newbie sniper.

PriestFoxley · 05-12-2010, 00:05

So I decided to learn the ins and outs of Mil-dot reticles, and considering my unit is not about to send me to sniper school, I decided to learn it myself.

I picked up a remington 700 VTR and a few other things, based on what I could afford, what works, and as cheesy as it sounds, what I heard you guys use. Most of it is easy. A remington 700 is a civvie M24, a carl ziess 4.5-12 mildot scope stands in for a leupold mark 4 fixed ten power. (Local dealers told me they don't exist anymore, so I just left the CZ set to ten.) A cheap spotting scope saves some time, and all I needed was a notebook and a bunch of .308 that didn't come from walmart.

I can zero to 100 meters, just like anyone. I can dope a shot on a known distance target, but thats apparently kids stuff as well. what I CAN'T do, is visually estimate range on unknown distance targets. No practice, you see. I figured I would pick up a laser rangefinder, and that would help me eyeball things, but the first one I bought sort of screwed me over. It said it worked to 1000 yards, but it wouldn't return off anything over 200.

I hear you screaming. "Stupid kid, never buy cheap shit, it only breaks at the worst time, buy quality!" I know. But articles never tell you what sort of rangefinders SF guys use, just rifles, scopes, and ammo.

What rangefinders do you guys use?

Next question. Whats a good shot? Between all the rifles, ammo, and technical garbage I am reading, I understand that some scoped guns are different. I benched my rifle, held really still, and can reliably put five shots into an inch at a 100m. But again, thats kids stuff. Sooner or later my unit will be getting DMRs, and when they ask who has experience, I want to be able to raise my hand and say something impressive enough to get handed one. I figured if I could reliably hit a torso at 600m that would qualify, but thats supposed to be the extreme range for my AR. I know I will just keep trying new stuff until I suck, then practice till I don't. What sort of ranges are designated marksmen and snipers supposed to be able to hit?

Thanks for your time.