Scharfschützen, snipers, weapons and tactics.

World War II German Military
#21

Actually Germany did produce something like the “zara” russian explosive bullet, that was the B-patrone wich was used as observation cartrigde by Luftwaffe gunners, the difference was the Whermatch didnt use in the infantry rifle until late in the war, 1944 I think.

Check the first 3 post , there is something about this bullet.

  1. Did you use observation ammunition, i.e. cartridges that fired projectiles, which detonate upon impact?

A, B, C. Yes; upon impact a small flame as well as a small puff of smoke could be seen which allowed good observation of impact. By this method we could force the enemy to leave wooden houses, etc by setting tire to them.
Observation cartridges were used up to a range of about 600 meters; their dispersion was somewhat larger than that of heavy pointed cartridges (heavy pointed bullet).

#22

Parachutist scharfschütze.

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#23

Very nice drawing, something I could imagine hanging above my fire place.

#24

Another one. SS Gebirgs scharfschütze.

Both plates made by the argentine artist Ramiro Bujeiro.

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#25

Did the SS troops put their Sniper rifles in trees or was that the normal German army?

#26

Well I think that thet Sharp shooters of the German Army were good ( very good) But some things could be improved on. But the addition of stronger scopes are a good idea. Because Allied snipers wanted to add stronger scopes but had not training for it. But the German Army had the time and they could have been training, for the up coming war. They all knew that the Americans would jion in on the war.

#27

I suppose they use trees as many other available cover but I belive that wasnt the rule.

Is a very vulnerable emplacement.

#28

In the book “Im Auge des Jägers” (In the eye of the hunter) german sniper Josef “Sepp” Allerberger explains chossing a tree as a location for a sniper was one of the most stupid things to do since you’re unable to relocate quick enough when detected. A common mistake either by unexperienced and/or female russian snipers (also according to the book).
Talking of snipers in Waffen-SS unit, this issue remained unattended for a long time by the Waffen-SS leadership because they considered sniper warfare as an dishonorable way of fighting.
BTW, those camo face masks on the drawing have been a total failure in practice since it limited the snipers field of vision way too much.

#29

BTW, those camo face masks on the drawing have been a total failure in practice since it limited the snipers field of vision way too much

Probably so, the mask is rarely seen in scharfschutzen pictures.

#30

Funny thing, seems that the trees were not so bad after all, sniper in italy above a pinetree.

#31

tanks for remenber the germans snipers of ww2 and for remenber the best rifle in the world “k98” realy i love here …!
for me the k98 best than the “russian mosen nanght” and the germans sniper is the best sniper in the world war 2…viva les tireurs d’elite

#32

Now THAT is a smart idea this guy had.

Notice the snipers rifle has a hole in the rear scope ring base and a “V” in the front scope ring base. He can use the open sights as well as the scope.

It’s even smarter than most think. It allows you to sight in the open sights, say at 300 meters, then sight in the scope at whatever they decide as their base range for the scope. Then look with the scope at 50 meters, and notice where the open sights look at the same range. Then keep that relationship in mind.

That way you can check your scope real easy any day of the week. Just put the sights on a target at 50 meters, and then look through the scope and verify the alighment relationship is on.

If they drop the rifle or bang it somehow and worry about the alighment, a quick check will tell the tell.

That’s the setup you want!

Deaf

#33

It’s not his idea, its pretty standard on a lot of sniper set-ups. Keep in mind that soldiers don’t get to choose their kit like some computer game, it is issued to them.

No you can’t, at least not without a rest to keep the rifle in a fixed position, you see as you shift your head from looking down the sights to looking down the scope your body changes position and your original hold is lost. This comes from experience, both with lazy bore sighting and my mosin sniper (which also allows for use of iron sights).

#34

Quite probably a posed photo Panzer, although the book, The German Sniper 1914-1945 has an extract from a German training manual showing how to position in a tree. So I am sure that under very specific circumstances trees have their use.

#35

Yeah, like when there are no .50 caliber machine-guns around… :evil:

#36

Quite probably a posed photo Panzer, although the book, The German Sniper 1914-1945 has an extract from a German training manual showing how to position in a tree. So I am sure that under very specific circumstances trees have their use.

Probably so, but as you said, could be used in special cases (desperation?) the tree is a good observation plataform but once you are spotted you are dead. I ve hunted with shotgun a couple of small wild hogs from a tree ( shotgun with ball/slug that is) and my body hurted for 2 days, quite unconfortable.

#37

Japanese used same tactic, abet with LOTS more camouflage, for sniping.

But as everyone here can see, that’s a good way to die.

If you read the book, “A Rifleman Went to War”, by McBride (it’s about McBride’s experience in WW1 as both a sniper and machine gunner) you will find a few German snipers actually did use trees.

Unfortunately he writes about one time where they figured out where the sniper was in the trees and zeroed in a couple of machineguns and that was the end of that.

More interestingly, he wrote about rummaging through lots of different ’06 ammo, shooting them to find which lot was the most accurate, and from then on out tried to get just that lot of ammo for their snipping.

John George, in his book, “Shots Fired in Anger”, also wrote about Japanese snipers in trees and the best medicine for them.

Deaf

#38

Well hopefully you would have a rest! Not many sharpshooters do their plinking off hand at longer ranges.

I’ve used that method with Ruger Mini-14s (military peep and over-the-action scopes) and see-through scope mounts. I find it very handy to verify alignment.

Deaf

#39

I’ve posted this before in some other forgotten thread, but it’s relevant here.

Buna, Papua, 28 December 1942: These three photographs show an Australian Bren gunner firing at a Japanese sniper position in a palm tree, the palm tree after it had been fired upon, and the body of the Japanese sniper at the base of the palm tree. The Bren gunner’s technique was to fire several bursts at a point six feet from the top of the tree, so weakening its trunk. The weight of the sniper then caused the tree to break and he was killed when he hit the ground 60 feet below.

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/013952

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/013965

http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/013937

That doesn’t alter the fact that Japanese snipers in trees in the jungle could be very effective for longish times as they were adept at camouflage and jungle trees and surrounding jungle gave them good cover.

#40

Sure they use what ever features are available to rest their rifle on, but WWII snipers (or modern day snipers) certainly did not carry a bench mountable rifle rest into the field (they weren’t even issued bi-pods). And in order to do what you suggest, this is the type of rest you would need, a bipod or branch is not sufficient.

I just tried it out with my SVD, using a fixed object as my rest and a sign hanging on a fence 70-80m away and just even the general shake natural to all shooting invalidated your idea, but as I moved my head up to the scope I could see the rifle move position noticably.

Besides, military iron sights are just too rough to compare to the optics of a scope.