The Sniper Encyclopaedia: An A–Z Guide to World Sniping

By John Walter

A complete guide to snipers, rifles, techniques, battles, and campaigns throughout history and around the world, by the author of The Hand Gun Story. 
 
The work features hundreds of snipers, including not only the best-known—world renowned gurus such as Vasiliy Zaytsev and Chris Kyle—but also many crack shots overlooked by history. Among them are some of more than a thousand Red Army snipers—men and women, who amassed sufficient kills to be awarded the Medal for Courage and the Order of Glory. Also included are some of the best-known sniper victims, and the veracity of the most popular myths.
 
The book thoroughly examines the history and development of the many specialist sniper rifles—some more successful than others—that have served the world’s armies from the nineteenth-century American Wars to today’s technology-based conflicts. Attention, too, is paid to the progress made with ammunition—without which, of course, precision shooting would be impossible. The development of aids and accessories, from camouflage clothing to laser rangefinders, is also considered.
 
Finally, The Sniper Encyclopedia examines significant locations and specific campaigns—the way marksman have influenced the course of the individual battles and places which have played a crucial part in the history of sniping, from individual sites to sniper schools and training grounds. The book contains authors’ biographies, a critical assessment of the many books and memoirs on the world of the sniper, and a guide to research techniques.
 
“A remarkable work of research and an endless treasure trove of information for anyone with an interest in the subject.” —Martin Pegler, author of Out Of Nowhere: A History of the Military Sniper

• Language: English
• Publisher: Casemate Publishers
• Release date: Aug 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781612007229

John Walter

John Walter, born in Glasgow in 1951, is among the world’s most prolific writers on small arms—author of seventy books, translated into more than a dozen languages. Walter has worked with edged weapons, bladed tools, firearms, railway locomotives, warships, scientific instruments and even heraldry. Among his published works have been several studies of the Luger pistol; four editions of Rifles of the World; The Airgun Book; The Rifle Story and The Handgun Story; Guns of the Elite and its current successor, Guns of the Elite Forces; The German Rifle; and The Greenhill Dictionary of Guns and Gunmakers.

Book preview

The Sniper Encyclopaedia: THE DIRECTORY

Balaoglan Abasov

RED ARMY SNIPER

Born in Azerbaijan in 1919, Abasov recorded 106 kills by the end of July 1941, but was killed the following year during the battle for Stalingrad. [

SOSN2009

]

Mamed-Ali Abasov

SOVIET NAVY SNIPER

Serving with the 63rd [SOSN2009] or the 69th Marine Infantry Brigade [AASN2016], Abasov has been credited with 104 kills prior to the award of the Order of the Red Banner and 187 kills achieved by December 1943, when he is said to have been wounded seriously enough to end his career. No other details are currently available.

Tuleugali Abdybekov

RED ARMY SNIPER

Said to have served on the Stalingrad Front, obtaining 397 kills [AASN2016], Tuleugali Nasyrkhanovich Abdybekov died of wounds on 23 February 1944.

Ivan Abdulov

RED ARMY SNIPER

Born in 1922, Ivan Filippovich Abdulov joined the army in December 1941 and served with the 849th Rifle Regiment, 303rd Rifle Division, 57th Army. He achieved 295 or 298 kills, including five snipers and eleven officers, and trained 27 men before his death on 23 February 1943. Abdulov was made a →Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. [

SOSN2009

]

ACCURACY INTERNATIONAL SNIPER RIFLES, BRITAIN

Background. Accuracy International Ltd, originally of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, is best known for the purpose-built sniper rifle adopted by the British Army after trials lasting several years. Originally designed by David Walls and David Caig of C&W Products, the rifle was perfected with the help of the renowned target-shooter Malcolm Cooper (1947–2001). Cooper won a silver medal in the 1978 world championships with a prototype, and this was then refined, gaining a thumbhole stock and a unique flash suppressor/recoil compensator with spiral ports.

Precision Marksman Rifle (‘PM’, pictured above), 1985. Adopted by the British Army as the L96A1 sniper rifle, this had a 60-degree-throw bolt with a fully enclosed head. The action locked by three lugs on the bolt engaging a locking collar on the barrel as the bolt handle (which doubled as a fourth lug) was turned down. The construction of the breech was also unusual, as the barrel screwed into an extension of the receiver and was held in place with a barrel collar. The lugs on the bolt head passed through appropriate slots in the collar and were then turned so that they locked into place. This system allowed the barrel collar to be replaced when wear increased headspace unacceptably, and also simplified construction. Among the most interesting features of the PM was the modular construction, which has since become fashionable among the makers of specialized target and precision sniping rifles. Two ‘stock sides’, made of tough plastic with olive drab finish, were bolted onto the aluminium chassis supporting the action to resist the warping that can occur when one-piece wood stocks are used in unfavourable conditions.

The AXMC338 rifle represents the latest development of the PM concept. One of the most important features is the quick-detachable barrel system, enabling rapid changes of calibre or cartridge to be made when required.

Courtesy of Accuracy International

The PM experienced the teething troubles to be expected in any new and revolutionary design, but these were rapidly overcome. By the time the PM was discontinued in favour of the AW pattern, sales had been made to more than 20 countries including Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The standard rifle was 44.25 in long, weighed 14.33 lb with sights and bipod, and had a 25.75-inch barrel. The detachable box magazine held 10 rounds. The angular thumb-hole half stock and prominent stock-side retaining bolts are obvious characteristics. In addition, the rifles were often seen with a bipod and a small monopod or ‘Quick Action Spike’. A 6 × 42 Schmidt & Bender sight was customarily fitted, but a folding rear sight graduated to 700 yd usually appeared on the receiver above the bolt handle to use when multiple targets had to be engaged rapidly at short range.

The single-shot Long Range rifle, with increased action rigidity, was usually fitted with Schmidt & Bender 12 × 42 or Leupold 10/16 × M1 sights, and chambered 7 mm Remington Magnum or .300 Winchester Magnum ammunition in a quest for better accuracy at greater distances than the standard 7.62 × 51 NATO round could deliver. The Moderated PM rifle had a 6 × 42 optical sight and a full-length sound moderator suited to special subsonic 7.62 × 51 ammunition. The PM Super Magnum was developed for the .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6 × 70) round to increase the distance at which hits could be obtained, and also to improve anti-materiel performance. However, it was only made in small numbers before the PM gave way to the AW. The 7.62 mm PM Counter-Terrorist rifle had Schmidt & Bender 6 × 42 or 2.5–10 × 56 sights. The Covert rifle, derived from the PM Moderated, was designed to dismantle into a wheeled suitcase and could be identified by the pistol grip, placed immediately behind the trigger, and leftward-swinging butt which could lie alongside the receiver.

Arctic Warfare rifle (‘AW’). This was an improved PM, created for the Swedish Army trials of 1986–7, which led to adoption as the PSG-90. The AW, known a the L118A1 in British service (now advanced to L118A3), was introduced commercially in 1992 and been used by military and police units in 40 countries. The action has been improved by changes in individual components, and an anti-icing system allows the AW to operate reliably in temperatures as low as –40 °C. A three-position safety lever on the right side of the receiver behind the bolt handle can be used to withdraw the firing pin, but the bolt may be locked (‘full lock’) or left free to open (‘half lock’). The stainless steel barrel has an optional muzzle brake to reduce recoil, a multi-adjustable bipod can be fitted at the tip of the fore-end or to an optional hand-stop on the accessory rail. The rear part of the butt can be slid vertically to suit individual firers. Synthetic stock plates may be green, beige, black or camouflage finish. Chambered for the 5.56 × 45 (.223) or 7.62 × 51 (.308) rounds, with detachable box magazines holding 8 or 10 rounds respectively, the rifles are typically 46.5 in long, with a 26-inch barrel, and weigh 14 lb with sights and bipod. Open sights can be provided as back-up to Schmidt & Bender 6 × 42 or Hensoldt 10 × 42 telescopes.

Variants include the AWP or ‘Police’, introduced in 1997 in .243 Winchester and 7.62 × 51 (.308 Winchester), with a 24-inch medium-weight stainless barrel and a 3–12 × 50 Schmidt & Bender telescope sight. The AWS (‘Suppressed’ or ‘Silenced’) has a full-length annular suppressor which performs best with subsonic ammunition. The SM-94 or ‘Super Magnum’ is a strengthened six-lug-bolt enlargement of the design handling the .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6 × 70) cartridge. It is 48.25 in long, with a 27-inch barrel, and weighs 15.5 lb with sights and bipod. Magazine capacity is 5 rounds.

AW-

50

. The largest of the Accuracy International rifles, this appeared in 1999. Chambered for the .50 Browning machine-gun cartridge, it is much more massive than the standard AW: with a 27- inch barrel, it weighs 33 lb. The multi-port muzzle brake is a necessity with so powerful a cartridge, and the bulky 5-round box magazine protrudes beneath the receiver. The butt has an additional monopod to allow the Schmidt & Bender optical sight to be used for long-term observation.

The AT308 – an updated version of the AWP – is a police/CTW adaptation of the basic AW308 short action, chambering 7.62 × 51 ammunition.

Courtesy of Accuracy International

Afanasiy Abduvekov

RED ARMY SNIPER

Afanasiy Emelyanovich Abduvekov, who died of wounds on 23 February 1944, is credited with 397 kills – though many sources either ignore him or give a different score. [

AASN2016

]

Abdul the Terrible

TURKISH SNIPER

Claimed to have duelled unsuccessfully with the Australian sniper Billy →Sing during the Gallipoli campaign of 1915. However, the story draws largely on the account of Sing’s self-proclaimed observer, Ion ‘Jack’ →Idriess, which is now believed to be unreliable. There is no doubt that the Turks made use of snipers, however, and that the best would have tried to eliminate Australian marksmen.

Accuracy →One shot, one kill

Acq sniping school

BRITAIN

This was a short lived brigade-level school created in May 1916 in a small town in Pas-de-Calais, France, by Major Frederick →Crum. It closed on 19 June after training enough men to ensure that the skills filtered down to rank-and-file. Crum and his staff moved to brigade headquarters in Arras to oversee the work of snipers and intelligence-gatherers.

Noy Adamia

SOVIET NAVY SNIPER

Petty Officer Noy Petrovich Adamia was being credited with 200 kills [SOSN2009] or 300 kills [AASN2016] when he was reported missing, presumed dead, on 6 July 1942. Born in 1917, he joined the navy in 1938 and served as a sniperinstructor with the 7th ‘Red Banner’ Naval Infantry Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet. Adamia was made a →Hero of the Soviet Union on 24 July 1942.

Alexander Adie & Son(s)

BRITISH OPTICAL INSTRUMENT MAKERS

Based in Edinburgh, capital city of Scotland, this business was founded in 1822 by Alexander James Adie (1774–1858), a maker of barometers and scientific instruments who had been apprenticed to an uncle with whom he had traded as Miller & Adie. Joined by his sons John (1805–70) and Richie (or ‘Richard’, 1810–81), Alexander Adie traded from 58 Princes Street until 1852 and at 50 Princes Street thereafter. The Adies were commissioned by David →Davidson to make optical sights in the late 1850s.

Teshaboy Adilov

RED ARMY SNIPER

Serving on the Leningrad Front, Senior Sergeant Adilov had 108 kills when he was awarded the →Order of Lenin in the spring of 1942. [

SOSN2009

]

Aleksey Adrov

RED ARMY SNIPER

Aleksey Vasilevich Adrov had registered 66 kills by 7 July 1943, but was killed in action in March 1944 with his total score unrecorded. [

AASN2016

]

Nikifor Afanasev

RED ARMY SNIPER

Nikifor Samsonovich Afanasev, born in 1910, served in the Red Army during the battle of Khalkin-Gol in Manchuria, 1939, then rejoined in October 1941. Serving on the 1st Baltic Front as a senior sergeant in the 250th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 83rd Guards Rifle Division, 11th Guards Army, Afanasev obtained 198 kills and became a →Hero of the Soviet Union on 3 June 1944. [

SOSN2009

]

Aimpoint

AMERICAN GUNSIGHT

One of the earliest collimator designs, introduced in the 1980s, Aimpoint made use of a well-known optical illusion by combining an illuminated aiming mark within the sight body with the ability of the firer’s binocular vision to accommodate the reflected aiming mark and a view of the target simultaneously. →Sights

Ajack, on German optical sights: →Jackenroll

ALDIS BROTHERS,

BRITISH OPTICAL-SIGHT MAKERS

Best known as the maker of telescope sights issued to British snipers during the First World War, with the SMLE and P/14 rifles, the company was founded in Sparkhill, Birmingham, by Hugh Lancelot Aldis and Arthur Cyril Webb Aldis. Hugh Aldis, born in Calcutta in 1870, graduated from Cambridge University in 1892 and then joined J. H. Dallmeyer Ltd of London, makers of photographic lenses and optical equipment. In 1901, however, seeking independence to pursue his own ideas, Hugh began trading as senior partner in Aldis Brothers. Hugh Aldis was granted several patents protecting telescopes and optical equipment, including US no. 560,460 for a telescope sight and 1,317,749 for projectors, lenses and the well-known Aldis Lamp. He retired from the business in 1936, and died in July 1945; an obituary published in the Monthly Notes of the Royal Astronomical Society on New Year’s Day 1946 summarizes his career in detail.

Trading in 1947 from 109–139 Sarehole Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, the business was being run by Arthur John Aldis when it was purchased in 1957 by R. J. Pullin & Co. Aldis and Pullin were eventually subsumed into the Rank organization, apparently in the mid-1960s.

A total of 3,196 rifles with Aldis sights was set up during the First World War by →Holland & Holland, →Purdey and others. However, like many of the sights of the era, though considered acceptably durable, the Aldis designs offered low magnification – usually only 2.5 × – and poor lightgathering capabilities, as the diameter of the objective lens was only 19–20 mm.

A drawing of one of the Aldis sights. Ian Skennerton

The .303 P/1914 Mk I (T) rifle with a P/1918 sight: not an Aldis, as sometimes claimed, but a Hensoldt copy. James D. Julia, Inc.

Akhat Akhmetyanov

RED ARMY SNIPER

Akhat Abdulkhakovich Akhmetyanov of the 260th Rifle Regiment, 168th Rifle Division, Leningrad Front, has been credited with 502 kills to 15 January 1944, making him one of the highest scorers not only of the Second World War but of all time. Little else is currently known of his career. [

AASN2016

]

Nikolay Aksakov

RED ARMY SNIPER

Surprisingly little is known about the career of Nikolay Pavlovich Aksakov, serving on the Leningrad Front with the 105th NKVD Infantry Regiment, even though he is the subject of several official photographs and is said to have had at least 136 kills. One well-known picture, taken with colleagues Stepan →Isakov and Aleksandr →Polyubarinov, dates from 25 November 1942; Aksakov’s score was then 101.

Said Aliev

RED ARMY SNIPER

Created →Hero of the Soviet Union on 22 February 1943, ethnic Avarian Said Davidovich Aliev (also listed as ‘Aliyev’ or even ‘Alnev’) was born in 1917 and was working as a teacher when he joined the army in June 1940. Serving on the Karelian Front with 35th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 10th Guards Rifle Division, 14th Army, Alney registered 127 kills – receiving a presentation rifle – before being transferred to command a submachine-gun company. [

SOSN2009

]

Joseph Allerberger

GERMAN SNIPER

A carpenter’s apprentice from the Salzburg area of German-occupied Austria, Obergefreiter ‘Sepp’ Allerberger joined the army in August 1943 as a machine-gunner. However, while recuperating from a minor wound, sorting captured weapons for the regimental armourer, Allerberger discovered a →Mosin-Nagant 91/30 sniper rifle. Demonstrating an innate marksmanship ability, he was allowed to keep the rifle and become a sniper. His first 27 kills were obtained with the Russian rifle, but a Zf.-Kar. 98k (and eventually a Zf.-Kar. 43) was then substituted.

Allerberger served in Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 144 until the end of the Second World War. His tally of 257 kills, counting only from 1 September 1944, is second only to that of his regimental colleague Matthäus →Hetzenauer. Allerberger received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 20 April 1945.

His memoirs were published in Germany in 2000 as Im Auge des Jägers, created by Albrecht Wacker from interview transcripts, but many of the names were initially changed to preserve the anonymity of combatants who were still alive; Allerberger became ‘Franz Karner’. An English-language version, Sniper on the Eastern Front, appeared in 2005, correctly identifying Allerberger – and, presumably, many of his colleagues – even though the preface still suggests that the names had been changed! Josef Allerberger died in Wals-Siezenheim on 2 March 2010

Alte Corpsbüchse →Jägerbüchsen rifles

Altiscope: Leroy →Richard

Leander Amadon

AMERICAN OPTICAL INSTRUMENT MAKER

Chapman-type telescope sights were made in Vermont and elsewhere. These are customarily attributed to ‘L. M. Amidon’, but one surviving sight of this type is clearly marked L. AMADON over B.FALLS. and VT. Census and other records reveal that Leander A. Amadon (also listed as ‘Amiden’ or ‘Amidon’) had been born in New Hampshire in 1814. However, he was trading as a watchmaker in Bellows Falls, Vermont, in the 1850 and 1860 Federal censuses. Still listed as a ‘watchmaker’ in 1870, with real estate valued at $6,000 and personal effects of $3,000, Amadon died in Rockingham, Vermont, on 12 December 1878.

Amadon sights are well made, but optical quality is far from that of the →Malcolm designs, as they rely on simple lenses. His death records and will, which include an inventory of his workshop, both give the spelling of his name as ‘Amadon’. It has to be noted that Amadon’s identity has often been confused with that of L[eland] M[organ] Amidon, born in Vermont in October 1836. However, Leland had moved to Wisconsin by the 1850s. [

SNAW2017

]

Makhmud Amaev

RED ARMY SNIPER

Makhmud Matievich Amaev, serving with the 87th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 29th Guards Rifle Division, claimed 192 kills. Very little else is known about his career, however. [

AASN2016

]

American Civil War →Snipers and sniping

American Expeditionary Force, AEF

MILITARY FORMATION

Established in France on 5 July 1917, initially to help the Allies fighting on the Western Front (though some Americans served on the Austro-Italian Front), the AEF was commanded by General John Pershing from headquarters in the Château de Chaumont. Doughboys (a nickname of somewhat uncertain origin) began reaching France in June 1917, and first fought later in the year to trenches near Nancy. The need to train men in the USA delayed large-scale deployments until January 1918, but more than a million men were serving just four months later. US soldiers played decisive roles in many battles – including St Mihiel, Belleau Wood and Château Thierry – among them snipers such as Herman →Davis and Alvin →York. The AEF was officially disbanded on 31 August 1920.

American Sniper, book and film: Christopher →Kyle

AMR →Anti-matériel rifle

Serafima Anashkina

RED ARMY SNIPER

Serafima ‘Sima’ Grigorievna Anashkina (Vasina) was one of Roza →Shanina’s colleagues. She is credited with 13 kills achieved prior to 1 June 1944, serving in the 159th Rifle Division of the 5th Army and the 34th Rifle Division of 33rd Army, and is believed to have obtained at least 30 kills by the end of the war. She was awarded the →Order of Glory, third class. [

YZ2006, LVAA2017

]

Peter Anderson

CANADIAN ARMY SNIPER

Peter Klaus Anderson was born on 24 April 1868 in Denmark, to Niels Jorgen Anderson and Anna Clausen. The Anderson family emigrated to Canada while Peter was still a child. An accomplished hunter in the wilds of Alberta, he was also a successful businessman, owner of a large brickworks in Strathcona.

When the fighting began in 1914, Anderson, who had been a militia officer with the 101st Edmonton Fusiliers, attested on 23 September and went overseas with the 9th Battalion, CEF. In addition to his sniping duties, Anderson had an interesting war which included being captured by the Germans during the Second Battle of Ypres and then escaping, to return to Britain by way of Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

His memoir, I, That’s Me: Escape from a German Prison Camp and Other Adventures, tells quite a story. He returned to the Western Front and rose to lieutenant-colonel’s rank. He died in Vancouver in August 1945.

Khusen Andrukhaev

RED ARMY SNIPER

Khusen Borezhevich Andrukhaev, an ethnic Adygei born in 1920, was regarded as a teacher, poet and journalist when he joined the army in 1940 to serve with the 733rd Rifle Regiment of the 136th Rifle Division, 18th Army, on the southern fronts. Andrukhaev is credited with a ‘few dozen’ kills, before dying in action near Rostov on Don on 8 November 1941. He was made a →Hero of the Soviet Union, posthumously, on 27 March 1942. [

SOSN2009

]

AMMUNITION

The fascinating story of the cartridge is comparatively well known: how the inaccurate ball fired by a smooth-bore musket gradually evolved through the belted ball, the self-expanding bullet and the mechanically-fitting projectile, each fired with loose powder, until cartidges became entirely self-contained. The nineteenth-century technological evolution then allowed priming powder to give way to percussion-ignition and the copper cap, and new manufacturing techniques inspired the pin- and rimfire cartridges that had become popular, if not commonplace, when the American Civil War began in 1861. Price was high and availability was poor, restricting the exploitation of the new metal-case cartridges outside the most populous districts, and military minds were generally set against universal introduction. However, the die had been cast.

Though the Civil War was fought largely along conventional lines, the developmental influence of breechloaders such as the →Henry and Spencer repeaters in particular, was to have long-lasting results. Optical sights had also been used, raising the utility of sharpshooters by an unprecedented amount.

By 1870, armies had discarded cap-lock rifle muskets and needle guns in favour of rifles chambering metal-case cartridges. The perfection of centre-fire ignition, and of mass-production techniques needed to ensure that enough ammunition would be available to allow campaigns to be sustained, took warfare in a new direction. However, the idea of precision marksmanship was grasped only dimly by the military, to be kept alive by dedicated groups of marksmen keen to compete at long range. This created a demand for cartridges that were both powerful and accurate, and the introduction of smokeless propellant in France, which promised to clear much of the fog of battle that arose from the use of gunpowder, was a major advance.

Eventually, the difficulties of engaging fast-moving targets became obvious in the many colonial wars that raged across the globe. The British were taught the values of marksmanship in the Boer War (1899–1902), at great cost; optical sights were being tested extensively in the USA and elsewhere by the early 1900s; and the introduction of the streamlined →S-Patrone bullet in Germany and then the boat-tailed ‘Balle D’ in France improved range and accuracy.

When the First World War began, German snipers showed the British and the French, once again, the value of accurate shooting. Among the many innovations was the armour-piercing projectile, introduced specifically to combat the iron-plate shields that protected German trench loopholes and machine-gun emplacements, and the optical sight became commonplace. The development of armour-piercing, tracer and specialized bullets continued throughout the inter-war period, allowing the snipers of the Second World War to ‘mix and match’ ammunition to suit specific circumstances. It was only necessary to understand how each type of bullet flew (especially tracer, whose weight decreass in flight as the illuminating pellet burns away) and allow for differences in strike-point.

Today, the ever-increasing reliance on long-range sniping and anti-materiel duties has greatly extended the range at which kills must be achievable. This in turn has placed – indeed, still places – a premium on accuracy which ammunition manufacturers constantly strive to deliver. The .300 Winchester and .338 Lapua Magnums have largely supplanted 5.56 × 45/.223 and 7.62 × 51/.308 for sharpshooting, largely because high velocity extends engagement range, and the introduction of ‘Match Grade’ ammunition has increased consistency of shooting. Extreme precision has yet to be achieved by .50 Browning and the old Soviet 14.5 × 114rounds, but great strides are being made.

Liliya Anisimova

RED ARMY SNIPER

Liliya Nikolaevna Anisimova, serving as a sniper with the Black Sea army group, has been credited with more than 50 kills, though no other details of her career are known. [

AASN2016

]

Ivan Antonov

RUSSIAN NAVY SNIPER

Born in 1920, awarded the title →Hero of the Soviet Union on 22 February 1943, Ivan Petrovich Antonov served with the 160th Independent Sniper Company of the 301st Independent Artillery Battalion of the ‘Red Banner’ Baltic Fleet. His personal tally has been recorded as 302 [SOSN2009] or 352 kills (aasn2016, ‘including 20 snipers’), placing Antonov among the highest scorers. He is also said to have trained 80 marksmen.

Yacov Antonov

RED ARMY SNIPER

Born in 1909 and serving on the 1st Belorussian Front with the 170th Guards Rifle Regiment of 76th Guards Rifle Division, Yacov Dmitrievich Antonov joined the army in January 1943. Generally credited with at least 57 kills (76 in some accounts), Antonov had been made a Chevalier of the →Order of Glory soon after entering combat. However, the reason for this distinction is not entirely clear and he may have been killed towards the end of 1943. [

SOSN2009

]

ANZAC →Australia & New Zealand Army Corps

APX, A.Px., found on French optical sights: Ateliers de Construction de Puteaux: →Berthier sniper rifles, →Lebel sniper rifles, →MAS sniper rifles.

James J. Archer

US AND CONFEDERATE ARMY OFFICER

James Jay Archer was born in 1817 in Stafford, Maryland. After qualifying and then practising as a lawyer, he was commissioned in the US Army during the Mexican–American War of 1846–8. After moving to Texas and then returning to Maryland, Archer rejoined the army in 1855 as a captain in the 9th Infantry. Resigning his commission in May 1861, Archer joined the Confederate Army and was appointed colonel of the 5th Texas Infantry. Promoted brigadier general on 3 June 1862, he was given command of three Tennessee regiments after the brigade commander had been killed during the Battle of Seven Pines.

Archer continued to see service, including the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, but his health began to fail and he was captured at →Gettysburg. Imprisoned, Archer was exchanged in the summer of 1864 and returned to fight for the Confederacy. Shortly after the Battle of Peeble’s Farm, however, he died in Richmond, Virginia, on 24 October 1864.

Archer’s Brigade

CONFEDERATE MILITARY UNIT

Operating under the command of Brigadier General James Archer (above), these sharpshooters fought with distinction in some of the most important battles of the Civil War. Among them was →Gettysburg, where a sharpshooter of Archer’s Brigade is sometimes credited (albeit on no real authority) with the death of Major General John →Reynolds.

Arctic Warfare Rifle →Accuracy International

A Rifleman Went to War, book, 1933: Herbert →McBride

Ivan Arsenyuk

RED ARMY SNIPER

Ukrainian Ivan Petrovich Arsenyuk, born in 1910, joined the army in June 1941. He served as a senior-sergeant sniper with the 58th Guards Cavalry Regiment of the 16th Guards Cavalry Division of 7th Guards Corps and became a →Hero of the Soviet Union on 15 January 1944. The reason for this award is unclear, nor is his tally precisely documented. [

SOSN2009

]

ANTI-MATÉRIEL RIFLES

Individual entries for some of the best-known designs – e.g., Accuracy International, Barrett, McMillan, PGM, Steyr-Mannlicher– will be found in the directory. Among the less well-known weapons are:

Black Arrow/M93 (Serbia, Zastava Arms): .50 BMG or 12.7 × 108 mm, bolt-action, made 1998–2017

Black Spear/M12 (Serbia, Zastava Arms): .50 BMG or 12.7 × 108 mm, bolt-action, introduced in 2017

DSR-50 (Germany, DSR-Precision GmbH): .50 BMG, bolt-action, introduced in 2015

Gepárd (Hungary, Báthorí-Épszolg Kft): .50 BMG or 12.7 × 108 mm (M1, M2, M4–M6) and 14.5 × 114 mm (M3), detachable block (M1), auto-loading (M3, M4, M6) or bolt-action (M5), introduced in 1990

KSVK (Russia, Zavod imeni V. A. Degtyarev): 12.7 × 108 mm, bolt-action, introduced in 1998

NTW-14.5 and NTW-20 (South Africa, Denel Land Systems): 14.5 × 114 mm and 20 × 82 mm, bolt-action, introduced in 1998

OSV-96 (Russia, KBP Instrument Design Bureau): 12.7 × 108 mm, auto-loading, introduced in 2000

PDShP (Georgia, STC Delta): 12.7 × 108 mm, bolt-action, introduced in 2014

SPR-2 (Indonesia, PT Pindad): .50 BMG, bolt-action, introduced in 2007

Vidhwansak (India, Tiruchirappalli Ordnance Factory): 12.7 × 108 mm, 14.5 × 114 mm, 20 × 82 mm, bolt-action, introduced in 2007

WTW Tor or Wilk (Poland, Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów): .50 BMG, bolt-action, introduced in 2004/5

ZVI Falcon (Czech Republic, ZVI, Inc., formerly Zbrojovka Vsetín): .50 BMG (OP96) or 12.7 × 108 mm (OP99), bolt-action, introduced in 1998

The anti-matériel rifle, a comparatively recent addition to the sniper’s armoury, allows targets to be hit at ranges which only a few decades ago would have been regarded as fantasy. This has been greatly helped by improvements in the design and manufacture of ammunition, elevating even the venerable .50 Browning to a level at which 2,000-yard kills are regularly obtained.

Courtesy of the Pakistan Ministry of Defence

ANTI-MATÉRIEL RIFLES, ‘AMR’

The popularity of the Anti-Matériel Rifle, a large-calibre weapon intended to neutralize vehicles, aircraft, helicopters and even small warships has a lengthy pedigree. Now regularly associated with snipers, AMRs have greatly extended the range at which a satisfactory hit can be obtained.

Some commentators have seen the prototype of the AMR in the so-called Wall Guns of the 19th century, which were often simply enlargements of the infantry muskets of the day, but a more convincing claim can be made for the dangerous-game rifles developed for use in Africa, India and some parts of North America. Guns of this type – break-open, dropping block or bolt-action – chambered cartridges as large as .600 Express and were hurriedly pressed into service in 1915–16, often by individual owners, to threaten the iron-plate shields that customarily guarded German loopholes and machine-gun emplacements. These would easily resist the standard British .303 and French 8 mm Lebel bullets.

As even the first armour-piercing bullets, made available to snipers from 1917 onward, failed to duplicate the performance of the leading sporting-rifle cartridges, much more radical solutions were sought. When British and French tanks appeared in sufficient numbers to threaten the German lines, the Tank-Gewehr (‘T-Gew.’) appeared on the Western Front in 1918. Developed in the →Mauser factory in Oberndorf, this single-shot bolt-action rifle was issued with a 13.2 × 92 mm cartridge containing a bullet weighing 795 grains. Fired with a muzzle velocity of about 2,580 ft/sec, this presented a threat not only to the lightly armoured tanks but also to men and equipment.

The T-Gewehr cartridge was to inspire the introduction of the legendary .50 Browning, also known as 12.7 × 99 mm, which was created in 1921 simply by enlarging the regulation US Army .30–06. Between the wars, therefore, most armies adopted anti-tank rifles which were powerful enough to threaten all but the most powerful tanks of their day. Once the Second World War began, however, the thickness of tank armour (particularly on turrets and hull-fronts) grew so rapidly that even the most powerful of the rifles posed a threat only if the tank could be engaged from the rear or had vulnerable features such as externally-mounted fuel tanks.

The German invasion of Russia in the summer of 1941 presented the Red Army with a problem. Though a few T-Gewehr copies and Rukavishnikov anti-tank rifles had been made prior to the war, they had proved to be so ineffectual that the principal small-arms design bureaux were instructed to prepare new designs. Within weeks of the invasion, therefore, the →PTR (single-shot Degtyarev and auto-loading Simonov) had been ordered into production. These weapons chambered a 14.5 × 114 mm cartridge, appreciably more powerful than the .50 Browning, which fired bullets weighing 920–1,025 gr at up to 3,300 ft/sec.

After initial successes, PTR were deemed to be inadequate. However, many were then turned against armoured cars, self-propelled guns and unarmoured vehicles, and a technique of shooting up into the floor-pan of a tank from a trench was promoted. The big anti-tank rifles were also used as long-range sniping rifles, though the crudity of their sights and inaccuracy compared with riflecalibre weapons were major handicaps. In Notes of a Russian Sniper, Vasiliy Zaytsev recalls that one well-known sniper, Zhambyl →Tulaev, regularly used a single-shot PTRD in this way.

Very little use of this type of weapon was made outside the USSR prior to 1945, but there have been occasional reports of .50 M2 Browning machine guns, which could be set to fire single shots, serving as long-range sniping rifles with the assistance of an optical sight. Most of these incidents, however, dated from the Korean War (1950–3) when long-distance kills are known to have been obtained with the assistance of the Browning. William Brophy, a well-known writer who was then an ordnance officer, was one of a group of experimenters who amalgamated .50 Browning machinegun barrels with →PTRD actions captured from North Korean or Chinese forces. The goal was to create a weapon suitable for long-range sniping, but recoil proved to be too much for the optical sight (usually an 8 × Unertl) and mounts to withstand if shooting was to be prolonged. This particular problem persisted until recently, particularly with auto-loaders, but today’s equipment is much more robust.

The rise since the 1980s of the AMR as an interdiction weapon, partly as a result of the growth of anti-terrorist operations and the use of Special Forces, has interested manufacturers such as →Barrett, →McMillan, PSM, →Accuracy International, →Sako (now part of Beretta), →Steyr-Mannlicher and others. Most have favoured the .50 Browning cartridge, which, owing to experimentation, is now approaching the quality of high-grade rifle ammunition. However, AMRs originating in Russia and countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc – such as the Russian KSVK and OSV-96 Vzlomshik (‘Cracker’) – often favour the 12.7 × 108 and 14.5 × 114 mm rounds introduced respectively with the DK heavy machine-gun of 1934 and the Degtyarev and Simonov anti-tank rifles of 1941, and it is clear that other alternatives will eventually be offered. Even the 12.7 mm B32 armour-piercing incendiary bullet, which weights 745 gr, attains a muzzle velocity of about 2,700 ft/sec.

In their simplest form anti-matériel rifles are easy to manufacture, and can be undertaken by anyone with engineering expertise. Consequently, though once restricted to a handful of gunmakers, AMRs have been developed in, for example, Azerbaijan and India. Made for the Azerbaijan Defence Industry, the Istiglal is a recoil-operated self-loader chambered for the 14.5 × 115 round, but is 90 in long and weighs close to 75 lb; the 12.7 × 108 Mubariz is a lighter version intended for snipers. About 400 Vidhwansak (‘Destroyer’) AMRs, products of the ordnance factory in Tiruchirappalli, were made for the Indian Border Security Force in 2005–11. A manually operated bolt-action rifle with a recoilsuppressing system, derived from the South African Denel NTW-20, this rifle is remarkable for the ease with which barrels can be changed to allow 12.7 × 108, 14.4 × 115 or even 20 × 82 cartridges to be fired as appropriate.

Modern rangefinders and GPS technology give not only a continuously-updating distance for which sights must be set, but also provide a straightforward means of measuring kills. This alone removes much of the guesswork that compromised many of the earliest long-range claims (→One shot, one kill) and allows individual shots such as those of Rob →Furlong and Craig →Harrison to be authenticated. There can be no doubting that the Barrett and McMillan rifles in particular were groundbreakers in the 1990s.

AMR accuracy is still something of a problem: machine-gun ammunition has always been intended specifically to achieve the dispersion that would minimize the effects of aiming errors, which was the precise opposite of what a sniper desired. However, continual refinement of large-calibre cartridges is gradually providing an answer. There is some statistical evidence to suggest that the fixed-barrel designs offer greater rigidity during the firing cycle, but auto-loaders confer the advantage of an instant second or subsequent shot. This is clearly useful, as the chance of a one-shot kill beyond 2,000 yards is limited without ranging shots, experience, skill and luck.

Any technological advance that can help the sniper in his quest is clearly to be welcomed (→Sights), but the arbiter is still the performance of the rifle/cartridge combination – even assuming the ability of the firer can be taken out of the equation.

ARISAKA SNIPER RIFLES, JAPAN

Background. When the Japanese became embroiled in war with China in 1894, they encountered the German Gew. 88 in combat. This showed that tube-magazine repeaters such as the Murata were less efficient than those with clip-loaded box magazines. A committee chaired by Colonel Nariake Arisaka, appointed to develop a new rifle, soon concluded the →Mauser action to be preferable.

Experience in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5) revealed shortcomings in the original Meiji 30th Year Type rifle (adopted in 1897), and, by mid-May 1906, a modified design had appeared with a simplified bolt, a non-rotating extractor, a reciprocating bolt cover and a large knurled safety shroud on the cocking piece. Accepted immediately as the Meiji 38th Year Type (‘M1905’), chambering the 6.5 × 50 semi-rim cartridge, the new rifle was 50.2 in overall, weighed 9.08 lb empty, and had a 31.45 in barrel with 4- or 6-groove polygonal rifling. The 5-round internal box magazine could be loaded singly or from a charger, the leaf-type back sight was graduated to 2,400 m (2,625 yd), and a sword bayonet could be attached beneath the muzzle when required. The reciprocating bolt cover and distinctive method of stocking were uniquely Japanese.

Production in Koishikawa continued until the serial numbers, in a single sequence, exceeded 2,031,000. Work then recommenced at i-1, equivalent to number 2,000,000, and a simplified notchtype safety head replaced the previous lug pattern in the mu series. Nagoya’s first series had no prefix characters, work continuing to the ku series, a sheet-metal butt plate being substituted for a forging during the production run. At least three million rifles were made in Koishikawa, Kokura and Nagoya. Others were made in the Heijo ordnance factory (Jinsen arsenal) in Korea, and in the Mukden arsenal in Manchuria during the Second World War. In addition, the North Chinese Nanking and Tientsin arsenals made them in 1944–5 largely from sub-contracted parts.

The perfected Arisaka was distinguished by good quality workmanship and excellent material. Excepting rifles made toward the end of the Second World War, which were often very poor, the action was exceptionally strong and durable.

Type 97 sniper rifle, 1937. The perfected 6.5 × 50 Type 97 sniper rifle was adopted after trials that had lasted more than a decade. The bolt handle was lengthened and bent downward; a monopod was added beneath the fore-end; and an optical-sight mount was pegged and screwed in place on the left side of the receiver. About 19,500 guns were assembled in Kokura (5,500 in 1938–9) and Nagoya (14,000 in 1938–41). They weighed 11.25 lb. The 2.5 × Type 97 telescope sight was held in a baseplatedovetail by a radial latch. Offsetting the mount to the left allowed a charger to be used, but the gun-and-sight combination was awkward in action. A rotary sleeve on the sight body gave limited elevation adjustment, but the sniper had to rely on a complicated graticle to estimate deflection.

Type 99 sniper rifle, 1939. The 38th Year Type rifle remained the standard infantry weapon until combat experience in the Sino-Japanese war, against troops armed with 7.9 mm rifles, drew attention to the poor long-range performance of the Japanese 6.5 mm rifle cartridge. Kokura arsenal subsequently modified 300 rifles for a 7.7 mm semi-rimmed round and tests at Futsu proving ground showed the conversion to be effective, allowing specifications for a new rifle to be finalized. Eventually, by May 1939, Nagoya’s Rifle Plan No. 1 was developed into the long Type 99 rifle. A few thousand of these 7.7 × 58 Type 99 rifles, without prefix numbers, were hastily made in Toriimatsu. Combat in China soon showed them to be too clumsy – 50 in overall and weighing 9.15 lb – and the Type 99 short rifle was substituted in 1940. This was only 45.25 in long, weighed 8.37 lb empty, and had a 25.85 in 4-groove barrel. The internal 5-round box magazine and the sword bayonet were retained, but the leaf of the back sight was graduated only to 1,500 m (1,640 yd).

The 7.7 mm Type 99 sniper rifle served throughout the war in the Pacific.

Courtesy of James D. Julia, Inc., a Division of Morphy’s Auctions

The advent of the short rifle removed the need for separate carbines, allowing production to be undertaken in several factories simultaneously. When hostilities in the Pacific ceased in August 1945, at least 3.5 million Type 99 rifles had been made by contractors including the Toriimatsu factory of Nagoya arsenal, Dai-Nippon Heiki Kogyo of Notobe, Kayaba Kogyo of Tokyo, the army arsenal in Kokura, Toyo Juki of Hiroshima, Tokyo Juki of Tokyo, and Jinsen arsenal in Japanese-occupied Korea.

Introduced in 1942, the 7.7 mm Type 99 sniper rifle retained the basic features of the preceding Type 97, including the mount, bolt and monopod. The earliest Kokura-assembled rifles featured 2.5 × sights, but the 10,000 or so Nagoya-made examples used the improved 4 × Type 2. Apart from a few Type 4 examples made toward the end of the war, with adjusting bolts in the front mounting ring, Japanese telescope sights lacked external adjustments.

The Type 99 sniper rifle, shown with the 4 × sight, had anti-aircraft lead bars on the back-sight leaf and, originally, a spindly monopod beneath the fore-end. James D. Julia

At least one attempt was made to adapt an artillery sight for snipers, anticipating that performance would be substantially better than that of the comparatively ineffectual 2.5 × and 4 × designs, but the trials had no effect on service issue. (A Type 99 rifle fitted with a sight of this type was sold by auctioneers James D. Julia in 2014.) Consequently, considered as a group and not denying successes gained in the confines of jungle, Japanese snipers had comparatively little effect at long range.

Nina Artamonova

RED ARMY SNIPER

Nina Vasilevna Artamanova of the 1052nd Rifle Regiment, 301st Rifle Division, 9th Rifle Brigade, 5th Shock Army, had 31 kills by 1 August 1944.

Vera Artamonova

RED ARMY SNIPER

Included in a well-known photograph of the all-female sniper section of the 21st Guards Division commanded by Nina →Lobkovskaya, said to date from 4 May 1945, Junior Lieutenant Vera Ivanovna Artamonova (Danilovtseva) of the 64th Guards Rifle Regiment, 21st Guards Rifle Division, 3rd Shock Army, received the second and third grades of the →Order of Glory. Her final tally was 89 kills.

Iraida Atamanchuk

RED ARMY SNIPER

Surprisingly little is known of the life of Iraida Ivanovna Atamanchuk, born on 11 February 1922, who is credited with 177 kills while serving with the Red Novgorod Rifle Division on the Volkov Front early in the Great Patriotic War. [

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Australia & New Zealand Army Corps

MILITARY FORMATION

Often known simply as ‘ANZAC’, originally part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, this was raised in December 1914 under the command of General William Birdwood.

The corps played a vital role at Gallipoli, the ill-fated attempt to invade Turkey by way of the Dardanelles, but was withdrawn to be disbanded in 1916 (though briefly reconstituted during the Battle for Greece in 1941). Elements were then sent to the Western Front while others remained in Mesopotamia and Palestine. Though often believed to have been manned exclusively by Antipodeans, ANZAC also contained British officers in addition to Indian artillerymen and irregulars such as the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps.

ANZACs also played a vital if largely unheralded part in the development of sniping, which grew on an organized basis prior to work done on the Western Front. Australians such as Billy →Sing and ‘Charlie’ →Shang, with New Zealanders Alfred →Dillon, Richard →Travis and Jesse →Wallingford, were among the marksmen.

Mk III short →Lee-Enfield rifles were standard issue, but aperture and optical sights (→Galilean and conventional telescopes) were sometimes fitted to improve performance against experienced Turkish and possibly even a few German snipers armed with Mausers. A graphic impression of the fighting can be gained from John Hamilton’s book Gallipoli Sniper.

Austro-Italian Front →Snipers and sniping

AVS →Simonov sniper rifle

Robert Baden-Powell

BRITISH SCOUT

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857–1941) was the son of Baden Powell, minister of the church and professor of geometry at Oxford, and Henrietta, the daughter of Admiral William Smyth. Commissioned into the 13th Hussars in 1876, Baden-Powell spent most of his time in India or Africa until the early 1900s. Moving with the hussars from India to Natal in the 1880s, he wrote two military manuals, Reconnaissance and Scouting (1884) and Cavalry Instruction (1885), before meeting Frederick →Burnham during the Second Matabele War of 1896. Breveted colonel and given command of the 5th Dragoon Guards in 1897, Baden-Powell and his unit were penned in Mafeking during the early stages of the Boer War. There his armoured train, manned by picked marksmen, caused considerable if temporary havoc in Boer ranks.

Baden-Powell was removed from command in August 1900, after allegedly abandoning some of his men during the Battle of Elands River, but went on to write Scouting for Boys (1908), then create the Boy Scouts (1909) and the Girl Guides (1910) to exploit his experiences in southern Africa. Fieldcraft and marksmanship were cornerstones of the original scout movement.

ARMALITE SNIPER RIFLES, USA

Background. In the autumn of 1954, the ArmaLite Division of Fairchild Engine & Airplane Corporation was formed to exploit firearms embodying aluminium alloy parts and foam-filled synthetic furniture. Designed by ArmaLite’s chief engineer Eugene Stoner, the AR-3 was locked by a variation of the multi-lug rotating bolt patented in the 1930s by Melvin Johnson. A small tube ran along the left side of the breech to direct propellant gas through the receiver wall into a chamber formed between the bolt and the bolt carrier. The carrier was forced backward on firing, rotating the bolt to disengage the lock; when the carrier had