13 Quick Facts About Snipers – The Sharpshooters That Put Fear In Enemy’s Hearts

Snipers shaped the outcome of wars once.

Snipers were the reason a battalion could not just waltz into a battle because heads would spontaneously explode out of nowhere. And that is why snipers are so lethal in warfare. With modern technology and warfare studies, their importance has only increased in battle.

A sniper with an unknown position will strike fear in the enemy, and the area that becomes the sniper’s shooting gallery is the most unsafe place to be.

Let’s take a look at the most astonishing facts about the feared soldiers.

1. Second Lieutenant Simo Häyhä, Finnish Army has the most kills – 505 with a sniper without a scope!

While we think that sniper rifles cannot exist without a telescope mounted on it, this ace used an iron scope to hunt Soviet soldiers.

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2. There are no natural snipers nowadays. Snipers are trained to be level headed and make responsible calls instead of shooting like a genius

Natural snipers are well and good, but you need to take responsibility of every kill and miss you make.

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3. Wind and gravity can veer a bullet off the target by a whopping 10 meters

One such shot was made where the bullet curved in the wind for 17 meters before hitting the target.

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4. Sniping is a perishable skill. If you stop doing it for a time, you cease to be a sniper

It is all practice, practice, practice.

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5. In today’s combat system, a sniper is almost useless without a spotter. A spotter helps sniper refine and correctly hit the target

The spotter calculates the range, wind velocity and relays it to the sniper who can then make a kill quickly.

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6. The camouflage suit a sniper wears is called a ghillie

A ghillie can completely hide the sniper from plain sight.

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7. Because snipers have to sit and observe for hours at a time, they keep playing games to be alert and be observant of everything they see

One such popular game is Kim’s game, that is taught to scouts around the world. They remember all the items they see and try to recall it later to test their observation and memory skills.

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8. Snipers learn to stalk their target patiently. This may make them lay in a single position for hours at a time

They cannot afford to move even a single muscle in the fear of getting captured and killed.

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9. Snipers usually wait for an artillery or a tank shell to fire, because that will mask the sniper noise, keeping their position hidden

Sniper rifles are powerful and hence very loud. Rifle shot can give away the position of the sniper, which can compromise his life. That’s why they shoot only when other shots are fired, so that their rifle sound is drowned in ambient noise.

 

10. The reason why officer’s insignia is camouflaged and you are not supposed to salute an officer on field are because of the existence of snipers

These rules were specially made because of snipers.

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11. Snipers use baits such as leaving ammunition and weapons unattended and shoot the enemy when he comes to retrieve them

The bait can be many other things too – food parcels, medicine kits, etc.

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12. Captured snipers are immediately executed. Thus, when they are about to be captured, they throw away everything they think will make enemy recognize them as snipers

Snipers kill many without retaliatory firing. This makes enemy soldiers disregard rules and kill them without regard for rules.

 

13. We think that snipers look for headshots. But they actually aim for the body. They look for blood loss, tissue damage and destroying vital organs

Headshots are largely avoided, because the head is a very small target over a big distance. A sure kill is guaranteed if the damage to the target is huge – and that is what a sniper aims for.

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As they say about snipers –

You can run as fast as you want, but you will just die.

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