How to shoot accurately from SVD. How to aim correctly with a rifle. Sniper tactics in special operations

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SECTION 2. PRACTICAL RIFLE SHOOTING TECHNIQUE

Precision combat weapons - fittings and rifles - appeared several centuries ago. Almost simultaneously with the advent of precision weapons, shooters began to notice that shooting is better at certain positions of the body, arms, legs, head position, etc. More and more attention was paid to all this, and pretty soon the basic principles of long-barreled weapon shooting were outlined, that is, how to lie down, stand, sit while shooting, what and what should be pressed and pressed, in which direction should be deviated to maintain the shooting balance, how you have to breathe and look through the scope. In short, the correct classical postulates of accurate and accurate shooting have been developed, which are the same for all shooters. Unfortunately, in practice, many of them are very inconvenient and even painful to perform, but no one has yet come up with a better one. The correct position of the shooter when shooting is called the ready position, and deviation from the classic postulates of shooting positions leads a beginner to a dead end. Static rifle designs, in which you have to stay for hours, are difficult for beginners to tolerate. There is no newbie who would not like to do something his own way, so that it is not so boring and painful. The instructor's task is to put the cadet in the correct position, that is, to give his body a position in which he will really hit the target, and not the one the cadet wants, in which he himself will not be able to understand why he cannot shoot and followed by an unexplained slip after another. Yes, cadets have individual anatomical and psychophysiological characteristics, but it is possible to change the readiness to adapt to them only after the student has acquired solid practical shooting skills. In any case, such things are done with the advice of the instructor and under his supervision. With a telescopic sight, it is easier to hit, but harder to shoot. Therefore, shooting training with optics is started only after the cadet reaches heap shooting with a conventional open sight.

Shooting prone from a stop

This main method of sniper shooting is used both in training beginners and venerable snipers. The method provides a very large, almost absolute stability of the weapon and is used by snipers of counter-terrorist units for particularly accurate and responsible shooting in the case when it is necessary to "separate" the terrorist from the hostage without catching the latter.

When shooting prone from a stop, the shooter lies on his stomach and, so that the body rolls less to the right and left, presses his legs with his knees to the ground. The heels are pressed tightly to the ground at a distance from each other 1.5 times wider than the shoulders. During combat firing, heels must be pressed to the ground. Firstly, in this way the shooter is more in contact with the ground, respectively, the support area is larger, and secondly, in a combat situation, the raised heel will immediately be blown away by a splinter or a bullet, not pressed to the ground.

If you look at the arrow from above, it should look as shown in Diagram 33. It is allowed (if the shooter cannot do without it) bending the right leg at the knee and at the hip, but not much. The rifle is on a support at a certain angle to the axis of the spine and an angle to the line of the shooter's shoulders (Diagram 33) as far as it will be convenient for him to aim. Scheme 33. When shooting prone, the axis of the spine of the shooter forms an angle a with the plane (axis) of shooting; the line of the shoulders forms an angle b with the firing plane. The position of the body during prone shooting must be even, without stress or bending along the axis of the spine. The latter cause unnecessary muscle tension, and at the same time the correct position of the hands is disturbed, breathing becomes difficult and the spread of bullets increases. If the shooter needs to adjust the direction of fire, he does so by moving his legs to the right and left. The ribcage of the arrow is raised as much as the height of the stop requires, and the arrow rests on the left elbow, regardless of what position the left hand takes.

There are two ways to shoot from a stop. The first is that the rifle lies freely on the support, and the left hand holds the butt near the shoulder, giving it a uniform stable position in the shoulder (photo 108). This method is used by machine gunners when firing from light machine guns. It is also recommended for beginners.

Those who have acquired stable aiming and triggering skills shoot with the support of their left hand at the forend of the rifle (photo 109). In any case, the rifle must not be placed directly on the firm rest. Between the stop and the rifle, something soft must be placed - a hat, mitten, quilted jacket, etc. Otherwise, when fired, the vibration of the weapon will throw the rifle on the stop and take the bullet up, and quite far. Correct use of the stop is very important. To find out the influence of the stop when firing a rifle, at one time the gunsmith-test engineer N.M. Filatov conducted a number of experiments. The stops were taken of different rigidity (stone, sod, earth), and the place of their application was changed. The average results of the experiments when shooting prone at a distance of 100 meters are given in table. 5.

As can be seen from the table, the change in the height of the rifle battle when using different stops and their application in different places can be very significant. Moreover, this phenomenon is observed not only when shooting from combat rifles, but also from small-bore rifles too. In all cases, with the use of a more rigid stop, the rifle breakage increases. The difference in height with stops closer to the chamber or further from it, to the muzzle, is 7-8 cm.

In the educational process, practicing shooting techniques with an emphasis is valuable because in a calm, stable position, the shooter quickly acquires the correct skills of aiming and triggering. And even experienced shooters do not hesitate to return to shooting from time to time. Why are they doing that? If a person fired for a long time without using a stop - standing, kneeling or lying with a belt, then when shooting from a stop, he suddenly clearly discovers errors in the work of his finger on the descent, which with other shooting positions he became accustomed to and therefore invisible. The shooter may ascertain with surprise that he is pulling the trigger, or even pulling it to the side, or the trigger does not stretch at all. Knowing your mistakes helps you correct them.

As already mentioned, the shooter's ribcage is raised and the body rests mainly on the left elbow if the shooter shoots in a way of supporting the forend, or evenly on both elbows if the shooter maintains the correct position of the butt in the shoulder with his left hand.

To ensure the consistency of the fight, the emphasis should be in one specific place and have constant rigidity, close to the rigidity of the hand. And the place of application of the stop should correspond to the place of application on the rifle of the left hand when firing without a stop. Therefore, it is recommended to cover the hard stop with a roll of an overcoat, turf or something else soft.

When firing by the method of gripping the forend of the weapon with the left hand, the shooter does not so much support the rifle as fixes it and presses it against the soft stop. Note that the left hand of the shooter is wearing a glove (Plate 109). This is necessary so that the pulsation of the hand is extinguished with a soft glove and does not affect the weapon.

The butt to the shoulder should be pressed tightly. The recoil of both magazine and automatic rifles is great and substantial. If the stock is pressed firmly against the shoulder, the rifle will push hard back when fired. Will push, but not hit. And if the butt is not pressed, then it will hit, and quite tangibly. The butt should be placed on the shoulder in the region of the shoulder notch, neither to the right nor to the left. It is impossible to place the butt too low in the shoulder: by recoil, the weapon can knock back, down from under the shoulder, and with an optical sight break the arrow's nose or bridge of the nose. Such cases with newbies are not uncommon. It is also not necessary to put the butt too high - it is inconvenient. The stock is placed neither too low nor too high.

The place where the butt rests on the shoulder has a great influence on the position of the midpoint of impact. If the butt rests against the shoulder with its upper part, the fight of the weapon is reduced; when the lower part rests, an increase in the battle is observed. Therefore, the position of the butt in the shoulder must be constant in height. It is impossible to "play" with the butt up and down: in this case, there is a variation in height, and a significant one. To achieve consistency of combat requires a uniform preparation for shooting. Violation of this uniformity leads to a change in the forces acting on the weapon when fired, and thus to a change in the midpoint of impact.

It happens (and very often) that the incorrect position of the butt in the shoulder (usually low) causes a spread not only vertically, but also horizontally. This phenomenon is explained by the fact that the rifle barrel vibrating when fired receives a displaced fulcrum, which is why these vibrations are sharply increased. With a correctly defined place of the butt rest on the shoulder, the accuracy of the weapon's battle is restored as if nothing had happened.

When shooting from a stop, the wide stance of the elbows violates the stability of the weapon. In this case, the shooter is unnecessarily straining and tired. When the elbows are narrowed, the ribcage is compressed excessively, making breathing difficult. All this degrades the quality of shooting. Some shooters constantly move the left elbow, while bullet separation will be observed up and down.

Beginners quite often, for fear of a shot at the moment of triggering the trigger, instinctively raise the butt with their right shoulder, while the breaks are obtained to the left and down. In the same direction, the bullets go if the beginner excessively "pushes" on the butt with his cheek. It happens that, due to the fear of a shot, a beginner, when pulling the trigger, instinctively takes his cheek from the butt, and he does this before the drummer breaks the primer and the powder charge goes off. In this case, the bullets go to the right.

Shooting prone without support using a belt

It is not easy to find a suitable emphasis in a combat situation. Carrying it with you is hard. In the practice of mobile combat, as part of a reconnaissance or huntsman-search group, it is a long time to adapt a rifle for shooting at an emphasis, and there is nowhere to take it in a mobile fire contact. Therefore, snipers of the old formation, who had to shoot with paces and dashes, falling, rising for an instant jerk by 40-50 meters and falling again, instantly being made for shooting, practice the sports method of shooting while prone from a belt. The emphasis for this method of shooting is an ordinary general-purpose tarpaulin weapon belt.

The setup for this type of shooting is different from shooting from a stop. Of course, the emphasis itself is missing. The rifle belt, which plays its role, covers the shooter's arm between the elbow and shoulder. The belt is chosen so long that it is taut during manufacture and the weight of the weapon falls on it (1 in photo 110 and photo 111 - right and left).

Take a close look at these photos. The center of gravity of the weapon is on the left gloved hand, and the general support of the weapon is on the left elbow. The weapon naturally pulls forward, away from the shooter. But the strap, overlapped by the arm above the elbow, prevents him from going forward (2 in photos 110, 111). With a long belt, the weapon will be pushed forward; if it is too short, it will overly rest on the shoulder and will not fit into the position.

On a bent arm with a strap of optimal length selected for a particular shooter, the rifle can "stand" for at least two hours motionless, as if on a support.

The belt is attached to the weapon with a separate belt (3 in photos 110, 111). You can also use the standard belt in its standard mount, throwing it over the elbow and adjusting it to the required length (photo 112). In this case, the left hand holds the rifle, grabbing it by the grooves on the stock.

This fabrication turned out to be the only correct one, but it has its own inconveniences. Look how steeply, at an angle strictly 90 °, strictly vertical under the rifle is the left hand of the shooter (photo 113). This is how she stands when shooting, not deviating either to the right or to the left. This is inconvenient and even painful. To make it easier for the hand to support the rifle in this way, the strap feels like the shooter is pulled up or down. Deviations of the hand from the vertical are unacceptable - in which direction the hand deviates, the spread will be determined there.

Rifles are balanced in such a way that the position of the stop must match the application of the left hand grip without a stop. The place of grip of the rifle with the left hand is always projected near the center of gravity. On rifles, this place is indicated by grooves on the stock (7 in photo 112). Under this place, the left hand grips the forend tightly. As seen in the photographs, the left supporting hand is gloved.

As already mentioned, the glove dampens pulse fluctuations - without a soft grip, they become very noticeable. Shooters-sportsmen put on thick fur mittens with fur inside to neutralize the pulse on their left hand.

In the left hand, the rifle should not lie on the fingers, but on the palm, which should be turned with four fingers to the right. In this case, the rifle is held by the grip of the thumb on the left, and the other four - on the right. If the rifle rests on the fingers "to the side" of the palm, then this causes it to "stall" to the right. Tears will go in the same direction.

If the left elbow, bearing the bulk of the rifle and the raised ribcage, is pushed forward excessively, the barrel of the rifle will rise. If you push it back, it will go down. ; Therefore, the shooter himself chooses its optimal position. Since the left elbow is strictly under the rifle, and the stock is pressed against the shoulder, the chest is naturally raised. The main support, as already indicated, is on the left elbow, the right elbow supports the ribcage on the right side, but the force is applied to it half as much as on the left elbow. The rifle is held only with the left hand and shoulder and under no circumstances by the efforts of the right hand and right forearm! Otherwise, there will be uncontrolled horizontal tears.

For all the above reasons, the angle between the axis of the weapon along the barrel and the axis of the shooter along his spine increases (Photo 114, Scheme 33). This angle is greater than when shooting with a stop. This is a completely natural phenomenon, and shooters usually shoot like this with a turn of the body and legs to the left towards the firing plane. Photo 115 shows a normal, natural prone position with a strap. With the correct preparedness and the supporting left elbow, located strictly under the rifle, the arrow should not "fall" to the right and to the left. In this case, the right elbow is farther from the firing plane, to the right of the butt, and the support force chest on it is negligible. With the left elbow (which still strives to go to the left, and the rifle to the right), shifted to the left, the body falls to the right, and the right elbow takes on an increased effort. In this case, the right hand is included in the holding of the rifle. From all this, the rifle begins to "float" horizontally and "tear off" bullets to the right and left.

The instructors who work with the cadets are aware of this and constantly correct the negligent. It is not enough for the cadet to explain why and why it is necessary to do it this way and not otherwise. The instructor is obliged to "put" the cadet in the correct position of the arms, legs, body and elbows, and put it so that the cadet remembers it with muscle memory.

The left hand grip on the forend of combat rifles tends to slide forward due to play between the holding hand and the attachment strap. On sporting rifles, when shooting, the hand directly rests on the belt attachment point and is thus fixed. On combat systems, such a unit is not provided, so the shooter has to control this unwanted moment all the time. The position of the hand covering the fore-end determines whether the work will be high or low. The supporting hand "moving" forward makes the position lower. If you are too low, your eyesight gets tired quickly. The shooter in this position piles on the chest and squeezes it. This makes it difficult to breathe. If the position is too high, the silhouette increases for oncoming defeat. The shooter is overly tense and gets tired faster. The muscles of the left arm supporting the weapon receive additional stress, which impairs shooting accuracy.

With a strong belt tension, the effect of the pulsation on the weapon sharply increases - it begins to literally "jump" even in a very thick mitten. In addition, the hand starts to feel numb.

With a weak belt tension, the shooter experiences a "weapon-down-empty" sensation. The weapon falls into this void all the time, and as a result, it is impossible for beginners to develop the correct triggering skills.

As the Honored Master of Sports in Shooting V. Shamburkin said: "The rifle strap ties the rifle and the shooter into one whole." But the left hand, tied with a belt to the rifle, must be relaxed: then it, together with the belt, will replace the firm stop, and the quality of shooting of a more or less trained shooter with a belt is noticeably higher than with a firm stop. As already mentioned, when firing, the rifle "bounces" on the stop: on the hard one to a greater extent, on the soft one to a lesser extent. Therefore, paradoxically, for experienced shooters, shooting with a belt gives better results than using a stop. In addition, it is easier and more convenient to shoot at running targets "from the belt". Snipers who are accustomed to shooting from a belt, as a rule, do not like to shoot with an emphasis and, if possible, even in a calm, non-maneuverable environment, shoot from a belt.

But such a fabrication also has its drawback - a slightly raised silhouette. Therefore, in the event of a combat necessity of a low silhouette, everyone fires at a very low position, putting a rifle on what they find at the scene.

Shooting from the knee using a belt

This type of preparation is forcedly used in cases where it is impossible to shoot from a prone position - in ruins, at construction sites, from tall grass and small bushes.

The essence of the method of shooting from the knee is that the shooter sits on his right foot, or rather, on the heel of his right boot (photo 116). The body weight support is distributed over this heel and the right knee (photo 117), set aside and deployed at an angle of 60-80 ° to the firing plane. Almost the knee is separated from the left supporting leg by a distance equal to one and a half shoulder width. In this case, the total support area turns out to be quite large. The left leg carries the weight of the left hand holding the rifle. The strap connects the shooter and the weapon into one, and the principle of its use is exactly the same as when shooting in a prone position. The weight of the rifle is taken on a tensioned belt. But in the kneeling position, the belt is usually slightly released and the left hand is moved to support the weapon closer to the muzzle of the rifle. But it depends on the individual anatomical features of the shooter. Most snipers are accustomed to shooting both prone and from the knee with a belt of the same length and with the left hand gripping the stock in the same place. The belt is put on the left elbow in exactly the same way as in the prone position. And the left elbow is located strictly vertically under the rifle, in the same way as it is located when shooting prone (photo 118). The lower leg of the left supporting leg, which takes the weight of the entire front part of the shooter's system - the weapon, is in the firing plane strictly vertically under the left hand holding the rifle, forming a straight and strictly vertical line with it. Deviation from this vertical will result in horizontal spread.

If you look at the shooter shooting from the knee from the side (Photo 117), you can see that the left supporting shin is placed approximately vertically. This is a desirable but not mandatory provision. According to the anatomical features of the shooter, the left leg can be extended forward or even slightly pulled back, the left foot is turned to the right to the shooting plane as much as it is convenient for a particular shooter. Usually the shooter's elbow is placed on the patella, but for specific anatomical features, it can be moved forward or backward from the patella as much as it is convenient for the shooter.

The shooter's body is turned half-round to the firing plane. If possible, the shooter's head is kept straight. The body is slightly inclined forward. The right hand, covering the neck of the stock or lying on the pistol grip, is lowered with the elbow down and is in this state, forming a natural angle for the shooter with the body of 20-40 ° (photo 119).

As mentioned, the shooter sits on the heel of the right boot. Athletes in a kneeling position put a special roller under the lift of the right leg. Snipers will have nothing to put in a combat situation, so they train to sit with an emphasis on the flat unbendable sole of the boot or directly on the instep of the right leg. This is inconvenient and unpleasant, but there is no other way out. According to the instructions, the heel stop is made on the right buttock, but some shooters shoot with the heel stop on the tailbone: who is more comfortable and who feels more stable. In the kneeling position, the shooter must balance himself with the weapon: the mass of the shooter system - the weapon, which pulls forward, must balance with the mass that pulls back. An arrow that hunches down will pull forward; accordingly, the tears will go down. For a shooter who sits overly erect and leaning back, the breaks will go up. Therefore, in the pose of the shooter working on the knee, there must be complete balance.

When shooting from the knee, the sight moves away from the shooter's eye and the position of the butt should be slightly higher than that which was lying. In this case, it is necessary to correctly select the tension of the belt, which brings together all the production elements located above the belt. In this case, the shooter, working from his knee, hits the same way as he hits when shooting in a prone position.

It takes patience to learn the position from the knee. The position of the body is very static and unusual. Beginners have numbness and pain in the right leg on which they are sitting and the left hand holding the rifle. There comes a nasty tension in the back: you want to bend it all the time. Instructors force beginners to "sit" on their knees with a rifle and work idle for 40-50 minutes, then they are allowed to get up and stretch. The old-time standard prescribed a trained sniper to sit on his knee for one hour, while directly holding the target with a front sight or an aiming hemp of an optical sight.

When firing from the knee, the rifle should rest on the left hand, as if on a support, and be kept from moving forward by tightening the strap. With the left hand, the rifle is gripped and held in exactly the same way as in the prone position. The left hand should occupy such a natural position and the sniper should be so naturally oriented towards the target from his ready position that corrective movements with the left hand to the right and to the left are excluded. To do this, the shooter aims the rifle at the target, then closes his eyes and shakes the rifle left and right. In this case, by natural tension of muscles and ligaments, the weapon is set in some position away from the target. The shooter opens his eyes and checks himself. If the rifle, for example, "looks" to the right, the shooter turns with his legs and body to the left and checks himself again. And so on until the rifle is naturally aimed at the target. This position of the shooters tries to remember with the muscle-spatial memory and in the future to accept it automatically, without hesitation.

A common "illness" for beginners when working out the kneeling position is excessive stress on the shoulder and right arm. Straining the shoulder causes it to thicken, which in turn causes shooting to the left. Moreover, some shooters even "moonlight" with their shoulder to the butt. The shooter needs to be taught to keep his right shoulder under control. To do this, the instructor, being behind the shooter, feels his shoulder near the back of the butt. Muscle tension, if any, is felt very well. The instructor teaches the shooters that no matter how well the rifle stands, if the right shoulder or arm is tense, they cannot shoot.

Shooting from the knee, the shooter holds the rifle in the direction of the target not so much by the efforts of the left hand as by the correct, balanced position. The left hand, on which the rifle rests, must not be strained. When properly prepared, the rifle rests on the left hand, like on a pillow. Tension in the left arm or shoulders is a sign of improper fit.

Remember! The muscles of the left arm and shoulder girdle should be relaxed when shooting from the knee. The slightest muscle tension in the left arm, shoulder girdle and especially the right shoulder immediately leads to separations. If only the shooter felt the tension of the above muscle groups, he should put aside the shot and relax, taking several deep breaths and exhalations.

Shooting from the knee is perhaps the most difficult and technical shooting position. But a sniper needs to be able to work from the knee. In battle, you always come across places where there is nowhere to lie (for example, you are waist-deep in a river or in a swamp) and there is nothing to put a rifle on for an emphasis, but you have to shoot. And you can't stand up to full height, and there is nothing to rely on. And then, shooting from the knee with a certain level of training differs little in accuracy (and sometimes does not differ at all), which is achieved when shooting prone - with or without support. Therefore, the instructors at the old Zhukovsky (in memory of Marshal Zhukov) courses put the cadets in preparation for kneeling in the most severe and merciless way. The old instructors used the right technique: if the cadet stubbornly did not succeed in shooting from the knee, the belt was removed from his rifle and forced to work without a belt, paying attention to the correct position of the left hand, left elbow, body and other things, achieving an absolute natural fit, in which the shooter was so balanced that he was not pulled either to the right or to the left, or forward or backward. The results jumped sharply. The fact was that the newcomers, feeling how firmly the rifle was on the belt, literally "hung" on it, resting on the rifle and giving it forward. At the same time, they instinctively unloaded the right foot, on which they had to sit for 40 minutes prescribed by the instructor. But the center of gravity shifted forward, the now left leg began to feel numb and began to ache, which took on the weight of not only the arms with the weapon, but also the body. The shooter began to fall forward and to the right, stability was lost, in search of which the novice began to hunch over, which made him "hung" on the rifle even more.

Having put the cadet in the correct positioning without a belt and having brutally accustomed the cadet to it, the instructor then "tied" all the elements of this correct positioning together with a sufficient belt tension. The results were amazing.

Shooting while standing

Whether the sniper wants it or not, he will have to shoot while standing in a combat situation sooner or later. There will be a need to shoot while standing from tall bushes, from basement and attic windows, from broken buildings, where it is impossible to get close to the windows. Not to mention the fact that during the exercises you have to work on unfinished construction sites, contaminated to such an extent that there is not something to lie down, but even nowhere to kneel. On a hunt in the forest, no one lays down at all.

The standing position is the most difficult to shoot. It requires devilish patience, self-control and endurance from the shooter. When shooting from a standing position, the rifle "walks" more on the sides, up and down. He makes a lot of static efforts to keep the weapon in the area of ​​the aiming point. A shooter with a heavy rifle in the aggregate represents a system called a shooter - a weapon, and in order for this system to shake less, it is necessary to put it in such a way that it is in natural equilibrium and is not "pulled" in any certain direction. A man is not made of iron, and the rifle in his hands will fluctuate in one way or another. But with proper manufacturing, these fluctuations can be minimized, and then completely made random.

When shooting while standing, the shooter is forced to hold a heavy rifle. And to make it easier for him to do this, he supports it with his left hand near the center of gravity, and rests the elbow of his left hand against his side, against the ribs (photo 120). Since the weight of the weapon pulls the shooter forward, he deflects the body slightly back and towards the back of the head - this is clearly visible in photos 121, 122. This deviation starts from the buckle on the belt. The legs are set evenly and symmetrically so that the weight of the system of arrows - the weapon falls equally on each of them. The elbow of the left holding hand is placed strictly under the rifle (photo 123). If this condition is not met, separations begin to the right and left due to a decrease in the stability of the weapon horizontally. The shooter is turned towards the target about a quarter of a turn (Photo 120). The feet are set with heels approximately shoulder-width apart, the toes are unfolded symmetrically, as it will be convenient for a particular shooter. It is impossible to spread the legs too wide: at the same time they "loosen up" in the pelvic region and the "wobbling" of the pelvic region begins. It is also not recommended to put your feet too close - this reduces the total area of ​​support. Legs should be absolutely straight; bent legs also "loosen up", and this instantly affects stability.

The shooter's back should bend slightly not only to the side opposite to the rifle, but slightly back and "to the back of the head" (photos 121, 122). Why do all this need to be done and done exactly as described here? The shooter with the rifle aimed at the target must be absolutely balanced so that he is less pulled somewhere in one direction (breaks will go there too) and, accordingly, less rocking. For the same purpose, the head of the shooter is placed as straight as possible, without leaning too much forward and not too leaning back. The head is a kind of counterweight. The center of gravity of the shooter system - the weapon should be somewhere in the middle of the support area. Correct standing position keeps the shooter in static balance. If there is no such balance, the shooter has to tense some specific muscle groups, and this leads to premature fatigue. The balance position is the basic and reliable base for standing shooting. That is why the left elbow must be strictly under the rifle (photo 123).

In a standing position, the sights move closer to the eye, and the rifle is naturally inflated. In this case, the butt rests not on the shoulder fossa, but on the shoulder hump or a place to the right of it, where the shoulder passes into the arm, near the biceps (although it is more convenient for some shooters to shoot, resting the butt against the shoulder fossa, as they shot lying down and from the knee) ... The stock is fully attached and tucked tightly against the shoulder, and it is much more raised than when shooting from the knee and prone. In this case, one way or another, a great inconvenience is created to hold the rifle with the left hand. The weapon has to be supported with the left hand very high, and the arm's length is clearly not enough for this. With the usual grip of the forearm with the left hand, the position is so low that the shooter has to bend his head in order to look into the sight (photo 124). Even the high setting of the sight does not save the situation. Although some shooters, due to their anatomical features (short neck, long arms), shoot like that, and quite successfully. Arrows with long arms grip the rifle very firmly by the magazine box. By grabbing the left hand under the magazine and intercepting the belt, they shoot through it while standing from the SVD rifle (photo 125). In order to raise the rifle in the left hand, special devices are provided for and allowed by the rules of the competition on the sporting weapon: the so-called "champignon mushrooms". On a sniper combat weapon, such devices are not provided in any way: they make the overall weight heavier, increase the dimensions of the weapon and irritate the authorities. Therefore, from time immemorial, snipers learned to shoot, holding the rifle on the fingers of a closed hand (photo 126): precisely on the fingers tightly pressed together with the thumb resting on the trigger guard. This technique was used by the Russians, the Finns, and the Germans. At the same time, the rifle was raised 10 cm higher, which allowed the shooter to put his head straight and not tilt it forward, knocking off balance. To beginners, this method has always seemed frail, unstable and anecdotal. Therefore, in the old days, the instructor suggested that they invent something better in the middle of a bare polygon, and when they didn’t succeed, he punished the doubters.

The vertical position of the forearm under the rifle is a very difficult condition to fulfill. Therefore, some arrows, in order to give the left hand better support, push the left hip forward. Some bend their right leg slightly at the knee. But with this setup, the center of gravity falls more on the left leg and the shooter gets tired faster.

When shooting while standing, the right hand is usually lowered with the elbow down to 25-30 ° (see photo 122), as it will be convenient for a particular shooter. Some shooters resting the butt against the arm between the shoulder and bicep keep it elevated to the ground at a 90 ° angle, but this causes additional fatigue. This method is used when shooting in a bulletproof vest.

A shooter who has taken a balanced position while standing must definitely check himself in the correct static orientation. To do this, he closes his eyes, relaxes the body and shakes the rifle left and right until it stops in some natural position for her by natural tension of muscles and ligaments. It is this natural position of the weapon that is very valuable for shooting because it does not "pull" the rifle either to the right or to the left. If the weapon "pulls" somewhere, then the breaks will necessarily be in this direction. Having opened his eyes after checking, the shooter, by moving his feet, turns the system of shooters - weapons on the target. It is necessary to turn on the target only by moving the feet and in no case by twisting the body, and even more so by the efforts of the arms or shoulders. The correctly chosen position of the arrows is remembered by the muscular-orientation memory, and then, as it is trained, it takes it automatically, without hesitation.

After a beginner has acquired sufficient stability in the process of several trainings, he is allowed to use a rifle belt for shooting while standing as a stop. Usually a regular rifle belt is used, thrown over the elbow in the same way as when shooting prone (photo 127). In this case, the weight of the weapon falls on the tensioned belt. The belt can be "released" and thrown over the shoulder and back (photo 128). With this method, the tensioned belt dampens the vibration of the rifle. This technique is often used when the wind is from the left side, which significantly "wiggles" the arrow to the right.

In contrast to the prone and kneeling positions, where the shooter is generally contraindicated to apply force, especially to the left hand, on which the rifle should lie, as if on a support, when shooting while standing, you have to "rest". The rifle must be held in the standing position. The backward tilt of the body must be controlled. For this you need to apply force. The mistake newbies make is that instead of calmly applying force, they tend to tense up. As soon as the shooter starts to tense, shivers immediately appear. In this case, the shot must be set aside and rest.

In the photographs of this manual, the shooter is shown in summer uniform. This is done specifically for clarity of showing individual moments of production. In fact, everyone - riflemen, snipers, and sportsmen - shoot in combat conditions and train in a shooting range dressed in thick wadded jackets. Why? Thick quilted jacket noticeably reduces natural body vibrations and dampens pulsation, which negatively affects shooting accuracy. In addition, the padded jacket, which is tightly belted with a hip belt, greatly increases overall stability when standing. In addition, a pouch is put on the waist belt, on which you can rest the elbow of your left hand when shooting while standing. At sports competitions, all this is prohibited, and in combat practice everything that is useful is applicable.

Rifle fittings for shooting prone, kneeling, standing are the same for snipers and sports shooters. The only difference is that in sports practice the weapon is adjusted to match the shooter, and in live firing the shooter is adjusted to the weapon made to fit the shooter with average anatomy, with minimal orthopedicity.

And when setting optical sights, the shooter generally adapts as best he can: his eye is "tied" at a distance of 6-8 cm from the sight eyepiece and must be on its optical axis. Look at the photos: it would be nice for the shooter to fix his head with his cheek on the stock, but the scope is too high and the head has to be fixed with his chin. The neck is very tired from this. You just need to get used to this head position. On the SVD rifle, a special "cheek" is provided for this.

Correct preparation is the basis for accurate shooting, a kind of foundation for an accurate shot. And therefore the preparation should be monotonous. If the shooter empirically, through trial and error, has chosen a set of successful positions of body parts for shooting prone, standing, from his knee, then he must remember how he did it, and continue to take such a good position automatically. And if he took the position for shooting, for example, lying down completely differently from the position he occupied in the previous training session, let him not be surprised that he cannot get to the place where he fell before.

Accumulation of stability

Shooters know exactly what is called "weapon stability". What it is? This is the ability of the shooter to hold the weapon with sights in the area of ​​the aiming point without deviations, and the longer the better. Stability is gained by long idle workouts. In order not to break the mechanism of the weapon, a training cartridge or a spent cartridge case is inserted into the chamber. Each blank descent is executed like a live round! At first, the shooters are not given any ammunition at all and are forced to practice the correct position in the prone position to achieve solid skills in aiming and triggering. The development of stability is necessary even in such a seemingly capital shooting position, like prone. When shooting from the knee, the struggle for stability increases. But really the arrow starts to "swing" in a standing position.

As already mentioned, in a combat situation a sniper cannot avoid shooting either from his knee or while standing. It has been established by centuries of practice that standing shooting - with rifles and pistols - is better at people with a well-developed sense of balance - cavalrymen, fencers, sailors and pilots. These people feel the banks and are able to perceive and feel the balance of the weapon, its fluctuations and deviations in an undesirable direction. Moreover, people with a developed vestibular apparatus subconsciously, instinctively and quickly correct these unnecessary deviations. In the old days, aristocrats, to develop balance, forced their young sons to walk with a glass of water filled to the top on their outstretched hand, and mercilessly flogged them for every drop of water spilled on the floor. Quite quickly, the boys practiced walking with glasses filled to the brim on two outstretched arms, then they put the glasses on the backs of their outstretched hands, and then even on their shoulders and head. And only after the young offspring could freely and quickly with all this household move from room to room, he was given a firearm. With a perfect balance of the highest level, the skills of correct aiming and triggering of the trigger were instilled very quickly. Not so long ago, such methods of strength development of stability were still remembered. Old instructors told the author how, before and after the war, in special schools of the NKVD, cadets were forced to dance a waltz ... with a chair on outstretched arms, and the chair was held by the front legs in an upright position. After a month of such exercises, shooting with a pistol and rifle in any of the most unexpected and uncomfortable positions seemed child's play. In our time, balance is practiced by any available means.

Try skateboarding - rollerblades for a couple of months - and you will see how the quality of shooting has improved. Walk a couple of months on the usual boom on the obstacle course: the results of shooting will grow much faster than during normal training without mobilizing internal reserves. Standing shooting requires strength. Any set of dumbbell gymnastics will have the most beneficial effect on the quality of shooting. Still, the main factor in developing shooting stability is rough training work and purposeful patience.

Influence of weapon attachment on shooting. Breath. Aiming with open and telescopic sights.

Attachment

The butt is a method of resting the rifle butt against the aiming shoulder and the corresponding position of the sniper's arms and head. The attachment is essential for shooting accuracy.

As you know, when a shot is fired, the recoil of the weapon occurs, which affects the stability of the weapon when fired, and, therefore, negatively affects the accuracy of the fire.
When fired, the rifle, moving backward, pushes the sniper in the shoulder, which counteracts this push. Thus, two forces are obtained, acting in opposite directions. Due to the fact that the rifle butt has a bend, these two forces do not act in the same horizontal plane and tend to turn the rifle upside down. The deflection of the rifle will be the greater, the larger the shoulder of the pair of forces. Consequently, resting the butt against the shoulder with the lower angle, we will have a larger shoulder of a pair of forces than with the upper angle of the butt, and a greater deflection of the rifle barrel.

Hence the rule which the sniper must always adhere to: in order to obtain uniform angles of departure and maintain the accuracy of shooting, the rifle butt should rest against the shoulder in a uniform manner, without changing its position in the shoulder.

The lack of uniformity in the buttstock leads to a spread of bullets in height. If you rest the butt against the shoulder with the lower (sharp) angle of the butt (C), the bullets will go up, and if you push against the upper (obtuse) angle, they will go down (B).

The spread of bullets in height also occurs if the sniper puts the rifle on the stop with more than one and the same place on the barrel linings or changes the position of the left hand supporting the rifle.
To avoid the spread of bullets, you need to rest the butt of the rifle with the middle of the butt plate on the shoulder, the barrel linings should always lie in the palm of the left hand in the same place.
With the fingers of the right hand, freely, without tension, grasp the butt grip, pass the index finger into the trigger guard so that it touches the bracket with its outer side. Care should be taken not to grip the rifle with your fingers, which is usually neglected by novice shooters.

The more you grip the rifle, the more it trembles in your hands, which significantly reduces the accuracy of fire. The main thing, both in the preparation and in the application, is no tension.

Breathing while shooting

Rifle shooters fire a shot on exhalation, using a breathing pause (a gap of 1-2 seconds) between inhalation and exhalation. Why do riflemen do it this way and not otherwise? To better understand this, take a standing position with an emphasis. Aim the rifle at the target. Breathe in. You will feel that the chest expands and lifts as you inhale. Together with her, the butt of the weapon rose, respectively, the front sight dropped. When you exhale, the rib cage contracts in volume and the front sight rises. This happens both when shooting from a stop and when shooting from a belt. Anyone who shoots with a pistol can shoot while inhaling or half-exhaling, but a prone shooter with a rifle can only shoot fully on exhalation. At the moment of a respiratory pause, on exhalation, carbon dioxide begins to accumulate in the body, which has a relaxing effect on the muscles. The pulsation at the moment of the respiratory pause is the smallest. When the air is exhaled and the chest is contracted, the shooter's body is relaxed in the most natural way.
Therefore, the shooter is ready for the target in such a way that when exhaling, the front sight or other sights are naturally brought under the target.

The shooter can and should train himself to hold his Breath for 10-15 seconds required to fire. Before firing, it is recommended to take several deep, calm breaths in and out to enrich the body with oxygen.
At the time of the shot, the position of the front sight and other sighting devices relative to the target must be stable, that is, uniform. Such a stable position during sniper shooting can only be during the respiratory pause.

Beginner shooters with improper breathing when shooting are associated with a whole system of mistakes and misses.
If the shooter does not hold his breath at all while firing, contrary to the instructions of the instructor, from the side you can see how the barrel of his rifle "breathes" up and down. In this case, the detachments go vertically with a large value.
The breath should be held immediately before the shot, 5-6 seconds before it, after the position is verified, the shooter "lay down", first aimed the weapon at the target and peered into it. The mistake of novice shooters is often that they hold their breath, not "peering" at the target, and sometimes not even "settling down". At the same time, at the very end of the shot, they run out of air, the beginner begins to choke and quickly presses on the trigger. This leads to inevitable misses. For the instructor, a sign of an early breath holding by a cadet is that the barrel of a rifle, which, during normal breathing, also "breathes" up and down, and then stops for 5-6 seconds for a shot, does not "breathe" from the very beginning, but is observed before the shot small convulsive vibrations of the trunk.

For beginners, there is another extreme: they hold their breath too late, just before the shot, when the weapon has not yet "aligned" and is not "settled" for the shot properly. Separations are observed vertically, most often upward. The instructor notices such a cadet's mistake, paying attention to the absence of stopping the barrel oscillation up and down before the shot, or to its very slight stopping.

A widespread defect of novice shooters is holding their breath for a long time when firing. When the shooter holds his breath for a very long time, tightening the shot, then in the end he does not have enough air, comes oxygen starvation, and the shooter tries to quickly pull the trigger and finish the shot. The result is usually a miss. With all this, the shooter imperceptibly tenses himself, which causes increased fatigue.
For a normal shot, you need no more than 5-6, maximum 8 seconds. If the shooter cannot meet at this time, it means that something is bothering him. First of all, the instructor must check the correctness of the position: with the correct "lying down" and trained, worked out preparation, when everything that could have been ill, has been ill and does not hurt from any side, does not pull or press, nothing should interfere with the arrow.

In beginners, the most common cause of prolonged breath holding is low shooting resistance due to insufficient training. Therefore, the novice shooter is forced to stand ready for a prone position with a rifle and, observing all the rules of aiming, maintain the front sight at the designated aiming point, without looking up from the weapon and without lifting the butt off the shoulder for an hour. All this happens without idle clicks. The shooter trains only to hold his breath, performing it at the moment of combining the front sight with the desired aiming point. In this case, the preparation is simultaneously specified and straightened. The shooter gets used to the increased loads and determines what he did in the ready position correctly, and what was wrong and what clearly interfered with him. It is very important for the instructor that the student understands the necessity of all this and does it all consciously. The conscious enthusiasm of the shooter "from the inside" is more important in such cases than the commander's corrections "from the outside."

Some shooters, especially when shooting while standing, involuntarily tense the muscles of the shoulder girdle, abdomen, abdomen, neck and even face while holding their breath. When shooting while standing, you need to apply calm force, but you cannot strain. Tension of one muscle group reflexively entails unnecessary and senseless tension of other muscles. This negates the coordination of movements when aiming and triggering. Excessive stress causes increased fatigue of the shooter.
When the shooter is tense, he will usually take a quick deep breath before firing and exhale quickly after firing. And even the expression on the face of such a shooter is tense and worried.

To release tension, there is a very good practical technique: "while sitting, while inhaling, raise your arms through the sides, palms inward, at the same time stretch your legs forward. Holding your breath for 2-3 seconds, stretch strongly. Then, turning your palms forward and relaxing your muscles, exhale lower your arms down and pull your legs to the starting position "(F.I. Zhamkov. Initial training of a shooter-athlete).>

Aiming

Aiming with an open scope

Good vision is a prerequisite for correct aiming and marksmanship.
In order to aim the rifle at the target, you need to give it such a position when the eye sees the middle of the sight slot (at the level of the aiming bar mane), the top of the front sight and the aiming point on the same line. This is aiming. The task, at first glance, is very simple, but it is not so easy to complete it.

A beginner shooter often does not take into account the limited possibilities of our vision and makes gross mistakes in aiming. He wants to see the reticle, front sight and target equally clearly. Since his task is to hit the target, he focuses his attention on it, sees it clearly, distinctly and imperceptibly for himself takes an uneven front sight; the result is an inevitable miss.

First basic rule: when aiming with an open sight, you should close your left eye without tension. and on the right, to clearly and clearly see the cut of the sight and the front sight, not paying attention to the fact that the target will be seen somewhat vaguely. Therefore, the main thing is the slot and front sight, and the aiming point is secondary.

The front sight should be flat, i.e. be in the middle of the sight slot and flush with its edges. If the front sight is large, i.e. above the slot of the sight, the bullets will go up; if the front sight is small, i.e. below the sight slot, the bullets will go down. The smallest deviations of the front sight in the sight slot lead to a significant deviation of the bullet from the aiming point.

Therefore, if it is necessary to make an amendment, then it should be done through the appropriate installation of the sight or the removal of the aiming point. If the bullets fall to the right, you should aim as much to the left, but keeping an even front sight.

So the second rule is: you can never "play" with a front sight - an even front sight is an indisputable law of aiming.

Aiming with a telescopic sight

When aiming a rifle at a target with an optical sight, all aiming is reduced to the fact that the tip of the aiming mark must be aimed at the aiming point. At the same time, when shooting with an optical sight, the attachment becomes somewhat more complicated, since the sniper's eye must be in a strictly position relative to the optical sight.

When aiming, the following rules must be observed: Eye compatibility with the sight exit pupil. At the telescopic sight sniper rifle the exit pupil is 68 mm from the eyepiece.

Aiming errors:
a - the eye is 68 mm away from the eyepiece - normal
b - the eye is located far from the eyepiece
c - the eye is located close to the eyepiece

No millimeter ruler is needed to determine this distance. If the eye is closer or farther than the exit pupil, then in the eyepiece the shooter will see a ring shadow. Slightly moving the head closer or away from the scope, you need to find a position where this ring shadow disappears.

Keep an eye on the main optical axis of the scope. If the eye is displaced up, down or away from this axis, then shadows in the form of a crescent will appear in the field of view. These shadows are located on the side of the eyepiece where the eye deviates from the optical axis. In the presence of such a shadow, the bullets will deflect to the side opposite to the shadow (eye displacement).

Aiming errors:
a - the eye is on the extension of the optical axis and the sight - normal
b - the eye is located below and to the right of the optical axis of the sight
в - the eye is located above and to the right of the optical axis of the sight

Therefore, in order to correctly aim from a sniper rifle, you need to aim the point of the aiming mark at the aiming point and make sure that the field of view of the sight is completely clear, without any blackouts.

The habit of correctly positioning the eye relative to the eyepiece is not immediately developed. But through systematic training in attachment and aiming, the necessary skill is acquired and aiming is performed quickly and accurately.

Finally, third rule, which must be observed when aiming with both open and telescopic sights. It lies in the fact that you cannot dump the rifle. Stalling is understood as the position of the rifle when the mane of the open sight and the scale of the lateral corrections of the optical sight are not horizontal.

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When the rifle stalls to the right, the bullets deviate to the right and down, and this deviation is the greater, the greater the distance and stall angle.

When aiming, it is necessary to constantly monitor that the lateral correction scale of the optical sight is strictly horizontal. You need to aim with one eye, closing the other. Over time, after a little special training, you can shoot with your eyes open. This provides well-known advantages: the eyes do not get tired, observation is improved. However, in this case, you need to aim only with one eye, while the other eye must be directed to the target.

In the process of aiming, the eyes inevitably get tired. Therefore, in order to preserve visual acuity for the most crucial moment, aiming is divided into two periods:
During first period When the shooter has not yet begun to choose the descent, the correctness of the position is checked and the sniper eliminates various minor inconveniences with minor movements of the arms, elbows, legs and torso. This preparatory period takes half of the total aiming time, sometimes more. At this time, the shooter, without straining his vision, simply looks into the sights so that the eye gets used to the illumination and approximately focuses on the target.
Second period- this is the beginning of processing the shot as such, when the shooter held his breath, increased the pressure on the trigger and his eye began to clearly control the position of the front sight on the aiming point, that is, began to "peer" at the target, and, in fact, the front sight was held at the desired aiming point until moment of the shot.

The sniper should be aware that prolonged observation with an optical device is very eye-tiring. But that is not all. With eye fatigue, its functional state and the degree of perception change. These changes are so significant that they even cause a shift in the midpoint of impact. Even more, the middle point of impact shifts with a sharp transition of the eye from one device to another, having a different magnification. Look into the artillery compass, which has a tenfold magnification, and immediately after that try to aim from the PSO-1 sight. Observing through a compass or periscope is necessary - otherwise they can kill, and quite quickly. But with such an observation, the sniper needs to "rest with his eyes" more often, having in his visual memory a "visual picture" of the responsible observed area with the most important landmarks. By the way, this is useful in the sense that the sniper immediately becomes visible to the changes that have occurred in the landscape. Therefore, if possible, let your partner watch, and the sniper does not spoil his eyesight once again.

In a combat situation, the sniper shoots with both eyes open, as this preserves the benefits of binocular vision. The binocularity of sharp vision at distances of up to 800 meters makes it much easier to visually determine the distance to the target. In addition, the second, non-aiming eye allows you to catch changes on the battlefield.

Some individuals still cannot shoot with their left eye open. They say that after prolonged and intense visual work, they begin to see double.
This is indeed the case. But it is still impossible to squint an unintended eye. It is better to cover it with a narrow vertical strip of white (or even better light green) paper. In this case, the shooter "disconnects" the non-aiming eye from the aiming process, but retains its binocularity, and the light-receiving balance of both eyes remains the same.

Slow aiming (aiming)

If you aim for a long time, the shooter's eye gets tired very quickly. The physiological standard released for a shot from the moment of holding the breath is 8, maximum 10 seconds. After an excessively long (more than 10 seconds) "peering" at the target and control of the front sight at the aiming point, the so-called "progressive eye fatigue" occurs.

Remember! In one minute of continuous aiming, visual acuity drops by half. Two or three aimed shots tire the eyesight and reduce its sharpness much more than many hours of shooting with non-delayed shots.
At the end of "aiming" the eye gets so tired that it hardly distinguishes the position of the front sight and other sighting devices. The shooter does not notice this, because his visual memory retains in his consciousness a "sighting picture" in full brightness for 2-3 seconds.

The reasons for targeting are basically the same as for holding the breath for a long time. And the consequences are the same. Targeting and holding the breath for a long time are associated with each other. The methods for eliminating this deficiency are the same. If the instructor assigned the cadet to "lie down" for one hour, without lifting the butt off the shoulder, then the cadet's task is to train, together with holding his breath, and control of sight for sights according to the following scheme: control of readiness and elimination of its minor negative moments (at this moment, vision rests) ; mobilization for a shot, holding the breath (at this time, the vision "peers" at the target and clearly controls the position of the front sight at the aiming point). After 8 seconds, inhale and rest the eyes. And so on for an hour without idle clicks. It is good if during this hour someone with a clock will be next to the cadet to count the above 8 seconds. The time is gradually decreasing. The benefits of this teaching technique can hardly be overestimated.

Healing is a very disgusting phenomenon that sometimes appears even among masters with many years of experience. To reduce it, the shooters learn the so-called tempo shooting technique. What it is? Pace shooting is when the shooter learns to shoot in a certain period of time - no more and no less. At this certain moment, the mobilization of the body should begin, the holding of breath, the aiming eye should "peer" and the finger should work on the trigger. And when all these components of the shot will be "accustomed" to fire in the same period of time, and not particularly long, they begin to reflexively depend on each other. If any of these functions are delayed or fail to work, other components "spur" on it, and the shot occurs at the level of automatism. Practical snipers learn to make a shot in 2 seconds, counting in their mind "twenty two - twenty two" - this will be 2 seconds. During this time, the sniper makes a shot at a subconscious level, not thinking how he breathes, peers, mobilizes and presses on the trigger. With the developed rate of the shot, everything happens by itself.

Blinking or fear of being shot

If the shooter blinks when aiming in the usual way, as all normal people do, this will not be reflected in the shooting results. But among beginners, the disease of fear of the shot is common, especially from combat magazine rifles with a strong recoil. Instinctively, the cadets close their eyes before firing and, of course, stop aiming. Very often at the same time they pull the trigger, finally knocking down the aiming of the weapon. They should be weaned from this, explaining that when the rifle jerked and pushed in the shoulder, the bullet was already in the target. And the roar of a shot generally poses no danger to health. And, by the way, it is very interesting to look with both open eyes at the rifle and towards the target at the moment of the shot.
Then the instructor demands from the "Morguns" to report where the front sight was looking at the moment of the shot (mark the shot). To the most incorrigible of the "morguns" the instructor insidiously and imperceptibly puts training cartridges with sand instead of gunpowder. Why with sand? The gunpowder in the cartridge is poured and rustles by ear, and so does the sand. Stubbornly blinking cadet, waiting for a shot, when the cartridge is not working, his own flaw becomes obvious. After that, the instructor forces the cadet to work only with training non-firing cartridges, from time to time placing live cartridges among them. Thus, cadets are taught not to pay attention to the rumble of a shot and recoil in general.

Head position when aiming

When shooting with an open scope, in which the line of sight is low enough, the shooter's head is positioned so as not to tire the eyes. As already mentioned, the eyes fatigue more quickly when the fit is low. Why? Because the head is too tilted forward and the shooter looks at the sighting line from under his brows, "turning" the eye unnaturally from the bottom up, which makes the eye muscles get tired and reflexively, all other eye perception systems get tired with them. Therefore, both in low and in all other positions in all positions - both from the knee and while standing - the head should, if possible, be turned with its face perpendicular to the line of sight. When shooting from the knee and while standing, it is very undesirable to stretch your head forward. At the same time, the muscles of the face and neck are overly tense. Position your head so that it is convenient for you to see a slightly blurred rear sight, a clear flat front sight and a clear target. Place your cheek against the stock and tilt it slightly to the right to make it easier to keep your eye on the aiming line, but tilting your head too much to the right is not recommended. Quite often, beginners, having taken the correct position, change the position of the head on the butt from shot to shot. Monotony is violated, the spread increases.

When shooting while standing, some shooters tilt their head back too much. From this, the eyes are forced to squint. Some turn their heads and look askance, unnaturally straining the aiming eye.

Incorrect positioning of the head tires the eyes, leads to a delay in the shot and a decrease in shooting accuracy. Some shooters change the position of their head at the time of aiming, which only worsens the conditions of the shot.
The instructor's task is to simultaneously monitor the movement of the cadet's finger on the descent and to ensure that his head does not come off the butt and does not move during aiming.

F.I. Zhamkov, in his instruction "Initial training of a shooter-athlete", gave a very good, proven method of fixing the head on the butt: back, then, turning the chin to the butt, press down on it from above and lower the head to the desired position, while relaxing the neck muscles. At the same time, a fold forms on the cheek, which will not allow the head to go down when the muscles are relaxed. "

Trigger trigger for pistol grip sniper rifles. The principles of static training.

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OPTICAL SIGHT PRACTICE

The optical sight is an integral part of the sniper "trade". This device is indispensable for convenient, fast and accurate aiming. Only he allows the sniper to reach the target at distant distances. Thanks to the aperture and magnification of the image with the optical sight, it is possible to fire at targets not only significantly distant, but also small, inconspicuous and disguised, as well as to hit targets invisible to the naked eye.

The properties of the optical sight make it possible to shoot effectively in unfavorable lighting conditions and in conditions of limited visibility. The increase in the sight in combination with sufficient aperture allows you to fire even at dusk and in moonlight. The optical sight makes it possible to monitor the battlefield and correct the results of shooting, helps to find targets and determine the distances to them.

The optical rifle sight is a telescope with mechanisms for setting the aiming angles and taking into account lateral corrections and consists of a body, objective and eyepiece tubes.

On the body there are: an aiming angle mechanism (corrections for the firing range, or vertical corrections) with a flywheel and a distance scale notched in numbers every 100 meters, a lateral correction mechanism with a flywheel and a lateral correction scale with a division value of one thousandth of the distance.

The optical part and aiming threads are placed inside the sight. In the sights of old models PU, PE and PB, the reticle is formed by steel elements - an aiming hemp and side alignment threads (Scheme 12). In modern PSO-1 sights, metal aiming threads are replaced by an aiming reticle (Scheme 13) applied to the surface of one of the lenses. The optical part consists of a lens, a reversing system (Scheme 14) and an eyepiece (Scheme 15). The objective and the eyepiece with their frames are fixed in the sight, while the reversing lens system with its own frame and inner tube can move along the axis of the sight when the diopter ring or micrometer screw (for the PU sight) rotates. By moving the reversing lens system along the scope, the clearest visibility is achieved.

Scheme 12. Scheme of aiming threads

Scheme 13. Reticle of the PSO-1 sight mounted on the SVD rifle

Scheme 14. Section of the turning system:

1 - glued team;

2 - frame;

3 - case

Scheme 15. Section of the eyepiece of the PU sight:

1 - glued team;

2 - eye lens;

3 - eyepiece frame;

4 - eyepiece ring;

5 - eyepiece nut;

6 - locking screw

In the sights PU, PE, PB, a vertical aiming thread with a sharp end is called an aiming hemp (Scheme 16). When the rifle is correctly sighted, the point of the aiming hemp is aligned with the desired point of impact, and the bullet should "fall" on the tip of the point of the aiming hemp. The threads located on the sides of the aiming hemp are called lateral alignments, designed for the correct orientation of the weapon along the horizon in order to avoid its "stalling" and to determine the distances to the target. The aiming threads can move up, down, right and left in the field of view of the sight.

Scheme 16. Sighting threads of sights PU, PE, PB:

Projection of the angular magnitudes of the aiming threads in thousandths

The design of the mechanism for introducing corrections is shown in diagrams 17 and 18.

Scheme 17. Sighting device:

1 - horizontal hair (thread); 2 - vertical hair (thread); 3 - crosshair washer; 4 - slider; 5 - crosshair frame; b - screw; 11 - handwheel with a scale of lateral corrections; 12 - handwheel with distance scale

Scheme 18. Mechanism for setting the aiming angles and lateral corrections of the PU sight:

1 - crosshair frame; 2 - locking screw; 3 - squeezing washer; 4 - limb of the lateral correction scale; 5 - vertical correction scale limb; 6 - mechanism body; 7 - handwheel for setting the range (aiming angles); 8 - handwheel of lateral corrections

When the vertical flywheel rotates with the distance scale, the screw rotates (6 in diagram 17). The slider associated with the screw will move along the screw and, being connected to the frame of the crosshair (5 in Figure 17), on which the threads (7, 2 in Figure 17) are fixed, will pull it up or down, depending on the direction of rotation of the flywheel ...

Likewise, by rotating the handwheel with the lateral correction scale, the aiming threads (or the aiming reticle) can be moved to the right or to the left. Thus, range corrections are made by rotating the upper (vertical) flywheel located on top of the sight. Horizontal adjustments are made by rotating the horizontal (side) flywheel located to the right or left of the sight.

With an increase in the firing range, the vertical remote flywheel rotates clockwise (if you look at it from above), while the aiming threads (or the net) go down, the rifle barrel rises up and the bullets, respectively, also go up (Scheme 19). With a decrease in the firing range, the vertical remote flywheel is rotated counterclockwise; in this case, the aiming threads (reticle) go up, and the bullets, respectively, go lower. As mentioned earlier, the scales of remote flywheels are calibrated in hundreds of meters (Scheme 20). Therefore, after visually determining the distance to the target, the remote flywheel is set by the corresponding figure against the control risk. This principle of vertical distance corrections is the same for the PU, PE, PB and PSO-1 sights.

Scheme 19. Introduction of range corrections in the sights PU, PE, PV, PB. Remote handwheel rotates clockwise, threads (net) go down, bullets go up

Scheme 20. Reticle of the PSO-1 sight mounted on an SVD sniper rifle

Introduction of amendments to the PSO-1 sight.

By range: set the upper flywheel to the required division - it corresponds to the distance. Horizontally: turn the side flywheel to the red numbers - the net will go to the left, the bullets will go to the right; on black numbers - the net will move to the right, the bullets will go to the left

Horizontal (lateral) corrections (for the wind and for moving targets) are made by rotating the horizontal (lateral) flywheels. The scale of lateral corrections contains divisions with a + (plus) sign for corrections to the right and with a - (minus) sign for corrections to the left, always 10 divisions in each direction. Only the fifth and tenth divisions are numbered. Each division corresponds to one thousandth of the distance. But on scopes of different types, the side flywheels do not rotate in the same direction. On the PU, PE, PB sights, they are on the left so as not to interfere with the manual opening of the shutter on non-automatic three-line rifles (photo 98), and on the PSO-1 sight, designed for the SVD automatic rifle, the side flywheel is located on the right (photo 99). Consequently, the side flywheels rotate in different directions. On the sights PU, PE, PB, when the side flywheel (having it in front of you) rotates counterclockwise, from 0 to plus, the threads go to the left, and the bullets (middle point of impact) go to the right (Scheme 21). When rotating it clockwise, from 0 to minus, the threads go to the right, and the middle point of impact, naturally, to the left (Scheme 22).

Photo 98. The location of the correction flywheels on the PB sight. The handwheel of lateral corrections is located on the left, so as not to interfere with the opening of the shutter

Photo 99. Location of correction flywheels on the PSO-1 sight. Lateral adjustment flywheel is located on the right. It does not interfere with opening the bolt on the SVD rifle

Scheme 21. Lateral corrections for PU, PE. PB. The midpoint of impact (STP) always goes in the direction opposite to the movement of the aiming threads

Scheme 22. Lateral corrections to PU. PE, PB. The midpoint of impact (STP) always goes in the direction opposite to the movement of the aiming threads

On PSO-1 sights, if you rotate the lateral correction flywheel (having it in front of you) clockwise, from 0 to red numbers, the reticle goes to the left, the middle point of impact (STP) - to the right (Scheme 23). If you rotate the mechanism counterclockwise, from 0 to black numbers, the grid goes to the right, the middle point of impact goes to the left (Scheme 24). On the end surfaces of the flywheels of the PSO-1 sight, for better clarity, rotation arrows and the corresponding movement of the middle point of impact are drawn: STP> to the right; STP up, STP

Scheme 23. Lateral corrections for PSO-1. The midpoint of impact (STP) always goes in the direction opposite to the movement of the reticle

Scheme 24. Lateral corrections for PSO-1. The midpoint of impact (STP) always goes in the direction opposite to the movement of the reticle

Photo 100-A. Side view of the horizontal flywheel of the PSO-1 sight. Designation of the direction of the midpoint of impact (STP)

Photo 100-B. Top view of the remote flywheel of the PSO-1 sight. Designation of the direction of the midpoint of impact (STP)

Photo 101. If you turn the side flywheel of the PSO-1 sight clockwise, the bullets (middle point of impact) go to the right "into the palm"

Photo 102. If you turn the side flywheel of the PU sight counterclockwise, the bullets (middle point of impact) go "out of the palm" to the right

Photo 103. If the remote flywheel is turned clockwise, the bullets will go up "into the palm"

After the shooter sets the distance to the target with the upper flywheel and sets the lateral correction to the wind, bullet derivation and target movement (if necessary), you can start aiming. The target image enters through the lens to its focal plane in a reduced and inverted form (Scheme 25) and will be inside the sight at a distance of 70-100 mm from the lens (depending on the type of sight). Sighting threads (or glass with an aiming reticle) are also installed in the same place. The reversing system (Scheme 14) inverts the target image and makes it straight, but reduced; the eyepiece lenses are used for magnification (Scheme 15).

Scheme 25. Scheme of the path of the rays and the construction of the image in the optical sight

When the weapon is properly aimed, the bullet should "fall" on the tip of the aiming element (schemes 26 and 27).

Scheme 26. Aiming with sights PU, PE, PB, PV. The bullet "falls" on the tip of the aiming hemp. This is the aiming point. The field is clear, no shadows

Scheme 27. Aiming with the PSO-1 sight. The bullet "falls" to the top of the main square - to the aiming point. The sight field is clean, strictly delineated around the edges

The sighting device and the target image are in the focal plane of the lens, so the shooter's eye adjusts only one distance, and aiming consists in aligning the tip of the sighting devices with the target image. Some designs allow setting the sharpness of the image according to the shooter's eye using the diopter ring. Removing the exit pupil 85-95 mm from the eyepiece lens allows shooting with glasses and a gas mask, and also ensures eye safety when recoiling the rifle.

With correct aiming of the eyes, the shooter should be strictly on the optical axis of the sight (Scheme 28). This means that the visual field of the sight must be absolutely clean, its perimeter is strictly delineated, without crescent (or, as they say, moon-like) darkening and shadows around the edges. Bullets will always go in the direction opposite to even a slight crescent darkening, and they will go quite far from the aiming point (Schemes 29-31). The eye is placed at such a distance from the scope eyepiece, at which its visual field will be seen completely, in full size, not closer and not further from this optimal distance.

Scheme 28. Sight field without moon and ring shadows.

Remember! The following rules of aiming with a telescopic sight should be strictly observed: the sight field must be absolutely clean from all sides, without ring and crescent blackouts

Scheme 29. Bullets go in the opposite direction from the crescent shadow

Scheme 30. The eye is not on the optical axis

Moon shadow below

Bullets will go up

Scheme 31. The eye is not on the optical axis

Moon shadow to the right

Bullets will go to the left

If the eye is located further or closer, the field of view is reduced and its edges "blurred" (Figure 32). In general, this is not a problem if the visual field is uniformly blurred along the edges, but it is highly undesirable, because when the visual field is "blurred" along the edges, the correct position of the eye on the optical axis imperceptibly goes out of control.

Scheme 32. The eye is on the optical axis, but the optimal distance is not maintained. The field of view is shrinking

The visual process of aiming with optics is very strict and requires a solid skill, acquired through persistent training. For beginners (there is no need to be ashamed of this word), a practical way of establishing the field perimeter is recommended: when aiming the eyes, zoom in to the eyepiece gradually; the narrowed visual field observed in this case expands until its so-called "front" border becomes clearly visible. This will be the working distance from the eye to the scope for a particular shooter. In this position, you should constantly monitor this border so that it is clearly visible. In the targeting process, this element is perhaps the most important. This skill can be acquired very quickly if you carry the optical sight removed from the rifle with you and use it for a couple of days instead of binoculars.

The shooting process with a telescopic sight is much more difficult than it might seem. Shooting with optics is hard. Seduced by information about the wonderful properties of aiming optics, beginners are trying to put on their weapons sights with a larger magnification. And often, to their annoyance, they state that they get worse with optics than just with an open sight. Let us explain why this is happening.

The greater the magnification of the sight, the more the target "jumps" in its visual field and the harder it is to "catch" on it. The more the target "jumps", the more the shooter tries and "rests". And the more he tries, the more the target "jumps". The body's natural pulsation enhances this process. The shooter takes aim. The target "comes to life" in the visual field of the sight and in its own way "interferes" with the aiming process. The vicious circle is closed.

Shooting with a high magnification of the sight can only be very trained snipers, the combat specificity of whose work allows shooting with a stop (for example, arrows sitting in a motionless ambush, or arrows of anti-terrorist groups). Snipers working in mobile reconnaissance, sabotage or search teams cannot afford this luxury.

Army sniper sights with a magnification of usually 3.5-4.5 times, less often with six times, tied to tough front-line practice, are produced in all countries. During the last war, German and Finnish snipers on ultra-precise Mauser-7.92 rifles (photo 104) had sights with a magnification of only 2.5 times (photo 105). The Germans (and these were smart people) believed that it was no longer necessary. German snipers had scopes with tenfold magnification, but only virtuosos fired with them. Such a sight was obtained as a trophy by the Russian sniper Vasily Zaitsev in a duel with the head of the Berlin school of snipers.

Photo 104. Arsenal of the German sniper. Mauser-7.92 rifle, Walter PPK and Walter P-38 pistols

Photo 105. German sniper scope with 2.5x magnification

Low to medium shooters hit better with low magnification scopes. The telescopic sight is a great invention. With its help, distant and indistinguishable targets become close and attainable. In the optical sight, the target is clearly visible at dusk, when it is not visible to the naked eye at all. In the telescopic sight, the target is slightly visible even in the dark. But the process of aiming with a telescopic sight is very strict, when aiming one must be very collected and very attentive. The optical sight does not so much facilitate aiming as it mobilizes the efforts of a trained shooter to aim and hold the weapon. It is in this regard that the optical sight allows highly trained shooters to realize their reserve capabilities. The optical sight is a means of realizing the training of the shooter. And the greater the degree of training and the acquired stability the shooter has, the greater the increase in the sight he can afford. Only professional snipers with a well-set preparation, developed stability, with a nervous system balanced to complete indifference, with no pulsation and possessing hellish patience, can afford to work with a sight magnification of 6 times and higher. For such shooters, the target in the sight behaves calmly and does not try to control the shot.

After acquiring an optical sight and installing it on the barrel, shooters often face unpleasant surprises. Sometimes an expensive and luxurious sight behaves incomprehensibly during the sighting process, it is difficult to control the amendments, the instability of the accuracy of the battle is revealed, etc. Few people know that the sight is different from the sight. Optical sights are subdivided into army sniper, sport and hunting. And although technically they are arranged about the same, they are not the same thing.

Owners rifled weapons who want to put optics on their barrel, a natural question arises: which sight is still better? The practical experience of many generations of shooters shows that the best and most reliable optical systems are those that have been tested in war.

Army sniper sights of the previously named types (PU, PE, PB and PSO-1) were designed for use in extreme conditions of combined arms combat and for particularly accurate, error-free shooting at long distances in sniper fishing. They have very strong, thick-walled bodies, durable lenses designed for the strong recoil of military weapons, and have a multiple reserve of mechanical strength. Their very precise vertical and horizontal adjustment mechanisms are manufactured to the first class of accuracy.

The front objective lenses of sniper scopes are made of a small diameter: the sniper does not need a large visual field. In addition, the sniper does not need unmasking reflections from the large glass and its large frontal silhouette, which also unmasks. Sniper scope brackets are made very strong and massive; the weight of the weapon system has a positive meaning for the sniper - the larger it is (within reasonable limits), the more accurate the battle. In most cases, the sight is firmly attached to the weapon in order to exclude the slightest backlash and hesitation.

The aiming elements of army sniper sights are made so that they cover the target as little as possible and so that they can select the aiming point as accurately as possible. For this, the crosshairs of the PU, PE, PB and PSO-1 sights are open from above. In the sights PU, PE, PB, the target is clearly visible on the tip of the aiming hemp. In the reticle of the PSO-1 sight, the target is visible even better: both from above the aiming square and just below its point. In addition, the PSO-1 sight has a reticle illumination. At dusk, this device can hardly be overestimated.

To the above, it should be added that sniper accurate and reliable optics (it simply cannot be different) is installed on barrels of particularly precise manufacturing and high purity of internal processing, giving a high accuracy of combat. All this together forms an accurate or high-precision sniper system.

Hunting and sporting scopes are not made for war. Their purpose is different, and the design and manufacturing requirements are not so stringent.

For hunting purposes, scopes are usually manufactured with large diameter front objective lenses that provide an increased field of view. With this scope, it is easier to shoot at a large running target at real forest hunting distances of 150-200 meters. In a large field of sight, it is easier to "capture" a running target. Hunting scopes usually do not have aiming stumps and squares: instead of them, different aiming marks are put “for an amateur”: dots, risks and, most often, solid crosses, the center of which is easier for beginners to “tie” to different parts of the animal's body.

Hunting scope bodies are thin-walled for light weight. For the same purposes, the mountings of these sights are made of light alloys. The mechanisms for introducing vertical and lateral corrections are also made of a lightweight type and with a lower degree of accuracy. To please the consumer, optical hunting sights are made with variable magnification. In such optics, moving friction surfaces sooner or later wear out, backlash appears, coupled with mechanical displacements, causing optical parallaxes (mismatch of optical axes; for this reason, army sniper sights are made of constant magnification - accurate optics does not tolerate backlash).

Sports sights differ from hunting sights in cleaner lens processing and increased accuracy of correction mechanisms (for example, TO-4 and TO-6 sights for shooting at a "running boar"). But their hulls are also thin-walled with a small margin of safety.

Most sporting and hunting scopes are designed for small bore rifles and low recoil hunting rifles. When equipping a powerful "St. John's wort" with such sights (as well as night vision sights), they are installed on special "floating" shock-absorbing brackets.

Not knowing all these subtleties, many hunters and even snipers put chic optics on three-line rifles and hunting carbines that shoot live ammunition. The recoil of combat systems is incomparable with the recoil of a hunting weapon. After several dozen shots, the large and heavy front objective lens simply flew out of the frame or shattered into pieces. Thin-walled bodies of sights crumpled with a sharp recoil impulse, and the sight began to "breathe" in the bracket. The increased load in the joints of the graceful light-alloy "proprietary" mounts and in the places of their landing on the weapon formed backlash. With side impacts, the delicate structures of these openwork mounts were deformed, knocking down the aimed sight to the side. At the same time, there could be no question of firing accuracy.

In the course of shooting, snipers and hunters make sighting adjustments constantly, and the flywheels of the sights have to be turned all the time. Army and sporting sights are adapted to this, but hunting sights are not always.

There are frequent cases when, working with a broken recoil by the correction mechanism of a hunting sight (and very often - even completely new and generally "non-firing"), the middle point of impact (STP) does not want to move on the target in any way. The flywheel is rotated again and again, to the bitter end, and the middle point of impact suddenly “jumps” over the place in the target where it is intended to “lie”. This means that the sighting device is either "loose" by the recoil, or carelessly designed and poorly made, or worn out. In the PSO-1 sights, the reason may be poor placement or improper fit (swelling) of dust and moisture-proof leather seals. The correction unit is the most critical part in optical sights, and it is necessary to pay attention to its work first of all. Even in army sniper sights, this phenomenon of "wandering STP" no, no, and it manifests itself due to wear of the micrometric screws. Therefore, knowledgeable snipers, before introducing an amendment, first bring the flywheels to zero, and then set them to the required amount of the amendment.

When purchasing a sight, pay attention to the cleanliness and transparency of the lenses, the clarity of the target image and the reticle (s). Hold the scope in front of the aiming eye for a longer time. If the eye gets tired quickly even with a clear image, the scope must be discarded or repaired. Rapid eye fatigue is due to incorrect positioning of the lenses and the mismatch of their optical axes (parallaxes). Then fix the sight motionless, turn the correction handwheels in different directions and visually observe how synchronously the aiming threads move in the scope of the sight. If you turn the handwheel, and the movement of the threads does not occur immediately, but with a lag, it means that the fixing and fixing screws have "come off" in the correction mechanism, or, most likely, the threads of the micrometric screws have worn out. The fastening screws can be "tightened" and the situation will be corrected, but when the micrometric screws wear out, the shooting accuracy will no longer be. With old scopes, when the vertical flywheel is rotated, you can notice the displacement of the aiming threads along the horizon, or when the horizontal flywheel is rotated, the threads are displaced vertically. This is due to wear on the sliders of the micrometer screws and the crosshair rim. In this case, the sight is often unsuitable for use.

Press down on each handwheel in turn, visually checking the position of the aiming threads: they should not move. Tap gently but firmly with the edge of your palm on the crosshair in the area of ​​the correction mechanism - the threads should remain in place.

Sometimes all of the above negative phenomena occur due to the spontaneous unscrewing of the mounting screws. It happens that the sight begins to work flawlessly after it is carefully disassembled and correctly assembled. But this can only be done by an experienced master.

Please note that the accuracy of the battle of even a luxuriously finished hunting rifle is at best equal to the accuracy of the battle of an army Kalashnikov assault rifle. Add to this the above-described errors of the correction mechanisms of hunting optical sights and do not expect any miracle. The sniper shoots at 700-800 meters to the enemy between the eyes, the hunter - at the carcass of an elk at 150 meters. Different targets - different weapons. Knowing the above negative points, before purchasing an optical sight, measure your goals and capabilities. If you need to equip a high-recoil combat or hunting system with optics (and in most cases it does), choose a hunting scope with a massive thick-walled body and a small front objective sleeve. Or use an army scope. Don't forget about recoil - this is the number one enemy of optics. On a three-line rifle, the return blow of which is simply monstrous by modern standards, you can put only its "native" sights PU, PE and PB. Even the PSO-1 sight, which works perfectly and for a long time in the Tiger, Bars, Saiga, Arkhar, Vepr hunting systems and on the SVD, SVT, SKS combat systems, "breaks" with this rifle.

But that is not all. Mount the sight on the weapon should exclude the slightest displacement and swing. We must not forget that even a small but sharp recoil impulse of a small-bore rifle slowly but surely loosens the bracket in the places of its joints, and if it "swayed", then the use of optics no longer makes sense.

REMEMBER! The quality of the bracket is almost more important than the quality of the scope itself. The bracket should not have weak points. Most weapon systems are not designed for telescopic sighting. Therefore, if the hunter wishes to equip his rifle with sighting optics, in each specific case, the bracket is made piece by piece according to a separate drawing by an experienced milling cutter. The bracket must be solid and reliable, made of good steel. It must be attached tightly to the receiver of the weapon. On old magazine rifles with their thick-walled receivers, this is easy to do (Scheme 8, Photo 94). But in modern automatic systems with thin walls of the receiver, the larger the contact area of ​​the base of the bracket with the box, the better. Why? Because there is simply nowhere to screw thick screws (MB, M8) into the thin wall of the receiver, and the sight with the bracket does not hold well on thin screws. Photos 106, 107 show a bracket of a relatively heavy PSO-1 sight, successfully made by a gunsmith according to an individual project, covering the thin-walled receiver of an SVT rifle on both sides. The use of the bracket should exclude the "knocking down" of the sight even with strong direct and side impacts, otherwise the practical value of the optics will be reduced to zero. Both the hunter and the sniper have to work in harsh conditions, the weapon will repeatedly fall and hit exactly with the aim (according to the law of meanness) on the most inappropriate objects. And if the bracket is not firmly attached to the receiver of the weapon, it will move to the side during a side impact, and when fired, it can simply be demolished by recoil along with the sight.

The bracket should be designed to allow disassembly, assembly, cleaning and lubrication of the weapon without removing the telescopic sight. (In addition to factory-made systems, in which the mounting points of the sight are very precisely made and the possibility of quick removal and quick setting of the sight or replacement of sights from day to night is provided.)

In addition, the design of the bracket must provide free aiming with an open sight. For this, the optical sight is mounted on the side of the receiver (the PE, PB and PU sights have side brackets). If the sight is mounted on top of the receiver, the bracket must have "windows" to allow operation with an open sight (photo 88). Despite all the advantages of optics, the presence of an open sight on the rifle is required! Optics are glass that can break or crack easily. And then all the hope is for a well-aimed and verified open sight. In addition, having a well-aimed open sight, you can very quickly "set" and aim the optical sight (see below).

Photo 106. PSO-1 sight on SVT rifle (left view):

1 - "dovetail" - sight seat,

2 - M4 fixing screw;

3 - fastening screw M8.5, screwed from the inside through the buffer sleeve, unscrewed when cleaning the weapon;

4 - if it is necessary to displace the body of the sight, thin metal spacers are laid on the sides in this joint

The optical sight on modern weapons is often displaced to the left of the barrel axis (firing plane) by 1-4 cm for ease of aiming and loading the weapon. At distances over 300 meters, this shift does not affect the shooting results.

Photo 107. The PSO-1 sight on the SVT rifle (right side view). The sight is shifted to the left of the barrel axis. In this case, it is more convenient for the shooter to aim and it is possible to fill the magazine from the clip from above (arrow 1). 2, 3 - M4 fixing screws

On the bracket, the sight must be fixed with clamps at two points located farther from each other (PB and PU sights). The posts to which the clamps are screwed must have a common base. Clamps-mountings must be made as one piece with the bracket (bracket of the PU sight), or be one piece with the body of the sight (PSO-1 sight), or be made with great precision. Otherwise, sooner or later, under the influence of vibrations, they will begin to shift on the sight tube, and even the slightest displacement is enough to deteriorate accuracy.

On the SVD rifle, the sight seat - "dovetail" - is made very accurately. The "dovetails" are made in the same way on other rifles, the design of which provides for the possibility of setting optical sights (all modern small-bore rifles and most hunting carbines). But in any case, the bracket is the mechanical part of the telescopic sight. The bracket should be able to be adjusted on the sides to bring the center of the visual field to the target.

In old and other long-barreled systems, where the designer does not provide for the installation of optics (for example, a three-line rifle), the base of the bracket (PU sight) or the bracket itself (PB sight) have in their design the ability to change the general direction of the optical sight along the axis when it is zeroed in with micrometric screws (see below the section "Practical zeroing of a sniper rifle").

Setting up and adjusting the sight is a piece of work. Due to the fact that an optical sight with a bracket is adjusted to each specific rifle, the rifle number is applied with an electric gun on the base of the bracket and on its lower part.

Table 4

Technical data of optical sights produced in the USSR

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Sniper tactics

Today in most armies there are two main concepts of sniping:
1. A sniper pair or a single shooter operates in the "free hunt" mode, ie. Their main task is to destroy enemy manpower on the front line and in the immediate rear.

2. A sniper-reconnaissance patrol, consisting of four to eight riflemen and two observers, constrains the enemy's actions in its zone of responsibility and collects information about the organization of the enemy's forward edge. If necessary, such a group can be reinforced with a single machine gun or grenade launcher.

To carry out the combat missions assigned to him, the sniper must be located in a separate, carefully disguised position. When a target appears, the shooter must quickly assess its value (i.e. determine whether it is worth shooting at this object at all), wait for the moment and hit the target with the first shot. In order to produce the greatest psychological effect, it is advisable to hit targets that are as far away from the front line as possible: a well-aimed shot "from nowhere", hitting a person who felt completely safe, plunges other enemy soldiers into a state of shock and stupor.

Sniper operations are most effective in positional battles. In these conditions, three main forms of combat work are applicable:
1. A sniper (sniper group) is located among its positions and does not allow the enemy to move freely, conduct surveillance and reconnaissance;
2. The sniper (sniper group) conduct a "free hunt" away from their positions; the main task - the destruction of high-ranking command, the creation of nervousness and panic in the immediate rear of the enemy (ie "sniper terror");
3. "Group hunting", ie. the work of a group of snipers of four to six people; tasks - disabling key objects when repelling enemy attacks, ensuring secrecy during the movement of friendly troops, imitating an increase in combat activity in a given sector of the front. In some situations, it is advisable to use snipers on a company or battalion scale centrally. This allows you to strengthen fire resistance to the enemy in the main battle area.

When working in pairs, one of the snipers conducts observation, target designation and reconnaissance (spotter or observer), and the other - fire (fighter). After 20-30 minutes, snipers can switch roles, because long observation dulls the acuity of the perception of the environment. When repelling attacks in cases where a large number of targets appear in the zone of responsibility of the sniper group, and in a sudden collision with the enemy, both snipers are firing at the same time.

Sniper groups, including 4-6 shooters and the calculation of a single machine gun (type PKM), can be used to reach the flank and rear of the enemy and inflict a sudden fire defeat on him.

It is extremely important not only the work of the sniper himself, but also his partner - the spotter. It solves the following tasks: transfers and prepares optical surveillance equipment for operation, determines the route and methods of movement, provides fire cover for the sniper using an assault rifle with an under-barrel grenade launcher, disguises and eliminates traces on the route of movement, helps the sniper in arranging a shooting position, monitors the terrain and draws up a report on the operation, monitors the battlefield and target designation, maintains radio communications, uses sabotage equipment (antipersonnel mines and smoke bombs).

The most effective sniping tactic is a long daytime ambush. It is carried out at predetermined positions in the area of ​​the most probable appearance of targets. The main task of an ambush is to restrict the movement of the enemy, demoralize him and collect intelligence information.

All available intelligence information should be used when choosing an ambush site. In cases of enemy activity in this area, snipers must be accompanied by a cover group. Before going into an ambush, a sniper pair must agree on the coordinates of their "prone", the time and approximate routes of approach and departure, passwords, radio frequencies and call signs, forms of fire support.

An ambush is usually carried out at night, so that by morning it is already in place. During the transition, complete secrecy must be observed. At the ambush site, reconnaissance of the area is carried out, the position is equipped and camouflaged. All this is done in the dark, all work must be completed at least an hour before dawn, when the enemy's night vision devices will start working. With the onset of day, the sniper pair begins to observe and search for targets. As a rule, in the early morning and at dusk, soldiers lose their vigilance and can expose themselves to a shot. During the observation, the areas of probable appearance of targets are determined, the speed and direction of the wind are constantly assessed, landmarks and the distance to them are outlined. At the same time, throughout the day, snipers must observe complete immobility and strict camouflage.

When targets appear, the group must quickly assess their importance and determine whether to open fire on them. Having opened fire, the sniper in many cases unmasks his "prone", so you need to shoot only at the most important and clearly visible targets. Aiming at the target is usually carried out by both snipers: in the event of a miss, the observer will either also open fire, or will be able to correct the shooting of his first number.

The decision on whether to stay in position further is made by the senior sniper pair after the shooting. If nothing suspicious happens at the enemy's positions after the shot, then the group can remain in position until dark. Leaving the position is carried out only at night, as imperceptibly as possible. In this case, the ambush site is given its original appearance, all traces of "lying" are carefully eliminated in order to reuse it if necessary (although this is done only in exceptional cases). In some situations, a surprise mine may be placed on the abandoned position.

Special mention should be made of the tactics of snipers serving at checkpoints. When organizing a checkpoint, it must necessarily include a group of snipers performing specific tasks to ensure the safe operation of the post. Therefore, a position for observation and fire, which would provide the maximum sector of view and shelling, secrecy from enemy observation, should be chosen not only on the territory of the checkpoint, but also behind it. The specifics of the checkpoint's work does not guarantee maximum secrecy, so the sniper must remain vigilant so as not to betray himself. To do this, he must observe the following precautions: be always prepared for the position to be monitored; do not make unnecessary movements; do not use observation devices without protection from direct sunlight on the lenses; maintain a natural position; take a position or make a change in secret.

A circular defense is organized at each checkpoint. Therefore, snipers equip the main positions in the center of the defense area, but they are not used in day-to-day work. Particular attention is paid to the interaction of snipers. If there are several checkpoints in one direction, then snipers will definitely organize interaction with them.

Sniper tactics in special operations

When taking hostages in buildings or residential buildings, the first action of the special anti-terrorist unit is to block the scene of the crime. In this case, snipers are directed to the most dangerous directions, i.e. places where criminals can break through or try to sneak away through attics and rooftops. After studying the situation: the territory adjacent to the object, the location of the premises inside the object, taking into account their restructuring, communications (garbage chute, heating main), and determining the location of the criminals, snipers take firing positions that allow them to monitor the actions of criminals without revealing themselves.

If this is a multi-storey building and the windows of the apartment or office where the criminals are located face to one side, then the snipers take a position opposite, but not below the floor where the criminals are. The position is chosen so that each room is under the crossfire: this allows you to view the entire apartment. If the windows are tightly curtained, you need to try to find the gaps between the curtains and observe through them.

The position should be taken in the back of the room, the light should not be turned on. If the curtains are light and you can see through them, then they do not need to be touched. In attics, positions are also looked for in the depths of the room, but here you need to make sure that the light does not fall on the silhouette of the sniper through the slits, since this gives it away when moving. On the roof, the sniper takes positions behind exhaust pipes, roof ridges, or makes neat holes in the roofs down the length, allowing observation and fire.

Snipers constantly keep in touch with the leader of the operation and among themselves: if one detects a criminal, the other sniper must also try to find him and determine from what position it is more convenient to hit him.

A special operation when a terrorist hijacks an aircraft is the most difficult. Aircraft have a high degree of danger when they are struck by fire, therefore the use of standard sniper rifles is limited, since when a bullet hits a target, the bullet may not remain in the criminal's body, damaging the aircraft, so the sniper must know the design of the aircraft, helicopter and the location of fuel in them. tanks and pipelines. When shooting at aircraft you cannot use armor-piercing incendiary, with a steel core, tracer bullets.

The sniper opens fire only when he is fully confident in hitting the target. Such evil as "air terrorism" is now widespread. Therefore, special forces should devote more time to training in this direction. All airports and air terminals should be equipped so that when a captured aircraft lands, special forces can invisibly reach it. If there are no underground communications, then you need to use all possible options for stealthy approaches to the aircraft. To do this, you must have a specially equipped fuel tanker for the assault team and the sniper.

At the beginning of the assault, the sniper takes a position behind the aircraft wheel racks, covering the assault group when entering the aircraft, and then controls the actions of the group inside the cabin. He takes a position in the tail section and, using a 9-mm cartridge (such as "Cypress", "Kedr", PP-93, etc.) with a target designator and a silencer, strikes armed terrorists who prevent the assault.

Observation posts or towers are installed on the roofs and upper floors of the air terminals, where a sniper can be located. Posts and towers should be located so that during observation it was possible to view the aircraft from both sides along the hull and from the side of the cockpit. One sniper should be with the assault group, covering it from the rear. The sniper's task is mainly to gather information and coordinate the actions of the entire group.

When eliminating riots organized with the aim of seizing power, the primary task of snipers is to study the object of protection, identify the leaders of the group and the area adjacent to the object.

A diagram of the area adjacent to the object and buildings located near it is drawn up, where the sectors of fire by snipers, their main and reserve positions are indicated. The locations of the most possible location of enemy snipers, command posts, and the direction of a possible assault are also plotted on the diagram. In the facility itself, when there is a threat of assault, firing positions are equipped at all levels of the building, taking into account camouflage, if necessary, loopholes are punched through the walls of the building and camouflaged. Snipers work separately, keeping in touch with each other. At the same time, observation is carried out, the main forces of the enemy are identified, their number, weapons, as well as the movement of vehicles and people is controlled, leaders are identified and photographs and filming of what is happening are provided.

During the assault, the arrows first of all destroy the commanders of the assault groups, leaders, snipers, grenade launchers, machine-gun crews.

In preparation for the defense of an object by a sniper, the following measures are taken:
- an accurate measurement of the entire fire area is made with a mark on the diagram and certain signs are placed on buildings, pavements, etc.;
- all entrances to the attics and basements of neighboring buildings are tightly clogged and filled up, if necessary, mines are mined or signal mines are placed, if there is an assumption that they will be used as firing points;
- in the very object of defense, the sniper personally checks all the alleged positions and marks the locations of the loopholes;
- when equipping a firing position, all objects that reflect light are removed, chandeliers and electric bulbs, if they are located above the sniper, are removed.

Disguise and surveillance

Enough has been written about the laws and techniques of camouflage and observation. Nevertheless, once again about the most important thing. You need to observe very carefully, not missing any trifles. Anything that may turn out to be suspicious should be carefully examined and checked in the sector of responsibility. However, this should be done very carefully, without giving away your location.

To disguise means to blend in with the terrain. In the middle of the meadow, the sniper should be grass, in the mountains - a stone, in a swamp - a hummock. Camouflage should not stand out in any way from the surrounding background. At the same time, it is imperative to take into account the duration of the upcoming work - for example, green leaves on cut branches by the end of a hot day will fade and will unmask the "lying", and it will be very difficult to replace them without giving themselves away with movement.

The reflections from the lens of the optics - sight and observation devices - are very insidious on a sunny day. This moment killed many snipers - remember the fate of Major Conings. In general, it is best to observe with a periscope.

If there is no wind, smoke from a shot can give out the position, so if possible, try to shoot from a short distance because of rare bushes or because of a building, tree, or boulder. Among other things, a bullet, flying past such an obstacle, makes a sound, as if coming from a place to the side of the shooter.

The enemy, especially in trench warfare, knows the terrain in front of him very well. Therefore, each new bump, crumpled grass, freshly dug earth will inevitably arouse his suspicion and will cost the sniper his life.

At dusk and at night, additional unmasking factors are the flash from the shot and the reflection on the face from the eyepiece of the night sight. Also, do not use the illumination of the PSO telescopic sight reticle: at dusk, from the side of the lens, the light bulb can be seen a hundred meters away.

Even being in your rear, you do not need to show your belonging to the sniper group: you should not show off in front of everyone with a sniper rifle and equipment, since the enemy is watching everything that happens in your camp. The sniper is the worst enemy for him, to destroy him has always been and will be the number one task for him.

Another excerpt from Zaitsev's notes: “Each entry to a position must be provided with strict camouflage. A sniper who cannot observe in disguise is no longer a sniper, but just a target for the enemy. I went to the front line, disguise myself, lie down like a stone and observe, study the area, draw up a card, put special signs on it. If, in the process of observing, he showed himself with some careless movement of his head, opened himself to the enemy and did not have time to hide, remember, you made a mistake, for your mistake you will only get a bullet in your head. This is the life of a sniper. "

Weapons and applied ballistics

In connection with the tasks assigned to the shooter, a modern sniper rifle must ensure the defeat of a live target at ranges of up to 900 meters, with a high probability (80%) of hitting a belt target at distances of up to 600 meters with the first shot and up to 400 meters into a chest target. It is desirable that in addition to a general-purpose sniper rifle (for example, SVD), snipers have at their disposal a combat rifle with an accuracy close to that of a sporting weapon (for example, SV-98). Such a rifle with a special live cartridge, while ensuring high accuracy, should be designed to solve special problems. In cases when shooting is carried out at short distances (150-200 meters), especially in urban conditions, it is advisable to use silent sniper rifles (such as VSS and VSK-94). Sniper "noisemakers" are especially good in that they allow the "hunter" to leave the position unnoticed after the destruction of the enemy target. However, the short range of aimed fire severely limits their use. The range of guaranteed destruction of the head figure (the most common type of target for a sniper) from both rifles is 100-150 meters. That is, you need to approach the enemy's position exactly at this distance, and this is far from always possible. At the same close range, small-bore rifles with an optical sight are quite suitable.

SVD, with all its advantages, does not have the highest accuracy. Therefore, during counter-sniper operations, it is preferable to use high-quality weapons (MC-116, SV-98) and ammunition - a must! - sniper or target. If you are forced to use only SVD, try to put on it a sight with a higher magnification - for example, PSP-1 or "Hyperon" - this will increase the effectiveness of fire and the likelihood of hitting the target from the first shot.

When designing a sniper operation, you need to carefully consider the capabilities of your weapons and ammunition. In particular, the dispersion diameter (i.e., the distance between the centers of the holes farthest from the midpoint of hitting) for a cartridge with an LPS bullet at a distance of 300 meters is approximately 32 cm, and for a sniper cartridge - 16-20 cm. With the dimensions of a standard head target 20x30 cm, this difference plays an important role. Look at the table and compare with the average sizes of the main goals: head - 25x30 cm, chest figure - 50x50 cm, waist figure - 100x50 cm, height figure - 170x50 cm.

The effectiveness of the OSV-96 large-caliber rifle is a controversial issue, since special 12.7-mm sniper cartridges are produced in small batches, and the dispersion of conventional machine-gun cartridges of this caliber is too great for sniper shooting. However, when processing stationary sniper positions (pillboxes, bunkers, reinforced with armor shields for sculptures), a large-caliber rifle can be very useful. Even during the Second World War, Soviet snipers used 14.5-mm anti-tank rifles to hit protected targets and fire at embrasures.

It must be remembered that the rifle must always be aimed, then there is no need to doubt the accuracy of your weapon. It is required to regularly check the zeroing of your weapon at the main effective fire ranges, even if no one is shooting from the rifle: it happens that the aiming also gets lost in the process of storing the weapon. Zeroing is carried out only with the type of cartridges that will continue to be used: different types of bullets have different ballistics, and therefore, different flight paths.

It is necessary to carefully study the table of average elevations of trajectories over the aiming line and learn it by heart. In a combat situation, always use this particular table, especially when transferring fire from one target to another and when firing without rearranging the remote handwheel (using the "direct shot" method). For convenient use in a combat situation, such a table is glued to the butt of a weapon or sewn onto the left sleeve of outerwear.

Always wipe the barrel and chamber dry before entering an operation. If there is oil or moisture in the barrel, then the bullets will go higher, and when fired there will be smoke and a bright flash - this unmasks the position.

In heavy rain and fog, the bullets also go higher, so you need to move the aiming point down.

When working on particularly important targets, it is imperative to remember that the optimal sniper fire mode is one shot every two minutes, because the barrel should not heat up more than 45 degrees. If during the battle you have to conduct intense fire, it is worth considering that when the barrel warms up, the bullets will go lower.

If a bolt-action rifle is used, then when unloading, you must not send the bolt back too hard: this loosens the bolt and quickly wears out the larva. After firing, if there is no need to continue firing, leave the bolt open; this will keep the powder gases from sweating in the barrel and allow the barrel to cool faster.

So that the rifle barrel does not glare in the sun and heats up less in hot weather, it is wrapped in shaggy camouflage tape, a piece of KZS mask net or ordinary cloth tape. Among other things, this will protect the barrel from accidental impacts.

It is necessary to regularly check the strength of the fastening of the optical sight: whether there is lateral rolling, whether the handwheels rotate too freely. The quality of the adjustment of the aiming mechanism and the fastening of the drums is checked as follows: they direct the central square (the tip of the hemp) to any landmark and, alternately pressing the drums, follow the reticle of the sight. If the square shifts when you press the drums, it means that the sighting mechanism has large gaps and the reticle will inevitably shift with each shot.

Some scopes have some propeller free play. To determine it, the sight bracket is firmly fixed (for example, in a vice), the central square is brought to some point and the handwheel is turned by several divisions to the side and back. If there is a free movement of the screws in the sight, then the square will not coincide with the initial position, without reaching it. In order to compensate for the free movement of the screws, it is necessary to end all turns of the handwheels in the same direction, for example, clockwise. Then, if it is necessary to turn the handwheel counterclockwise, then shift it two or three divisions further, and then, returning to the desired risk, finally set the sight by rotating clockwise.

It is always necessary to make the handling of the weapon as convenient as possible: you can hang a rubber butt plate from the GP-25 on the butt, if you wish, you can attach a folding bipod from the RPG-7 to the forearm. An ordinary rubber band from an expander, with a double sliding loop draped over the trunk, and tied with its ends to any vertical object (tree trunk, pillar, etc.), will allow you not to load your hands with the weight of the weapon in ambush.

The rifle barrel must be protected from dirt, dust and other foreign objects. If you have to work in dusty conditions (for example, in the steppe or in the mountains), then a regular condom is put on the trunk; after the first shot, it will burn without interfering with the flight of the bullet.
Weapons require careful attitude to themselves, so you need to clean them regularly, and most importantly, do not let anyone shoot them.

Sometimes the situation can change quickly, targets can appear over a wide area with a spread in range and quickly disappear. In such conditions, it is simply unrealistic to determine the distances every time, and even more so to set the sight along them. In anticipation of such a situation (as a rule, it occurs during enemy attacks), it is necessary to aim the rifle at the maximum range in its zone of responsibility (for example, 400 meters), remember a noticeable landmark in the area of ​​this range and navigate along it in further shooting. Now you can estimate by eye how much the target is farther or closer to the reference point in the amount of "swing" along the vertical of the aiming point. To do this, you need to have a very good idea of ​​the trajectory of the bullet at the distance at which the rifle was aimed. It is quite simple to check the battle of a rifle in the field: to outline a landmark and make a series of shots at it - the deflection of the bullets is determined by ricochets. However, it should be borne in mind that one should not get carried away with such a non-standard zeroing: it is used only in the most urgent cases, when there is a need to hit the target from the first shot. Zeroing should be masked by the noise of the battle and carried out from reserve positions.

For high-speed shooting at short distances (up to 300 meters), as a rule, a direct shot is used, i.e. shot in which the trajectory of the bullet does not rise above the target height. In particular, in urban conditions, the range of fire rarely exceeds 200-250 meters, therefore, having installed sight 2, you can not make vertical adjustments: up to 200 meters, the height of the trajectory does not exceed 5 cm, which means that the bullet will fall on the target; at distances from 200 to 250 meters, the aiming point should be taken 10-11 cm higher.

Observation

It is necessary to master the skills of observation, do it intensively and systematically, taking small sectors each time to study. You should not wander aimlessly across the entire observation area - this is a common mistake.

You need to look at everything that happens in someone else's territory with suspicion. It is advisable to mentally transfer to the enemy's position and think about what he could do in such conditions.

When examining the terrain in a given sector, you can divide it into sections equal to the field of view of an optical sight, binoculars or periscope. You need to work slowly and carefully, blocking the field of view.

If, during observation, a suspicion arose about an object, then you need to examine everything around it, because the sharpest part of vision does not lie in the center, but at the edge of the eye's field of view. This is especially true when viewed at dawn and dusk.

Slow motion is also easier to detect if you do not look directly at the object: you need to look higher, lower, or slightly away from the object - then the sharpest part of the eye's vision is used.

If possible, you need to try not to conduct observations through binoculars, but to use a periscope: this will protect against detection and bullets of an enemy sniper.
If observation is carried out through an optical sight in conditions of deterioration of visibility (early twilight, haze, etc.), then it is worth using a light filter - it is included in the SVD kit; yellow-orange glass significantly improves visual acuity and contributes to a clearer perception of the edges of the object contour by the retina.

Often the sniper has to shoot at targets that appear unexpectedly. In these conditions, there is no time to determine distances, therefore, at the most probable boundaries and directions, choose noticeable landmarks in advance. In the future, they should be used to count and determine the position of targets and the distance to them.

Disguise

There is no universal camouflage suitable for camouflage in various conditions, so you need to constantly diversify and invent new camouflage means, depending on the task and the conditions for its implementation. The main rules of disguise:

- any measures should be preceded by a thorough reconnaissance of the area and its assessment in terms of camouflage;
- having chosen camouflage equipment, you need to carefully adjust it, not missing the smallest details; you can ask a friend to check if there are any unmasking spots;
- having taken a position at any local object, you need to use it as a shelter only from the side, but in no case from above;
- you should not choose places for a firing position near noticeable landmarks: they will be examined by the enemy in the first place;
- in any case, the position must be taken so that there is a masking background behind;
- You can use the shadow from local objects, but you need to remember that during the day the shadow changes its position;
- well masks vegetation (grass, branches, etc.), but it must be taken into account that it retains its natural color for only 2-3 days; then the leaves will wither and will give out the position;
- for coloring the face and hands, you can use the juice of herbs mixed with the "milk" of plants such as milkweed - all this is kneaded in the recess of the SVD butt and then applied to the skin; however, you need to be careful in choosing herbs so that poisonous plants do not get caught, which can cause itching and even burn;
- when entering a position, all traces must be carefully destroyed;
- whenever possible, it is necessary to take measures to eliminate the unmasking effect of shots: when equipping a position in the field, you can arrange a "prone" behind rare bushes or stick several branches three to four meters away from you. When fired, the smoke will remain behind them and the flash will not be so visible; when firing from a building, the position should be in the depths of the room - in this case, the flash and the sound of the shot almost do not come out;
- here is the easiest way to make a prone position in the field: for a camouflaged parapet, you need to cut about eight pieces of turf about 20 by 30 cm in size, while the lower, "earthen" part of the turf is cut with a pyramid, at an angle of 45 degrees; then a parapet with grass is laid out of these bricks towards the enemy; at the end of the work, if there is a need to hide the shooting site, the turf is put in place and lightly watered with water;
- being in position in winter, it should be remembered that the steam from breathing easily unmasks the location, so you only need to breathe through a scarf or mask. To prevent the snow from blowing up when fired, you can sprinkle the snow before "lying down" with water from a flask;
- moving around the terrain, it is necessary to make the most of vegetation and all kinds of shelters.
- leaving the firing position, you cannot take it immediately: first you need to crawl, stopping not far away and carefully looking around, - the position may be mined or an ambush may await there;
- you should always stay in the lowlands, never go out into open spaces and on the horizon; if possible, bypass all places where the sniper can be seen by enemy observers;
- movement should be minimized, rapid movement of the arm or leg is very dangerous; but in some cases, while maintaining complete immobility, one can be invisible, being almost in sight;
- it is necessary to master the art of walking so that the effort comes from the hip, and not from the knee; first, the ends of the toes and the front of the foot should be placed on the ground; usually the heel makes noise, especially where there are stones, twigs, etc.
- in wet weather and in light fog, the shot gives out the sniper's position especially strongly (however, in wet weather, an improved view is possible);
- if possible, it is better to work in tandem with a machine gunner: he will muffle your shots with bursts and cover in case of a sudden withdrawal.

Vision

We must constantly remember that the eyes are the main tool of the sniper. Ideally, vision should be excellent, but in principle, some reduction in its acuity is permissible, however, with the obligatory use of glasses or contact lenses.
In order to maintain good vision under heavy loads, the eyes need support. Here are simple exercises for preventing vision (from the experience of sports shooters).

1. Close your eyes tightly for 3-5 seconds, and then keep your eyes open for 3-5 seconds; repeat 8-10 times (this strengthens the muscles of the eyelids and improves blood circulation in the eyes).

2. Massage your closed eyes with a circular motion of your finger for a minute (this relaxes the muscles of the eyes and improves their blood circulation).

3. Stretch your hand forward and look at the tip of your finger, then slowly bring your finger closer, without taking your eyes off it, until it begins to double; repeat 6-8 times (this strengthens the oblique muscles of the eyes and facilitates visual work).

After a heavy load on the eyes, you can use lotions from a weak tea or sage broth: moistened warm swabs are applied to the eyes and hold until they cool.

Secrets of an accurate shot

Making an accurate shot requires the sniper to perform certain actions - ready, aiming, holding his breath and pulling the trigger. All these actions are mandatory elements well-aimed shot and are in a certain, strictly coordinated relationship with each other.

For a shot to be accurate, first of all, the shooter must ensure the greatest immobility of the weapon during its production. Manufacturing must solve the problem of giving the greatest stability and immobility to the entire system, consisting of the shooter's body and weapons. Since the very meaning of sniper shooting is to hit a small-sized target at a great distance, it is quite clear that the shooter must give the weapon a strictly defined direction, i.e. aim him at the target; this is achieved by aiming. It is well known that breathing is accompanied by rhythmic movement of the chest, abdomen, etc. Therefore, in order to ensure the greatest immobility of the weapon and maintain its direction, achieved as a result of aiming, the shooter must hold his breath for the duration of the shot.

If the sniper is you, then to fire a shot, you need to press the trigger with your index finger; in order not to displace the weapon aimed at the target, you need to press the trigger smoothly. However, due to the fact that you cannot achieve complete immobility at the ready, the trigger has to be triggered in conditions of more or less vibration of the weapon. Therefore, to achieve a well-aimed shot, you need to press the trigger not only smoothly, but also necessarily strictly in coordination with aiming.

Let's try to disassemble the main elements of an accurate shot separately.
Currently, there are a wide variety of types of fabrication in combat shooting. When shooting with a sniper rifle, four main types are used: lying, sitting, kneeling and standing.

Taking into account the direct dependence of the shooting accuracy on the degree of immobility of the weapon during the production of a shot, the sniper must pay the most serious attention to the selection for himself of such a fit that provides the best stability and immobility of the "shooter - weapon" system. In addition, the “super-sharp shooter” should always be faced with the task of choosing such a rational posture (for each type of positioning), in which keeping the body with the weapon in the same position will require the most economical expenditure of physical strength and nervous energy. Therefore, despite the abundance of possible options, in general, manufacturing should ensure:

The required degree of equilibrium of the "shooter - weapon" system;
- achieving equilibrium of this system with the least tension of the shooter's muscular apparatus;
- the most favorable conditions for the functioning of the sense organs, primarily the eyes and the vestibular apparatus;
- conditions for the normal functioning of internal organs and proper blood circulation.

Of course, you need to make allowances for the specific conditions of sniper work (in some situations, it is simply impossible to take the correct position), nevertheless, in general, the laws of preparation are the same for everyone.

Since each person has individual physical characteristics, it is natural that there is no template or universal recipe in production that would suit all shooters. This means that the sniper must himself, in accordance with his physical characteristics, choose the best preparation options for different conditions.

Sometimes it is necessary to search for the most convenient options of preparation for a long time and unsuccessfully, every shooter-sportsman knows about it. In order not to go down the wrong path and not waste time, a novice shooter must look closely and carefully study the shooting technique of experienced snipers, adopting everything valuable and useful. At the same time, there is no need to blindly copy any one production option; you should approach this from the standpoint common sense.

In a combat situation, a sniper often has to fire in very difficult and uncomfortable conditions. However, despite this, he must try to be made for shooting so that his position maximizes the ability to conduct accurate fire from the selected position. Not only the results of shooting depend on the correct and comfortable position, but also the comfort during a long stay on a camouflaged "prone".
By far the most advantageous shooting position is prone, using the support. The use of a stop greatly facilitates the shooting conditions; in addition, it contributes to better camouflage and covers from enemy fire.

As a stop, it is best to use as soft material as possible - turf, a bag of sand or sawdust, a backpack. The height of the stop depends on the physique, so the sniper must adjust the stop for himself.

There are usually two ways to use the stop when shooting. The main one is when the rifle does not touch the stop, but lies on the palm of the left hand; in this case, the forearm and hand are on the support, and the elbow (left) rests on the ground. This method is especially beneficial if the emphasis is firm. However, it is difficult to stay in this position for a long time, therefore, if you are in position for a long time, I recommend another technique: the rifle is placed directly on the stop with its part under the sight, and the butt is supported by the left hand from below at the left shoulder. In this case, the hands form a kind of "lock" that provides a secure hold of the weapon.

The rifle is applied at four points: the left hand on the forend, the right hand on the pistol grip (butt neck), the butt plate in the shoulder recess, and the cheek on the butt rest. This method of holding was not chosen by chance: this is the only way to ensure reliable fixation of the position of the rifle when aiming and firing, the absence of tremors and the collapse of the weapon to the side. Almost all muscles, with the exception of those directly involved in shooting, remain relaxed. When shooting, a rifle strap can be used to secure the “shooter-rifle” system. It is advisable to use the belt in all positions - lying, sitting, kneeling, standing, except for those cases when you can use the support. When firing from SVD and AK-74 with a telescopic sight, the belt is passed through the forearm and thrown behind the magazine. The tension of the belt should be such that the weight of the weapon falls on the tensioned belt, but at the same time the left hand should not become numb. During training, the shooter must find for himself the most convenient and comfortable position of the belt on his hand and the degree of its tension. To make it easier and faster to find the desired position of the belt in the future, you can sew a large hook on the left sleeve of the outer garment (for example, from an overcoat) - among other things, the hook will prevent the belt from slipping. It is best to make marks on the belt itself that correspond to the position of its buckle at the most comfortable length.

When firing a shot, it is very important not to "jerk" the weapon. To do this, you need to grip the pistol grip (butt neck) tightly, but without unnecessary effort, press the trigger with the first joint of the index finger, while moving the finger smoothly straight back and forth parallel to the barrel bore axis. The processing of the descent should be finished immediately after aiming the weapon at the aiming point.

The position for prone shooting, in comparison with other types of shooting, is the most stable, since the shooter's body lies almost completely on the ground and both elbows rest on the ground. The large area of ​​the supporting surface of the shooter's body with a low height of its center of gravity allows creating the most stable balance of the "shooter - weapon" system.

The most important thing is that the prone position should provide not only good stability of the rifle with the least tension of the sniper's muscles, but also a long stay of the body in the same position during shooting, and such a position of the head in which the most favorable conditions for eye work will be aiming.

The difficulty in choosing a convenient and correct fabrication for yourself is that the requirements mentioned above are not only interconnected, but also in some contradiction. For example, if you increase the turn of the body to the left, then it will be easier for you to breathe, but the conditions for the attachment and the work of the leading eye during aiming will worsen. If you begin to bring your left hand, supporting the weapon, as far forward as possible, the position will become lower and, naturally, more stable; but at the same time, the conditions for breathing will worsen and the load on the left arm will increase, which entails a rapid fatigue of its muscles.

Based on all this, the sniper must find for himself the most acceptable option for himself, taking into account the characteristics of his physique.
The stability of the position and the duration of the shooter's body in the same position depend primarily on the position of the body, and in particular on the orientation of the body in relation to the firing plane. Practice has shown that it is best to turn the body in relation to the firing plane at an angle of 15-25 degrees. With such a turn, his position will be comfortable, the chest is not very constrained, which means that breathing is relatively free. At the same time, there will be favorable conditions for applying and aiming.

By the way, in contrast to the standard fit, recommended by all the manuals, the so-called "Estonian" fit turns out to be quite convenient for high-speed shooting. With her, the right leg is bent at the knee, while the shooter himself is not lying flat on his stomach, but slightly on his left side. In this position, the chest is not constrained, breathing is deeper, it becomes easier to reload the weapon and work with the handwheels of the optical sight.
Shooting from the knee by snipers is most often used in combat in a city, when the shooter provides fire cover for assault groups. In such conditions, the fire is fired from short stops when there is no time to lie down comfortably. Just as when making lying down, it is advisable to use a rifle strap here.

The left leg should be strictly under the left elbow, with the elbow resting on the knee. In this case, the elbow of the right hand does not need to be set aside, on the contrary, it is better to try to press it against the body.

You can shoot from your knee, for example, in thick, tall grass, which obscures your view in a prone position, but you need to remember that this position is not suitable for particularly accurate shooting, as well as for a long stay in this position.

Sitting shooting is not very common in our country, although it is highly respected and practiced in the Western armies. There are two options for this fabrication: sitting in Turkish and Bedouin. When shooting while sitting in Turkish, the sniper pulls his legs under him (probably everyone knows how to sit in Turkish), the foot of one leg is passed between the thigh and lower leg of the other, and the elbows rest on the knees or, if it’s more convenient, drop behind the knees.
In the Bedouin method, the shooter sits with his legs wide apart, bent at the knees, the heels rest on the ground (so that the legs do not slip during the shot), and the elbows, as in the previous case, rest on the knees.

Both methods are quite stable and convenient, after some training, you can sniper fire this way even with some comfort. However, in both positions it is difficult to sit for more than half an hour (especially in Turkish) and from them it is difficult to move quickly and imperceptibly during an emergency change of position.

Shooting from a rifle while standing as a form of preparation for a sniper is the last thing to do, because it is very difficult to execute and, most importantly, unstable. But if in some difficult circumstances you still have to fire from a sniper rifle while standing, then, firstly, use a belt (in the previous version); secondly, hold the rifle by the pads so that the magazine rests on the left hand just below the hand; and thirdly, do not complicate the situation and try to find some kind of vertical object (tree trunk, corner of a building) to rest against it with your left forearm.
How to aim correctly using a telescopic sight? The device of the optical sight provides for aiming without the participation of the front sight and the sight slot installed on the rifle barrel, because the aiming line in this case is the optical axis of the sight, passing through the center of the lens and the tip of the central square of the sight reticle. The aiming reticle and the image of the observed object (target) are in the focal plane of the lens, and therefore the sniper's eye perceives both the target image and the reticle with the same sharpness.

When aiming with an optical sight, the position of the shooter's head should be such that the line of sight passes along the main optical axis of the sight. This means that you need to align the eye with the exit pupil of the eyepiece and then bring the point of the square to the aiming point.
The eye should be at the distance of the exit pupil removal from the outer lens of the eyepiece (eye distance). Depending on the design of the sight, this distance is 70-80 mm, it is necessary for safety when recoiling the weapon.

During aiming, the shooter must carefully ensure that there are no darkening in the field of view, it must be completely clean.
If the eye is closer or farther than the eye distance, then a circular blackout is obtained in the field of view, which reduces it, interferes with observation and makes aiming difficult. However, if the blackout on all sides is the same, then there will be no bullet deflections.

If the eye is positioned incorrectly relative to the main optical axis of the sight - shifted to the side, then moon-shaped shadows will appear at the edges of the eyepiece, they can be on either side, depending on the position of the axis of the eye. In the presence of moon shadows, the bullets will deflect in the opposite direction. If you notice shadows while aiming, find a position for the head where the eye can clearly see the entire field of view of the scope.

In other words, in order to ensure accurate aiming with an optical sight, the sniper must direct all attention to keeping the eye on the optical axis of the sight and aligning the central square with the aiming point.

Triggering technique is of great and sometimes decisive importance in firing a shot. First, the trigger should not shift the weapon aimed at the target, i.e. should not knock down the tip; for this, the shooter must be able to pull the trigger very smoothly. Secondly, the trigger must be pulled in full accordance with visual perception, i.e. to coincide with a certain moment when the "straight front sight" is at the aiming point.

This means that in order to achieve an accurate shot, the sniper must perform two actions - aiming and smoothly pulling the trigger - in strict coordination with each other.

However, a difficulty arises: when aiming, the weapon is never stationary, it always vibrates continuously (depending on the stability of the shooter's position). As a result, the "flat front sight" constantly deviates away from the aiming point. The shooter must complete a smooth trigger pull at the very moment when the central square of the reticle is at the aiming point. Since the fluctuations of the rifle for many, especially untrained shooters, have an arbitrary character, it is very difficult to predict when exactly the square will pass through the desired point. Mastery in the production of a descent is the development of skills aimed at improving the coordination of movements and control over their implementation.

Regardless of what type of trigger the shooter will use, it is very important that he observes the basic requirement: the trigger must be released so as not to knock down the aiming, i.e. very smoothly.

The production of a smooth escapement places special demands on the function of the index finger when the trigger is pressed. The quality of the shot depends to a greater extent on this, because the most careful and fine aiming will be disrupted at the slightest incorrect movement of the finger.

In order not to disturb the aiming, the right hand must properly wrap around the butt neck (pistol grip) and create the necessary support so that the index finger can overcome the trigger pull. It is necessary to cover the handle sufficiently tightly, but without unnecessary effort, because muscle tension in the hand will entail increased vibration of the weapon. In addition, it is necessary to find a position for the hand so that there is a gap between the index finger and the grip. Only then the movement of the finger when pressing the trigger will not cause lateral shocks, displacing the weapon and knocking down the aiming.

The trigger should be pressed with the first phalanx of the index finger or the first joint - only such pressing requires the least finger movement. It is necessary to press so that the index finger moves along the axis of the barrel bore, straight back. If you push a little to the side, at an angle to the axis of the bore, this will lead to an increase in trigger tension and an abrupt movement of the trigger caused by skew. This can also confuse the lead.

To produce an accurate shot, the sniper must learn to increase the trigger pressure smoothly, gradually and evenly. This does not mean slowly, but precisely smoothly, without jerks. Descent should take 1.5 to 2.5 seconds.

In addition, it is necessary to pull the trigger not only smoothly, but also in time, choosing the most favorable moments when the oscillations of the rifle will be the smallest.

The "shooter - weapon" system during aiming and firing a shot undergoes complex vibrations. The reason for this is the action and reaction of the muscles during the work to hold the shooter's body in a certain position, as well as the pulsation of the blood. At first, when the shooter makes a rough aim and has not yet managed to properly balance the weapon, the fluctuations will be large. As the aiming is refined, the oscillations of the weapon attenuate somewhat, and after a while, when the muscles begin to get tired, the oscillations increase again.

From this it is clear that under such circumstances, it is necessary to start a smooth pull on the trigger during the period of rough aiming of the weapon; then, refining aiming, smoothly increase the pressure on the trigger, trying to complete it at the moment when the rifle experiences small vibrating vibrations or seems to have stopped altogether.

Unfavorable lighting conditions make aiming very difficult. The sniper's eyes are blinded by the sun, snow on a sunny day, excessively bright target illumination, sun glare on the surfaces of weapons and sights. In such conditions, the unprotected eye becomes irritated, tears appear, pain appears, involuntary squinting - all this not only makes aiming difficult, but can lead to irritation of the mucous membrane and eye disease. Therefore, the sniper must take care of creating favorable conditions for the eye during aiming and preserving his vision.

When shooting with a PSO-1 optical sight, it is necessary to protect the objective part of the sight from the sun with a retractable hood, and the eyepiece - with a rubber eyecup. The hood and eyecup prevent direct and lateral sunlight from entering the lens or eyepiece, causing reflection and light scattering in the scope lenses, which makes it very difficult to work with it.

To prevent the surface of the barrel from shining, you can stretch a cloth tape over it, but it is best to simply wrap it with a shaggy camouflage tape - this will remove the shine and disguise the weapon.

To protect the eyes from bright sunlight you can successfully use the visor of a field cap.

In cases where the targets are very brightly lit, it is imperative to use a light filter, putting it on the eyepiece of the sight. The yellow-orange light filter included in the PSO-1 set well eliminates the violet part of the spectrum, which contributes to the formation of indistinct images on the retina. Also, periodically rest your eyes by looking into the distance - it's simple and effective.

In conclusion, we can formulate the basic rules for accurate shooting from a rifle with a telescopic sight.

Always firmly "insert" the butt into the shoulder and use the stop in a monotonous manner: if you do it in a new way every time, then due to the variety of departure angles, the dispersion of bullets in the vertical plane will increase. Remember that when the stock is resting on the shoulder, the lower corner of the bullet will go higher, and the upper corner - lower.

When the left elbow is displaced during the production of a series of shots, individual holes are broken up and down, and there will be as many breaks as you have displaced the elbow.

When preparing to shoot, do not place your elbows very wide; such an arrangement of the elbows disturbs the stability of the rifle, tires the shooter and entails the spread of bullets. However, too narrow a position of the elbows compresses the chest and restricts breathing, which also impairs shooting accuracy. If you lift the stock with your right shoulder at the moment of triggering or press your cheek too hard against the stock, then the bullets are deflected to the left.

Sometimes the shooter, having taken the wrong turn of the body in relation to the target, seeks to direct the rifle at the target with the muscular effort of the arms to the right or to the left. As a result, when fired, the muscles are also weakened by the rifle, which means that the bullets are deflected in the direction opposite to the applied force. The same happens if the sniper uses his hands to raise or lower the rifle to the aiming point. Checking the correct direction of the weapon at the target can be quite simple: aim the rifle at the target, close your eyes, then open them and see where the aiming line has deviated. If the line of sight deviated to the right or left, move the entire body to the right or left, respectively; when deflecting the weapon up or down, without moving your elbows, move forward or backward, respectively. The stability of the rifle is ensured by the correct position of the arms, legs and body - with an emphasis on the bone, but not at the expense of great muscle tension.

The accuracy of fire is affected when you take your cheek away from the butt when you pull the trigger. In this case, you still lose the aiming line. This habit leads to the fact that over time you will begin to raise your head before the drummer breaks the cartridge primer. Train yourself to keep your head free and your cheek firmly attached to the left side of the butt, but without tension. In addition, you will get used to the fact that for a certain period of time
(2-3 seconds) maintain the position of the aiming line.

The rifle should not lie on the fingers of the left hand, but on the palm - so that the palm is turned with four fingers to the right. In this case, the thumb should be on the left, and the other four on the right. If the rifle lies on the fingers, then its stability is disturbed and the bullets go to the right and down, i.e. the dumping of the weapon occurs. The fingers of the left hand should not grip the fore-end too much, you need to hold the weapon like a bird - gently so as not to strangle, but also firmly so as not to fly away.

The position of the body when ready for prone shooting should be free, without the slightest tension and without bending in the lower back. The bending of the body causes muscle tension, as a result of which the correct attachment, position of the hands, etc., is disturbed, and as a result, the dispersion of bullets increases. Incorrect body position is corrected by moving the legs to the left or right.

The removal of the shooter's eye from the eyepiece of the optical sight should be constant, depending on the physique. It should be approximately 6-7 centimeters (in accordance with the design of the sight).

Remember a simple thing: when you pull the trigger, you must hold your breath. Some beginner shooters take some air for this, and then release the trigger, although this creates general tension for the shooter. You will get used to observing such a breathing pattern: after taking in the air and exhaling almost all of it, hold your breath and only then start pulling the trigger, i.e. the shot must take place on the exhale. The first seconds after holding the breath are the most favorable for firing a shot.

Some shooters do not react correctly to the inevitable small fluctuations of the telescopic sight reticle center square near the aiming point: they try to fire a shot exactly at the moment when the point of the square aligns with the aiming point. As a rule, in this case, there is never a smooth descent and sharp bullet separations are obtained. Unlearn yourself from this habit: such fluctuations have very little effect on the accuracy of the shot.

Affected area

It is generally accepted that a sniper's trademark is a headshot. This is quite justified, since a bullet hitting any part of the skull leads to damage to the brain as a whole due to hydrostatic shock. Damage to the skull leads to very serious consequences, the result of which is loss of consciousness and the cessation of all vital functions. If a bullet hits the face, it usually affects the brain or spinal cord; when shot in the back of the head, the central part of the brain is affected and the person immediately falls.

However, in some situations, the sniper has to shoot from a long distance, when it is difficult to accurately aim at the head. In addition, the head is the most mobile part of the human body, and it is not so easy to get into it. In this case, aiming should be carried out at the central part of the enemy's corps. There are three most important areas of damage - the spine, solar plexus and kidneys. Closer to the central axis of the body (i.e., to the spine) are the large blood vessels - the aorta and vena cava - as well as the lungs, liver, kidneys, and spleen. When injected into the spine, the spinal cord is affected, which most often causes paralysis of the legs. The solar plexus is located directly under the chest, getting into it causes severe damage to the internal organs, while the person bends sharply in the belt. A shot in the kidneys leads to shock, and then to death, tk. in the kidneys, nerve endings are concentrated and there are a large number of blood vessels. The hit of a rifle bullet in the human body causes hydrostatic shock, because a pressure wave is formed due to the displacement of water-saturated tissues. As a result, a temporary cavity is formed, which is many times larger than the size of the inlet. The pressure wave can cause damage to internal organs not directly affected by the bullet.

In addition, another result of a bullet hit is the formation of secondary fragments - particles of shattered bones. These fragments hit the internal organs, moving along different trajectories. This point is especially important to remember for snipers of special units when carrying out operations to free hostages, since a hostage who is at a very close distance from a terrorist can be injured precisely by secondary fragments of bones. In such conditions, it is advantageous to fire a shot at the moment when the terrorist is behind the hostage, and not in front of him or from the side.

On the other hand, an army sniper can only injure his victim, because then several enemy soldiers will be forced to deal with the wounded, and, perhaps, one of them will stand up for a shot; in addition, the appearance of the wounded in the position undermines the enemy's morale.
In addition to other characteristics of the weapon, a professional sniper must know what the stopping and lethal effect of a rifle bullet is. Stopping action is the ability of a bullet to immediately incapacitate a living target; lethal action - the ability to inflict fatal damage on the enemy. It is usually believed that the minimum kinetic energy of a normal caliber bullet required to disable the enemy should be at least 80 J. For an SVD rifle, the range at which the bullet retains such destructive power is about 3800 meters, i.e. far exceeds the range of an aimed shot.

The area of ​​the human body, with the defeat of which the probability of instant death will be maximally high, is approximately 10% of the entire body surface (when using conventional ammunition).

At one time, American military doctors, following the results of the Vietnam War, found that when using conventional rifle ammunition death occurs with damage to the head - in 90% of cases; with chest lesions - in 16% of cases; if the bullet hits the heart area, death occurs in 90% of cases; in case of contact with the abdomen - in 14% of cases (subject to the provision of timely medical care). The head is the most vulnerable part of the human body in terms of wound ballistics. A bullet hitting such parts of the brain as the medulla oblongata and cerebellum leads to the death of the victim in almost 100% of cases - if they are damaged, breathing immediately stops, blood circulation and the neuromuscular system of a person is paralyzed. In order to hit the enemy with a bullet in the region of the cerebellum, you need to aim at the upper part of the bridge of the nose. If the target is turned sideways - under the base of the ear. In cases where the enemy is standing with his back, - at the base of the skull. However, some snipers consider the zone between the nose and upper lip to be the most advantageous point - the bullet destroys the upper part of the spinal column, causing a severe injury, in most cases incompatible with life. And yet, in size, the head occupies only one-seventh of a person's height, so it is very difficult to get into it from a long distance.

In general, the most effectively affected area of ​​the human body is limited from above by a line passing two fingers below the level of the collarbones, and from below - two fingers above the navel. A bullet wound to the abdomen below the specified zone leads to painful shock, and if timely medical care is not provided, to death, but in most cases it does not deprive the enemy of the ability to resist immediately after a defeat - this is an especially important moment for snipers of anti-terrorist units.

At first glance, it seems that the longer the barrel, the better: you can accelerate the bullet to higher speeds without increasing the powder charge. But this is not so - the speed increases only up to a certain length of the trunk. Initially, it increases by 6-7 m / s for every inch up to 30 inches. Up to 34 inches - within 4-5 m / s per inch, after forty - 3 m / s, and so on to zero. As a result, the practical length is limited to 34 inches. “For ultra-long range shooting, we recommend to our customers barrels in .408 caliber no more than 34 inches,” says Lobaev. - For practical applications, 30-32 inches is sufficient (maximum 74 cm). A longer barrel only makes sense for demonstration and record purposes. "

Measure - half hit

The ultra-long range rifle, which typically costs around $ 20,000, is not the most expensive part of the complex. Let's start with the fact that it is not easy to accurately measure the distance at 2 km. And this must be done very accurately - just at the end of the trajectory of the bullet is very steep. The required accuracy is provided only by the laser rangefinder. Hunting ones are not suitable - they are designed as a last resort for distances up to 1500 m. We have to use the military. The most affordable offer (from ¤7000 in Europe) is the Leica Vector IV, which allows you to measure distances up to 4 km. Even better is the Leica Vector 21 (up to 12 km), but how much it might cost is hard to even guess. The store will definitely not offer it to you. If you had enough money and connections for the 21st "Vector", you can think about lidar - a laser measuring the wind speed at a distance. If not, go to a weather station, for example Kestrel 4000NV for 14,000 rubles. Current, maximum and average wind speed, air temperature, reduced temperature, relative humidity, dew point, atmospheric pressure, altitude, atmospheric density - today it is simply impossible to shoot without all this data.

Lost River J-40 Utra VLD self-loaded 408 rounds with solid bullets

Third Eye

There is nowhere without a sight, and there is little choice here, the main problem is the insufficient consumption of the amendment. In human terms, the trajectory for ultra-long range shooting is so steep that most scopes simply do not have enough correction drum travel. You can, of course, put special rings or "spacers" for them, but then it will be impossible to shoot at short distances, for example, 300 m - there will not be enough corrections in the other direction. And in order to avoid "hemorrhoids", then for shooting at 2 km, it is optimal to have a sight with a correction rate of 150 arc minutes. This is the Leupold Mark IV M1. Night Force 5.5-22 IXS can be used, but with a correction consumption of 100 minutes, it needs a special bar. The ideal option is almost any US Optics SM model, which comes with 200 minutes in the basic configuration and has the ability to expand to 300 minutes. Although it is almost as difficult to take such scopes out of the United States as, say, a machine gun, they are not common in our vast expanses, but they are found.

Without mathematics, nowhere

The most important part of a high-precision shooter's equipment is the ballistic calculator. This is a program that calculates all the ballistic parameters necessary for shooting, including at ultra-long distances. There are no recommendations here, for shooters choosing a calculator is akin to choosing a religion.

Basically, all calculators are divided into two groups: tabular and mathematical. The former are based on the measurement of specific shot data (most often using a Doppler radar). This technology was used to make the most popular ABC calculator in the USA, which is also used for shooting with a 408 caliber. This approach has a drawback: if there is no shot cartridge in the database, it is impossible to accurately calculate the ballistics, which is especially critical for self-loaded cartridges.

The range of hits may seem large. Exactly until you find out that the shooting was carried out from a distance of more than 2 km

The latter use a mathematical ballistic model, and different programs are required for bullets of different geometries. For example, there are programs for calculating the ballistics of ultra-low resistance bullets.

Who is in charge

The shooter also needs a very good telescope with at least 60x magnification for the second number. Why when you have a scope? Indeed, for 2 km, holes in the target cannot be seen even through a telescope. Here we come to the most interesting: why in Western films snipers go in pairs and why the second number is the main one. But because it is he who calculates the distance to the target, evaluates the wind, meteorological parameters, carries out all ballistic calculations and gives the first number ready-made corrections. Pulling the trigger when you have everything in sight is not so difficult. Checked.

But most importantly, the second number has a truly mystical skill to see the flight of a bullet, because, as already mentioned, it is impossible to see a hole in the target. The fact is that in good optics of the telescope you can see the vortex flow, which the bullet leaves behind. It is difficult to see him, but possible. This requires an extremely accurate position of the observer relative to the shooter: strictly along the axis of the bore and slightly higher. Ideally, if the reticle in the tube and the scope coincide, then the second number after the first shot immediately gives the reticle correction.