Gabe Suarez
New Member
About three years ago we began work on the concept of a sniper class for “the common man”. I was receiving numerous requests for a “precision rifle” class and we did not have one in our class list. “Precision Rifle” is actually a presumably inoffensive way to say “sniper”, in the same way “urban rifle” is a politically correct way of saying “assault rifle”. In any case, I began a research project into the matter.
First off I wanted to stay away from the elitism often seen at many “high power” or “precision rifle” schools and ranges. My goal was to have a common man be able to buy his kit without going into debt, bring it out to class, and be able to meet a reasonable standard. Thus it should be skill-based and not gear-based.
Next, I wanted the concept to revolve around the anti-personnel use of the rifle and not with target shooting, hunting, or any other sport-based activity. After all, we are and always have been a combat oriented school. No need to change any of that now.
Finally, I wanted the material to be relevant to my market. Most of my students come from the civilian world and work as doctors, lawyers, teachers, barbers, etc. While there is a consistent police and military presence in our classes, it is dwarfed by civilian participation. It didn’t make sense to build a class around the SOP of the police sniper, or the military sniper. So I began to study historical references where private citizens have used sniper skills to save the day. I found a wealth of material in the historical record.
From the exploits of Francis Marion’s riflemen, to “Old Jack” Hinson’s sniping during the Civil War, and from the activities of Partisans during the world wars to the sniping in the Balkans, we see what a common man can do with rifle skills and minimal equipment. When I announced my research, many members of warriortalk sent in data and suggestions.
Two very notable sources were an obscure newsletter called The Resistor, and a book called Fry The Brain.
The Resistor was a newsletter put out by anonymous SF personnel, many with extreme political views, but nonetheless useful in my research. One particular issue had an article titled The Partisan Sniper, which made a great deal of sense with regards to the tactics of the concept. The overall theme was that if the job could not be done with a common hunting rifle and delinked machinegun ammo, the shooter’s focus was far too slanted toward equipment rather than skills, and it mocked the elite “precision shooting” community.
The book Fry The Brain was written by a man named John West, also with special operations experience, and offers a detailed study of urban guerrilla sniping and its employment in modern unconventional warfare. I suggest the book strongly to anyone wanting more information on the theme.
Based on all my research, many discussions with snipers from various communities, and my own police sniper training, I built the class we now know as Guerrilla Sniper. The course goals were for the shooter to be able to hit faces out to 200 yards and bodies out to 600 yards. Other goals included shooting from unusual positions found in both urban and rural environments, as well as understanding the concepts needed in an urban and rural firing position.
Thus far we have met and exceeded those course goals. As one police SWAT student commented to me recently after we took an entire class from 100 yards to 1000 yards in two days, “It is amazing to see what regular guys can do with basic equipment”. Yes it is.
I believe our instructional material is as good as it can be for a class of three days. I make it clear that the point is not to turn students into USMC snipers or Police Snipers in three days, but rather to take them as far as they can possibly go with what they brought, and train them up in the tradition of Francis Marion and Jack Hinson.
I want to discuss distance for a moment. When the term sniping comes up, we conjure images of hits on enemy combatants miles away from a bolt gun hidden in the weeds in the best Carlos Hathcock tradition. While that may happen from time to time, and while we may push it training as a confidence builder, most sniping around the world happens much closer.
Tests conducted by the US military showed just how difficult it is to even see targets in the field. Army Operations Research Office during project SALVO learned some interesting things about the likelihood of seeing standing humanoid target vs. what was possible on an open known distance range.
For field conditions (location of target not previously known), a target at 100 yards was relatively easy to see, with about an 80% success rate. But the same target at 200 yards yielded only a 40% success rate. A target at 300 yards was spotted only 20% of the time, and then only about 5% when at 400 yards. We tested this out with unloaded rifles and a staff instructor downrange in open country, moving, running, standing still and actually trying to hide by going prone. Unless you are already monitoring an area for movement, you will probably not see a man farther than about 300 yards. Thus our 200 yard/600 yard standards make good sense. Truly we could cut that distance down to 500 yards and still be real world relevant.
On the equipment, we have some observation we want to share with our future students.
The rifle: In all honesty, the rifle is the least concern here. I have seen guys bring Knights SR25s costing over $4K, and I have seen Savage hunting rifles. It really depends on two things; what you have and what you like.
Given what the course objectives are, as long as your rifle is capable of 2 MOA, you should have no issues meeting the grade. Inside of 600 yards, the semi-autos stay right up with the bolt action rifles in terms of accuracy. In one class we saw a PSL with Czech Silvertip stay up with a $3K custom Remington Bolt Gun shooting Fed Match. Anyone who understands killing must appreciate the capability of a good semi-auto for rapid and accurate repeat shots that even a highly skilled bolt man cannot keep up with.
We have seen a good number of M1As, FALs, and AR-10 style rifles used very successfully in these classes. We have seen a number of Saigas in various configurations as well as PSLs. These are good rifles, but have an exceedingly large number of variables that must be addressed when setting one up for this role. Problems in original assembly seem to be the biggest issues. In the last class we had two Saiga 308s. One made hits out to 1000 yards while the other was good to 600 yards, but not beyond. Anyone contemplating the use of a Saiga rifle or a PSL for this role should have the rifle tuned up by Jim Fuller or Will Hayden to be sure.
Once the range exceeds 600 yards, we see the advantage of the semi-auto recede and the bolt guns take lead position. The need for closer MOA and the lack of needing successive follow up shots puts it in the lead. That said, we have seen M1A Socoms, Saiga 308s, and even one very good rifleman with a tuned AR15 make hits at 1000.
The optics: The glass is far more important than the rifle…at least from what I have seen in class. You can put a very nice optic on a hunting grade rifle and do far more than with a cheap scope mounted on a high dollar gun. Avoid “famous maker” scopes, or “special deals”. As a bare minimum, look at Burris, Nikon, or Leupold. Those are not the only good ones, but what I have seen the most of. We have had guys come to class with Nightforce and US Optics as well, but such expense is not necessary in my opinion.
Variable power is more useful than fixed. Guys running fixed power optics do well at distance but have issues up close in the snap shooting, as well as in tracking/locating targets. A good balance is some sort of 3-9 power, or 4-12 power.
A BDC (bullet drop compensator) reticle is very useful. We had one man using the Burris ballistic plex make hits out to 600 without touching any knobs on his optic. What can be simpler? In addition to the variable power, having easy adjustments that allow you work past the maximum of your BDC is good.
Ammunition: Very few of us can afford to shoot all match all the time, so we suggest two types of ammo. One is the match ammo your rifle is primarily zeroed for and which you will use for serious shooting. The other is a training analog similar in characteristics to that load. The training load won’t be identical, but you should work up data for it as well and make notes in your data book. That way you can train without an undue expense.
Other handy items are a good set of binoculars strong enough to see impacts on a steel target out to 600 yards. A spotting scope will do as well, but binos are easier to carry.
While bipods are handy on the range, we did not see many guys use them once we got off the range. Having one will not hurt, and most of my rifles do, but learn to shoot off your ruck sack as well as that will be most useful for field shooting.
Develop a good sitting position too since few shots can be taken from prone in the field.
This is a fascinating study and we will keep reporting our progress. As our friend said in class, “It is amazing to see what regular guys can do with basic equipment”. Yes it is, and it will become more and more so as we develop the concept further.
Special congratulations to Suarez Staff Instructor Eric Pfleger. He has been appointed as the second SI Guerrilla Sniper Instructor. Below he is shown during a remarkable feat of arms - hitting an IPSC steel silohuette from standing at 1000 yards as witnessed by the recent class.
