Sniper Central Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Questions
What the heck is a MOA?
How do I make a Ghillie Suit?
What is the best sniper rifle out there?
What is the best entry level (read: Low Cost) sniper rifle?
How do I get a price list for the rifles you sell?
Are you a sniper?
How do I become a sniper?
I’m a teenager, how do I best prepare now to become a sniper?
What do you think about the Remington 700P and how good is it?
Why don’t you add rifle ‘X’ to your rifle page?
Can a civilian purchase a sniper rifle?
Should I break in the barrel of my new rifle?
What is the proper break in procedure?
Why don’t you hold classes on Sundays?

Question: What the heck is a MOA?
Answer: “MOA – Minute Of Angle. This is a mathematical term that by chance happens to be very useful for measuring accuracy of rifles/ammo. It represents 1″ at 100 yards, 2″ at 200 yards, 3″ at 300 yards, etc etc. In reality it is actually 1.047197551″ at 100 yards, but it is close enough to 1″ (1.145226878″ at 100 meters, a little bit more then 1″). So if you have a rifle that will shoot 1 MOA, it should shoot (barring any wind or other funky atmospheric effects) 1″ groups at 100 yards, 2″ groups at 200 yards, etc etc.”

Question: How do I make a Ghillie Suit?
Answer: “It is really not that hard. Take an old set of BDU’s or a flight suit, and attach some netting to the back side. I prefer about 1″ square netting. You can sew it on by hand, or just use some shoe goo. Once its attached, cut yourself a bunch of strips of burlap (what ever colors match your area of operations) about 1″ wide and between 12″ – 24” long. Take those strips and tie them to the netting. Presto, you have a basic ghillie. Now use your imagination. I like to put canvas onto the front of the suit to re-enforce the spots that will wear out quickly from crawling, be sure to spray paint the shoe goo with a flat color to kill the shine. You can also attach pockets all over the place. Make some nice veils, or just make some high speed way of attaching natural veg. I also like to strip out the burlap so that I’m tying on wads of burlap strings, its very labor intensive, but the results is nice. Like I said, use your imagination. If you are a member to the site I have much more detailed instructions available here.”

Question: What is the best sniper rifle out there?
Answer: “Sorry, but there is no real answer to this question. There are a lot of excellent sniper rifles, but there is no cut and dry best rifle. It is more of a class that certain rifles make it in. At that point, its a matter of personal preference as to which rifle you like best, for me, its the Parker Hale Model 85, but I would never classify it as the best sniper rifle, only the best one for me. It depends a lot on what features you need and what the overall mission is. Perhaps 308 will work fine, but maybe you need .338 Lapua. What about a detachable magazine, or what style of bipod, barrel length, suppressor, etc etc. Of course, there is the aesthetically pleasing aspect as well, which is one of the reasons why the Parker Hale M85 rates to high to me, and that McHale stock is really comfortable to me…”

Question: What is the best entry level (read: Low Cost) sniper rifle?
Answer: “There is no clear cut answer to this one as well. There are many very effective and affordable tactical rifles out there. The most popular is the Remington 700p, but I cannot say it is the best. The Savage 10FCP with HS or McMillan stock is an excellent rifle that has a detachable magazine and can be found for under $1000. The varmint rifles cannot be ignored as well, as they can make excellent tactical rifles. The Weatherby vanguard varmint sub MOA rifle is very nice. If you are looking for a complete package that is unique and comes with everything assembled and ready to go, take a look at the package we offer here. I used to solely recommend the 700P with a leupold 3-9x40mm PR mounted on top… but the prices have gone up significantly and there are a lot of other players with excellent rifles now, so its not so clear cut.”

Question: How do I get a price list for the rifles you sell?
Answer: “You can visit the price list page located here: member pricing. There are marked discounts if you are member of the site. Also, we have a public shopping site that does sell firearms as well, It is found here: shop. And finally, we do put together some rifle packages which you can see here: Entry Packages.

Question: Are you a sniper?
Answer: “Yes, or at least I was. I ETS’d out of the US Army National Guard in Sep 99′. I graduated from the US Army Sniper School at Ft. Benning and I’ve also graduated a SWAT sniper school conducted by the FBI. Yes, I was National Guard, part of an excellent infantry unit, with lots of experience. While the unit only trained part time (National Guard), we were full time snipers. I was a sniper team member for a year before I became team leader for the last 3 years of my time. And to answer the next question, no I never saw combat, that is why my name is not on the combat sniper list.”

Question: How do I become a sniper?
Answer: “It depends if you want to be a sniper (military) or a sharpshooter (Law Enforcement). In the military, its pretty tough. On the Army side, you first become infantry, and then you get slotted as a sniper if there is a position open and you have impressed enough people to get the nod. In the USMC, it is different, as there is a separate MOS for Scout Snipers. Generally there are tryouts conducted to fill empty slots in STA platoons. I’ll rely on my USMC brethren to correct me if this is not the norm…. On the LE side, you usually first become a SWAT (or EST, or SRT, etc etc) member and then when you gain the experience you can become eligible to tryout for a sniper slot if one opens up. (Again, if you impress enough people and get the nod)”