walkabout Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Well back from the 8th Military Snipers World Championships…Knackered! 4 very hard and challenging days shooting in the Czech Republic. It was a mixture of precision shooting at long range and fast shooting at close range. Days varied from a 7 hour stalk in gillie suits followed immediately by 100 – 600 metre targets mainly steels shooting from various positions, prone, kneeling, sitting, off tables, walls, grass, sand and buildings. Long shots of 700 metres on small gongs off high towers. Shooting from 110 metres trying to cut a piece of wire with one shot. You were occasionally told distances, but you had to laser most targets, nearly all targets were limited to 1 shot, if you missed no points. You were under pressure the whole time, having to load, find targets, range, aim, shoot maybe 4 targets at different ranges within 1 – 1.5 minutes. You used your own weapon as well as pistols and machine pistols. You had to carry all your gear with you at all times if you dropped anything or left cases you lost points for that stage. Running between areas being told what the stage is while getting into position. Sand was a nightmare, getting into everything, on one stage I lost 20 points by not been able to engage my last 2 targets as a guy with a .338 fired as I opened my bolt to reload and blasted a cup full of sand into by breech with his muzzle break! The last stage was being woken up at 0430 with flash bangs, you had 5 minutes to get dressed grab your rifle and pack and get outside, where you immediately went to the range we were camped next to, then you had to get into the kneeling position for 30 minutes not moving, setup on a small fire bird target at 100 metres, if you moved you lost points, then change position to sitting, were you had to stay motionless for 3, yes 3 hours! Bonus points for not moving; it started off in the dark at 3 degrees Celsius and warmed up to 10 when the sun came up. My back was killing me, lost all feeling in my hands and feet. They were throwing flash bangs all the time which spooked a few people into firing early. After 4 hours myself and my team mate David Shone were told to fire, you had 2 rounds to hit the target, first shot in 3 secs for 20 points, if you missed, 5 seconds for the second shot which only earnt 10 points, miss 0, some had sat there for 4 hours and missed, so all that for nothing. We both hit with our first. You then had to get up (which was agony!) and grab all your gear, get to an armoured personal carrier jump in the back within 2 minutes, get driven over bumpy hills, jump out and you had 2 minutes to find and engage 4 targets hidden within the scrub and an old car at unknown distances, then run 40 metres to engage another 2 man sized targets hidden in the scrub, prone from under a very low wall. All in all a very challenging 4 days, I was the oldest competitor there at nearly 60! Most of the military were between 18 and 30. There were 36 teams of two, 72 shooters. There was no British Military representation, so David and I represented England. We came 6th overall in the teams; I came equal 10th in the individual rankings out of 72 shooters David 12th. We were the highest placed foreign team, with the Czechs taking the top 5 team positions. Overall very pleased…but can barely walk and I have sand everywhere! I have a few photos but will have the official photos and video sent to me soon, if allowed I will post some more pictures. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 That looks familiar, i'm still finding sand in my kit from last year :-) Great result for you and David, well done ! Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Yup, very familiar. Well done11 Brings back memories of several attendances of the Czech comps. No spare time at the moment to attend.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Sounds very challenging! Well done, great result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkabout Posted April 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Yes it was challenging. Not like the police comps they hold, which is basic range work. It was good learning how to look and react in small time windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown dog Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Mark, great stuff - look forward to the pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryh Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Mark, great result - especially considering the age!! Terry ps did the blanks work OK in the end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkabout Posted April 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Terry Yes they worked, a bit quite next to .338!, but that was an advantage. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetor Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Well done to you both, by the look of your cheesey grin you were enjoying it. Bonus with the blanks. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcroft Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 wow, tuff comp, great work representing us and a great result Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akeld Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Well done, sounds quite the challenge and a good write up, looking forward to more pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Very impressive to say the least! Well done to you both! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ds1 Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Various thoughts crossed my mind during the comp the main one being that I am getting too old for this sh1t, followed by my Aiaw is a heavy assed cow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandy Posted April 24, 2016 Report Share Posted April 24, 2016 Strong effort there well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exmarksman9870 Posted April 24, 2016 Report Share Posted April 24, 2016 fantastic ...>>>>....>>>>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moff Posted April 26, 2016 Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 Well done sounds good fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will_ Posted April 26, 2016 Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 That sounds amazing! Good effort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dac9976 Posted April 27, 2016 Report Share Posted April 27, 2016 To do what you've done in that comp pushing sixty......I take my hat of to you sir, great result. Danny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcesgigas Posted April 27, 2016 Report Share Posted April 27, 2016 Splendid and informative. Please forgive my ignorance, but were the shooters restricted to the side-prone position? I've never seen that before. The custom here is straight line, belly down, butt on the collarbone, and using the non-trigger hand for stabilizing and fine-tuning the shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown dog Posted April 27, 2016 Report Share Posted April 27, 2016 Splendid and informative. Please forgive my ignorance, but were the shooters restricted to the side-prone position? I've never seen that before. The custom here is straight line, belly down, butt on the collarbone, and using the non-trigger hand for stabilizing and fine-tuning the shot. The pic that I suspect has prompted your question almost certainly shows a non-standard shot for which it's been mandated that the target be engaged with the rifle canted at 90deg - rather like taking a shot under a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aam Posted April 28, 2016 Report Share Posted April 28, 2016 Your nearly 60, you came 6th in the teams and 10th on the individual. Blimey. I'm getting on in age, if that were me I'd slip a disk or need a hip replacement at the end of the shoot. Well done mate. Out of curiosity how many other countries took part in the comps. Albert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkabout Posted April 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2016 aam, There were teams from what I can remember from Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy, France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Russia and of course our gallant 2 man English team! I cant remember them all. Some countries had more then 1 team the Czechs had 7 2 man teams, the Polish 4. alcesgigas Yes, the position is to replicate shooting under a vehicle or low object, 5 shots in 1 minute target 250 metres, 10 inch circle. Quite tricky as the rifle at 90 degrees means you have to really think about where to put the crosshairs if you didn't dial it in. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lambsey Posted April 30, 2016 Report Share Posted April 30, 2016 Great write up and fantastic result Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montey Posted April 30, 2016 Report Share Posted April 30, 2016 Realy enjoyed the read good result thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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