No, I wouldn't say it was a special scope. If you have ever looked through a scope, it will become crystal clear why they can shoot so good with one of these on a rifle. They bring an image up really close, and it is easier to hit a long distance target.
There are all kinds of scopes, but they all do about the same job. Some are just more magnification than others.
Just remember, it isn't the gun or the scope or the ammo doing this, it is some deranged member of our society who needs to be taken off the street as soon as possible. He is one sick person.
We can only hope he is a sick fool and not a Muslim otherwise it is time to play "Cowboy and Muslim" and we know how that will end! I wonder if we have enough desert for a reservation and a nuclear testing range?
It's a little thing I did to express my feelings about the peace movement, yes I would love for peace to reign supreme, however history teaches me otherwise.
So it was basically saying you can take your peace and shove it up your (expletive deleted).
Alternately, it is artwork of diachomy, the ying and yang of life, the duality of the universe and all that stuff. I was so far ahead of my time, living art before they thought of it.
The .223 is a very high velocity round that gives it a fairly shallow and stable trajectory. That means that by the time gravity has caused it to drop eight or ten inches, it has already travelled several hundred yards forward. That makes it accurate to several hundred yards without a scope, provided the shooter has decent vision and some basic skill.
The type of scope usually doesn't make that much of a difference. The key is calibration, distance, and skill. I could hand a rifle (like a M40A3) to a person, and if its calibrated, they should be able to hit at least 1 out of 3 shots somewhere on a standard target. Anything beyond that, and the actual skill of the shooter will come into play.
Give a person a calibrated rifle and ask them to hit a target 500 yards away, and chances are they will miss, simply becuase they don't know what they are doing. When I first started with the M40A1 and A3, I was terrible, couldn't hit the broadside of a SUV at 100 yards. But I got better, and most people that have trained are very accurate up to about a kilometer (or two).
Chances are this person has had *some* military experience, or is a fairly avid hunter, but from the news reports it doesn't appear that he was shooting from a huge distance, I think the farthest was about 150 yards. Also keep in mind that some of the victims were head shots and some were body shots, which means that he either felt remorseful (read: he's not insane if he will not take a head shot on a 13 year old, so he knows he's doing something wrong) or he's just not a marksman.
I see on www.cnn.com that another person has been killed by an "unknown" gunman, this time at a Gas Station. I'm no expert, but I think this guy wants to be caught desperately. He's getting braver with his targets. There's also something about the times that these poor people are getting shot that bugs me, but I can't quite figure it out.
Any marine who got through Boot Camp could make the shots this guy is making with an open sight.
If he really wanted to be dangerous he could operate at night with a special scope operating off of heat.
And despite all of the press coverage, a .223 is not made for power, but to wound and give the enemy wounded troops to take care of. The old 30.06 was far more powerful and deadly.
There is nothing the press knows alsolutely nothing about that they can not report on.
First the police have to hold some info back to seperate the nuts from the real perps, yes perps. This guy probably has a spotter, then will come the copy cats.
They should cross reference wooded areas in relation to the gas stations, check their camera coverage and deploy to areas that fit the profile:
#20. "RE: sniper scope???" In response to casca (Reply # 18) Fri Oct-11-02 06:05 PM
Yep. .223. Known for the AR15, (M16). Hell, we shot those in the Corps. No scope. And oh so very accurate. Edit: They are accurate anywhere from 100 - 500 yards. Depending on the yardage, you have to adjust the 'click's on the sites. Once you're familiar with it, it's not a problem. It's so sad that they can't catch this person. About 10 years ago in L.A. we had the 'freeway shooter'. That was pretty scary. Whenever you went driving on the freeway, well, at least I did, felt a bit scared. Hopefully they'll catch this person sooner than later.
Gravity....not just a good idea, it's the law! My Magic
#21. "RE: sniper scope???" In response to billyboyb (Reply # 0) Thu Oct-10-02 08:09 PM
I imagine the guy is using a setup similar to this photo. If the guy committing these crimes needs to take people out why doesn't he sign up for the military and help hunt down terrorists instead shooting little kids on their way to school like a spineless loser.
There is currently a 200,000 dollar reward for information that will lead to the capture of this person.
The depicted outfit is strictly a "target" weapon. Notice the exposed dials on the scope for quick sighting in and ability to change for conditions, like distance and wind. This kind of shooting takes practice. The barrel is heavy weight and prevents distortion when it gets hot, to a degree, It has muzzle venting for recoil and noise abatement. It is strictly a target setup and very doubtful a shooter would be using it for humans. Any one wearing a camouflage suit and having a stainless steel barrel is not playing with a full deck. The glare would let someone know right where you are.
My guess is that the person doing this has the "God" syndrome. With a sniper, that means once they have shot someone, the power hooks them...they can't stop. The military has a very extensive battery of psychological tests that are given to anyone being considered for sniper training. This syndrome is one of the disqualifiers.