Not like I am a great student of the Yugoslavian history and the conflicts of the peoples who traditionally have inhabited the regions. Yet, there were horrendous crimes of an ethnic cleansing nature carried out in Bosnia-Herzegovena, and much murder of urban dwelling civilians by unseen snipers largely of Serbian forces.
Perhaps the most graphic portrayal of the sniping atrocities is contained in an HBO movie, Shot Through The Heart. I recommend anyone reading this find this movie, it is available from NetFlix. Watching it will not be a light-hearted experience. What is very well portrayed is the elaborate "hides" that were in use and the ability of the riflemen/snipers to fire through windows and doorways in bombed-out and burned-out apartment buildings in Sarajevo striking civilian men, women, & children down in the street where they were presumably protected or shielded.
It is not a tremendous feat to deliver precision rifle fire upon targets the size of human torso at 1000yds. There are many rifles chambered for cartridges like .338 Lapua magnum and even smaller that are capable of delivering hits at up to one mile. Some like the .50 BMG (browning machine gun) round from the 40lb precision bolt rifles are able to score hits at ranges up to 2500yds or about a mile and one-third distance. The .50bmg and other smaller diameter longrange cartridges can penetrate brick walls and armor plate. There is little real shelter from a determined sniper armed with heavy magnum rifle and armor-piercing ammunition.
So, in wartime you'll have to be aware and deny the sniper his/her "hide". Obscuring their vision and ability to observe and make target acquisition is one approach. Not like you want to live in a stockade or make your home into a Mexican defensive walled hacienda, but it can be done. On my survivalist blog lesteronsurvival.blogspot.com I recommend Jeff Cooper's compendium To Ride, Shoot Straight, And Tell The Truth. Cooper has an entry/chapter in which he discusses "Architecture for the age of Aquarius". He discusses there several designs for door entry, courtyards, and interior sleeping quarters that if incorporated into your architectural layout, will reduce opportunity for the "surprise visit" and minimize potential for success by attackers. Not like the designs will get your home featured on The Azalea Trail or written up in Town & Country, but the ideas are excellent and worth being mindful of.
Snipers must be denied cover. Before hostilities begin, if they are suspected to eventually occur, you need to survey your property with analytical thoroughness and observe what lanes of fire you have natural and perhaps movable obstacles that can deny a rifleman a clear shot. Doubtful you have funds to erect a cinderblock or brick wall to ring your property. Yet if your autos and other movable obtstacles can be positioned to compliment your trees and other terrain, you can create shielding. Of course, trees, hills, buildings and other sources of height obviously enable a shooter to see a target. Much depends on your surroundings though.
Maybe you can plant cactus or rose bushes, cultivate poison ivy or brambles in areas you can't outright deny to a sniper? If your property, you can always dump glass and tin cans or if fenced with field wire or hurricane fencing allow your dogs or livestock the run of the area. Can also string wire at foot level and create obstructions that don't obscure your view or allow shielding for those who might infiltrate and setup to do you harm.
Birds are a natural warning system. You can sow seed bearing plants and provide other natural food to encourage birds to frequent an area. See that the birds have been disturbed, and you have a clue or indicator and reason to investigate. Guinea fowl and Peacocks are great for sounding the alarm when disturbed. If you have ditches or terrain with depressions you can evaluate whether a pond or stock tank, or just a mud puddle right there would be a good idea. The idea is to deny easy access to a setup and prevent as many natural lanes of fire as you can.
Observation and neighborhood watch, even out in the country are important. Presumably you know your neighbors and watch out for each other. Not too likely in a rural retirement suburb but in a long-settled farming community, people will know each other well enough and likely know their business and private goings-on. Just the way it is... Watching out for each other is a way of life.
At home, you should also keep your awareness on at a moderate level. Jeff Cooper also wrote a small pamphlet book, Principles Of Self-Defense and in it he outlined his color-coded condition-awareness/action levels:
-White for fully relaxed, no potential for danger
-Yellow for aware, aware that trouble might present itself
-Orange for heightened aware, expecting trouble
-Red for trouble manifested and your response indicated.
In condition Orange for example, you likely have pistol in hand and cocked & locked ready to fire, but on safe. In Condition Red you are off-safe and acquiring target while also seeking cover.
Probably your best defensive tools are optics. A spotting scope of decent quality will penetrate shadow and enable long observation without tiring. Scoping the landscape and investigating the approaches you've identified or analyzing an area you intend to pass or travel through. Good Binoculars also allow fast investigation from a distance which is always prudent. Never a reason to take undue risk and assume there is no threat just because a cursory glance or hasty glassing doesn't reveal one.
To counter a sniper requires a precision rifleman or squad of men determined to flush sniper and likely spotter from their position. Pretty doubtful that many can afford or are trained to use the heavy rifle and scope military or enforcement personnel will employ. Yet a good varmint rifle capable of placing fire at a 1-2 moa rate of accuracy will serve, especially with decent precision riflescope with at least 6x magnification and 10x or more can be an advantage.
Varmint shooting is a great way to build skill and confidence necessary to make hits at significant range; like over 350yds. If you can't make the local prairie-dog or crow population nervous there are always soda cans and pop bottles (plastic) that can be filled with water and make a nice geyser of water when hit by a highpower bullet at substantial velocity. A .243winchester, .22-250 possibly, and just about any decent precision 6.5 or 7mm rifle will do the job. Mild recoil and flat shooting bullets are the ticket to accuracy for the non-professional. Of course, use what you got, but a .25-06 varmint special or a .270win chambered rem 700 Sendero when fired with quality ammunition and boatail bullets will be most up to the task.
Plenty of rifles on the market to choose from. The Nikon Buckmasters side-focus parallax scopes in 4-14x or 6-18x with duplex or mil-dot reticle are about the best product for the money. No problem if you want to spend more, but a Tikka T3 varmint, Howa Varmint, Rem 700 VS or Savage tactical rifle will deliver almost the same quality as a Sako TRG-22 or Accuracy Intl tactical rifle. Probably my favored choice is the FN-Herstal Patrol Bolt Rifle or PBR with 20 or 24 inch barrel, that one is a Best Value in .308win. If you determine you can spend more there is the FN-H Special Police Rifle with McMillan stock for about $1500 to $2400 or the Tikka Sport in 6.5x55 or .260rem for about $1600. These are essentially match quality tactical rifles and can deliver precision if you can shoot with such.
The sniper is a psychological weapon as well as an effective killer. The demoralization of sniper fire is well documented among seasoned soldiers and absolutely terrifying when employed against civilians. Know and study their techniques, their clothing, and equipment. Expensive rifles and large complex looking optics are often trademarks of the sniper. Just as you can know that a stranger wearing a tactical vest and several magazine pouches and carrying an AK-47 is not a subsistence hunter, you can know that the hardened guy carrying an 18 pound rifle with large diameter barrel and scope with large tube and objective with complex turret dials is a sniper.
Expect snipers to move especially under cover of darkness and possibly to employ night vision gear and be well camouflaged. Make a game of studying your terrain and take a cue from the sniper's bag of tricks and make a "range-card" of your home by compass direction and draw a rough map of what your eye sees from the cardinal compass points. Nice to own a digital rangefinder like a Nikon 800 or Leica or Leupold unless you are very good and practiced with your mil-dot reticle on your riflescope. Mark the prominent landscape features on your map and note the distances from observation point to each. Perhaps some day you will note a terrain feature that was never there before or a rise on a hill you never noticed before? Such awareness and having the references like map and range card may just be all you need to save your life or someone else's.
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