected from the suspect's view. lt's easy tobecome careless at night, assuming that the suspectis necessarily under the same visual handicap youare. lt's night for him, too, but he's usually in abuilding or under cover. You, on the other hand, maybe silhouetted against a moonlit sky. Street lightsmay "skylight" you, even though you don't notice it.Having a wall or parapet behind you will help elimi-nate this silhouetting effect.

You should not only be concealed, but behindcover. The reason is that, although the suspect can'tsee you now, something may happen that changes

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the picture. ln an operation that runs for severalhours, you might find that the moon has risen,bathing you in bright light. On a cloudy night, a fullmoon might unexpectedly come out from behindclouds, and light you up. The red filter might fall offyour flashlight, or your partner's. Finally, there's thehuman element. Someone may come up to yourposition flashing a light to find his way. All of thesecan bring a bullet your way.

When moving at night, remember that sound seemsto carry farther at night. There's less traffic, and citynoises seem to die down at night. Be careful not togive yourself away. You'll have to move more slowly,feeling your way, but this is necessary to avoid injuryor exposure.

lf it's necessary to enter a building to get to yourassigned post, always consider that there may be alight behind the door. lnspect any apertures, such aswindows or cracks in the doorway, for light beforeopening the door. lf there's no window in the roomyou're trying to enter, go around the building to findone. lt may be possible to peer in and see lightcoming from under a door to the room you want.

lnside a building, never lean on the wall. Lightswitches are mounted on walls, and you may dis-cover one by snagging it and turning it on.

Outside, street lights may be inconvenienily close.This is the situation that provokes a lot of foolish talkabout shooting them out with suppressed weapons.Let's look at the situation and see what the bestaction is:

1. Shooting out a street light means staringdirectly into the light to aim. This will definitelyspoil the shooter's night vision, especially if he'susing a scope sight.

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The bullet may miss, or go all the way through'It has to come down somewhere. Unless youknow that you can angle your shot to land in adeserted alea, you're taking a chance. You'realso taking a chance that the suspect will hearyour shot. Sound travels at night, and a sup-

fressed weapon may be audible farther thanyou think.Light poles have access plates near the base'These are usually fastened with a couple ofscrews, and opening one up gives access to thewires. A screwdriver and wire cutter are saferand more quiet than gunfire, even with a

suppressor.

GINFIRE IN LOW ITGHT

Every shot produces muzzle flash, the brightnessdepending on the cartridge and the weapon. Riflespr6duce tiemendous flashes' You ought to familiar-ize yourself with the size of the flash your weaponproduces at night, so that you won't be surprisedwhen it happens on an operation' Some rifles pro-duce a tiretiatt a couple of feet in diameter, visible formany hundreds of yards. The bright flash can dazzleyou and wipe oui your night vision. When thishappens, it may be many minutes before you can seewell'enough t6 take another shot. This is why it'sdoubly important to make the first shot count atnight!

Remember that even a modest muzzle flash willgive your position away. lf it's necessary to. fire, be

[rep6red to duck for cover or move away immedi-ateiy, as the suspect may shoot back. lf you miss y.our

shoi, this is a very real possibility. lf there's more than

3.

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one suspect, it may still happen, unless a secondsniper can take out ihe seconO srrpect.Suppressed weapons have an advantage in this re_

Wd The. long and bulky suppressor do6sn,t OeaOenrne,sound completely, but it absorbs all of the muzzlelasn. A suppressed weapon's a good choice at nightfor this reason.

ANOTHEN WONU'

It's truly another worrd at night, and it's best to beprepared in order to be effect'ive. This undeii.or",the need for rearistic.night training and quarification,as a.s.niper prepared only for daftime mission.-*if ffind himself lost when Oait<nesJt.ilr.

NOTES

1. Sniper Counter fliper, A Guide For Speciat Re_sponse Teams, Mark V. Lonsdale, Los nn!"i"r,CA, Specialized Tacticat Training' Un-ii, iijdo,-p126.

2. Sniper Training and Employment,October, 1969, [. tZS.

Army,

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SWATTEAM MAIG.UP

We can see what the SWAT team needs in mem-bers, based on its functions. Because the SWAT teamis usually small, and the entire team is not usuallyavailable for every callout, members must be cross-trained to perform several jobs.

We're going to look at the specialties in terms oftheir functions, not the weapons they carry. Desig-nating an officer "shotgun" and another "submachinegun" is a useless distinction if they're both on theentry team. Different officers have different jobs, andtheir weapons and equipment are dictated by theirjobs.

COMIW}WDEN

There are really two ways of looking at this job.One is from the viewpoint of the commander in a call-out. lt's desirable that the commander have enoughseniority or rank to throw some weight in a callout,because when a crisis occurs, often there are manyofficers responding, and some of them are seniorofficers who just come for the excitement. They caninterfere, unless the SWAT commander has enoughrank to hold his own, or there's a directive from theChief naming the team leader as the site commander.

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The other function of the commander is the admin-istrative leader. ln this role, he must make up thebudget, duty roster, ',wish tist," and serve as a bufferbetween the team and higher management. This re_quires a different set of skiils, and lhere shoutd beserious thought given to the principle tnai tielOcommand and administrative command requiredifferent people. The administrative com-"nde,must have the interpersonar skiils and poriticat iavvyto represent his team with the department,s manag_ers. There have been cases of teams faring OaOiV Oe_cause their commanders were not ,,potiticians.,,'

. ln small agencies, there's no possibility of havingtwo or more commanders, but there,s stillbn out. TheSWAT team is usually under the ,,patrol

bureau,,,"special assignment bureau," or "seiective "ntoia"-ment bureau." The team commander is the ofera_tional commander, whire the administrative iom-

mander is the bureau chief. He is the buffer uetwlenthe team and management. The odds of his havinggood relations with the team commander are gooo,because the bureau commander is usuatty tnJ on"who selects the team leader.

Finally, the on-the-scene commander wifi be theone who shows up. The team's nominal commandermay be on vacation or on a course, or otherwiseunavailable. The on-site commander can be thesenior officer on the scene, the senior swAT otii."r,or a specially-designated commander.

lf there are enough people, there should be adeputy commandel Jo !""p"the operational log andto serve as a stand-in if the commander becofrei acasualty or otherwise unavailable. we have to eipectthat,.realistically, the deputy commander wiil have todo all sorts of odd jobs, such as riaison uno pr.r.

relations, unless enough manpower is available tocover all of the possible positions needed.

CHEMICAI MUNMONS ilI}W

The larger teams have specially-designated andtrained officers for this. Using chemical munitionscan be very complicated, but the problem of findingsuitable officers usually takes care of itself. This isbecause the basics, shooting gas projectiles into aroom, are not very hard to learn. The more difficulttasks, such as calculating the amount of gas neededto disperse a crowd in various circumstances andwith varying wind velocities, are not likely to comethe way of the small team. A larger team can send oneor two officers away to the schools run by the manu-facturers.

Why send a specialist away to school? The firstreason is the training, which is likely to be better andmore comprehensive than in-house training or theinstruction officers get at the academy. The otherreason has to do with liability. An officer who takesa course provided by the manufacturer of the equip-ment he's issued will be "certified" as competent in itsuse. Because of vicarious liability, it's important foran agency to be able to document that an officer iscompetent with the equipment he uses.

The gas man will need to remain close enough tothe barricaded suspect to lob projectiles inside thebuilding. He may also have to support a forced entry.This can be by throwing stun grenades or other low-lethality munitions inside.I

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F

PENIIUETER

Officers who man the inner perimeter are not nec-essarily generalists. They tend to have specializedskills, such as rifle, shotgun, gas, etc. Some perimeterofficers will make up the "entry team," if there is one.

NIFIELITW

A riflemal may be armed with a carbine, shotgun,or submachine gun instead of a rifle. This is beciusein the environments in which most SWAT teamsoperate, rifles are less useful that other weapons.Whatever the weapon, the officer should quatity witnit following both departmental and SWnf teampolicies.

ENTNY TEADI

This is a highly-specialized function, which re_quires extensive speciar training and rehearsals.These officers typically wear the-heaviest OoOy-ar_mor, and may carry stun grenades and other muni_tions. Many of these manufacturers offer training,and there are even some schools which offer entryteam training.

Forced entries.against armed opponents are rare,but the job is still hazardous, much more so thanother duties.

EWLO$WS SPECA'IIST

This team member has two functions within hisspecialty. One is to detect and disarm bombs. The

other is to emplace and detonate the explosivesneeded for forced entries. There are schools avail-able for explosive ordnance disposal, and manufac-turers have courses for linear shaped charges.

Most teams won't have an explosives specialist asa team member. When one is needed, they'll borrowone from another bureau or even another agency ifnecessary.

PANAJWEDIC

This is a relatively new concept, and not in wideuse. A SWAT paramedic is an excellent idea, becauseof the likelihood of casualties. The paramedic doesn'taccompany the perimeter officers or the entry team,but stays back at the command post. He advancesonly when the area is secured.

lf a paramedic goes on callouts, he's usually bor-rowed from the fire department or another agency.Few police agencies have certified paramedics on thestaff .

MENAI REAffIONS

Although media relations are not usually theresponsibility of the SWAT team, it's important tohave a working knowledge of how to go about itbecause the department's public information officermay not always be available. lt's also important forSWAT officers to understand how the public informa-tion officer handles the media so that they may bestcooperate with him. This is on the assumption that

l,#Q3

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the media relations officer is competent. Sometimeshe's not.

A major error is using the office of media relationsas a dumping ground for a police officer who is amisfit, but who hasn't done anything serious enoughto be brought up on charges and terminated. Med-iarelations is an important post, and only someone withboth talent and willingness should octupy it.

ln coping with the needs of the media, it's vital forthe information officer and the commander to under-stand that there are ways to serve both interests. Aspectacular crisis offers an opportunity to show thetaxpaying public what their dollars are buying, andhow well their police can resolve a dangerous-situa-tion. The TV cop shows generate a lot of favorableP.R. for police agencies, but not as vividly as a livesituation in their home town.

An important point for the SWAT commander is tokeep the media people in an area where they're notin. danger and where they can't see anythihg thatmight hurt the operation. Barricaded suspectJ haveradios and television sets too.

The commander should designate a safe ,,holdingarea" for the press, and the media relations officershould do his best to keep media representativesinformed, consistent with the needs of the situation.To cope with the press, the officer will need to havealready gained their confidence over some time, andthereby have attained credibility. lt will often benecessary to tell them that they must bear with himduring the crisis, and that he'll give them a fullaccount afterwards. Lack of credibility at this pointcan be crippling, leading to unfounded speculaiionsby the media which may do a lot of harm.

TEAM SIZE

The ideal size is the two-man team. This isn'tbecause two men can handle any assignment, butsimply because two are quick and easy to mobilizelor a callout. lf the task requires more officers,assigning more two-man teams will solve theproblem.

Why two officers? Traditionally, police officershave operated with "partners." ln other tasks peopleseem to work more effectively and more comfortablyin pairs. ln the world's air forces, we find a "teader"and a "wingman." A pair doubles the strength anddoesn't have so many different types of personalitiesas to foster conflicts. ln larger units, there are alwaysjealousies, rivalries, and smoldering resentments thathinder the task. A pair is also administrativelysimpler.

Another point is that, in many small departments,there aren't many officers available. A ten-man SWATteam is practical in a department with five hundredsworn personnel, but not in a fifteen-officer agency.

A callout can be difficult enough in a small agency,but getting the SWAT officers together for trainingcan be administratively impossible if the team is toolarge. This is why small, two-man teams are morepractical. The two-man team serves as a buildingblock when larger numbers are both necessary andavailable. Time is also important. Mobilizing the bigbattalions is fine, but it's time-consuming, and thesituation may be resolved or beyond redemption bythe time the troops all get to the scene. A conven-ience of the two-man team is that two officers living

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in the same neighborhood can share one car, whichmakes mobilization at odd hours quicker and moreconvenient.

ln many instances, too many officers simply get ineach other's way. ln this connection, it's crucial tounderstand that coordination is far more importantthan numbers. A "few good men" who have trainedtogether and who are well-rehearsed are more effec-tive than a larger group that is uncoordinated. Whenthe chips are down, quality is more important thanquantity.

SETECTION OF THEPOLICE SNIPER

Persons selected for the sniper role should havecertain definite qualifications beyond those normallyneeded for police officers or even SWAT Teammembers. In this section we'll discuss the qualitiesneeded for a sniper, keeping in mind that some maybe similar to those needed for other roles.

]WOTIUANON

This may be the most important single factor insniper selection. lf you're a SWAT team commander,you need competent and dedicated team members,not careerists who simply join to "get their ticketspunched" on the way up the promotion ladder.

Because training is always a problem, you needstability. Having to train new members constantly de-grades your team's effectiveness. A sniper is one ofthe most highly-skilled members, and not everyonecan be an effective sniper. lt also takes time to learnthe techniques and to learn to interface with the restof the team. The careerist is, frankly, the sort ofperson who tries to take out of a job more than he'swilling to put into it. He joins, absorbs the experience,gets his service entered on his record, and leaves foranother post. A member who stays only a year or twobefore going on to greater things is not as desirable

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as the less ambitious, but competent, person whowants to stay as long as he's useful.

sEx

The employment of females as police officers hasgenerated a controversy that won't be setiled in thiscentury. A few certainties have emerged, though. Fe-males, because of differences in body buiid, arelacking in upper-body strength compared to males.This places them at a disadvantage in hand-to-handcombat. For the sniping role, however, there seems tobe 1o problem. Females can handle any caliber likelyto be used by police, and developing the ability toscore a hit in a tense situation is more a matter of in-dividual aptitude than sex-linked.

Numerically, you're less likely to find a female whois a firearms hobbyist or who has had extensiveshooting experience. This is a desirable quality, al-though not a dominant one.

. Another problem linked with sex is the image andthe attitude of the commander and othei teammembers. There's a good deal of pride attached tothe "macho" image of a SWAT team. The suggestionthat a female might be able to perform somelasks ascompetently as a male is intolerable to some SWATofficers, including commanders. One went so far asto state explicitly that he kept the physical standardsso high tfgt no female could qualify, thereby keepingout any "SWAT Twats."1

WSION

The police sniper should have good vision, butthere are a couple of special considerations. Vision is

usually not a serious problem, because police candi-dates are selected only after medical examinationsincluding a vision test. Vision can deteriorate, andrequi re corrective lenses.

The questions relating to eyeglasses has receivedmany erroneous answers, based on false premisesand iaulty thinking. lt's become a truism that a snipershould not be an eyeglass wearer.z The theory is thata reflection from a lens can betray his position.Unfortunately, this reasoning ignores the scopesight, which has a large objective lens that can be re-flective if light falls on it at the right angle. Thescope's objective lens is more likely to reflect lightbecause it's more forward than the shooter's eye-glasses. Concealment depends more on individualability than on reflections from lenses.

Another theory pertains to hand-to-hand combat.The eyeglasses may be knocked off during a fight.Realistically, the sniper is probably the least likelyofficer to have to fight a suspect hand-to-hand. Otherofficers in the inner perimeter are much more likelyto encounter a susPect uP close.

Yet another view is that the sniper with correctedvision may be unable to function because of lost orbroken glasses. This depends very much on the in-dividual and the amount of correction required.There are many types and degrees of vision impair-ment, and some are unlikely to affect performance asa sniper. An officer who needs reading glasses, forexample, may be perfectly able to sight a rifle withoutthem.

The only important aspect of vision is that thesniper be able to see his target well enough to placethe bullet where it's required. This is not a very de-manding requirement, because with an optical aid

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such as a scope sight, seeing the target is not aserious problem, and marksmanship tak6s in sevLrarlearned skills as well as basic vision.

PERSONAITTY FACTORS

There are several mental qualities that help thepolice sniper in his role. The first we'll consider ispatience.

those which are tactically sound, legal, and will notreflect badly upon the department.

Bad judgment is as easy to spot as good judgmentis elusive. The officer who is a "maverick," who hasan unusual number of citizen complaints, who seemsalways to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, islikely to show poor judgment.

Evaluation must be based largely on the officer'srecord with the department. Former supervisors willbe able to provide insight into a candidate's per-formance.

PEYSICAI FTTNESS

It's necessary for a sniper to keep physically fit, be-cause his role will often require exertion such asclimbing to a vantage point. Physical fitness is worth-while on general principles, for reasons which are tooobvious to need discussion here.

SIIIOKING AND AICOHOL

Opinions vary regarding the use of tobacco and al-cohol and their effects on marksmanship. Somechampion shooters have occasionally stated that acouple of ounces of "group tightener" before a matchhelps thoi' marksmanship. Others advise against it.Many condemn smoking, while others say it has notharmed their marksmanship.

What is not in dispute is that both can be harmfulto health. A few police departments now require newrecruits to be non-smokers.s Other agencies sponsor"quit smoking" programs. The reason has to do withhealth insurance premiums. They're higher for smok-

PATIENCE

It's important to have patience. The sniper is oftenrequired to keep his concentration for hours, observ-ing a target through his sight or binocuiars indreporting any activity. Anyone with a short attentionspan, who loses his concentration and becomesinattentive, can compromise the mission by failint toobserve and report.

S_tability and maturity are necessary because apolice sniper must be reriabre, and abre to perform hisduties at any hour of any day. These quarities are notnecessarily age-linked. The way to find officers whoshow emotional stability is observation on the job.Past performance in a variety of assignments is agood guide.

GOOI' IUDGIUENT

This is hard to measure, and almost impossible todescribe adequately..For the police supervisor, goodjudgment in a subordinate means making the coirectdecisions most of the time. correct d6cisions are

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ers because smokers have higher rates of heart ail_ments, circulatory disorders, and cancer. The policesniper should realize that smoking affects nightvision marginalty. There should be ndsmoking wiiteon a callout.

Alcohol is another problem. lt usually is and shouldbe forbidden while on duty. ln any event, no uncon-trollable drinker should quality lor the team. ltmatters not if he claims that a sip of ,,group tightener"steadies his aim. This may be perfecily iru6, but li_ability is such a serious concern today thai no al-cohol is tolerable on duty. lf ever ther6's a lawsuit,ingestion of alcohol will Irovide a huge opening foran opposing attorney.

A problem comes up when there's a call-out fromhome, and the officer, expecting to be off-duty forseveral hours, has had a drink or two. lf you'r6 thecommander, how do you handle this? Cover it up?lglore it? A better solution is rotating ,,dry days."officers in critical assignments should lare tirrns ao-staining. Rotating "stand-by,' or ,,on call" status isalmost the same thing. Both will work if the officersfollow them faithfully.

INT}jREST IN FINEARMS J

. There's a good case for choosing a firearms hobby-ist. Most police officers are not gun hobbyists, andcarry a weapon only because the job requiies it. Thesniper should have an active interest because this willhelp maintain his enthusiasm for regular practice andqualification.

There's also the other side of the story. Someonewho hunts, or who has had military experience, mayhave picked up bad habits. Breaking ihese may be

more difficult and time-consuming than training asniper from zero. The decision must take the individ-ual into account.

THE WIIT TO IfiLL

There's a difference between firing in hot combatand a cold-blooded, calculated "taking out" of asuspect. An off icer who returns fire directed at him bya suspect does so knowing that he's trying to save hislife. Killing on a "green light" is different, and it's im-portant to choose a sniper who won't freeze, or evenhesitate.

Selecting the sniper with the will to kill can bedifficult. lnterviewing in a formal sense isn't neces-sarily the best way. lt's hard to get a meaningfulanswer to a question such as "Would you kill ifordered?" or "Are you willing to pull the trigger whenyou get a green light?"

Other techniques, such as psychological testingand having the candidate pass through an "assess-ment center" are meaningless because they're unre-liable. ln any event, there's no assessment centergeared to select snipers. Psychological tests don'tmeasure the qualities needed in a police sniper, andhave significant margins of error for the qualitiesthey're designed to measure.

A major point about this question is the widespreadbelief that killing must necessarily be distasteful to adecent person. lt's bad form to admit that killing canleave one cold and unaffected. Still, some people cankill without emotion, and they're not necessarilycriminal psychopaths. Killing and other dramaticevents simply don't provoke sharp emotional reac-tions because they remain "cool."

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E FFE CTIW SNIPEN SEIE CTTON

The commander will have to choose his sniper byconsidering a number of factors. lntelligence, 5verattability, personality factors, and on-theljot p'";forr_ance will.weigh heaviry in the decision. itro5aot/ tnemost decisive one will be the applicant's record i'n inedepa.rtment..His performance over the long naui, anOrn .c.rises, will probabry be the best indica-tion of hisability to put out the effort required to be a successtulpolice marksman.

NOTES

Per.sonal acquaintance of the author, relatedduring a casual conversation.Sniper Counter glip"n A Guide For Speciat Re_s!-onpe Teams, Mark V. Lonsdale, Lo6 Angelei,CA, Specialized Tactical Training Ljnit, 19g6"p 3.'Acco.rding t_o Ja1es J. Fyfe, writing in the lggTMunicipal Year Book,2.7% of agenciis in hii f ggOsurvey required recruits to be non_smokers.

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TRAINING ANII MAINTAINING

The police marksman may come to the post withprevious experience or without, depending on thedepartment's policy and the SWAT leader's prefer-ences. In all instances, however, he must receivetraining from his agency. There are two vital reasonsfor this, and ignoring them can lead to seriouscomplications.

The first reason has to do with integrating thesniper into the team. Whatever his previous experi-ence, he has to know and understand the standardoperating procedures followed by his unit. Hisprevious employment probably had him followingpolicies and practices different from the presentassignment. This is especially true of any withmil itary sniper experience.

The second reason has to do with legal require-ments. Because of vicarious liability, the agency isresponsible for his training, and must be able todocument what instruction the sniper received. Theagency must also document the sniper's level ofproficiency, and show that it's enough for the agen-cy's requirements. This is exactly the same as "quali-fication" for other officers.

Whoever is responsible for training must have awritten lesson plan to be on the safe side. The Whitleyvs. Warden decision established the "documentablerule," which states that if a particular topic or detail

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of training isn't in the lesson plan, the court musttreat it as if it had not been presented.

. The.lesson plan need not be overly elaborate. lt canbe abbreviated by having certain materiar listed asincluded in a certain training manual, or a partthereof. For exampre, if part oflhe training incrudesf'gy to "dope the wind,' it's enough to siite that itfollows the format listed in the U.S.M.C. SniperManual, for example, if that's the text used

. Another.aspect of liability has to do with manuals,train.ing films, and videotapes procured from anoutside source. These training aids are generic,unlike those produced in-housd, and often-containmaterial not applicable or contradicting departmentalpolicy. Before using any outside-prolured trainingmaterials, the training officer should review it andtake notes regarding any such passages. These notesmust be part of the lesson plan and, according to the9gg"r Decision,t the training officer must siop thefilm or tape at the appropriate point and explain tnatwhat the students just saw is not part of th6 trainingor part of departmental policy.

TRAINING GOATS

Training should not be bound by tradition. Foryears, combat pistol. shooting was dominated bybullseye marksmanship, which Oid not correspond toreal-life shoot-o.uts. Likewise, much police snipertraining is mis-directed, counter-productive in somecases, and at best a waste of time. We can see fromthe discussion on police sniper operations that thereare certain skills the police marksman must develop,and others which won't be very usefur. Because of theneed tor a sure hit, the police marksman won't be

using most of the shooting positions normally taught.The standing and kneeling positions have their usesin competition, in the armed services, and even in theSWAT team by members using semi-auto rifles.However, they're useless for the sniper role.

BASIC TNAINING

The sniper should have basic SWAT training. Al-though a sniper doesn't need all of the trainingbecause of his specialized role, it's important tocross-train, to develop all-round SWAT officersrathe r than over-special ized tech n icians. Versati I ity isimportant in this field. Generalized training involvesexercises with the team, which helps develop thecoordination that is an important part of teamprof iciency.

Another aspect of team training is psychological.SWAT team members are accustomed to working to-gether, and need to know what other members will doin a crisis. Predictability is important to buildingmutual confidence. A team member won't becomefully accepted by the others until he's proven himselfin training exercises and in operations.

Some SWAT training isn't truly operations-related.An example is rappelling, which is useful for physicalconditioning, although not used in real-life opera-tions. Team members should jog a couple of mileseach day, because this is aerobic exercise and usefulfor general health and conditioning.

M}IRKSMANSHIP

As we've seen from the section on operationalconditions, human anatomy requires the ability to

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place the shots within a smaller than three-inch circteat one hundred yards. Holding to a one-inch circle iseven better, and is a good team goal. lt all has to startwith the basics, if the trainee isn,t sophisticatedregarding firearms.

As a start, he should know his weapon intimately.He should be familiar enough with it to load and un-load it, clear minor malfunctions, and perform basicmaintenance, such as cleaning. A basic knowledge ofballistics and bullet effects alsb helps. The instrrictorshould help him zero his rifle at 100 yards, the mostuseful distance for training.

. Cleaning is worth special attention. lt probably willbe necessary lo re-indoctrinate the student regaidingcleaning. lf he has a hunting backgroun-d, he'6probably picked up the tradition of the nfouling shot"from other hunters. He also has been exposed-to theammunition companies' advertisements that modernnon-corrosive ammunition won't rot the bore if it'snot cleaned immediately. This can induce a compla_cent attitude. lt's essential to make the studentunderstand that cleaning the bore after every fewshots is the best practice. Ten is the commonly-accepted number, but it does no harm to clean moreojten. ln qualification, if the program requires oneshot at each of several ranges, the student shouldclean his weapon after every shot, because this ishow he'll be going on a callout.

Dry fire is a commonly-neglected technique. lt'sworthwhile for the- sniper because it builds fairiliaritywith the weapon. A callout can come at any hour, andthere.mgy not be enough light for the sniper to seewhat he's doing. He should be able to unpack his riflefrom the case, load the magazine, and set the weaponup ready for firing without having to look at everystep.

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Training should also cover trouble-shooting. The,lltudent should understand and be able to recognizeWhat can go wrong with his weapon, and how tocheck for defects such as loose scope mounts andmalfunctions in the riflescope.

The essential components of marksmanship arepart of the lesson. They include how to take a stableposition, and how to breathe. Part of this is breathingwhile holding the rifle on a target. This will allow himto see how, if his support of the rifle is faulty, thecrosshairs will move to the side, as well as up anddown, as he breathes. The student must learn tocontrol his breathing so that he can pause to take hisshot. He must also learn that centering the eye in thefield of the scope sight helps prevent parallax errors.

To make the student understand parallax, it'shelpful to place the weapon on a sturdy table orbench, sighted on a target at fifty or one hundredyards. Have the student place his eye behind thescope, without touching the weapon, and move hishead from side to side. He'll be able to see thecrosshairs move over the target as he moves hishead, even with the rear parallax adjustment taken upproperly. This will demonstrate the need to center theeye in the field.

Trigger pull has to be learned, rather than taught.It's possible to explain it in a classroom, but thestudent must make the effort to master the skill. lt'sa mistake to teach the student that he must press sogradually that he won't know when the shot will gooff. ln this application, he must know when it goes.Pulling the trigger upon command and with enoughcontrol to avoid jarring the weapon is the importantskill.

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The student should also understandshooting positions that have a place inwork:

several basicpolice sniper

The prone position has the shooter with his legs spread, supportelbow directly under the weapon, the butt securely in the hollowof his shoulder, and his cheek against the stock.

The bipod position is almost like the prone position, but muchmore stable. The bipod supports the weapon, rather than the leftforearm. Note that a sandbag is often steadier than a bipod, andthat it offers much more flexibility.

The sitting support position. This is probably the most likelyposition that a police sniper working in the city will have to use.The main advantage of this position is that it's very flexible andcan be comfortable for very long periods.

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There are several critical points to watch with all ofthese positions:

o The shouldering of the weapon is critical be-cause of muzzle jump. lf the buttstock isn'tsolidly against the shoulder for each shot, therifle will recoil more or less, with the muzzlejumping by varying amounts. This will spoil theprecision of the shots.The "spot weld," with the cheek solidly againstthe stock, is important for a consistent sightpicture. Some marksmen find that firing with agas mask spoils their aim because they can't geta good spot weld."Cant" means tilting the rifle right or left, whichplaces the sight to the right or left of the barrel.Because of the geometry of the sighting system,with convergence many yards in front of themuzzle, "canting" the weapon will throw theimpact point to the side, as well as affect theelevation. Keeping a solid shouldering of the buttand a good spot weld helps avoid cant. Thescope reticle, with its vertical and horizontalwires, provides references for spotting cant, andthe shooter can make his correction before firingthe shot.The off-hand is usually best placed under thebutt of the rifle, helping to hold it in the shoulder.This gives extra steadiness when the forestock isresting on a sandbag. Another way to use theother arm is to grip the right bicep lightly,forming a cradle for the butt.Unless the student has a strong liking for thebipod, the instructor should discourage its use.A bipod can come loose at a critical moment,snag on bushes, and it adds weight to the rifle.

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The mechanical operation of a bipod usually isless than satisfactory, and a sandbag or beanbagis simpler, cheaper, and more practical.

WONIflNG TOWANN S PROFICIE NCY

Once the student has the basics, he should startdeveloping his intermediate skills. Each firing sessionshould start with a cold shot "for the iecord,"because this is how he'll have to fire in the field.Firing subsequent shots will show if the rifle has ashift in impact point as it warms up. This should belogged and be a part of the permanent record.

This is also the time for practice at different ranges,both for the experience and to allow the student tomake up his elevation and windage cards. A short-cutto doing this is the Sierra ballistics program.

Sierra Bullets has a computer program for calculat-ing exterior ballistics. This calculates bullet drop, theeffect of wind, correction needed for up-hili anddown-hill shooting, and other factors. This programis made for the lBM, Apple, and Commodore coriput-ers, and costs $199.00. Available from:

SIERRA BULLETS10532 South Painter AvenueSanta Fe Springs, CA 90670Phone: (800) 229-8799Attn: Bob Eliison

TNAINING TARGETS

Standard "bulls-eye" targets are suitable for basictraining and for sighting-in. For advanced training,

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other types of targets are necessary. The trend hasbeen towards human figure targets, which is a stepforward. Some human form targets are brightly-colored cartoons or four-color photographs. Theseare better yet, but not the best for the purpose. In reallife, people usually don't appear in such brilliantcolors, and the light is often poor. ln low light, thetargets often appear to be monochrome, as colors arenot easily distinguishable.

The Speedwell "Hostage" Target is excellent foradvanced training. lt presents a realistic situation

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with photographic images of the suspect and hishostage. The target is printed in black and white, andhas very low contrast. Even in daylight, it's duller-looking than usual, giving the effect of a dimly-littarget. These are available from:

SPEEDWELL CORP.40 Rockwood PlaceEnglewood, NJ 07631Phone: (201) 560-7171Attn: Mike Panos

QAAIIFICATION

The type and frequency of qualification will varywith the agency and the area of the country. Theteam leader, or whoever's in charge of setting profi-ciency standards, must keep in mind that the level ofproficiency required of the police marksman must berelated to the task. There's a serious liability problemin sending out someone who hasn't documented hisskill. For example, a rural police agency that has todeal with a barricaded suspect at five hundred yardswill be caught short if all of their training and qualifi-cations take place on a hundred-yard range. ln mostcases, it won't come to court, but if such a case everdoes, the lack of long-range training and qualifica-tion will appear to be clear negligence.

lf you're the team leader, you can examine therecords of callouts you've had over the last severalyears and list the operational conditions. Make a listof the operational conditions. This will give you aguide to establishing conditions for qualification.More importantly, it will provide documentation thatyour training and qualification standards are realistic

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and suited to the task. Here's a short checklist ofsome points to cover:

RANGE - At what ranges have your snipers had tofire or be prepared to fire?

LIGHT - How many of the callouts have been atnight? More importantly, what's policy on nightshots? Are you authorized to give a green lightwhen it's not daytime?ADVERSE CONDITIONS - Have there been call-outs during storms, snow and ice? What's thepractice regarding sniping when the weather's verybad? ls it very windy in your area?

FIRING POSITIONS - There may not be a recordof the firing position taken by the police snipers,but questioning those who have been on calloutscan provide this information.From this, you can see that advanced training for

your snipers has to include firing under variousconditions. They should be able to make some nightshots unless you can reach an agreement withsuspects not to take hostages after nightfall. lf felonsin your area operate only in bright and sunny weatheryou can likewise ignore any adverse conditions.Otherwise, you'll have to train and qualify when theweather is poor.

An intermediate standard for qualification is plac-ing five shots in a two-inch circle from a rest or fromthe prone position at 100 yards. This applies only towinds less than ten miles per hour. Remember, a tenmph wind will push a Sierra.308 168-grain Matchkingbullet off .68 inches from the point of aim. In such acase, a two-inch group is realistic, but the tighterone-inch group will be very difficult, except with alittle Kentucky Windage and some luck.

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rwE QUATIFTCATTON C OURSE

This should come as close as possible to opera_tional conditions. This is why iiring group's tol.qualification is both pointless and stupiO. Suipectsdon't stand still while a sniper fires five shots intotheir chests.

The course should be one cold shot on a qualifica-tion target at each of several different ranges. 100,200, and 300 yards is a good start. tne cdld shotsshould be from different shooting positions eacht!me. The sniper should "call" his shdt, and if some_thing happened to make him miss, such as a sneeze,he can discard that target. Additionally, there shouldbe.a couple of cold-shots on a photogiaphic target atunknown ranges. At closer ranges, lnebe snoritd behead shots, but at longer ranges they may be centerof mass shots, consistent with- the sniper's ability.

This last point is critically important. Apart from therule that a sniper should meet certain minimal per-formance levels, snipers will vary in skill. lf you're theteam leader, you have to assign tasks consistent withyour members' abilities. eualification documentseac.h sniper's skill, and supports you if ever you haveto defend a decision in court.

How many shots? There's no need tor a specificnumber of shots. lt's also purposeless to design aqualification course to include a round number, Suchas ten or twenty.

The reason for mixing the types of targets used inqualification is to avoid the mechanical and repeti_tio.us task of placing shots on precisely-definedpoints, as we find on formal qualification bullseyes.Suspects don't paste discs to their chests or f6re_heads, and the sniper must be able to demonstrate

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the ability to place his shots where there's no clearlydefined aiming point.

What about the sniper who fails qualification? Howdo we handle that? There's a logical way that doesn'tconflict with operational objectives or departmentalpolicy. The sniper who fails qualification usuallydoesn't fail totally, missing with every shot. He'llprobably just miss at the longer ranges. The teamleader notes this, and assigns the sniper to an extrapractice session and temporarily restricts his assign-ments to targets which he has hit.

How often should qualification be? There are reallytwo answers to this. One is that frequency of quali-fication should be the same or more frequent as otheragencies in the area. This is to avoid the appearanceof laxity in case of a lawsuit.

The other, and truly more important reason, has todo with skill. lf you're the team leader, you'll have todecide how satisfied you are with your snipers'skills.How often should they practice to keep their skill?How often should they qualify to prove to you thatthey are still up to the mark?

As we've already discussed, you need to know whateach of your snipers can do. There will be somedifferences between them, and these may affect thedecisions you make in a callout. The nature of call-outs precludes selecting the sniper of your choice,but at least you'll know better than to assign a shotbeyond a particular sniper's skill.

You can make a good case for monthly qualifi-cation. Of course, the largest agencies have weeklytraining for their SWAT teams, but scheduling prob-lems often make this impossible for small andmedium-size departments. Still, it should be possible

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to find an hour or two each month for practice andqualification.

Police agencies repeatedly make the mistake ofholding most of their qualifications in daylight and ingood weather. This should not be your policy.

A lot depends on your imagination and willingnessto take an extra step. lf one of your sniper teams ison "graveyard," and it's quiet enough to allow you totake them out to the range, you can hold a surprisequalification. Firing by the light of car headtigtits isgood practice, and if the weather's bad it can givethem a taste of truly adverse conditions that irayoccur for real one day. This avoids building a corpsof "sunshine soldiers" who are so accustomed toideal conditions that their performance suffers whenthe going gets tough.

Documentation is critical. Each qualification targets.hould go in the file, with notations regarding dalte,time and conditions. Both the shooter's and thJrangeofficer's or supervisor's signatures should also be onthe target.

O.ne useful system for recording and preserving9q9h sniper'q qualification scores ls the

.speedwell

'Shot-Log." This is a loose-leaf binder with {ualifica-tion targets printed on heavy B1/2,, x 11,' caid stock.The target pages have 1/a" grids to make it easy to plotshots otf zero, and spaces for filling in informaiionabout the shooter and the conditions. The shooterrecords the date, time, weapon, ammunition, lightconditions, temperature, wind direction and spe6d,and other relevant information. The binder has athermometer attached to the inside cover as aconvenience.

- ln-small agencies, there may not be enough timefor frequent practice. The snipers shou16, as a

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minimum, have a dry firing session at least once aweek. This can be very informal, and even at home.Sniping must remain a finely-honed skill, and theofficers must not lose the sharp edge.

One good publication to read for the latest inform-ation on subjects of interest to the police marksmanis the one by that name, Police Marksman, the organof the Police Marksman Association. This is a bi-monthly slick magazine available only by member-ship in the organization. The fee is $15.95 per year.The address is:

POLICE MARKSMAN ASSOCIATI ONPO Box 17690Montgomery, AL 361 17-0690

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SEIX-TNAINING

. Toteep the fine 9dge, it's necessary to train everyday..Training doesn't have to involve live fire, or evenpicking up a weapon each day. One technique ismental rehearsal of sniping scenarios. Using reliears-als to fill in time while on p-atrol is one way.z-p"6ears-ing while jogging is another.s

Use the time while jogging to imagine scenarios.Set up situations in youihinO and p'[an what you'ddo. You might start with simple prdblems, such ashow you'd cope if.you had to sit oi lie on a very hardsurface f.o1 many hours while keeping a vigil. Wouldyou send for a blanket? What if there were nobody tosend?

Another situation might involve trying to stay3F["19r a very tong time. Do you ke-ep i pack oiNO-DOZ in your rifle case?

You can then explore other scenarios:There are times while on patrol when you'll see a

set-up for a barricaded suspect. lmagin6 what youwould do if your task were to ,,take nim out'l invarious scenarios. lmagine him on the street in frontof the door with a hostage shielding him. Change thescenario and imagine him in an upstairs wi-ndowfiring at officers he can see. Chanle the scenarioonce more and imagine that your task is to ,,take himout" while he's deep inside a room, barely visible inthe half-light.

When you imagine these scenarios, ask yourself:o "Where would I set up a firing position?"o "Would there be a clear shot?"o "How dangerous would it be to others for me to

tire?"

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o "Would there be enough light inside the room tosee him?"

o "What about positive identification?"3 "Afly other people possibly to confuse with the

suspect?"o "Would I be justified in refusing a green light?"Another question can become very real during a

long vigil:o "Where do I find a toilet around here?"

Maintaining your skill goes far beyond the initialtraining. lt requires persistent effort and dedication.lf you really like what you do, you shouldn't have anyproblem in finding the time and energy for this.

NOTES

1. Sager vs. City of Woodland Park, CO, 1982.

2. The Pride Method, by John Pride and Jon Wino-kur, Pacific Palisades, CA, Potshot Press, 1987, p.53.

3. lbid, p. 40.

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WEAPONS

There's no truly established "sniper's rifle" forAmerican police. Traditionally, when rifles have beenneeded, officers have brought in their personalweapons. ln certain parts of this country, this is stilleveryday practice. Officers operating one-man carson remote patrol may carry additional weapons oftheir choice because their agencies do not issue rifles!g them. Typically, a hunting rifle such as the RugerMini-14 will fill this role. The sights may be iron oroptical, as there are no guidelines, and officerschoose the type with which they feel the morecomfortable.

This practice isn't adequate for the SWAT sniper.He needs a weapon of proven reliability and accu-racy, and must maintain that accuracy by test-firingat regular intervals. For him the choice of weapons ismore critical.

ACCUNACY

As we've seen in previous sections of this book, ex-treme precision is usually unnecessary, and certainlycan be expensive. Because most incidents calling fora police sniper involve ranges shorter than 100 yards,a match-grade rifle isn't essential.

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Still, it's possible to pay for extreme accuracy andnot get it. There are rifles being marketed as "policesniper" rifles, but the only factor which they have incommon is a high price. How, then, does a policesniper or SWAT team commander go about getting asufficiently accurate rifle at a reasonable price?

SEOPPING FON A RIFIE

The first, and probably most important, fact aboutsniper's rifles is that they're manufactured objects,and a production run can have both "jewels" and"lemons." ln other instances, the design is wrong.This is why we occasionally hear through the grape-vine about an agency's purchasing widely-touted"sniper's rifles" that don't perform as expected. lnone instance, the manufacturer accepted the returnof the rifles in exchange for submachine guns.t Otherdepartments are not as lucky. A small departmentmay find its complaints ignored, or the manufacturermay reply that accuracy is also a function of theshooter (which is true) to avoid making good on thedefect.

We can lay out a few general principles as a guidein procuring suitable weapons. You'll find these rulesof thurnb very helpful, but they're no substitute forbeing flexible and open-minded when looking forrifles for your sniper teams.

o Be realistic about costs and features. The leastcostly weapons are bolt-action rifles. Scopeswith many "bells and whistles" are also morecostly than the "Plain Jane" models, whateverthe alleged benefits of the extra features may be.

o "Gas guns" are inherently less accurate thanbolt-action rifles. A semi-auto has more moving

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parts and more chances of malfunctions than asimple weapon. Building a gas gun with the sameaccuracy as a bolt-action weapon takes muchmore money.

o Any rifle, any model, any brand, may be defec-tive. The manufacturer may have had a bad day.The reputation of a rifle in others' hands is aguide, not a guarantee. Still less important iswhat you read about it in a gun magazine. Onlythe hardware that winds up in your hands is im-portant. This is why test-firing before making afinal commitment is crucial.

. More important than the manufacturer's reputa-tion for accuracy is his reputation regardingcustomer complaints. When asking other SWATcommanders about their experiences with rifles,be sure to ask about this. A manufacturer whostands behind his product is a better source thanone who offers more bells and whistles.

o Before buying, obtain information regarding theguarantee of accuracy claimed by the manufac-turer. Establish at the outset how he intends tohandle any problems. The best plan is a trialperiod with an invoice only if the rifles aresatisfactory. You ffiay, however, have to settle fora money-back guarantee.

o Because ammunition is also an important factorin rifle accuracy, obtain information from theseller regarding which brand and type of car-tridges were used in setting out any claims foraccuracy. Get this in writing, and use this type ofammunition in testing the rifles. lf the type of am-munition specified is unsuitable for your needs,try to obtain information about the weapon's per-formance with other types.

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o To be sure of not being hurt in the transaction,arrange in advance with your agency's financialofficer to withhold paying the invoice until yourelease the funds. To be ethical, advise the sellerof this arrangement when negotiating the sale.Tell him that at the end of the trial period, he'lleither get his check or get his guns back.

. Be open-minded enough to consider buyingsecond-hand weapons. ln some small depart-ments, this can help with the budget squeeze.Another aspect of buying second-hand is thatarranging for a test-fire before buying is mucheasier. This alone can save a lot of time and a lotof aggravation.

A good-quality, accurate second-hand rifle isoften a better buy than a new model. With mod-ern mass-produced goods, we find similar weap-ons that perform very differently, even if theyhave adjacent serial numbers.

o Obtain feedback from your snipers regardingtheir preferences. They're the ones who will beusing the hardware, and it's important that theyfeel comfortable with the choice.

o Consider the advantage of dealing with a localmanufacturer. ln this country, there are somesmall manufacturers of very high-precision rifles.Having one close by means that service andrepairs may be quickly available. Everything de-pends on the company and the person whomanages it, though. Some small custom manu-facturers have acquired miserable reputationsfor delivery. Custom gunsmiths and barrel-makers operating one-man shops seem to be theworst.

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o Don't get a "set trigger." This is a double triggerdesigned for target shooters but unsuitable forpolice or military purposes. The first trigger"sets" the second, which has a let-off of a fewounces, much too light for operational use.

o A trigger pull of two or three pounds is aboutright for the police marksman. Above all, it mustbe crisp. The commonly-accepted dictum thatthe trigger should "break" by surprise doesn'tapply here. You need to know exactly when theshot will go off, for obvious reasons.

o Don't get too involved with barrel bedding,special stocks, and other custom "accuracyjobs." lf the weapon doesn't shoot adequatelyright out of the box, you may wind up spendingmore time and money than it's worth to tune itup. ln the end, the rifle still may not shoot well.Limit your gunsmithing to free-floating thebarrel. Let's get into that and see why.

What is essential is that the rifle hold its zero so thatthe sniper will be able to place his shot where hewants it at any time. This requirement can be verydifficul.t to meet. Wood and other materials used forrifle stocks expand with temperature, and woodabsorbs moisture, which also causes expansion. lfthe material presses on the barrel, it will cause achange in the point of impact. To correct this, it'snecessary to "free-float" the barrel. This meansrelieving the forestock so that no wood touches thebarrel. Good rifle designs include this feature. lf thebarrels of the rifles you obtain are not free-floating,it's necessary to make them so by removing woodfrom the barrel channel in the stock. lf you or thedepartmental armorer have the skill, do it. lf not, haveit done by a gunsmith, preferably one who servicesthe local bench-rest shooters or varmint hunters.

SPECMC MODELS

There are a few rifles worth discussion becauselfey'vdproven themselves repeatedly. This list is de-finitely not complete, because space doesn't allowlisting e.very good weapon. lf you don't find yourfavorite here, don't be discouraged, and please don,tassume that there's anything necessarily wrong withit because it's not listed.

When removing wood from the barrel channel, it'sessential to coat the bare wood surface with awaterproof sealer, to avoid leaving an opening formoisture. After this, the rifle may not necessarily bemore accurate, but it will hold its zero longer.

REMINGTON MODEL 788

This is a discontinued model. lts great virtue is ac-curacy at a low price. This bolt-action model wasmade in a number of calibers, inclu ding 222 Reming-ton, 22-250, 6mm Remingto n, 243 Winchester, 30-3b,308 Winchester, and 44 Magnum. Most models had22" barrels and the receivers are drilled for scopemounts.

I.I

ir&'{'il

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Magazine capacity varies with the caliber, rangingbetween four and five cartridges. Weight rangesbetween 7 and 71/z lbs. depending on caliber. Thenine-lug bolt locks into the barrel, not the receiver,because the lugs are on the front of the bolt. This aidsaccuracy greatly. However, it's necessary to relievethe barrel channel to avoid having wood touch thebarrel.

This weapon is able to give genuine 1 M.O.A.groups with several brands of ammunition. Becauseit's discontinued, the only ones now available aresecond-hand, which is an excellent opportunity toask for a test-fire before purchase. Price should be inthe one hundred dollar range.

SAUER MODEL 2OO

This is a bolt-action, detachable stock hunting riflewith interchangeable barrels. This feature is uselessfor a police sniper because of the need for repeatingthe sighting-in each time the barrel is removed.Calibers available are 243 Winchester, 25-06, 27OWinchester, 30-06, 308 Winchester, and severalEuropean calibers. The rifle has a three-round maga-zine and a 24" barrel. lt weighs about 9 lbs. One ofthis weapon's strong points is that the bolt locks intothe barrel because the lugs are on the front of the

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bolt, not the rear. Another is that the barrel is free-floating. The forestock attaches to the receiver withone hex socket bolt, and doesn't touch the barrel.Because of the design, there's also no need to glass-bed the receiver.

- Ti.r weapon has delivered groups smalter than 1M.O.A. with factory ammunition, and yz M.O.A. withhand-loads. The best configuration is with the single-gJage trigger, plain scope mounts, and in caliberS0gwinchester. The rifle is exceptionaily well-finished,and this fine machining accounts for much of thecost, which is in the $1000 bracket.

RUGER M77

This is a popular bolt-action rifle available inseveral popular calibers including .309 Winchester.Some of these have delivered verf tignt groups rightout of the box. This is a moder woith cons'ioering. iistprice is $440. Available from:

STURM, RUGER, & CO.56 Lacey placeSouthport, CT 06490Phone: (209) 259-7849

REMINGTON MODEL 7OO ADL

^ This weapon has been used by the U. S. MarineCorps and other official bodies ai a sniper weapon.ln some instances, the Model 700 action has servedas a basis for custom rifles when mated with speciallymade barrels. Many bolt-action Model 700s havedelivered one-inch gjlups at 100 yards with the rightgcope and ammo. The ADL is the stripped_doivn

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version of the BDL, and costs about $400 This isenough. There's no need for stripes and other trim.

BIPOD

The bipod is becoming popular with police marks-men. There are several models available, and thesevary greatly in quality and price.

The military "clothespin" bipod, or its civilian imi-tators, isn't worth the trouble because it clamps ontothe barrel. lts only advantage is that it can swivel tocompensate for slanting ground. The legs aren'tindividually adjustable, though, and this is a seriousdrawback. lf the rifle has a bipod lug on the forestock,this arrangement can be made to work.

Any bipod for sniping must not touch the barrel.This is because anything that touches the barrel willchange the point of impact.

The Harris bipod is an adjustable folding bipodwith legs that lock in a number of positions. A springreturns the leg to retracted position when the userpresses the release.

Frankly, a better accessory is a beanbag. Thisadapts to any contour and the shooter can adjust itto fit. Furthermore, it's possible to use two or morewhen it's necessary to get more elevation. Anotheradvantage of a beanbag is that, unlike metal bipods,it's harmonically "dead." lt has no resonance, a factorfew consider when they hang accessories on theirrif les.

Beanbags are cheap and light, and good substi-tutes for sandbags. The simplest way is to makethem. The legs from a pair of old trousers workperfectly. Cut off a couple of foot-long sections and

fill them with dry pinto beans. Don't fill them com-pletely, but leave a little slack for adjustment, and sewthe ends of the bags shut. This method providesseveral beanbags that are much lighter than sand-bags, yet as useful because they're adjustable rests.

THE SAPPNESSEI' WEAPON

FON SPECI]II APPITCANONS

A sound suppressor, popularly known as a "si-lencer," deadens the sound of the discharge. Thetypical suppressor is a large-diameter tube screwedonto the end of the barrel. ln some cases, the sup-pressor may be built into the weapon as part of thebarrel assembly.

A suppressor serves several purposes. lt makes thesound of the shot more difficult to pin-point. At a dis-tance, it blends into background noise. This makes itpossible to "take out" suspects without others hear-ing the shots. The suppressor also eliminates muzzleflash, an important feature for night operations. Asuppressed weapon also has low recoil, which isimportant to some shooters.

The suppressor moderates the report in severalways. One is by a series of baffles which cool, deflectand slow down the propellant gas. Another tech-nique, in weapons with built-in suppressors, is tobleed off part of the propellant gas through holesdrilled into the barrel. The purpose is to reduce theamount of gas coming out the muzzle, and in somecases to reduce the velocity of the ammunition to be-low sonic speed.

Some suppressed weapons are designed to firestandard ammunition but incorporate gas bleed

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holes to reduce the velocity. We find this usually inweapons designed for cartridges in the trans-sonicrange. Two such cartridges are the .22 Long Rifle andthe 9mm Luger. This technique is useless in rifleschambered for supersonic cartridges because itwon't bleed enough gas to cut the bullet's velocitybelow sonic speed.

Another technique of suppressing the sound of theshot is to use sub-sonic ammunition. This techniqueis applicable to all cartridges. There are commercidllyavailable "target" .22 Long Rifle loads. ln the gmm,which is a pistol and submachine gun cartridge, thereare_ heavy-bullet sub-sonic loads. These usually fire a130-grain bullet at 1000 fps or so. ln the.906, sub-sonic loads fire a 180 to 220-grain bullet at about1050 fps,

Obviously, the slow-moving subsonic bullet willhave a much steeper trajectory than the faster ver-sion. lt will also have less hitting power, even with theheavier bullet. Bullet weight doesn't make up for thekinetic energy lost with decreased velocity. Onebenefit of the slower bullet is less over-penetration.

There are several sources for suppressors. Allsuppressors are over-priced. This is why it's import-ant to think carefully before procuring one.

NOTES

1. This happened to a very well funded police agencyin the author's home state. Because this agehcy i3one of the largest in the state, its complaints couldnot be dismissed without severe repercussionsand the manufacturer had to provide satisfaction.

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AMMUNITION

The choice of ammunition is not as critical as itmight seem. Let's be realistic. What's the likely rangeat which you're going to fire? How large is your tar-get? This is not to say that you can be casual aboutammunition or accuracy. On the contrary, you needto know what your ammunition will do at variousranges. You just don't need to shoot a suspect's shirtbuttons off at a thousand yards in most situations.

It's also helpful to keep other factors in perspective.The U.S. Army Advanced Marksmanship TrainingUnit advises using one or the other of two calibers,lhe .222 Remington and the U.S. .30 caliber, in either.308 or .30-06.1 The main reason behind their choiceis the availability of cartridges with full metal jackets.The .222 Remington has not become a widely-usedsniper cartridge, possibly because the full metaljacket requirement applies only to military units.

For years, there's been a misconception regardingthe Geneva Convention and the ban on "dum-dum"bullets. For the police officer who isn't familiar withthe situation, a quick review is necessary.

FIIIT LIETAI IACKET?

ln 1897, the Hague Disarmament Conference in-cluded a prohibition on expanding bullets, as part of

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its objective of "humanizing" war. This was the firsttime such a requirement had formed a part of an in-ternational treaty, and it got mentioned in variousother treaties that followed, but not the Geneva Con-vention of 1925, which is the one people usuallymean when they use the term "Geneva Convention.;'This one dealt mainly with prisoners of war.

The ban on expanding bullets applies only to themilitary because the Hague Convention concernedonly wars between nations, and specifically excludedpolice and internal security forces, and civil wars.Generally, the Hague Convention was unsuccessful,because it also banned poison gas, attacks on civil-ians, and bombing from aircraft, all of which wereused copiously in the wars that followed.

The misunderstanding regarding soft-point andhollow-point bullets persists to this day, and there arepeople who believe that police are forbidden to usethem because of some treaty or law. This is totallyuntrue in this country, and American police may usewhatever ammunition they deem desirable. Theie arealso objections from civil liberties groups on thegrounds of excessive cruelty. This type of objectioncomes from people of the "shoot them bui don'tinjure them" school of thought, and doesn't warrantfurther discussion.

ACCIINACY

How much accuracy do you need? The commonly-accepted standard is one minute of angle accuracy.ln practical terms, this means that a fiv-e-shot groupwill all land in a one-inch circle on the target a1 onehundred yards. At fifty yards, this means att witt fatt

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in a half-inch circle. You can see that this is super-lative accuracy at normal police sniping ranges.

ls more accuracy possible? lf so, is it worth seek-ing? There are rifle and ammunition combinationsthat can place five shots in a circle much smaller thanan inch at one hundred yards, and some remarkableshooting has been done with these at extremeranges. The problem these pose for the police sniper

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is that if he misses a shot at extreme range, he doesn,tlose a point, but may lose a life.

Extreme accuracy at extreme ranges is possibreunder certain conditions. High-powei match shoot-ers are allowed sighting-in and warm-up shots oetorea match. These enabre them to ch6ck out-ineirweapons and also to monitor wind conditions. Thepolice marksman must go in cold, in eveiy sense otthe word.

one factor that the porice marksman must consideris the. avai labi r ity of sriff ic ienily accu rate am m u n ition.rn caliber .309 there are at least two manufacturers,winchester and Federar, offering extremery accJrateammunition. Both use the sieria 16g-grain noilo*-point boat-tail bulret, which has long nad a ,"pri.tionfor extreme accuracy.

had 2743 foot-pounds of muzzle energy and at 100yards still has 2288 foot-pounds.

There should be no question that rifle ammunitioncan inflict a serious and incapacitating wound if ithits the right spot. This is where your skill comes in.You have to become familiar with the various aimingpoints on the human body, and have a realisticappraisal of your ability to hit them at various ranges.

Related to the concept of power is "hydrostaticshock." This is the shock wave caused in a liquid orgel (such as human or animal protoplasm) when abullet strikes. The shock wave is what causes the"temporary cavity" that damages tissue beyond thepath of the bullet.

Too much power can be a handicap. An overlypowerful caliber, such as those used on Africangame, can cause problems because the recoil is morethan most people can handle. There's also the prob-lem of over-penetration. A bullet that goes throughthe suspect and ten walls doesn't usually belong inpolice work.

WIND-BACIilNG ABILITY

The main problem at very long ranges is wind. lt'spossible to compensate for trajectory, but wind isoften unpredictable. The shooter may have a ten mphcross-wind at his firing position, but it may be twentymph in the other direction down-range.

The heavier the bullet, the better it resists cross-wind deflection. As a practical matter, the .308 roundoffers a good compromise between power, recoil,and wind-bucking ability. We'll take a close look atcross-wind effects in the appendix on ballistics.

POWER

^,19* mygh power is necessary in a sniper,s rifle?

r\o.r surprtsingly, some people disagree abbut this re_quirement, just as others cio aboui nanOgu; po*"r.There's less reason for concern over rifre builetpower than there is about handgun builets oecauserifle butlets have a different oider oi d;;Tn"kinetic energy of pistor builets is usuaily on the orderor severar hundred foot-pounds, while rifle bulletsusually have several thousand foot_pounds.

^ , Accordin^g_to Winchester's published data, the .357Magnum 125-grain handgun'road derivers-sec-fo;t-

pounds at the muzzre.Tha.223 rifre cartriog", *iih aS3-grain byll"l, provides 1305 foot_poundi.'nt iOOyards, it still has 97g foot-pounds. The .iOe'Win_chester cartridge, with a tfio-grain sirveriip lrirlt,

I!,rSII

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LABIITTY

. A number of police marksmen, being firearm hob_byists, reload ammunition. Althougti factory am_munition is improving significanily, it's stiil poisiblefor a competent reloader to prodube a handload thatgives tighter groups from a particular weapon thanany factory ammo. This is because the hand-loaderhas access to some superb bullets, such as the Sierra168-9rain match hollow-point boat-tail bullet. Ammomanufacturers are starting to catch up, and at leastone Jactory load, the Federal 16g-9rain match, usesthis bullet.

The big advantage the hand-loader retains, and willcontinue to retain, is that he can tailor his load to theweapon. For example, factory ammo has to meetSAAMI (Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufactur_ers lnstitutes) specifications. Among other things,the standards control bullet seating dJpth and oveiallcartridge length. The hand-loader-can'set the bullet,sseating depth so that the bullet contacts the rifling.Elimi.nating bullet "jump" tends to increase accuracy,but the cartridge's overall length may be more thancalled out in the SAAMI specs.

The hand-loader can also produce ammunition tomeet special situations. For example, Sierra makes arange of "Matchking" bullets from 150 grains to 220grains. The heavier bullets have better wind-buckingability, although steeper trajectories. An experiencedhand-loader may decide that a custom load, usingone of the heavier bullets, would be more suitable forlocal conditions than the factory offerings.

_. Unfortunately, there's more to the story than that.There's also the problem of liability. lf ever there's alawsuit, and the question of ammunition performance

-136- -137-

or quality enters into it, it's better to have a largemanufacturer with whom to share the liability. Amajor ammunition manufacturer has a legal staff, andexpert ballisticians to testify in its defense' On theother hand, the officer who uses his hand-loads is al-most defenseless. This is often the deciding argu-ment in the recommendation to use factory ammuni-tion for SWAT and other police operations.

AJ}I ]}I UNM O N PN O C URE M E NT

Ammunition is manufactured in batches, called"lots," and each lot is slightly different from others ofthe same type and brand. Some of these differencesare too slight to notice, while others can affect ac-curacy significantly. A change in brand, bullet type,weight, or even lot can affect the impact point.

Because each lot of ammunition is different, theweapons must be checked for zero when starting a

new lot. The new ammunition may not hit the samepoint of impact as the old cartridges. To minimize theneed for checking and possibly changing zero, it'sbest to order ammunition in the largest quantitiespossible. A year's supply is the minimum. More isbetter, up to about five years, if there's enough room ,.

to store it. The purchase order should specify that theentire quantity ordered shall be of the same "lot num-ber." This is marked on each box of ammunition,usually on the label or on the flaP.

Controlling the conditions under which you storethe ammunition is critical. Ammunition doesn'tdeteriorate sharply under most conditions, but forbest storage and shelf life, it should be in a cool dryroom. Temperature should be about seventy degreesFahrenheit, and the humidity should be less than fifty

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percent. Ammunition has survived long storageunder adverse conditions, but because this is high-performance ammunition, you should not take thisfor granted.

What about "ready ammo?" This is the supply thatthe sniper carries with him, along with his weapbn, inthe trunk of his car. While ammunition is very.hardy,and there have been instances of cartridges stored inhot environments still firing after many years, youcan't depend on carelessly stored ammunition foraccuracy. The bullet will come out of the end of thebarrel, but at what velocity?

lf the ammunition stays in the trunk of the car, itshould be changed or "rotated" periodically. The ro-tation period depends on the climate and, more often,on the qualification requirement. ln very hot climates,such as in the "sun belt," ammunition deterioration ismore likely than in cold climates.

The sniper who regularly qualifies should use thecartridges from his ready supply, and replace it withfreshly-issued ammunition. Because of the sniper'srole, he's not likely to fire even one box of ammo on .

a callout, and a ready supply of two or three boxeswill handle all contingencies.

NOTES

1. Counter Sniper Guide, Compiled by the U.S. ArmyAdvanced Marksmanship Training Unit, commer-cially reprinted by Paladin press, Boulder, CO.

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HIINIITOAIIING:LOW.COST PRACTICE AMMO

Although for various reasons centering aroundliability it's best to use factory ammunition forqualifications and for operations, training and prac-tice ammunition can be ballistically similar to factory,yet hand-loaded for economy.

CASES

Use only cases fired through the particular weaponfor best results. Chamber sizes differ between weap-ons, and cases fired from other rifles may not give themost accurate cartridges.

Trim the cases each time you reload. This is espec-ially true if you use two or more brands of cases.Each brand is made of brass of a slightly differentcomposition and hardness, and will stretch at a dif-ferent rate.

How much to trim? lt doesn't really matter, as longas it's within factory specifications. The reason? Theneck is just to hold the bullet. Too long a neck, how-ever, can go forward into the rifling. lf this happens,it will be hard to close the bolt, and your chamberpressure will be higher.

Another reason for trimming is to keep the casemouths uniform. lf you inspect the cases after trim-ming, you'll find that some are trimmed only part-way

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around the case mouth. This is because some brassstretches unevenly. Reloading such a case wouldcause an uneven pull on the bullet.

lf you use different brands of cases, segregate yourbrass by brand. You may have the same bullet,primer, and powder in cases of two different brands,but don't expect them to shoot to the same impactpoint. lt's best to use only one brand, and to obtainthese from fired factory ammunition you use.

Resize your cases fully. lt's true that neck-sizingalone will often be the best way for bench-restshooters, you want to duplicate factory ammunition.This means bringing the case back as close tooriginal size as possible. lf you're reloading for morethan one rifle, even of the same make and model, youmay find that cases from one won't fit in the other'schamber unless you totally resize them.

For the best precision, use a case gauge. This is adevice to measure if the case is properly sized and tocheck headspace. An instruction sheet comes withthe gauge, giving detailed information on its use.Spot-check your resizing with a gauge at the start ofevery loading session.

PNIMENS

lf possible, use the same brand primers as in thefactory cartridges. lf this isn't possible, Winchesterand Federal primers both produce accurate loads.

ls it necessary to use "Match" primers? Not neces-sarily. You'll probably find that you can't tell thedifference between them and ordinary primers whenyou fire your rifle.

ls it necessary to clean the primer pockets eachtime? Again, no. Primers aren't the same as they wereyears ago, and don't leave heavy deposits in thecases or primer pockets.

You'll also find that tumbling your cases aftersizing, to remove the lube, will also clean the primerpockets. lnspect the primer pockets before re-priming to be sure that a piece of tumbling mediumhasn't lodged inside the pocket or the flash hole.

Seat primers uniformly. This point is easy tooverlook. lncorrectly seated and uneven primers willgive erratic ignition. This is more important thanusing match primers.

BIIIf,ETS

The bullet to use is the closest you can find to theone used in factory ammunition. ln the case of the.308, the best bullet is the Sierra 168-grain MatchHollow-point Boat-tail. This is the bullet used in theFederal factory cartridge and the Winchester Ranger.308, made for law enforcement use. ln other calibers,you'll find that bullet manufacturers make such anarray that finding a close match won't be difficult.

Seat the bullets so that overall cartridge length isthe same as the factory cartridge.

POWDEN

Use a reloading manual to find a load that gives thesame velocity as the factory cartridge. You may besurprised to find that high-precision factory ammoisn't loaded "hot." This is because the best accuracyis obtained from loading to less than maximum

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velocity. This is why you must resist the temptationto add a few more feet per second to your reloads.Stick as closely as you can to factory ballistics. lf youhave a chronograph, use it. lf not, borrow one.

Using the Sierra 168-9rain Matchking bullet, a veryaccurate load is 45 grains of Winchester #760 ballpowder. This gives about 2500 fps from the muzzle.This load has delivered smaller than 1/2" groups at 1OOyards. The "factory duplication load" is 49.8 grains ofWinchester #760, to give 2600 fps velocity.

For longer-range shooting, a heavier bullet mightbe your choice.-The Sierra 190-grain Matchking,combined with 43 grains of Winchester #760, deliversabout 2360 fps. This is slow, and will give a steepertrajectory than the lighter bullet, but the extra weighthelps somewhat with wind-bucking. This load isaccurate enough to give lz" groups at 100 yards.

ls it necessary to weigh every charge? Definitelynot, unless there's something wrong with yourpowder measure. A good powder measure, such asthe Ohaus, will deliver very consistent charges.

It helps to use ball powder because it flows betterand more consistently than cylindrical grain powder.Brand is important. Both Winchester and Hodgdonare reputable brands, and you shouldn't take achance with cheap imports.

rifling. Factory ammo is shorter than ideal because itmust fit a variety of weapons.

The way to find the ideal seating depth for yourweapon is to make a dummy load to check it out.Using a trimmed and resized case without primer orpowder, seat a bullet part-way. Chamber this dummyround, noting if it takes more than usual force on thebolt handle. Remove the cartridge. The bullet mayhave been pushed back into the case a slight amountby running into the rifling. lt's important to use atrimmed and re-sized case because otherwise theresistance you feel may be due to the case mouthrunning into the rifling and squeezing the bullet.

Re-chamber the cartridge, again noting if it takesmore than usual force to close the bolt. lf it doesn't,light a match and pass the bullet through the flame.Chamber the cartridge again and remove it. lnspectthe bullet for marks left by the rifling. lf the marksshow that the bullet is just contacting the rifling,measure the length of the cartridge and record themeasurement. This will be your overall length.

One final check is necessary. lnsert the dummycartridge in your rifle magazine to make sure it's nottoo long to fit. lf it fits, that will be your standard. lfnot, reduce overall length until it does.

LOADING FON ECONOIWY

Reloading fired cases can save well over half thecost of each shell. lt's also a good indoctrination fornew members of the team, who may take to it en-thusiastically if they're firearms hobbyists.

Whatever you do, don't slough this task off onprisoner trustees. They'll either do a sloppy job or a

CASTOM BIILLET SEATING

lf you decide to use handloads operationally, youcan deviate from factory specification with regard toseating depth and overall length. The most accurateresults usually come when the bullet just touches the

i:

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little purposeful sabotage. Over-loading the case-orsubsiituting a pistol powder can damage a good rifle,and perhaps even damage You.

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SIGHTS ANII SCOPES

It's generally accepted that optical sights are bestfor the sniper role. Let's look at this belief for a mo-ment and see how valid it truly is. The need forprecision is obvious when the task is to "take out" asuspect without injuring the hostage. However, therange is also important. ln some cases, the range isthe width of a street or even across an alley. At veryshort ranges, a scope sight is a handicap because ofthe limited field of view. This is especially so if thescope is a fixed-power instrument of 10X or more.

There are several possible answers. One is to havetwo rifles, one with iron sights and the other with ascope for longer ranges. This is cumbersome, moreexpensive, and requires the sniper to keep bothweapons sighted in.

There are a couple of brands of "see-through"scope mounts, which allow using the rifle's ironsights. The problem with these is that the scope iselevated higher above the barrel than it would be withthe normal low mounts, and this causes a sharperangle on the bullet path. lt also leads to a greatersighting error if the shooter cants the rifle evenslightly.

Another type of scope mounting system is theMillett "Scope-Site," which has a set of iron sights onthe top of the rings. The front ramp has a "Blaze

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O1a1ge" insert, which is very visible in the half-lightof dawn, and the rear sight may be fixed or adjuit-able. For the police sniper, the adjustable reir isbetter. The Scope-Site has a shoit sight radius,typically less than six inches, but this isn-'t a serioushandicap for the short ranges at which the policemarksman will be using it.

The Scope-Site costs about seventy dollars, and isavailable from:

MILLETT SIGHTS16131 GOTHARD STREETHUNTINGTON BEACH, CA 92647Phone: (714) 942-SS7S and -5245

Another answer is to have a fixed-power scope of2X or 3X, on the assumption that practicaliy alltargets will be at short ranges. ln some areas, this willwork. ln others, it's awkward.

There are a couple of advantages to the fixed-power scope, and we ought to get into them so thatyou will have the information you need to make asound decision. Fixed-power scopes are less expen-sive than variables. The price difference isn't great,but for some, it's enough to swing the decision.Fixed-power scopes are also simpler optically andmech.anically. This means fewer parts to go wrong. Inpractice, variables have not shown them-selves to beespecially troublesome. The military, however, tendto pre-fer fixed-power scopes, and the new U.S. Armyspecification for the XM-24 sniper weapon systemcalls for a fixed-power scope of about 1OX oi 12X.The high power is useful because military sniperstake shots at very long ranges. Fixed-pow6r sc6pesare also a few ounces lighter than their variable

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counterparts. How important is the weight? Tosomeone who has to carry it on his back all day, it canbe important, but otherwise it's insignificant.

The solution that most police snipers accept is thevariable-power scope, for its versatility. The powerrange varies with individual needs and preferences.For urban areas the sniper is better off with the lowerpower ranges, such as 11/z-GX or a 2'7X. The ones inmost common use are the 3-9X variables, partlybecause they're so popular in other applications.Police snipers working in more open areas will wantto look at the 4-12X variables.

An additional reason for the selection of a variable-power scope is that the police marksman's jobinvolves more than shooting. As we've seen, observ-ing the scene takes up much more time than takingthe shot. Sometimes, it's necessary to crank thescope up to full power to get a close look at a detail,and this is only possible with a variable-power scope.

SELECNNG A SCOPE SIGflT

Obviously, you should never buy a scope withoutfirst looking through it. Check out the reticle to besure that it's the type you prefer. Also check the eyerelief. This is the distance from the rear of the scopeat which the image fills out to a clear disc with sharpedges all round. ln the higher-power scopes, eyerelief may be too short. This can cause a seriousproblem because the weapon's recoil may push thescope into your eye. lf you wear glasses, the dangeris increased.

Eye relief should be over three inches for best re-sults. You may be able to tolerate somewhat less thanthat, but much less is dangerous.

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NENCIES

There are many designs of reticles available. Someare simple crosshairs.

Simple Crosshairs

Another type is the central dot:

The dot is usually too large to be useful because itblots out a good portion of the target. Too small a dot

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is hard to acquire. The exception is the illuminateddot found in some scopes.

There are also combinations of the two.Some reticles have a Post:

Post Reticle

Others have a reverse post coming down from thetop of the field of view. There are combinations ofcrosshairs and posts.

The only reticles worth considering are the cross-hair types. These come in two kinds. One is thesimple crosshair, and the other is the "duplex," whichhas thick lines at the outside of the field, and thincrosshairs at the center:

Duplex Reticle

The simple crosshair can serve for many purposes.One possible problem is that the wires might be toofine for seeing in dim light.

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The duplex reticle is the most versatile and themost desirable. This is because the thick lines arevisible in less light than the thin ones, which enablefine sighting in bright light. The duplex also candouble as a rangefinder.

AITIUSTTWETWS

Any scope selected for police use should have clickadjustments for both windage and elevation. This isa common feature today. The adjustments should bein fine increments, no larger thaitA minute-of-angle.Some top-rank scopes, such as some Balvar ModEls,havel/e M.O.A. clicks.

Some of the larger scopes have oversize adjust-ment knobs. These are undesirable because iheymay snag during movement.

Another feature is the front focusing ring. Not allscopes have this. lt's desirable because many fixed_focus scopes are focused for 100 or 1S0 yards, andtargets in police sniping incidents tend to be muchcloser.

lf a scope lacks this feature, and you notice thattargets closer than 100 yards start to tuzz out, go toa lower power. This reduces the out-of-focus efflct,

VARI]IBIE. P OWE R S C O PE S

There are many excellent models available. Theyvary in power ranges and price, as well as smaildetails.

_ One top-quality variable for long-ranges is theBausch and Lomb Balvar Target scofe in 6--24x. This

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has 7a minute click adjustments and a 40mm objec-tive lens. lt's light for its size and power, but issomewhat bulkier than other scopes of lesser power.

Another is the Bushnell Scopechief. This comes ina number of models, but the most useful are the 3-9xand 4-12x variables. Both have 40mm objectivelenses. The 4-12x has a front focusing ring. Thismakes it especially valuable for shorter ranges. Bothof these have duplex reticles and %" clicks and areavailable from:

BUSHNELL OPTICAL CO.300 N. Lone Hill AveSan Dimas, CA 91773Phone: (800) 423-3537Attn: Dick Anderson

The Weaver V9 is a 3-9x variable with 1/t" clicks and a duplexreticle.

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It is available from:

WEAVER-OMARK I NDUSTRI ESpO Box 39Onalaska, Wl 54650

What's most important is to realize that it,s notnecessary to lay out the big bucks for a decent scope.Granted, there are special ,,police models" with non-reflective matte finishes and oversize knobs, but atyh?t p.rice? lt's possible to dull the finish of the scopebody, but the lens facing the subject can't be dulled.lf it's essential, a small can of spray paint will serveto apply a dull finish to the metal. Large, target_scopeknobs are cumbersome and awkwarO. ffey're notdesirable.

LOW.LIGM SCOPES

There have been several systems proposed andbuilt,for low-light sniping. They vary in'price andeffectiveness. Let's look at the- leasf practical onefirst, to get it out of the way.

. T!r" light amplification scope is a burky erectronicdevice that amprifies the right about sti,oO0 times.This allows aiming in extremely low lighi. This typeof scope has some severe problems, though. One'iscost. Typically, they cost about five thousaid doilars.Military-surplus scopes cost less, but they're likely tobe.early-generation scopes vulnerable io dazzling.This means that if you inadvertenily aim at a streetlight or even a household light bulb, the scope goesblind and shuts down.

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Another problem is weight. They're much bulkierthan optical scopes, although not much longer. Theyare much heavier, with models weighing betweenthree and five pounds.

The most serious problem, though, is lack of re-solution. The image appears as a bright green mono-chrome image, but lacks detail. For example, sightingat a multi-color "Duelatron" target shows only ablank sheet of paper. lt's also difficult to recognizeanyone through one of these scopes at more than 25yards. In another instance, a man standing in theshadow of a house across the street was visible to thenaked eye, but not through the scope.

Light-amplifying scopes are suitable for militaryuse, because it's not essential to identify the target.For police use, they have severe limitations andsimply aren't worth the money. Agencies which havebought them have found this out the hard way. TheRoyal Canadian Mounted Police bought S0 light-amplifying scopes.in 1975, and hasn't yet used one tofire a shot operationally.

Another solution to the problem of sighting in lowlight is the illuminated reticle. There are two types ofilluminated reticle. One is the LED (light-emittingdiode), as in the Bushnell Lite-Site, and the other isthe tritium insert, such as the Armson Trijicon"Spectrum."

The Bushnell Lite-Site comes in two models, bothvariable-power. One is a 1.5-6X, and the other is 3-9X.Two 4746 batteries provide power for the LED, whichoperates with a slide switch that is also the batterycompartment cover.

When you look through the Lite-Site, you see a setof duplex cross-hairs, as in conventional scopes.

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Pushing the slide switch forwardlow light, the cross-hairs tend

lights the LED. lnto blend into the

aiming point helpsbackground, and the bright redthe sight picture.

Bushnell 3-9X Lite-site mounted on a Remington Moder 7gg.This makes one-inch groups possibte in tow fi{ht.

The Armson Trijicons come in five models. Thefirst two are the fixed-power 4x4O and 6xS6. Theother three are variables: 1.5-5x32, 2-2x40, and 3_9x56' All have duprex reticres and ail incrude serf-luminous tritium crosshairs. rn daylight, the reticiesappear black, like conventional crosshairs. ln lowlight, they glow red. This is an unusually good Jesilnin that the crosshairs start to grow at thJpoint whenthe light becomes too dim to easily distinguisn tnemfrom the background. This allows shooiing accu-

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Trijicon Riflescopes are available from:

ARMSON, INC.PO BOX 2130FARMINGTON HILLS, MI 48333Phone: (319) 559-4960Attn: Mr. Glyn Bindon, pres.

The Action Arms Mark V point Sight is a non_magnifying optical sight with an LEdpresenting a

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red dot in the field of view. The differences betweenthis and the Bushnell Lite-Site are that the Mark V hasno crosshairs and the brightness of the dot isadjustable.

The Mark V mounted on a shotgun. This will allow accurateptacement of rifled slugs from a shotgun, but it's also suitablefor rifles.

The Mark V works from two mercury batterieswhich have a theoretical life of 50,000 hours at therheostat's lowest setting. A rheostal/onlolt switchadjusts the brightness and allows the user to shut theunit down when not in use. Depending on the weap-on and the shooter, it's possible to attain groups assmall as two inches at 100 yards. The Mark V is alsorugged, being very resistant to damage frommechanical shock. The rheostat adjustment allows abrightness range enough for broad daylight down tovery low light. Adjusting the dot's brightness alsoadjusts its apparent size because when the power ishigher, the dot "blooms" and seems to expand. Thislets the user adjust it for all light conditions andtarget brightnesses.

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The Mark V is imported by:

ACTION ARMSPO BOX 19630PHILADELPHIA, PA 19124Phone: (215) 744-1200Attn: Chayim Stern, Gen. Mgr.

RIWGEFINI'ER SCOPES

Some scope models have rangefinding reticles.These have scales corresponding to the averageheight of an adult male, and when the two wiresexactly subtend a standing target, the range reads offfrom a scale. Others have stadia wires subtending18", or the average distance from the cl'J,to thewaist. One scope and mount combinaiion, theLeatherwood Automatic Ranging Telescope, has acam ring that automatically elevates the scope to cor-respond with the r?hge, These features add to thecost of the scope.

Rangefinder Reticle

The two horizontal stadia lines subtend a known amount at vari-ous ranges on the scale.

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The simplest way to obtain a rangefinder effect isto have a variable-power scope with a duplex cross-hair and to calibrate it for different ranges. You cando this easily by cutting a piece of cardboard to 18"length, and noting what power settings correspond tovarious ranges. lf, for example, the tips of the du-plexes just touch the ends of the cardboard at 5.5power at 100 yards, you know that your reticle willcover 18" at that range and setting. This allows youto make up a chart for various ranges. ln the field, ifyou place one duplex tip on a man's chin, and theother at his waistline, and the power setting reads 5.5,you know that the range is about 100 yards.

You don't have to worry about getting the rangedown to the last yard, as studying a ballistic table willshow you that the variation in bullet drop is very smallover a few yards.

. lf the target is out of range, appearing to be smallerthan the distance between the coarse [osts, you canextend the range by using the distance between onepost and the crosshair:

This is half the interval, and yourange on the card.

simply double the

,1I

SCOPE MOANTS

The simplest are the best. There are some types ofmounts with quick-detach features, but the policemarksman won't use this at all, because removing thescope always upsets the zero. Some manufacturersclaim that their mounts are so precise that theshooter can remove the scope for packing and re-place it without losing accuracy, but this is only forbig-game hunters. A shift in impact point of an inchor two won't be critical when hunting elk or bear. ltis important for the police sniper.

The split ring mounts seem to be the simplest andmost workable. Even within this class, there are somevariants. Some, as we've seen, are made with a set ofiron sights on top of the rings. This is for close-rangeshooting.

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Another option is the windage-adjustable rear ring.Some prefer this device because it allows them to usethe base for windage adjustment and the scope'sinternal adjustment for elevation. Because of ascope's three-point mounting system for the reticle,an adjustment of the windage will also affect theelevation slightly, and vice-versa. Some shooters findthis annoying.

One-piece or two-piece mount? Sometimes there'sno choice, because of the design of the rifle or theavailability of mounts for it. lt doesn't seem to mattermuch, despite the claims of various manufacturers.What's really important is the way the mounts areattached to the rifle. lt's unwise to slap them on, andexpensive to have a gunsmith do it. A few rifles arenot drilled and tapped for scope mounts, in whichcase a gunsmith's services are essential.

Some sources for scope mounts are:

BUEHLER SCOPE MOUNTS17 ORINDA HIGHWAYoRlNDA, CA 94563Phone: (415) 254-3201Attn: Robert Ray

CONETROL SCOPE MOUNTSHWY 123 SOUTHSEGUIN, TX 78155

Mounts are also available from some scopemanufacturers.

ln principle, mounting the scope is simple andstraightforward, but it requires slow and careful work.The first step is to degrease all screws and screwholes thoroughly with acetone or any other solvent

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which doesn't leave a residue. A cotton swab workswell on the screw holes. Apply a drop of threadlocking compound in each hole before inserting thescrew. Use a gunsmith screwdriver to get a good fitin the screw slot and to avoid marring the screw. lfthe mount uses hex bolts, it's important to match thesize of the key to the bolt. Please note that some maybe metric sizes, and that American sizes may be closefits. They're not exact, though, and you risk strippingthe bolt slot.

Getting the vertical crosshair exactly upright canbe a problem for some people, especially those whohave astigmatism. lt's essential to square up thereticle because otherwise there will be no end oftrouble in sighting the rifle for zero.

The best scope rings for quick and accurate settingup are the split type. These are divided into top andbottom rings, and the top rings are att{ hed with acouple of hex bolts. The one-piece rings'are an awfulpain in the neck, because tightening the screws alsorotates the scope in the rings, making precise adjust-ment time-consuming.

A quick boresighting can establish if the reticle isupright and if the cross-hairs are approximately ontarget. The way to do this is to place the rifle in acradle or on a solid support, and remove the bolt.Sight on a distant point through the barrel andthrough the scope. Don't worry if they're a couple ofinches off. The bullet impact's not likely to be exactlyat that point, anyway, and only test-firing will estab-lish the weapon's zero.

Another task is setting the scope's parallax adjust-ment. The ocular lens is adjustable for this. Twistingthe mount while holding the locking ring will loosenit. Point the scope at the sky or a blank wall and look

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through it. Are the crosshairs sharp? lf not, adjust thelens mount. Look away at a distant object, then backthrough the scope. Are they sharp? lt's important tonote if the crosshairs are sharp the first moment youlook at them, because your eye will adjust its focusafter a fraction of a second. Be finicky on this point,and don't be satisfied until the scope is adjustedexactly the way you need it. Any error will result ina sighting error.

IENS CAPS

Some scopes come with caps. The Bushnell Lite-Site comes with a set of caps attached by elasticbands. Some come without. ln any event, you maynot like the caps that come with your scope. There isa set of accessory scope caps available. These arethe flip-up type, and are available from:

BUTLER CREEK CORP.290 ARDEN DRIVEBOX 1320BELGRADE, MT 597 1 4-1320Phone: (800) 423-8327Attn: Bill Heckerman, Pres.

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TESTING:

GHECIUNG OUT

YOUR SCOPE SIGHT

It often happens that a rifle is unfairly maligned forlack of accuracy when the real problem is with theoptical system. Quite often, a simple correctivemeasure, such as tightening the scope mount screwsor changing scopes altogether, will make a signifi-cant difference in accuracy.

Before placing any scope into service, it's import-ant to check it out thoroughly because subtle prob-lems can affect the sight picture and the.alcuracyyou get out of your weapon system. No opt,cal sys-tem is perfect, and the question that concerns you iswhether you can live with the imperfections in yoursystem.

You can conduct the preliminary testing withoutfiring a shot. ln fact, it's preferable that you do, toavoid introducing errors from other sources into thesystem. lf you were to "test-fire" your system, you'dhave to cope with errors from the rifle and ammuni-tion, and possibly wind.

Start by adjusting the scope's parallax to your eye,as described in a previous chapter. You need to makesure that the scope's image and the reticle are exactlycongruent, or you'll introduce sighting errors.

Check the focus of your scope. Do this by observ-ing the target at different ranges under one hundredyards, and note where it starts to appear blurry. lf you

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have a front focus ring, adjust this to note if it cor-rects the focus adequately, and note what the bottomlimit is. You'll find with any scope that there's a mini-mum range below which you can't adjust to make theimage sharp.

lf your scope does not have a front focus ring, butis a variable-power, you'll find that backing off on thepower increases apparent sharpness. Reducing thepower increases the depth of focus. This is a tech-nique you can use to cope with targets at shortranges. When they're close, you don't need muchmag n if ication, anyway.

Next, mount the scope in a set of rings attached toa metal bar, which you then clamp to a solid benchor table. Aim the scope at a target fifty or onehundred yards away. The target should be one witha grid pattern printed, such as the Speedwell riflesighting target. This will make measuring the amountof error easier. Adjust the scope's position and thecrosshairs so that the target is perfectly centered. lfyou have a variable-power scope, do this with thescope at its highest setting.

Back off from the highest power setting and noteif the crosshairs seem to shift as you change power.lf they do, you must know what the error is. Almostany scope will shift, but the amount in a good scopeshould be less than 1/+" at 100 yards. lf the shift ismore than this, you'll still be able to live with it if youdecide that you'll do your shooting only at one powersetting. This is often procedure with snipers, becausemost f ind that they feel most comfortable firing at onepower setting.

lf there's a front focusing ring, play with this to seeif changing the setting changes the position of thecrosshairs. You won't be able to go very far doing

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this, because as you throw the scope out of focusyou'll find it harder to see the target, but you can geta rough idea.

Now you're ready to check your mechanical adjust-ments. Move the elevation adiustment up twentyclicks, and back down. Count very caref ully, and noteif the crosshairs are again centered upon the target.Now adjust the elevation down twenty clicks andback up. Do the crosshairs once more center uponthe target? Move the windage in one direction andback to center. Repeat in the other direction.

This completes the immediate testing. lf the scopefails, it suggests that there's something loose insideor that the overall quality is not up to what you need.

Mount the scope on the weapon, and begin zeroingthe rifle. This will give you the opportunity you needto check how well the scope stands up tg1'ecoil andnormal handling. This is very important,'uecause ifsomething's going to come loose, it will most likelyhappen during the first few boxes of ammunitionfired through the weapon. This leads to another veryimportant point:

Never place a rifle into service until you've fired atleast one hundred rounds through it, with the samescope. You need to familiarize yourself with theweapon, and to check out how the system works to-gether. After your f irst f iring session, which should beabout forty rounds, check all the screws and bolts fortightness, and clean the weapon. At the next session,twenty rounds, note how the system has held its zero.Another couple of f iring sessions will tell you how thesystem holds together. lt will disclose other possibleproblems, such as stock warpage, which can affectthe accuracy.

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Stock warpage? How can that happen? Doesn'teveryone use synthetic stocks nowadays? At least,aren't all stocks properly relieved and "bedded." No.Not everyone does. lt's not always necessary. Goingthrough the procedures whole-hog createi lots oJwork for the gunsmiths, but also wastes time andToney. Synthetic stocks aren't always necessary,either. All depends on what accuracy ybu need.

The hundred-round practice firing will let you testthe entire system, now that you've determined thatthe scope checks out. This should be standard prac-tice after every major change in the weapon. li youobtain a new scope, check the whole system outagain. lf you put on a new barrel or stock, check thesystem out. lf you remove the scope from its rings, forany reason, check the system out with at least onebox of ammunition.

The final aspect of testing to discuss is documen-tation. Log the tests, and save the records. Today, it'swise not gnly to be able to document that the sniperis "qualif ied," but that the hardware has beenchecked out and passed the test.

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AUXITIARY EQUTPMENT

There are odds and ends of gear a police sniperneeds. Some are very expensive. Others are cheap.

CARRWNG CASES

The typical sniper's rifle spends most of its life ina vehicle of some sort. ln departments large enoughto have a SWAT van or truck, there may f :l a rifle rackin the truck. This is poor practice becau3e everythingthen depends on that truck. lf it breaks down, or iftwo incidents occur at the same time, getting theweapons to the snipers will be a hassle.

More likely, the sniper will carry his rifle in thetrunk of his car, crammed in with a vest, shotgun, gasmask, jump-suit, and assorted other gear. Because ofthe extreme precision needed from a sniper's rifle,and the high risk of mechanical damage, a top-ratecase is absolutely necessary.

There are soft cases and hard-shell cases available.Both use foam plastic to provide cushioning againstshock. The hard case is more bulky, and gives some-what better protection. Some hard cases give tre-mendous protection, but are two or three times asheavy as the rifle. They'll protect the weapon ifthrown off a cliff, but are too bulky to fit in a car trunk.

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The soft case is lighter, and usually has pockets forextra magazines, boxes of ammunition, a tripod, andother accessories. The main advantage of a soft caseis that it's convenient to carry. This can be very im-portant when the sniper has to climb to gain hisposition. Having the rifle slung by its strap over oneshoulder exposes it to damage from striking againstobjects. A good quality soft case offers good piotec-tion when negotiating obstacles. The best soft caseshave carrying handles and shoulder straps forversatility.

LOAI' BEANING EQIIIPMENT

It's become common practice for SWAT teammembers to wear load-bearing vests. There are alltypes and configurations available. Some are fairlyworthwhile, and others are heavy and impracticalhorrors sold at outrageous prices.

The purpose of a vest is to carry equipment. Thebig question is: "How much equipment do you needto carry?" There are specialty vests for various teammembers. Some are "gas man" vests, with pouchesfor Ferret rounds and assorted gas grenades. Vestsalso come with long magazine pouches to holdsubmachine gun magazines. Yet others have repell-ing harnesses built-in. Yet others are combined load-bearing and body armor vests.

One simple and practical test to check out a vest isto load the pouches with the gear you'd normallycarry, including the handgun if the vest has a holster.Reach across and try to draw the handgun. Somevests, when loaded, don't allow drawing or evenreaching the weapon. Repeat this with the gear ineach pocket. You need to verify that everything

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you're carrying is easily accessible, and not justuseless ballast.

When deciding on a vest type, or even whether thesniper needs a vest, you have to consider severalimportant factors:

1. What equipment do you really need to carry? Asniper doesn't need extra pouches for gasgrenades, and other gear. He also doesn't needmany magazine pouches. The sniper should beable to do the job with one shot. Allowing formisses and other unpredictable factors, one boxof ammunition is the maximum worth carrying.

2. Extra gear adds weight and bulk. The snipermay need to squeeze through a small space, orkeep a low profile to avoid observation. Extrapouches can snag on objects and impedemovement. , l

3. A combined armored and load-b6aring vestallows the sniper no choices. He can't lay theload-bearing vest to the side when he's in posi-tion without removing the armor, which he mayneed in some situations.

The sniper, as well as certain other team members,will probably be able to get by with a lighter and lesscostly load-carrying arrangement. A "fanny pack" isa good choice, especially because the belt can holdhis sidearm and an extra magazine pouch.

A harness also offers advantages. lt can hold aradio, knife, and other gear on the risers, and acanteen, handgun, and magazine pouches on thebelt.

A hand case can also serve the purpose. This offersthe advantage of being very quick and easy to putdown if necessary. The disadvantage is that it takes

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up one hand, and this can impede climbing. Some,such as the one made by Assault Systems, come withshoulder straps.

These smaller and lighter carrying cases are al-ways easier on the budget than load-bearing vests. lnsmall departments, expensive items on a "wish list"stand little chance of being procured.

BOI'YANMOR

The need for body armor varies with the function.The entry team definitely needs armor. This will be a"tactical vest" that protects against submachine gunand even rifle fire. Officers working the perimetersare not in such immediate danger, but it's still goodpractice to equip them with tactical vests. The outerperimeter officers usually don't come under fire.They may wear their "everyday" soft body armor, butdon't need tactical vests. The sniper usually does notneed armor, either. Here's why:

The sniper works from cover and concealment.He's also likely to be farther from the suspect thanother team members. His functions require him tostay put, observe, report, and perhaps to fire one ortwo shots. He does not take part in "rushing" thepremises: This means that he's less likely to be ex-posed to gunfire.

Because the sniper must maintain alertness overlong periods, anything that increases fatigue worksagainst him. ln a hot climate, a vest not only is un-comfortable, but can bring on heat exhaustion.

The bulk of the armor can interfere with shoulder-ing the rifle. ln one incident, the sniper missed withhis first shot because he'd trained without his vestand firing with the vest on spoiled his aim.

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This is why it's a mistake to assume that the sniperneeds body armor in every situation. The sniper de-finitely should be equipped with body armor, but hewon't often need to wear it. A good compromise is forhim to wear his armor while moving to his designatedvantage point and to doff it when he gets there. He'llthereby have protection while on the move, and canuse the armor as a rest for his rifle once he assumeshis position.

One practical type of tactical vest is the "BetaVest," made by Silent Partner. This is relatively light,has a few pockets for extra magazines and othergear, and is quick to put on and take off because of

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the Fastex fasteners. There's not much bulk at theshoulders, which makes shouldering a weapon lessawkward than with a heavier vest. This vest is madeby:

SILENT PARTNER612-18 THIRD STREETGRETNA, LA 70053Phone: (800) 321-5741Attn: Diane Zufle

SHOOTING M}IT

A SWAT sniper keeping a subject under observa-tion or waiting for a "green light" can feel verycramped and uncomfortable after staying in the sameprone position for hours. This is very true in urbanoperations, when instead of soft grass or hay thesniper has only hard concrete. A shooting mat isvaluable, and it's possible to improvise this from apiece of scrap carpet, for the budget-consciousofficer. However, there's an unusually good commer-cial product available, and this is worth a close look.This is the Wildrest@ foam pad.

This is a 6-foot by 20-inch long slab of mediumdensity "eggcrate" foam in a synthetic fabric envel-ope. "Eggcrate" foam is especially suitable for thisapplication because it insulates against cold groundand hot asphalt.

This mat weighs two pounds, and rolls up into atwenty-inch long roll. Spare eggcrate pads costunder ten dollars. The covers come in gray, blue, andother dark colors. Price is $58.50. This is made by:

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THE WILDERNESS5130 North 19th AvenueSuites 11 and 12Phoenix, AZ 85015Phone: (602) 242-4945Attn: Ralph Holzhaus

CLEANING SUPPLIES

Any sniper knows that a clean rifle helps accuracy,but there are many bore cleaners out, not all of whichdo the job. Some are too expensive. Others simplydon't work the way the ads claim they do. One borecleaner which is effective and not over-priced is"Shooter's Choice." This is made by:

VENCO INDUSTRIES, INC.16770 Hilltop Park PlaceChagrin Falls, OH 44022Phone: (216) 543-8808Attn: Joseph Ventimiglia

A cleaning rod and accessories are important, buteven here it's possible to save money. Commercialpatches are over-priced. lt's much, much cheaper tocut up your own from old clothes. Not all fabrics aresuitable for this, though. Many synthetics aren'tabsorbent enough. Pure cotton is best. At least, thematerial should be 65/35 cotton polyester. You cancut up patches with scissors while watching TV.

Don't make the mistake of getting a stainless steelbore brush. They're not supposed to scratch thebore, but how do you know? The manufacturer'squality control may have slipped a little, and thestainless steel wires may be harder than specified.

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Play it safe and stick to brass brushes, even thoughthey don't last as long. Replacing a brush is a hell ofa lot cheaper than replacing a barrel.

OTHEN EQITIPIWENT

A radio is necessary, and the choice will be be-tween the standard issue "portable" or one of anumber of "hands f ree" models. Commercially-available short-range FM models aren't expensive,costing about fifty dollars apiece.

A gas mask may be part of the issue equipment, butin normal circumstances the sniper won't need it.

Can you shoot with the gas mask on? Watch thispoint when selecting gas masks. The M17 has thefilters in the cheek-pieces. The Pirelli SEKUR has theexhaust valves in the cheeks. This can impede thecontact with the stock.

The Draeger M65 allows full contact of cheek withstock. So does the lsraeli civilian gas mask, sold atsurplus by a few outlets. Both of these have the filterin front, out of the way, The exhaust valves are rightabove the filter mounts.

Will you need a canteen? ln what area of thecountry are you? In some locales, exposure under ahot sun during a callout can raise a terrible thirst.Tactical conditions may not allow you to move fromyour position for many hours, and you may not berelieved until the operation's over.

A jumpsuit is handy if you're not normally inuniform. Slipping it on over street clothes gives aquick change, and lets you crawl without sacrificingyour clothing. The best aspect of a jumpsuit is that

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you can roll it up for storage. ln this job, wrinklesdon't matter.

When buying jumpsuits, often cheapest is best.There are some very high-priced "SWAT" suitsavailable, but they're really not necessary. For theoccasional use they get, you don't need jumpsuitsthat break your budget. Camouflage clothing isanother story, and we've covered that in the sectiondealing with cover and concealment.

OPNCS

Do you need binoculars or a spotting scope? Manyinstructors recommend these, but realistically theycost money and are additional items to carry. Let'slook at what they can do for you, though, becauseyou'll have to decide if they're worth the trouble.

Binoculars are for the second man in the sniperteam. lf he doesn't have his own rifle, with its scope,he can use binoculars to provide a second pair ofeyes for observation. lf he's taking over from you sothat you can rest your eyes, he can use your rifle andscope.

What sort of binoculars? Compacts take up littleroom in a crowded gear bag, are light, and usuallyless expensive than full-size binoculars.

For distant subjects, more power helps. A spottingscope, with 20X or 30X, can be more useful. Ofcourse, the more powerful instruments have nar-rower fields of view. The increased power requiresusing a tripod or a bean bag for stability.

To save money and weight, many police marksmencompromise and put variable-power scopes on their

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rifles. The "zoom" feature allows adjusting fordesired power and field of view, and is veiy prac-tical.

THE BUI'GET

Whether you're a sniper, SWAT team commander,or h.igh-leve-l police administrator, you have to fightthe battle of the budget constanfly. tnis is why youmust be aware that much police-oriented geai isover-priced and impractical. Think carefully-beforeyou commit your dollars, and shop for the best buys.This doesn't only mean the lowest price, but the mostuseful articles.

Before buying anything, ask yourself if it's reallynec.essary. lt's easy to load up with gear, but spaceis limited, and there are some essentials whibh asnlper must have with him at all times. Only so muchwill fit in the trunk of a car, and space is 6ven morelimited if two team members share a take-home car.

. When selecting gear for a SWAT team, you have a

choice among a tremendous variety of items, madeby both old-line manufacturers and newcomers.look over everything carefully, because you'll findthat some traditional police suppliers are simplytrading on their names and reputations, and tlratsome newcomers offer excellent gear at a lowerprice.

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.APPENIIIX I.

BAI,TISTICS:

A QUICK PRIMER

You don't have to be a ballistic engineer to be aneffective sniper. A basic knowledge of the majorpoints is enough. ln this chapter, we'll stick to thebasics, and try to cover them in non-technical lan-guage, because a simple discussion is usually allthat's necessary.

WLOCITY

Let's start with velocity, because this is the figuremost commonly used when discussing a cartridge orcaliber. Velocity is the speed of the bullet. The bullettravels fastest when coming out of the muzzle, but airresistance, also called "drag," starts slowing it downimmediately.

Some practical points regarding velocity are thatlighter bullets tend to come out of the muzzle faster,but because they have lower "ballistic coefficients,"retain their speed less well. They slow down faster,and have less range. Heavier bullets hold their speedbetter, and also resist wind deflection better, becausethey have more mass. We'll look closely at why thisis so next.

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BAUTSNC COEFFICIENT

The "ballistic coefficient" is a number which tellsus how efficiently a bullet passes through the air. Theballistic coefficient can range from about .100 forsome pistol bullets to over .700 for a couple of riflebullets that are very efficient. The higher the number,the more the bullet overcomes "drag," the force thatslows it down.

TNAIECTORV

A bullet never travels in a perfectly straight line. ltstarts falling from the moment it leaves the barrel.Gravity acts upon a bullet moving at supersonicspeed just as it would if it were standing still. Becauseof this, the bullet's flight is always a downward curve.

Bore Axis/Line of Sight

.--===--="Cu rved" Trajectory -- r

---<.-1'Flat" Trajectory\=-

=---r-\

"Flatness" of trajectory is relative. There's always a downwardcurve, becoming sharper at the end of the builet's flight. This isbecause the bullet slows down from drag, but the pult of gravityremains constant.

This is why it's necessary to adjust the sights, op-tical or "iron," for range. Adjusting the sight forlonger range requires depressing the point of aim so

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Shooters speak of cartridges that have ,,flat"trajectories, implying that otheis have curved trajec_tories. As we already noted, all trajectories arecurved, but some are curved more than others. A fastbullet with a high ballistic coefficient will retain itsvelocity over a longer range than one which travelsslowly and has a poor ballistic coefficient. Thesecond bullet takes longer to travel a given distance,and this means that gravity acts upon it for a longertim.e before it gets to its destinatiori. rne bullet's pithwill therefore curve more. Let's see how this works.

Much of the following information originated withSierra Bullets, the company which manu-factures thebullets of that name and which publishes the sierraManual.t Sierra has kindly permiited reproduction ofthe ballistic information lrerein.

The ballistic coefficient varies with the speed of thebullet. This is because air behaves differenily withdifferent velocities of a projectile. To be scientificallyaccurate, it's necessary to consider the changes inballistic coefficients at all speeds, but for oui pur,poses,. it's enough to count only the one that appliesat the higher velocities

Let's look at the ballistic coefficients for a coupleof common bullets often used in rifles. tne .iZ+diameter hollow-point boat-tail bullet for the .223Remington cartridge has a ballistic coefficient of .1g5at velocities of 2800 fps or more. The.B0g 16g grainHPBT Match starts out at a lower speed, bul tneSierra Manual lists its ballistic coefficienl at .475.

Let's hypotheticaily fire the .224 bullet at 3300 fpsto see how it slows down with increasing range. At100 yards it's down lo 2lg6 fps, a loss 5f 15.b0lo invelocity. At 200 yards it's velocity is 2350 fps, a loss

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ol 28.8o/o. At 300 yards the remaining velocity is 1948fps, which represents a loss of 41o/o of the originalvelocity.

Now we'll fire the .308 bullet at 2600 fps, whichgives us a 100 yard velocity of 2417 f ps, a loss ol7 .1o/o.The 200 yard velocity is 2241 tps, a loss of 13,8%.Remaining velocity at 300 yards is 2073 fps, whichmeans a loss ol2O.3o/o off the original velocity.

We see that the larger, heavier bullet holds on to itsvelocity better. Although it started out 800 fps moreslowly than the smaller bullet, at 300 yards it'sactually traveling faster. Now let's see how it doesregarding trajectory. Again consulting the SierraManual, we f ind that at 100 yards , the .224 bullet hasdropped 1.77 inches below the line along which itwas fired. The heavier .308 bullet has dropped 2.55inches. So far, the lighter, faster, bullet has the"flatter" trajectory. At 200 yards, we find that thelighter bullet has dropped 8.04 inches, while the big.308 bullet is down even more, by 11.05 inches. Thelighter and faster bullet is still shooting a "flatter"trajectory. At 300 yards the light .224 bullet hasdropped 20.67 inches. At the same range, the .308bullet has dropped 26.46 inches. lt's not until we getout to 600 yards that the picture changes. At thatrange, the lighter bullet, still going 1103 fps, hasdropped 134.64 inches. The heavier .308 bullet, going1607 f ps, has dropped only 127 .2 inches.

POINT-BIANK NANGE

The term "point-blank range" has a lot to do withtrajectory, and even more to do with the shooter'sneeds. Theoretically, "point-blank range" is the rangewithin which it's unnecessary to adjust the sight to

get a hit. Actua.lly, it's necessary to raise the sightssomewhat to hit at any distance, because the "riflebarrel and the line of sight are not at the same lever.Raising.the muzzle to zero the weapon at a distanceresults in the bullet's striking abovd the line of sightat,closer ranges. Beyond th-e zero range, the bulletwill drop below the line of sight. Actuilly, this canvary a lot. The shooter who wants to hit-a target 5inches in diameter will find that he can hit it wit6 the168 grain .308 Matchking out to 200 yards. He startsby "zeroing" his rifle at 200 yards. A-ccording to theSierra Manual, the bullet will 6e about 21/4,,haghat 100yarqi, and right on at 200. Stighily beyond 2-OO yardsit will drop below the limit, anO be riore than nineinches low at 300 yards.

The .223 shoots a trajectory that is flatter, andy:ilg

^ 299 yard zero has the builet going onty 11/2,,

high at 100 yards..Beyond 200 yards,-it diops, aoingin almost eight inches low at 30b yardsWhat about the effect of wind? A 10 mph wind

pushes the .223 bullet 1.39 inches off course at 100yards, 6 inches at 200 yards, and almost 15 inches at300. The .308 bullet is more resistant. At 1OO yards,a 10 mph wind deflects it only s/+,,.The deflecfion isslig_htly over 3 inches at 200 yards and 7 1/3 inchesat 300 yards. From this, we see that a crosswindpushes the lighter bullet off twice as far as it does the.308 bullet. A more extreme case is that of a 30 mphcrosswind on the lighter bullet. This will deflect itslightly over 44 inches at 300 yards. The effect ofwind, like that of gravity, is always more severe atlonger.ranges. This is because the bullet's movingmore slowly, and the wind has more time to work onit.

l1g"p these figures in mind when considering whatcaliber you need to hit what targets consisteiily at

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what range. lf you're going for a torso hit, you'll havelittle or no problem out to at least 300 yards unlessthere's a strong cross-wind. A brain shot, on the otherhand, demands better precision, and you'll have toget in close or adjust for exact range.

OT'HEN ilUTTSNC EFFECTS

Other factors affect the flight of the bullet. A headwind will slow the bullet slightly, increasing thetrajectory's curve. A tail wind assists the bullet'sflight, and flattens the trajectory. Firing up-hill ordown-hill decreases the influence of gravity, result-ing in higher impact points. At normal police sniperranges, the effects you'll see will be minimal. This iswhy you can ignore these factors totally at under 100yards. At longer ranges, you'll need to be aware oftheir influence, but in practice you'll probably findthat they have less effect than sighting error.

BUIf,ET SPIN

The helical grooves inside the barrel are called"rifling," and thb rifling gives the bullet its spin. Thebullet spin, often as high as several hundred thou-sand RPM, gives the bullet gyroscopic stability, andmore accuracy than if it did not spin.

The ideal spin varies with the caliber and the bullet,as well as the velocity at which it's fired. Manufac-turers follow somewhat different practices, and you'llfind that not all rifles in the same caliber impart thesame spin to the bullet.

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BAIf,ET SflIIPE

The bullet's shape has an effect on accuracy andrange. Pointed bullets, often called "spire-points" or"ogival points," are best for the supersonic speeds atwhich rifle bullets travel. The only reason for a blunt-nosed bullet in a rifle is to avoid setting off the primerahead in a tubular magazine of the sort found inlever-action carbines. These are rare in police work,and we can ignore them.

A bullet's shape affects how easily it slips throughthe air. This includes the shape of the tail. Somebullets are flat at the rear. Other have "boat-tails,"which are tapers to allow the air to flow in againbehind the bullet. This reduces "cavitation" and drag.

The effect of a boat-tail is noticeable mostly atextreme ranges. For the close-in work usually under-taken by police marksmen, it's very unimportant.However, bullet manufacturers put their best effortsinto the boat-tail bullets, simply because these arewhat competition shooters prefer. You'll probablyfind that the most accurate bullets are boat-tailbullets, often sold under a trade name such asSierra's "Matchking."

NOTES

1. SIERRA BULLETS10532 South Painter AvenueSanta Fe Springs, CA 90670Phone: (800) 223-8799Attn: Bob Ellison

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. APPENIIIX II I

GTOSSARY

This glossary contains only terms immediately re-levant to sniping, not basic terms relating to rifleshooting. The assumption is that the reader is alreadyfamiliar with basic marksmanship and weapons term-inology.

Azimuth - A term roughly interchangeable with"Windage" when adjusting a weapon sight.

Ballistic Coefficienf - A figure used to measure howeasily a bullet slips through the air. Most bullets haveballistic coefficients between .100 and .700.

Bench Rest - A fixed support lor a rifle. This term isalso used to describe a type of rifle competition inwhich shooters use a support for their weapons.Bench rest rifles and ammunition for them are oftenextremely precise and give great accuracy.

Bipod - A two-legged rifle support usually fixed onthe front of the weapon. The legs are usually collap-sible and extensible.

Boat-Tail Bullet - A bullet with a base tapering toreduce drag. Drag partly comes from the effects of"cavitation," and the progressive reduction of thediameter towards the rear allows air to fill in the void.

-184- - 185 -

Boat Tail Bullet

Bullet Drop - The amount of fall of a bullet in flightresulting from gravity.Bullet Drop Compensator - An extra vertical adjust-ment cam in a scope sight to compensate for varyingranges.

Clicks - lncrements of adjustment in both iron sightsand optical sights. The amount of movement varieswith the sight and the range. ln most telescopicsights, one "click" will produce a fraction of an inchadjustment at 100 yards. Higher-quality and higher-power scopes have finer clicks.Cold Barrel- A barrel on a weapon that hasn't beenfired recently enough for the barrel to be still warm.Police snipers are not allowed "warm-up" shots, andmust fire from a cold barrel.

Concealment - Protection from view. This is notnecessarily the same as "cover." Cover providesconcealment, but concealment does not always pro-vide cover.

Cover - Protection from hostile gunfire. "Cover" is arelative term. Cover that's thick enough to shield f rompistol bullets may not be adequate for protectionagainst rifle bullets. This is a crucial fact to keep inmind when selecting cover.

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Cross Hairs - The fine lines visible inside a scope,which show the bullet impact where they intersect.Crown - The technique used to finish the barrel'smuzzle. The "crown" can be slighily relieved, or re-cesse-d. The purpose is to shield the forward edge ofthe rifling from damage which can spoil accurac-y.Deflection - Two meanings:

1. The amount of lateral deviation resulting from across-wind.

2. The amounttarget.

required to hit a moving

Drag - The aerodynamic resistance to a bullet's flight.Drift - Lateral movement of the bullet in flight result-ing from rotation or a cross-wind.Duplex Reticle - Crosshairs coarse at the outside ofthe field, narrowing to fine lines in the center.Elevation - Vertical adjustment, compensating forbullet drop and range.Exterior Ballistics - Calculations relating to factorsaffecting the bullet's flight.Eye Relief - The distance from the ocular lens to theshooter's eye.Floating Barrel- A barrel with no contact points withthe forestock.Forestock - The f ront part of a rifle stock. This maybe in contact with the barrel, or may be relieved toeliminate all contact.

Qreen Light - The sniper's authorization to open fire.Although this is permission, the moment the sniperfires is usually up to him because the target's notalways in view or the moment is not ripe at th-e instantthe commander gives the order.

- 186 - -187-

Group - The shots fired at a paper target, with thesame point of aim, for checking accuracy. For stand-ardization, it's best to fire five-shot groups with thesame aiming point. lt's a statistical fact that groupsize will increase with the number of shots fired.Headspace - ln rifles, the distance between themeasuring point on a cartridge case and the boltface. With bottle-necked cases, the measuring pointis on the shoulder, and is known as the "datumpoint." With belted magnum cases, the headspace ismeasured between the bolt face and the front of thebelt.

High Ground - A term borrowed f rom the military todenote a high vantage point for observation oropening fire.Hold-Off - Aiming offset to compensate for wind ortarget movement.

Hold-Over - The amount of elevation of the aimingpoint required to get a hit when firing at targetsbeyond the range at which the scope is set.Hold-under- The amount of depression of the aimingpoint to compensate for targets closer than thescope's zero.lnterior Ballistics - Calculations used to measurepressure forces inside the cartridge and barrel duringf iring.

"Datum Line"

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Kentucky Windage - An estimate of the aiming offsetrequired to compensate for wind effect or targetmotion. Synonymous with "hold-off."Lead - The distance in front to aim to have the bulletstrike a moving target. This depends on the rangeand the speed of the target. Also called "Hold Off."Loop-Hole - Firing port.

Mid-Range Trajectory-The high point in the bullet'sflight. This occurs, technically, slightly beyond thehalf-way mark of the distance at which the rifle iszeroed.

M.O.A. - Abbreviation for "Minute of Angle," which isone-sixtieth of a degree. Used for measurement ofsight adjustments and less often for group sizes.Equal to approximately one inch at one hundredyards.

Objective Lens - The lens at the front of the scope.Ocular Lens - The lens nearest the shooter's eye.Parallax - Aiming error due to lack of congruencebetween the scope and the shooter's eye, or thescope's focus. See the appropriate section in the textfor a full discussion of this topic.Point Blank Range - The range at which no compen-sation for trajectory is needed. This is somewhatarbitrary, because no bullet travels in a perfecflystraight line. See the chapter on ballistics for a fulldiscussion of this intricate subject.Power- This has two meanings in this context:

1. The energy of the bullet.2. The magnif ication of the scope sight.

Rest - A support for the rifle. Supporting the riflehelps eliminate unsteadiness resulting from muscular

- 188 - - 189 -

tremor. This can be a specially-designed rest, asandbag, or a totally improvised rest. A rest isessential for maximum accuracy.Reticle - The sighting image, usually cross-hairs, ina scope sight.Rifling - Grooves cut into the barrel's bore to causethe bullet to spin.Scope - Colloquial term for "telescopic sight" or"telescope."Silencer - Popular name for "suppressor," a device tomuffle a gunshot.Spin - Rotary motion imparted to the bullet by thebarrel's rifling to enhance stability.Support - Same as "Rest."Suppressor - A device that fits on the muzzle of afirearm to muffle the sound of the shot. This usuallyworks best with sub-sonic bullets.Trajectory - The bullet's path.Windage- Lateral adjustment of a weapon sight. Thisterm comes about because lateral adjustments areoften to compensate for the effect of wind on theflight of the bullet.Zero - The range at which the weapon and scope areset to hit.

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