A sniper rifle is much more accurate than a normal rifle. Almost all sniper rifles use a sniper scope, a special telescope that allows them to see targets very far away. There are two different kinds of sniper rifles: bolt action rifles, which fire a single shot and then the user must ready the next shot, and semi-automatic ("semi-auto") rifles which fire a single shot each time the trigger is pulled, and automatically ready the next shot for firing. Fully automatic rifles, which fire continuously when the trigger is pulled as long as there is ammunition, generally are not used though in rare instances they can be converted into a sniper rifle. In one such instance, a heavy machine gun with a scope, while not a true sniper rifle, set the record for longest kill by a sniper for years, until advances in rifle technology and sniper training allowed a sniper with a true sniper rifle to beat that record.
Typically, bolt-action rifles have a longer range and are more accurate than semi-automatic rifles, however because each round must be chambered by hand, the rate of fire is slower than a semi-automatic rifle, which fires as fast as the shooter can squeeze the trigger. At close ranges, or in situations where a shooter must make a quick follow-up shot, a sniper may prefer to use the semi-automatic rifle instead. Examples of bolt action sniper rifles are the M40, R700, and M24. Examples of semi-automatic ones are the M21, Dragunov, and the M82 Barret .50 caliber.
Sniper rifles range in caliber (the diameter, or width, of the bullet fired in fractions of an inch) from as small as with the .22 LR (long rifle) bullet fired by many small pistols, to as large as with the .50 Browning Machine Gun (BMG) bullet which is fired by vehicle mounted heavy machine guns. Smaller rounds like the .22 LR are often used at very close range with a sound suppressor (commonly called a silencer) to quickly and quietly break street lights or kill vermin and small animals. The round is generally too weak and has too short of a range for longer range work, or shots on human-sized targets. In contrast, large rounds like the .50 BMG are fired out of very large and heavy sniper rifles that are often used for destroying light vehicles and equipment. They can fire at extreme ranges of over a mile, but generally are too bulky, inaccurate at short ranges, and expensive for general purpose work.
Sniper rifle barrels must be cleaned every day to get rid of any liquid. Not cleaning the barrel can allow to disastrous situations, or even let the barrel explode upon firing.
On 7 October 1777, during the Battle of Saratoga, Timothy Murphy, a rifleman in Morgan's Kentucky Riflemen, shot and killed General Simon Fraser of the British army. Murphy was said to have taken the shot at roughly 500 yards. He was using the renowned Kentucky long rifle. Fraser was leading a recon in force against the rebellious colonists at Bemis Heights in New York. As a result of Fraser's death, the recon failed. This had a direct impact on the overall battle, leading to the British defeat. The Battle of Saratoga was considered one of the turning points of the War for Independence.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed from the bullet of the Remington .30-06 rifle. Another example is when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He was sniped by a Carcano-type Model 91-38 rifle.
Harry Power
Harry Power (1819–1891) was born as Henry Johnson in Waterford, Ireland on 18 May 1819. He was a famous Australian bushranger. He is believed to be the man who taught Ned Kelly how to be a bushranger.
Power was sent to Van Diemen's Land for seven years for stealing a stealing a bridle and saddle. Released in 1848 he moved to Victoria where he set up a horse selling business in Geelong.
During the gold rush Power went to Maryborough in central Victoria to search for gold. When two policemen tried to arrest him for horse stealing in March 1855, he shot one of them. He was captured and sentenced to prison for 13 years. He was able to escape from HM Prison Pentridge in 1862 and moved to northern Victoria where he met the Kelly, Quinn and Lloyd families. In 1864 he was captured near Beechworth and sent back to prison. He escaped from Pentridge again on 19 February 1869.
Ned Kelly, who was 13 years old, helped him with several robberies near Beechworth. Power then carried out more than 600 robberies by himself during the year. He had a hideout in a cave looking out over the King River which is still called Power's Lookout. The police offered a reward of ₤500 for his capture. Ned Kelly's uncle, James Quinn, told the police the location of the cave and Power was again caught and sent back to prison.
He was released in 1877 because of concerns for his health. He worked on a farm near Sunbury. In his old age he acted as a guide on a ship set up as a convict museum. On 11 October 1891 he was found drowned in the Murray River, near Swan Hill.
Behrain
Behrain is a popular hill station in Swat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Galyat
The Galyat region is an area roughly 50–80 km north-east of Islamabad, Pakistan, on both sides of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Punjab border. The word "Galyat" is the plural of the Urdu word "gali", which means an alley between two mountains on both sides of which there are valleys and it is not the highest point in the range. Many of the towns in the area have the word "gali" as part of their names. These are popular summer-holiday destinations in Pakistan. Murree, one of the most popular hill stations of Pakistan, is the largest town of the Galyat area.
Kalam Valley
The Kalam valley is a valley in the upper reaches of the Swat River in Swat, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Malam Jabba
Malam Jabba (also Maalam Jabba, ) is a Hill Station in the Karakoram mountain range nearly 40 km from Saidu Sharif in Swat Valley, Sarhad, Pakistan. It is 314 km from Islamabad and 51 km from Saidu Sharif Airport.
Malam Jabba is home to the largest ski resort in Pakistan. The area also contains two Buddhist stupas and six monasteries that are scattered around the resort. The presence of the monuments at such a height indicates that the area has been inhabited for over 2000 years.
Patriata
Patriata also known as New Murree is a hill station in northern Punjab, Pakistan. It is situated 15 km south-east of Murree hill.
Charra Pani
Charra Pani is a hill station in the Galyat region of northern Pakistan.
Invest (meteorology)
An invest in meteorology (weather) (also INVEST) is a labelled area of bad weather that is being looked at for a possible tropical cyclone being made. Invests are labelled by three hurricane centers: the National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center and Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The labelling of an area of bad weather as an invest does not always mean that a tropical cyclone will be started. Invests have numbers from 90 to 99, with a L in the Atlantic, E and C in the East and Central Pacific in that order, or W in the West Pacific after the number.
Nubra Valley
Nubra () is a valley in the region of Ladakh, India. Diskit, the capital of the Nubra area, is about north from Leh, the capital of Ladakh. Its name is derived from Ldumra (the valley of flowers).
The Nubra River is a tributary of the Shyok River, which flows into the Indus River. It flows in the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir.
Suru Valley
The Suru valley is a valley in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, which is drained by the Suru River (Indus), a tributary of the Indus River. It is at a height of . The towns of Kargil and Rangdum are here. The Penzella Pass at Panikhar, a hill resort in Zanskar, divides the Suru valley with Zanskar. Willow and poplar are grown in the Suru valley.