LASnipers.org

Food for Thought

The use of shooting tripods by police snipers during callout operations has become increasingly common in recent years, as they provide a stable and versatile shooting platform that can be quickly set up and adjusted as needed. However, many police sniper shooting test standards do not require the use of tripods, which can lead to inconsistent and unreliable training for snipers who use them in the field.

By incorporating shooting tripods into police sniper shooting test standards, departments can ensure that their snipers are properly trained and qualified to use them effectively in high-pressure situations. Shooting tripods require a unique set of skills and techniques that differ from shooting from a prone or supported position, and testing snipers on these skills will help to ensure that they are able to make accurate and effective shots when using this equipment in the field.

In addition to improving the overall effectiveness of police snipers, incorporating shooting tripods into shooting test standards can also improve officer safety by minimizing the risk of collateral damage and reducing the likelihood of missed shots. Shooting from a tripod allows the sniper to maintain a stable shooting position while keeping a safe distance from potential threats, which can be especially important in urban environments where the risk of unintended casualties is high.

Overall, the inclusion of shooting tripods in police sniper shooting test standards is a crucial step in ensuring that snipers are trained to the highest standards of proficiency and effectiveness. By providing a consistent and comprehensive training regimen that includes the use of this essential equipment, police departments can improve the safety and effectiveness of their sniper teams and better protect the communities they serve.

Improvised Shooting Positions

Part of training this week. Working on “improvised positions,” shooting from different obstacles around the range.

We were 125yds and in to 25yds to simulate most encountered operating environment distances.

Further we used random items we’ve collected as shooting props and other things from around range we can encounter on deployment, and worked various positions from such.

The threshold set was to keep everything within a 1 MOA wobble zone or better per given position.

Note: The barrel is not touching fence due to use of bipod through fence and allows for at least a 20 degree transition before such.

Integrated our .camouflage Ghosthoods just to see how they would do…not bad.

LE Sniper Instructor Course Day 3 and 4 with

Yesterday primary focus was written test to make sure we know our stuff. Not a hard test, but if you don’t have a solid few years behind you in the game you will have a rough go of it. Thereafter we were assigned our Section Topics for teach-backs.

Teach-backs happened today and more tomorrow. Remember, this is instructor development. So you are given your section and need to present in front of your peers anywhere from 45-75 min depending on what is to be covered.

This includes being shown how to develop PowerPoints in certain ways proven to be very effective for presentations.

This writer covered Rifle Fitting and Scope Mounting. Nothing is random as you are given requirements on everything which must be covered. If you miss one of your elements to be covered you will lose points on instructor critique…and rightfully so. It only makes you and everyone better.

The instructor gives his critique and opens it up to your peers. Seen some good presentations today along with a stellar one from one of the San Antonio SWAT Sniper dudes. Great teaching personality.

One of the classmates from Dallas SWAT ran a great range portion today. Drill: All at 100yd. Standing behind rifle, 9 round in 10 round mag (or mag reload smaller mag), drop to prone. Shot on 3” circle, move to barricade kneeling cranial vault shot, move to standing tripod cranial vault shot. Repeat 2 more times non-stop. After each shot cycle gun and safety on before moving. Time cap 3 min. Peer coach watching throughout. Most did around 2 min. Austin and San Antonio SWAT neck and neck under 2min…go figure.