Sniper Country - What It Takes To Be A Good Sniper

Basically, it takes three things to be a good sniper, and a wicked shot 
is the least of them. Discipline and cunning are the important qualities. 
Snipers do not (usually) roam around looking for people to shoot.  They do 
not shoot non-combatants, i.e. women and children, other unarmed persons, 
livestock, windshields, and houses, etc.  The sniper is alone or with 
1 - 3 other people depending on the mission requirements. Taking shots at 
targets not worth shooting only increases the risks of being discovered, 
captured or killed. Discipline and patience are essential qualities to 
have when faced with a shoot or not to shoot descision.  Ask yourself 
this -- Do you have a hot temper? Do you anger quickly? Anger causes the 
pulse to quicken, which we will discuss later, and may cause careless or 
irrational behavior, all of which are bad.  Do you like to hunt? Do you 
like to hunt alone? Have you ever spent an entire week alone? No T.V., 
no phone, no friends, no family, no nothing? Have you ever gone camping 
alone? In a remote area where you saw no one? How did it make you feel, 
what did you think about? What did you do while you were there? How many 
times did you masturbate? How often did you eat? Was there a difference 
in your mental state on the first day and the last? Snipers are not 
necessarily "loners". In fact, someone who has problems relating to other 
people may not make a good choice. Why is all of this important? A sniper 
may stalk a target for days to get a shot. He may never get it. Could you 
abandon the mission without shooting anything? The  window of opportunity 
for a shot may last only 3 seconds. If you are daydreaming, fooling around, 
eating, or anything else you will not be successful. You should be studying 
the kill zone and  waiting for your shot. This is why a spotter or second 
shooter is so desirable. It is very hard on the eyes to use binoculars or a 
spotting scope for more than 20 minutes at a time. You and your partner can 
take turns. You can't change positions while in your hide. You must remain 
still at all times to avoid detection. This sounds easy but it's not. 
Think of a small child who is just learning to fish. It's impossible for 
them to leave their line in the water for more than a minute or two without 
pulling it out to check it.If you have deer hunted you know how hard it is 
to hold still in a deer blind. It might be easier if you knew that your prey 
would shoot you if it saw you first. But it is very easy to relax when you 
think that no one can see you. 

What does cunning mean to you? To a sniper it is everything, and it 
affects everything he does. Cunning alone can make a sniper successful. 
A sniper must decide where to position himself, how to get there, how to 
leave, what to take with him, how to camoflage the hide, where to place 
alternate hides, and what to do if something bad happens.  A sniper must 
be able think an entire shoot through from beginning to end and set it up 
in a manner which will produce results.  Anyone who has watched enough t.v. 
has seen a million wrong ways to do this. Snipers do not shoot from 
rooftops, open windows, or any other prominent terrain feature. These are 
the places which will immediately draw attention and return fire. A rooftop 
can be a hard place to escape from too, as would a climbing stand used by 
deer hunters. When I get to the section on site selection, I'll discuss how 
rooftops and windows can be used when it's absolutely necessary.   
Marksmanship is the final element. A sniper must be able to engage targets 
at as long a range as is possible under any circumstance. Distance equals 
escape time. Surprisingly, people who have never before fired a rifle can 
become excellent shots with proper training. Old habits are hard to break, 
and this applies to shooting methods as well. In order to develop adequate 
shooting skills an individual should be prepared to fire between 5,000 to 
10,000 rounds of ammo during long and ardous practice sessions. A good 
coach is essential. If you don't know how to read shot strings you will not 
know what you are doing wrong. I am going to include plenty of info on this 
subject so that anyone will be able to fully develop their shooting skills.

As a final note I want to stress that despite the title of this web site, 
and much of the discussion contained herein, this site is really intended 
to help rifle shooters develop shooting skills. I also include the stuff 
about sniping because it is not generally available to the public, and, 
I'm sure that many law enforcement personnel engaged in sniping/counter-
sniping will find this information helpful as a supplement to their official 
instruction.