A Very Short History of Sniping in WWII

Ricky · Jun 4, 2022

Depending on your definition of sniping you could place it as early as the American Rebellion - units equipped with rifled guns were used to shoot important folks in the enemy formations (officers, artillerymen, etc). The British took this practice into the Napoleonic war (hands up who has read Sharpe) and both sides employed it in the war of 1812.

Riter · Jun 14, 2022

Since smokepole marksmen were mentioned: The Lone Marksman

BTW, just reeived John Walter's Voices of Snipers which covers WW I & WW 2.

Carronade · Jun 15, 2022

Ricky said: ↑

Depending on your definition of sniping you could place it as early as the American Rebellion - units equipped with rifled guns were used to shoot important folks in the enemy formations (officers, artillerymen, etc). The British took this practice into the Napoleonic war (hands up who has read Sharpe) and both sides employed it in the war of 1812.
Click to expand...

American rifleman Timothy Murphy famously killed (strictly speaking mortally wounded) British general Simon Fraser in one of the battles of the Saratoga campaign.

Riter · Jun 15, 2022

Freeman's Farm (or second battle of Saratoga).

Riter · Apr 17, 2024

Paul Cheall of Fighting Through podcast reviews a sniper book from Casemate.

97 World War II Snipers - The Men, Their Guns, Their Story

OpanaPointer · Apr 17, 2024

Can we take pot shots at the book?

CAC · Apr 17, 2024

Does using guided bullets make one a sniper?

OpanaPointer · Apr 18, 2024

This thread needs some bullet points.

Biak · Apr 18, 2024

Somewhere out there is a video a cousin sent me of a rifle that shot a bullet that actually turned a corner ?? I believe the projectile burst to the side and made a mess of the dude hiding around the corner?

OpanaPointer · Apr 18, 2024

Any idea where the energy came from to make it turn? Or was this a curving shot from the barrel? That might work.

Biak · Apr 19, 2024

It was some sort of rifle fired miniature missile, think 50 caliber size that spread shrapnel to the side at a set distance ?? this was 15-20 years ago. I'm not too sure of the accuracy but was interesting!

OpanaPointer · Apr 19, 2024

Explosive rounds is all I can thing of. I thought "Flechette" for a moment, but that's not right.

Riter · Apr 20, 2024

Paul Cheall at it again with part two of sniping:

https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/98-World-War-II-Snipers-Part-TWO/

T. A. Gardner · Apr 24, 2024

Biak said: ↑

Back in the olden days they were called Sharpshooters. The American Civil War may be the beginnings :

This is the rifle Confederates used to snipe Union officers
Look out, artillery crews, here come the sharpshooters.

The rifle was first engineered by Sir Joseph Whitworth, a Crimean War veteran who noticed that the British standard-issue rifle wasn’t really performing all that well, but the cannons used by the British in Crimea were much more accurate than previous field pieces. He believed those cannons and their hexagonal rifling could be scaled down to be used by a one-man long gun. Whitworth’s gun would get the chance to perform against the Enfield rifle he sought to replace – and it wasn’t even close. Whitworth’s rifle was superior by far.

Except the British didn’t buy into the rifle. It was far more expensive than the Enfield Rifle. But Whitworth was able to sell his weapons to both the French and the Confederate armies.

And then there was Carlos Hathcock,
Meet the Vietnam War’s greatest sniper

There have been many incredible shooters in modern American history. William Dixon, Nicholas Irving, and Chris Kyle are near the top of the list. But none of these exceptional marksmen have quite the same legendary status as Carlos ‘Whitefeather’ Hathcock, a USMC sniper during the Vietnam War. Earning his nickname because of the white turkey feather he wore in his bush cap, Hathcock’s career was filled with the stuff Hollywood writers could only dream of. Even if you’d never heard of Hathcock (shame on you if true), you’d no doubt recognize some of his exploits that have been worked into TV and movie scripts over the years.

An avid shooter in the backwoods of Arkansas since he was 12, Hathcock joined the Marine Corps and was quickly recognized for his marksmanship abilities when he won the prestigious Wimbledon Cup shooting event at Camp Perry in 1965 when he was only 23 years old.

A year later Hathcock was deployed to Vietnam as a military policeman. However, his time as a pseudo-police officer was short. Captain Edward James Land, famously known for starting the formal Marine Scout Sniper program, had convinced higher leadership to push designated marksmen down to every platoon. To further this goal he was given authorization to recruit from across the Corps. Hathcock’s victory at Wimbledon the previous year put him at the top of Land’s wish list.

Almost immediately after arriving in theater Hathcock began to earn his reputation as one of the greatest shooters in history, eventually racking up 93 confirmed kills on Viet Cong and North Vietnamese enemy combatants.

Eventually his awesome lethality drew the attention of NVA higher command, and a bounty was placed specifically on his head. Typically enemy soldiers were paid anywhere from $8 to $2,000 for taking down an American sniper. By the end of his first deployment Hathcock’s life was worth $30,000 to the North Vietnamese. Unfortunately for them he managed to kill every enemy marksman who tried to earn that money.
Click to expand...

I'd recommend this book on sniping and the US civil war to ww 1:

Civil War chief of Sharpshooters Hiram Berdan : military commander and firearms inventor : Marcot, Roy M. (Roy Martin) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Berdan is interesting because he somehow became the major supplier of rifle designs to the Imperial Russian Army in the late 19th Century...

T. A. Gardner · Apr 24, 2024

Biak said: ↑

Back in the olden days they were called Sharpshooters. The American Civil War may be the beginnings :

This is the rifle Confederates used to snipe Union officers
Look out, artillery crews, here come the sharpshooters.

The rifle was first engineered by Sir Joseph Whitworth, a Crimean War veteran who noticed that the British standard-issue rifle wasn’t really performing all that well, but the cannons used by the British in Crimea were much more accurate than previous field pieces. He believed those cannons and their hexagonal rifling could be scaled down to be used by a one-man long gun. Whitworth’s gun would get the chance to perform against the Enfield rifle he sought to replace – and it wasn’t even close. Whitworth’s rifle was superior by far.

Except the British didn’t buy into the rifle. It was far more expensive than the Enfield Rifle. But Whitworth was able to sell his weapons to both the French and the Confederate armies.

And then there was Carlos Hathcock,
Meet the Vietnam War’s greatest sniper

There have been many incredible shooters in modern American history. William Dixon, Nicholas Irving, and Chris Kyle are near the top of the list. But none of these exceptional marksmen have quite the same legendary status as Carlos ‘Whitefeather’ Hathcock, a USMC sniper during the Vietnam War. Earning his nickname because of the white turkey feather he wore in his bush cap, Hathcock’s career was filled with the stuff Hollywood writers could only dream of. Even if you’d never heard of Hathcock (shame on you if true), you’d no doubt recognize some of his exploits that have been worked into TV and movie scripts over the years.

An avid shooter in the backwoods of Arkansas since he was 12, Hathcock joined the Marine Corps and was quickly recognized for his marksmanship abilities when he won the prestigious Wimbledon Cup shooting event at Camp Perry in 1965 when he was only 23 years old.

A year later Hathcock was deployed to Vietnam as a military policeman. However, his time as a pseudo-police officer was short. Captain Edward James Land, famously known for starting the formal Marine Scout Sniper program, had convinced higher leadership to push designated marksmen down to every platoon. To further this goal he was given authorization to recruit from across the Corps. Hathcock’s victory at Wimbledon the previous year put him at the top of Land’s wish list.

Almost immediately after arriving in theater Hathcock began to earn his reputation as one of the greatest shooters in history, eventually racking up 93 confirmed kills on Viet Cong and North Vietnamese enemy combatants.

Eventually his awesome lethality drew the attention of NVA higher command, and a bounty was placed specifically on his head. Typically enemy soldiers were paid anywhere from $8 to $2,000 for taking down an American sniper. By the end of his first deployment Hathcock’s life was worth $30,000 to the North Vietnamese. Unfortunately for them he managed to kill every enemy marksman who tried to earn that money.
Click to expand...

I'd recommend this book on sniping and the US civil war to ww 1:

Civil War chief of Sharpshooters Hiram Berdan : military commander and firearms inventor : Marcot, Roy M. (Roy Martin) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Berdan is interesting because he somehow became the major supplier of rifle designs to the Imperial Russian Army in the late 19th Century...

Biak · Apr 27, 2024

It appears Berdan wasn't held in high esteem.

Hiram Berdan - Wikipedia.

In the summer and fall of 1861, he was involved in the recruiting of eighteen companies, from eight states, which were formed into two sharpshooter regiments with the backing of General Winfield Scott and President Abraham Lincoln. Berdan was named as Colonel of the resultant 1st and 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters on November 30, 1861. His men, who had to pass rigorous marksmanship tests, were dressed in distinctive green uniforms and equipped with Sharps breech-loading rifles. Even when assigned to a brigade, the regiments were usually detached for special assignments on the field of battle. They were frequently used for skirmish duty. Berdan fought at the Seven Days Battles and Second Battle of Bull Run. In September 1862, his sharpshooters were at the Battle of Shepherdstown. Berdan commanded the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 3rd Corps, Army of the Potomac in February and March 1863, then he commanded the 3rd Brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Although Berdan was an innovative officer, as a leader he proved unpopular with the officers and soldiers under his command. In 1862, several of the sharpshooters' officers formally complained to General Daniel Butterfield, Berdan's immediate commander, that Berdan was both dishonest and a coward. In July 1862, General Fitz John Porter condemned Berdan as incompetent.[2]

Riter · Apr 28, 2024

For a while even though Berdan was defacto Colonel Commanding of the regiment, he did not hold a commission.

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A Very Short History of Sniping in WWII

Ricky Well-Known Member

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