Pmoper wrote:#1 Please do not call me "Sir"..I was a non-com in the Army and worked for a living...#2 as a former sniper I doubt a "few" of these claims...not ALL... If these are all true without a wee bit of exaggeration then we need to encourage some of these fine shooters to look toward the military to put their skills to work or better yet toward Camp Perry to represent the fine US Shooting Team....Yes, I am from NY...Upstate and we do get 300-400 yard shots at Chucks and even longer at coyotes which can more than test the skills of any marksman with the angles and cross winds you might encounter.....Not from Missouri...but like the show me motto.......
1. Been to Camp Perry.
2. Shot Highpower (Service) Rifle Competition for several years.
3. Earned the Presidents 100 (Rifle), Distinguished Marksman (Rifle), High Master Highpower Rifle Classification.
4. Set a NRA record with a M14 with taxpayer issued M852 ammunition.
5. US Navy Retired.
I'm not a trained sniper in any sense of the word but I have learned the basic fundamentals of marksmanship. Along the way, I've learned a few other skills like reading the wind, understanding the effects of light on open sights and so forth and so on. The point is; one doesn't have to be a "sniper" to be able to shoot well. Also, it would seem to me that hitting a man size target @ 800 yards would be a lot easier than a rock chuck at the same distance.
Shooting is only a part of the equation. The equipment and ammunition are the others. A good varmint gun in all likelihood is just as accurate as a good competition rifle. Getting the most accuracy out of ammunition almost always requires reloading and brass prep, plus, shooting varmints from a (good) bench takes a lot of other factors out of the picture. Just about everyone here is doing that. I would doubt very seriously, snipers (those employed by the state (aka..."The Government"), are doing that probably for liability reasons.
IMO, most of those competitors you have alluded too would do quite well shooting varmints. Shooting 500-1000 yards with an open-sight service rifle (M1, M14, M16) and trying to keep them all in the 10/X-ring is quite a challenge. Shooting 500 yards from a bench (sitting down) with a laser-like round, a accurate rifle, custom ammunition with decent optics pales in comparison, IMO.
