Posted on 10/15/2002 4:22:24 PM PDT by DrCarl
Let's talk about this sniper.
First, the guy is being treated as if he must be a "trained sniper", military, police, etc. Meanwhile, everyone I know can shoot as well as anything I've heard him credited with.
He's shooting a .223 varmint round. The media wonders how he can shoot this round out of a bolt-action rifle without the gun's being seen by others, while showing the public various "assault rifles" as the probable weapon being used.
In fact, Thompson Centre (T/C) makes a contender barrel in .223 that's 14" long. It's a pistol. It is easily carried concealed.
Long range scopes can be fit to the Contender. Would night vision optics be a problem?
Some report a rifle shot having been heard. Others not. Might a silencer be in use?
Could this guy be using a Contender?
When all of this first started, the AR-15 was the weapon of choice for the anti-gunners as the weapon which the sniper was using to kill people.
That was a real handy excuse to outlaw assault weapons.
You can bet that no matter if this turns out to be a bolt action single shot, the assault weapons are somehow to blame.
I take all of this info that we are getting with a grain of salt.
I doubt seriously that the forensics people can tell a varmint round from an anti-personnel round after it disintegrates in the target.
I'm sure that the pressure is tremendous to make some guesses which can be used as facts until the facts present themselves.
But, you have ideological and emotional company. We have some Alaskans out there wanting to know why folks in the effete East chose to go around unarmed. They note that "back home" they'd shot this perp to pieces.
This always requires a long story about Virginia not being part of Maryland, and we have guns - big guns - actually really, really, really big guns, and they have to give us a permit to carry a concealed weapon, which is why all adult males walk with a limp - it's from the rifle or shotgun down their britches!
Leastwise some folks think that. In any case, the situation at the Home Depot involved dozens of people running and screaming. This spoiled the shot. Besides, the witnesses knew how valuable they were alive, and it was clear the guy was ready to rock and roll with bursts of 4 from his AK-74~ ~ ~ ~ / ~ ~ ~ ~ /
I agree to a point.
That's all I shot with for most of my life; however, if I were going after people and planning on taking shots of two hundred yards or so, I'd always opt for a good scope.
Case in point:
You've not seen a sniper in the military using open sights since they quit using the Springfield '06.
If they really did it that way, it was a real mistake. However as yet, I have not heard pursuasive testimony that is what happened--what we have heard is a witness who heard a "muffled" shot; and then saw a white van driven by two ME types in an agitated condition attempting to break into traffic. No where have we heard or read him saying "I saw the muzzle flash from the white truck driven by the two . . . "
These guys have been very careful to maintain operational security and this kind of amateur mistake at this point would be surprising but possible.
Also, in order for this guy to have seen the truck and the ME types at the time the shot was fired, the shot was relatively short range--50 yards or so. It appears that the prior shots have been at greater ranges up to 200-300 yards which helps maintain operational security also.
So where's the cartridge?
My guess is the witness described something, possibly mentioning the AK-47, and the cops/feds figured it out. It's possible they already knew from the bullet signature.
Well, my eyes are a tad older than yours, my gun is more primitive than yours and I can hit a deer at distances greater than 100 yards, so we're both pretty good, but we don't know how far these shots have been. I don't know about you but I'm hearing everything from 30 yards to 200 yards.
Would the use of such a mechanical device fit these scenarios?
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