The prog about Saving Private Ryan

[EternalOptimist]

I thought the spray mode was mainly used for keeping the enemy supressed, or provide cover for the sharp shooters, not kills

You are right of course.

There is a time for hosing them down, there is a time for marksmanship. and then there is a time for snipers.
The more tools you have in your toolkit, the better off you are. Snipers are the hollywood glamour kids at the moment, dont let that fool you. there is a time and a place for them and they have a very specific purpose

[Spacecadet]

Judging by what those that know about these things have written, the introduction of the M16 and the "spray & pray" mode of markmanship hasn't done a lot for the Septic kill per round ratio.

It was 250,000 rounds per gook in Vietnam.

Apparently, in tests, many of them couldn't hit a foot square target at 25 yards with an M16.

Which, if you know what you're doing, is good out to about 300 yards.

I thought the spray mode was mainly used for keeping the enemy supressed, or provide cover for the sharp shooters, not kills

[TimberWolf]

The science of ballistics is all about the effects of gravity on a projectile. If you were shooting a laser gun, or a phaser, it's pure line of sight all the way, but with a projectile weapon, you have to 'aim off'.

True, no practical (in most cases) difference, but light falls at the same speed as a speeding bullet, 9.8m/s^2. But it's extraterrestrial by the time it's fallen far.

[EternalOptimist]

The science of ballistics is all about the effects of gravity on a projectile. If you were shooting a laser gun, or a phaser, it's pure line of sight all the way, but with a projectile weapon, you have to 'aim off'.
As a matter of interest (and you would never know this from looking at the movies), each person has their weapon calibrated individually. You wouldnt be able to pick someone elses weapon up and expect to hit anything (at long range).
Soldiers spend a lot of time getting their personal weapon 'zeroed in' to their own idiosynchrasies and his is why automatic weapons are so useful, they spray an area so that an accurate aim is not quite so neccessary.
The other major concept is that of precision as opposed to accuracy. A 'good shot' is someone who can land the bullets in a tight grouping on a consistant basis, but that doesnt mean they are on target, they might be precise, but off target.

[Spacecadet]

I imagine that rule applies to non elevated shots too.

Of course it would... infact (except for the extremes) you wouldn't need to take elevation into account at all

[TimberWolf]

Surely the gunsight is aimed at the target. The relative position of gunsight to barrel is adjusted to take into account the distance, hence the correcting screws on the sight

After some initial googling:
Rifleman's rule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yeah, seems that's the way they do it. Rather than aim high, they adjust the sights for distance and continue to aim directly at the target. I imagine that rule applies to non elevated shots too.

[Spacecadet]

Only saw the last few minutes. Saw the bit were they said the bullet trajectory would be more curved to enable a longer distance shot, but didn't get to hear why the gunsight of the person being fired at wouldn't likewise be angled higher, to shoot further.

Surely the gunsight is aimed at the target. The relative position of gunsight to barrel is adjusted to take into account the distance, hence the correcting screws on the sight

After some initial googling:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifleman's_rule

[TimberWolf]

Only saw the last few minutes. Saw the bit were they said the bullet trajectory would be more curved to enable a longer distance shot, but didn't get to hear why the gunsight of the person being fired at wouldn't likewise be angled higher, to shoot further.

[zeitghost]

on 5 last evening.

Interesting.

Loved the demo of how to shoot someone through his telescopic sight.