Sniper FYI

[saberXXX]

id say the m14 is the final calling in this arguement
whiskey and vector have them and they do fine in games
they got the range and can shoot as fast as there finger can pull the trigger
thats the pros of semi-auto snipers
bolt action rifles id say slpat in the middle there not bad or great
it depends on whose hands you put it in
for example JUNIOR SNIPER
he's got sniping fever lol
ive been on the receiving end of his gun
and even with a 5 foot long 15 pound (ish) gun his mobility is great
my opinion stands at who is behind the rifle controls of how good or bad sniping is

[Falcon7]

Agreed alot has to do with who is using the weapon.  In reality though as quickly as our lines shift a true "sniper would need to keep an AEG on them as well just to be able to fight off an assault.  The one time I saw the bolt action rifle being used to any great effect was on the defensive side of the June 27th game at nickerson.  With only a single flag left to defend the sniper posted near the flag while defenders with AEG's set up a perimeter.  The sniper was able to provide long range support fire for the other AEG's though I think a DMR would have been more effective.

[Grenade]

bolt action all the way,i get to shoot one when i deploy..if i deploy..

[Falcon7]

well we aren't discussing real steel where using a solid bolt would be helpful towards accuracy.  In airsoft however bolt action vs AEG it's a VERY tough sale for bolt action.  With a maximum effective range of a bolt action with unlimited cash at maybe 175ft with a maximum rate of fire around .75shots/sec.  Whereas you have about the same result with an AEG with a similar investment.  Given that you're probably going to be firing over the 400fps field limit you would be restricted to semi auto giving you a fire rate probably around 5shots/sec.  And with an out of the box AEG you can reach out accurately to around 100ft at 15-20shots/sec. 

[Grenade]

still go with bolt action,if your a good shot and know how to move then you can just pick them off,its called concealment and camo.try to find a sniper feild manual.there is a guy who had a bar 10 who can hit a man size target at 300 feet.yes it is moded but just about all the mods.the bolt action is more quiet then a gear box.

[Whiskey11]

still go with bolt action,if your a good shot and know how to move then you can just pick them off,its called concealment and camo.try to find a sniper feild manual.there is a guy who had a bar 10 who can hit a man size target at 300 feet.yes it is moded but just about all the mods.the bolt action is more quiet then a gear box.

You are thinking of MarineSGT, and no offense to MSGT, he's a nut case.  His claim is 400 feet with a VSR shooting 825 FPS.  Well over our field limits.  He does not show any proof that his shots hit 400, just a long frak distance away from the camera.

Falcon's numbers are a bit off, the max effective range of most AEG's is around 150ft, for a well tuned M16 platform, maybe 180-200 feet at 400 FPS.  There are those of us who have pushed our effective ranges out furthur than that.  My G&G M14 chronos around 390 FPS w/ .25's and has an effective range (60% chance of hitting what I'm aiming at basically) of about 80 yards.  I have heavier BB's to test furthur ranges with my M14, but it's a bit of an exception rather than the norm.

In terms of selling a bolt action, it IS a tough sale for our fields.  There are very limited places and times of the year in which a bolt action that is highly tuned and has the appropriate FPS could have a range advantage over the hordes of AEG's.  Personally, I see FPS over 450 as a disadvantage to the player.  The longer MED makes the player useless for engagements that are closer than their MED.  

With a well tuned Semi Auto, sniper rifles and "snipers" are absolutely useless on the field.  I have made a nasty habit of eliminating snipers with my M14, I know several others who do it with other guns as well, but I really dont see snipers as the threat they are in the real world.

[BLOODSICK]

Grenade, I hate to burst your bubble man but your just need to come play with us and then you will understand  why a semi auto DMR is a much more efficient choice If you want to play the role of a sniper. By the way I wouldn't  tell anyone on this  forum to find a sniper manual since we have  several veterans that actually know what the word sniper truly encompasses. Just come play you'll  notice that almost everyone's AEG is shooting just as far and accurately as your  "sniper" rifle except they can lay down 10x the amount of fire. The logistics of real firearms just does not apply. If you love to snipe thats great but a bolt action is in Fact a tactical disadvantage. Sure is fun though

[GUNFIGHTER6]

Grenade, trust me there is no correllation between airsoft and real life sniping. First off the range on any airsoft gun is going to be about the same, give or take 50 or 60 feet max. In real life the effective range of a sniper rifle is at least double that of an assault rifle. Being able to shoot from a really long distance is what allows a sniper to remain undetected. Airsoft guns don't offer that same distance advantage. Even if you could reliably hit targets at 400 feet it won't take them long to figure out where you are and assault your position. Now if sniping is your thing then by all means have at, just don't be suprised when it doesn't pan out the way you expect. Good luck to you.

[Grenade]

you may all be right,remember in oregon we have lots of woods so its a snipers best friend,i guess the sniping is a little bit different back home,i have read the army/af sniper feild manual and it had some pretty good stuff in there as far as conealment and camo ect,disreguard all the real steel things in there but if anyone wants tip try to find one.i guess ill have to come and see what the land is like.snipers can get away with a lot back home iv been tagged by enough.

[Tanto]

Sorry for the bit of a necro, but...

In my experience there are 2 forms of airsoft "snipers":  someone using a bolt rifle as their primary and guillied up recon teams. 

I was in an OP back home where there were only 2 sniper teams allowed per 150 player team.  These sniper teams were very motivated and dedicated to their true mission, recon.  The first sniper team selected an overwatch position and relayed intel on the grand scale to command.  The second spent the first hour of the game sneaking into a position <50ft from the enemy spawn point.  They relayed intel based on the chatter they overheard from the enemy players.  They sat in that position for over 3hrs, until they were discovered.  In both cases, the weapon itself was negligible because of their primary tasking.  They did actually engage targets (in those cases, relying on range and stealth), but that wasn't their mission.

The other form is the yahoo's that think they can use a "sniper rifle" in a stand up fire-fight.  This is where the rifles are out of their zone.  They will get crushed by their obvious lack of ability to trade plastic.

[GhillieSuitHeroes]

I can see how snipers can be at a tactical disadvantage in airsoft, but when concealment and recon is a primary role, their job can be easily done and done well. As for shooting, semi auto might be advantgeous, one of my teammates uses a bolt action (TSD L96, no upgrades) and I have personally seen him conisitently hit a Coke can in high wind at 150 feet. I do not doubt his ability to shoot to kill at a range most AEGs cannot accurately hit. I was in a partol one game and just as my only remaining teammate told me that " I was his support and if anything happened to me"...........hit right in the chest from 100 feet, never saw him. The sniper team stalked us for 5 minutes and waited until tactically timed correctly to fire. That is what sniping is about: Recon and (as a secondary objective) tactical interdiction.

[Whiskey11]

I can see how snipers can be at a tactical disadvantage in airsoft, but when concealment and recon is a primary role, their job can be easily done and done well. As for shooting, semi auto might be advantgeous, one of my teammates uses a bolt action (TSD L96, no upgrades) and I have personally seen him conisitently hit a Coke can in high wind at 150 feet. I do not doubt his ability to shoot to kill at a range most AEGs cannot accurately hit. I was in a partol one game and just as my only remaining teammate told me that " I was his support and if anything happened to me"...........hit right in the chest from 100 feet, never saw him. The sniper team stalked us for 5 minutes and waited until tactically timed correctly to fire. That is what sniping is about: Recon and (as a secondary objective) tactical interdiction.

It's a shame that 90% of Airsoft snipers dont realize that their goal is Recon... and I think thats why it fails, the scales for airsoft are so small that they are not any more advantageous than a well concealed grunt.  And ranges on well tuned AEG's can be astonishing, you just have to know who to look out for

[GhillieSuitHeroes]

I would like to also comment on the first post of the topic:

The era of the M-24 or M-40 is over.

Bolt action is not completely done yet. In Iraq, close range is normal, semi-automaic wins over bolt action. However, Afghanistan's terrrain is much more open, and out troops feel at a disadvantage because the 5.56x45mm NATO round (M4, M16 etc) is not heavy enough at those ranges to kill, whereas the heavier 7.62x39mm M39 (AK47 etc) can be lethal at that range.

Scout snipers have another story however: The M107 (12.7x99mm) .50 caliber is heavy, highly lethal at range, and accurate to a sniper BUT we have still made improvements to bolt action. The CheyTac M200 "Intervention" (bolt action) shoots a .408 caliber CheyTac round specifically designed to shoot long range. It's ballistic performance is almost equal to that of a .50 cal but it is capable of being accurate and lethal at a much father distance.

Also the farthest recorded kill in history was made by a Canadian sniper using the bolt action MacMillan Tac-50 rifle (12.7x99mm).

The point is this: M24s or M40s or even bolt action will never be phased out until there is no more research being done in that field. When we are testing new rifles that are bolt action we can never be done using them because they might have a long range advantage. Never rule out any possibilities for a weapon.

[Grenade]

We dont use any bolt action 5.56 rounds for snipeing in the sandbox.The Ak is not very accurate and will not reach reach what a 5.56 can accuratly.A point target for a m4 is 500m and 600m for a m16,a point target for the m24 is 800m.Just because a round is heavier does not mean to is more accurate.

[gunfather6]

A point target for a m4 is 500m and 600m for a m16,a point target for the m24 is 800m.Just because a round is heavier does not mean to is more accurate.

Just because you can hit something with a M4 at 500m (a feat in itself) does not mean you can put it down.  As you reduce the barrel length on a M16 you drastically decrease its muzzle velocity.  Even at 300m a 5.56 from an M4 loses A LOT of its knock down power.  M4's are great for urban combat, CQB and firing from vehicles but that is it.  If you are operating in an environment that has any sort of range engagements (200m+) the full length M16 or M14 are definately the way to go.  There is also a significant decrease in accuracy when you are using an M4 versus a full length M16.  It can't be said enough that ANYONE can shoot man size targets at 300m+ with an M16.  The same can not be said for the M4.  I guess the point I am trying to beat to death here is that the M4 is designed strictly for close range combat.  Once you start getting farther away the short barrel becomes a crutch very quickly.