There are many different positions a sniper and his rifle can get into to make a shot. The underlying thought process is that a sniper might have to stay in whatever position he sets up in for an extended amount of time. Whatever position it is needs to be stable, somewhat comfortable and without muscle tension to be able to hold the rifle on target. This is assuming that the rifleman has time to set up a position and is not taking a snap shot.

Pack supported prone is much like shooting off a bi-pod or other supporting structures. Your body is as flat as possible on the ground, lined up straight behind the rifle and the shooter should be able to relax his body so none of his muscles are tensioned. The pack itself makes for a great support for the rifle. It can be moved around, adjusted into almost any position, dented in the middle or bunched up to adjust for elevation or windage. Not enough time to pull down the bi-pods, just throw your pack down and use it for the rifle support.

Most packs have some type of camo printed on them and can aid in concealing the shooter as he lays behind it. The pack is easy to adjust, provides some distortion of the shooter profile and has all your gear right in front of you for easy access to individual equipment needs.

A video presentation of the pack supported prone is available on ATAC TV.

Lenny and Tom explain the fine details of the position in the attached video linked below. Watch the video and try the position at your next firearms training session on the range. It works great and gives you an alternative position.

Watch Now:  Pack Supported Sniper Rifle Training

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Sequence Of Shooting Part 5 of 5: Follow Through

This is the final stage of the Sequence of Shooting. You should have reviewed the first four parts and are ready to deliver the shot on target.

Part 5 of the Sequence of shooting discusses Follow Through. This is where many shooters commonly mess up a perfect shooting sequence. Follow through is what is performed after the trigger is pressed. We have to understand that the bullet is sitting happily atop the cartridge, in the chamber of the rifle at the moment the trigger is pressed. When the trigger breaks the sear disengages the firing pin. Spring tension propels the firing pin forward overcoming the inertial weight of the pin. The firing pin hits the primer of the cartridge and the primer ignites the powder charge. Expansion of gases takes place. When the pressure inside the cartridge overcomes the interference fit between the cartridge neck and the bullet, the bullet starts its journey down the barrel of the rifle. This is referred to as internal ballistics. We have to remember the bullet is being accelerated from a standing start.

Although this all seems to happen in a short period of time, there is still plenty of time to screw up this process by the upsetting the shooting platform before the bullet leaves the barrel. Flinching is one of the main causes of poor follow through. Plenty of dry practice is just what the doctor orders to insure perfect follow through. It is essential with precision shooting to be able to call the shot each and every time the trigger is pressed. This means calling out the precise location of the rifles cope cross hairs at the moment the trigger is pressed. Telling your spotter where the cross hair was the moment the shot broke allows him to give you corrections to the target. This is discussed in another program called Shooter/Spotter Communications. Watch the video below as Tom and Lenny express the importance of combining all the elements in the Sequence of Shooting to improve your skills with your sniper rifle.

Watch Now: Sequence Of Shooting Part 5 of 5 Follow Through

Atac Tv is a free source for Raw, Unscripted Firearm Training.  Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, it’s Free!

Sequence Of Shooting Part 4 of 5: Trigger Control

Trigger control is a very important component in the sequence of shooting for the sniper rifle. This is a five part series; make sure you understand the first 3 parts of the Sequence of Shooting with optics before you continue on with Part 4, Trigger Control.

Assuming your D.O.P.E (Data On Personal Equipment) is correct and your wind calls are accurate, most misses can be attributed to poor trigger control. Although trigger control is very important with any weapon platform, it has greater relevance when shooting at long range. An example of this: A sheet of standard writing paper is .003 thousandths of an inch. Upset the rifles bore axis .003 at the rifle will affect the point of impact .300 thousandths at 100 yards and 3 inches at 1000 yards.

At the moment that the decision has been made to start the trigger press, ideally breathing should be at the empty lung pause of our regular breathing cycle and our ocular focus should be on the cross hairs of the rifle scope. These are discussed in previous installments of the sequence of shooting. Pressure on the trigger should be ever increasing until the trigger breaks smoothly without weapon upset. Rifle set-up should allow the trigger finger to apply pressure centered on the trigger with the middle of the pad of skin covering the distal phalanges of the index finger. The trigger should be held to the rear disengaged position momentarily after firing. This is much like the top of a golf swing after hitting a golf ball.

This brings you to the beginning of Follow Through, discussed in a Part 5 segment.

A video presentation of this segment is available at ATAC TV. Watch the video with Lenny and Tom to pick up fine details of this incredibly important part of the Sequence of Shooting with optics.

Watch Now: Sequence Of Shooting Part 4 of 5 Trigger Control

Atac Tv is a free source for Raw, Unscripted Firearm Training.  Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, it’s Free!

Sequence of Shooting Part 3: Breathing

We MUST discuss the simple issue that breathing creates when making a sniper rifle shot that is WAY out there. Breathing has an enormous effect on the accuracy of your shots. Our thoracic cavity expands and contracts as we breathe in and out. Over the years of our life we become well practiced at this procedure, so much so we do it without much thought. This is going to have to change when we want to make that long range shot. Our breathing cycle will cause the cross hairs of our scope reticle to move vertically, possibly moving the cross hairs completely off the target. This movement causes vertical stringing. (Bullet group strung vertically on target)

We have to learn to control our breathing cycle, if you expect to make the hit. There have been many theories on this, and we should look at three primary methods.

• Lungs Full: Some experts say you should hold your breath with lungs full. This method induces muscle tension in the body.
• Half Lung Method: Do you know exactly where 50% of your lung capacity is every time?
• Empty Lungs: Normal respiratory pause
  

The empty lung method as this is pretty easy to reproduce and if you study your own breathing cycle you will soon realize you have a normal empty lung respiratory pause. Try it yourself; feel the pause after you exhale, just before you start to inhale again? This would be a GREAT time to get a clean trigger break. This will also allow for the lowest possible body position when lying in the prone position enhancing stability.

In a perfect world at the range, or when your target is unaware of your presence this works well. Some advocate deep breathing before this final pause in respiration to increase your oxygen supply. The brain and eye performance suffer after around 4 seconds of diminished oxygen. If you have not taken your shot after around 4 seconds, start your breathing cycle again and reset.

OK, what do we do if we are faced with a limited exposure target? We cannot expect the target to expose itself to coincide with our breathing cycle and there may not be enough time to exhale to our preferred empty lung respiratory pause. You must be able to stop breathing and take the best shot available at the time. You may not get a second chance.

Practice both methods with Dry Practice and Live fire. Although breathing comes so easy, it is one of the most difficult things to master, but you must, if you want to make the hit at long distance.

A video presentation of this part of the sequence of shooting is available at ATAC TV. Tom Clarke and Lenny Bolton with ATAC TV discuss how important breathing is to the accuracy of your shots.

Watch Video Now: Sequence of Shooting Part 3 Breathing

AtacTv.com is a free source for Raw, Unscripted Firearm Training.  Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, it’s Free!

This is the second part of a five part series. Make sure you understand Sight Alignment (Part 1) before moving on to Sight Picture (Part 2).

Using a scope differs from iron sights in the way you line up your sights on a target. Iron sights require the top of the front sight post level with the top of the rear sight, with equal light passing on the left and right side of the front sight looking through the rear sight notch. This is the procedure to align standard irons and once aligned, it is called sight alignment. Optics or scopes do not require alignment of two different objects to achieve sight alignment.

A big advantage of optics such as Red dots or standard scopes is they have a single point of reference to align the sight with a target. There are many different types of sight reticles including fine cross hair, posts, duplex cross hair, target dot, circle dot and many more. What matters is that each type of reticle is a single reference, that when mounted on a firearm, can be easily aligned with a target.

Sight Picture by definition is the alignment of the cross hair (or equal) of the scope with the intended target. Once the sight cross hair is aligned with the target, this is called Sight Picture. Many other things influence maintaining the sight or cross hair on the target. Breathing is a prime example of this. Normal breathing while sighted in on a long distance target will cause the cross hair to move vertically up and down as you inhale/exhale, depending on your stability in a shooting position. Since we learned in another program that the perfect time to get a controlled trigger break is on empty lung, make sure the cross hair and the target are aligned while you are in your respiratory pause. Trigger control also can disrupt the sight picture by making the gun go off while jerking or slapping the trigger instead of pressing it smoothly to the rear to achieve a clean break.

A video presentation of this part of the sequence of shooting is available on the ATAC TV firearms channel. Tom and Lenny walk you through the steps required to acquire and maintain sight picture, while explaining other factors that will affect accuracy in long range shooting. Watch the video program linked below for more tips and details about

Watch Video Here:  Sequence of Shooting Part 2 of 5 Sight Picture

ATAC TV is a free source for Raw, Unscripted Firearm Training.  Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, it’s Free!

Sequence of Shooting Part 1 of 5: Sight Alignment

Tom Clarke and Lenny Bolton on ATAC TV Firearms Channel begin the five part series of the Sequence of Shooting with optics, such as scope mounted sniper rifles. It is assumed that you have properly set up a rifle and scope including eye relief, cheek weld and ocular lens focus before the start of this program. Sight alignment is the first part series of basic marksmanship fundamentals. The sequence of shooting is the foundation of all weapons systems shooting skills.

Sight alignment is the alignment of the cross hairs of the scope with the intended target. Sounds easy, doesn’t it. There are many other external factors that affect the ability to keep the cross hairs of the scope reticle in alignment. Breathing causes the reticle to move up and down in a vertical plane. So, if breathing effects the reticle vertical alignment of the reticle what do we do? We control breathing and make sure the reticle is aligned at a specific point in a breathing cycle. This will be discussed in a later part of the sequence of shooting series. OK, so what else can cause the reticle to shift in a horizontal plane? Body position tension usually is the most common cause of horizontal shift. Make sure your body position is relaxed. Check your position by closing your eyes for 3 seconds and your reticle should not shift, if it does, adjust your position to get your natural point of aim.

This is also the time to make sure you have perfect focus on the target. Adjust the scopes parallax adjustment if so equipped to get a crystal clear target image. Make sure you watch the complete series of the Sequence of Shooting with optics with Lenny and Tom. Understanding the process will help you make that hit at distance. Watch the video program linked below for more details.

Tom Clarke and Lenny Bolton guide you through the first segment of this very important series on the ATAC TV Firearms Channel

Watch Now:  Sequence of Shooting Part 1 of 5:  Sight Alignment

Atac Tv is a free source for Raw, Unscripted Firearm Training.  Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, it’s Free!

Scope Mounting

A video production of this procedure can be viewed here: ATAC TV

Checking the Scopes Mechanical Zero:

The Reticle in the scope may not be centered, meaning that the adjustments for elevation and windage are not centered. You need to find out if your scope has the equal number of clicks up and down as some scopes don’t but most do. If your scope has equal clicks up and down and side to side just turn the particular turret all the way one way and then count the clicks in the opposite direction. Once you have the number of clicks just divide the number by 2 and turn the turret back that number of clicks. Do this for both turrets.

If your scope is manufactured with uneven elevation adjustment up and down then you will have to place the scope in v block or make a V shaped cut in both ends of a shoe box. Rotate the scope while watching the reticle and a spot on a distant wall, say 50 yards. If the reticle does not stay centered on the spot as you turn the scope, you need to adjust the elevation turret so that the reticle stays as centered as possible while rotating the scope.

Another method for mechanically centering the scopes reticle is to place a mirror in front of the objective lens. Make sure the mirror is flat on the objective lens bevel. If the scopes reticle is not centered you will see two reticles when looking into the eye piece. Turn the turrets till the two reticle images overlap.

Mounting the Scope Rings:

1. Place the lower ring halves on the scope base mount, but do not tighten the cross bolts at this time.

2. Place a machined bar the same diameter as the scope body on the lower ring halves and align the rings until the bar can be moved back and forth without binding. The scope body can be used but not recommended. Tighten the scope ring cross bolts to the recommended torque. Check the alignment of the rings one more time with the machined bar.

3. Making sure the lower ring halves are clean (you can use alcohol). Use some dry erase marker on the rings and once dry lightly rotate the scope body on the rings and check the contact area. If the scope does not contact the ring fully, the scope rings will have to be lapped. This should be performed by a qualified gunsmith.

4. Once the contact area has been verified as perfect, clean the rings one more time. Place the scope on the rings. Clean the upper ring cap contact surface and place the caps over the scope body. Make sure the ring screws are clean, insert the screws and lightly tighten. The scope must still be able to be move at this time.

Adjusting the Eye Relief:

This is probably most important adjustment you make to the scope on your precision rifle. This will affect every shot you fire from here on out so take your time and get it right.

The scope needs to be adjusted so that the scope is as far forward as possible while maintaining a perfect field of view through the scope with no shadow around the edges. You want a perfect scope picture with the image all the way to the edges of the lens. This needs to be accomplished while maintaining a perfect cheek weld without “chicken necking”. Once you are in a comfortable position, move the scope back and forth to obtain a perfect field of view. DO NOT MOVE YOUR HEAD once you establish your cheek weld! Your head is supported by the butt stock, not your neck. There will be roughly a ½ window to get the correct eye relief. The scope will usually be positioned around 3 inches from your eye. You do not want to get a black eye from the scope under recoil. Check this eye relief several times. Try this to verify the scopes position; Close your eyes and mount the rifle to a perfect cheek weld. Open your eyes and see what you’ve got. Repeat this several times form all shooting positions and take your time. (You can place a piece of electrical tape around the scope body to mark the scopes fore and aft position within the scope rings).

Adjusting the Scope Reticle Alignment:

There are commercially available tools to aid in this procedure. The method described below uses readily available tools.

1. One method is the plum line method. You will need at least 25 yards of space, a carpenters level, a plum line and a rifle rest or sang bags to support the rifle.

2. You will first need to tighten the scope caps side to side to around 5 inch pounds, maintaining and even gap side to side. (This will maintain the scope ring alignment for the next step).

3. Loosen the the scope cross bolts and gently remove the scope and place a level on the top of the scope rail. When the rifle is perfectly horizontally level, secure the rifle so there is no possible side to side movement.

4. Re position the scope to the base. Gently tighten the ring cross bolt nuts alternating front and back till manufacturers specified torque is reached. Make sure the rifle does not move.

5. Gently loosen the scope ring cap screws so that the scope body can be rotated with slight pressure.

6. Now hang the plum line at least 25 yards in front of the rifle. Look through your scope and align the vertical cross hair of the reticle with the plum line by gently rotating the scope.

7. Gently tighten the scope cap bolts finger tight maintaining an even gap side to side on both the rings. Now tighten the ring cross bolt nuts alternating front and back a little at a time until the manufactures recommended torque is reached.

There are commercially available tools to facilitate this procedure.

Focusing the Ocular Lens:

Look through the scope with a plain white wall in the background. Adjust the eyepiece focus ring until the reticle is perfectly clear. You are focusing the reticle only, not the wall. Only look through the scope for around 4 seconds at a time or your eye will compensate. If you are going to wear shooting glasses, wear them while doing this. If you have a scope that does not have a locking ring tape the eye piece to stop it rotating. If you are going to install flip up lens caps install the cap and tape it.

Bore-Sighting:

You can bore sight the scope by different methods. Use a collimator if you have access to one. You can use a bore laser . Or the caveman method done at the range! This is the least preferred method. First, you remove the bolt and place the rifle on its bi pod or sand bag. Look down the bore and aim the rifle at a target at 100 yards if possible. Do this a few times to make sure your lined up. When you are satisfied you are on target look down the scope and center the cross hairs on the target by adjusting the turrets. Look down the bore again and then down the scope, once satisfied that the bore and the scope are at the same place on the target turn the elevation turret up 2 ½ MOA.

Mounting the Sniper Rifle Scope Base

A Video production of this procedure can be viewed at ATAC TV

You will need:

• An inch pound torque wrench
• Rubbing alcohol
• Blue LocTite®
• Correct size torx sockets
• Optional 1/8 punch and small Hammer

1. Make sure the base and receiver are perfectly clean. Use alcohol if necessary.

2. Check the fit of the base. If the base does not contact the receiver perfectly. . . STOP. If you can not figure out why it does not fit correctly, take the Rifle to competent gunsmith.

3. If the base fit is good, make sure the receiver threads are clean and oil free. Clean the mounting screws.

4. Take note of the screw length. The shorter screws go toward the muzzle end of the rifle. Apply LocTite® Blue, or even better, GunTite.

5. Screw in all 4 screws loosely at first. If the base has a built in recoil lug or slotted screw holes apply pressure toward the muzzle of the rifle while gently tightening the screws. This will help the base stay in position as the base will tend to shift forward under recoil.

6. Tighten screws from in to out a little at a time. Be careful do not over tighten. Use a inch pound torque wrench tightening to manufacturers spec, usually around 14inch pounds. From in to out.

You can rap on each screw with a punch the same diameter as the outer diameter of the Screw head and then re- torque.

Stock Removal and Reassembly

Warning: You will have to re-zero your rifle after performing this procedure.

A video production of this maintenance sequence is available at ATAC TV

Removal:

1.  Remove your scope by loosening the 2 scope cross bolt nuts.

2.  Stand the rifle up on its end with the butt stock down on the work bench.

3.  Loosen and remove the action screws.

4.  Hold the action into the stock and invert the rifle. Place your index finger over the rear tang of the action and gently tap the muzzle end of the barrel on a padded mat. You will begin to feel the action release from the stock.

5.  Remove the stock from the action.

6.  Remove the bottom metal. You may have to gently rock the assembly to get it free of the stock.

7.  Clean and inspect the bottom metal.

8.  Clean and inspect the action. Make sure there is no debris or rag lint on the under surface of the action especially the recoil lug area.

9.  Clean and inspect the stocks bedding surface. Pay special attention to the recoil lug slot.

Re-assembly:

1.   Re install the bottom metal into the stock.

2.   Stand the stock up on the work bench butt down.

3.   Holding the action by the barrel, carefully slide the action into the stock aligning the actions recoil lug with the recoil lug slot in the stock.

4.   Once the action is all the way into the stock start the action screws into the action.

5.   Start by tightening the action screws just until the screws make contact with the bottom metal.

6.   Tighten the screws using an inch pound torque wrench. Alternate between front and rear screws tightening about 10 inch pounds at a time till you get to 63 inch pounds.

7.   Place your rifle on its bi pod or stand. Re-install your scope tightening the ring cross bolt nuts alternating front and rear until you reach the manufacturers torque specs.

8.   Go to the range and re-zero your rifle.

There are many ways to clean your sniper rifle this is the way we do it.

A video presentation of this cleaning method is available on ATAC TV

1. Make sure the rifle is unloaded and all ammo removed.

2. Place rifle in rest, muzzle lower than action.

3. Remove bolt.

4. Clean chamber with a short cleaning rod and chamber swab with a few drops of Bore Tech Eliminator, followed by a dry swab.

5. Clean receiver bolt lugs with lug cleaning tool.

6. Insert chamber guide.

7. Wrap a patch around a Parker Hale type jag and a one piece nylon coated cleaning rod.  Using Bore Tech Eliminator, stroke from chamber to muzzle, one direction only, exiting muzzle. Make sure patch is well soaked. Remove jag and insert cleaning rod thread protector before removing cleaning rod. We use a Dewy thread adapter to protect the crown.

8. Repeat step 7. Five more times.

9. Install a good quality nylon brush on the cleaning rod. Make sure the brush is well soaked with the Bore Tech. Stroke the brush through the bore 10 to 15 times adding solvent as necessary.

10. Install the jag on the cleaning rod. Wrap a well soaked patch around the jag and again stroke through the bore form chamber to muzzle removing the jag at the muzzle end. Install thread protector and withdraw the cleaning rod. Let the solvent soak for 5 min.

11. Now run dry patches down the bore until the patches exit the bore as clean as they went in.

12. Remove chamber guide and swab chamber with a dry swab.

13. Clean bolt face with brass or stiff nylon brush to remove any debris. Wipe bolt surfaces with Break-free.

14. Re insert bolt have fun.

Notes:

Always run a dry patch down the bore before firing.

More barrel crowns are damaged from cleaning than anything else. Take your time and use quality cleaning equipment.

Always use nylon coated one piece cleaning rods.

Use slow deliberate strokes when cleaning the bore of your rifle.

If you do not use a thread protector on your cleaning rod make sure you gently guide the jag past the crown of the muzzle when retracting your cleaning rod.

Always use a Parker Hale type jag of the correct size.