After that, it was decided to immediately initiate a large-scale study in which 664 institutions participated (some of them by this time were disbanded or restructured), the main criterion that they should have been suitable is that the respondent should be a personnel sniper and fire a shot from a rifle at a person. This was done in order to exclude cases of shots from a pistol or submachine gun, shots at animals and other conditions not suitable for snipers that would interfere with objective results.
So gathered a base of 219 shots that were fired between 1984 and 2004.
The results are as follows:
- the most common caliber — .308 Win - is used in 74% of cases. The remaining 26% were for .223 Rem, 30-06 Spfld, .270 Win, 6mm Rem, .243 Win, and 30-30 Win;
- contrary to popular belief, only less than 50% (104) were hit in the head, the other slightly more than half were hit either in the body (104) or in the limb (7 arm, 2 leg);
- 80% of all shots were fatal;
- 34% of all aims were beyond any obstacles;
- 36% of all cases were hostage-taking;
- 21% of criminals were willing to commit suicide, that are suicide bombers;
- 45% of all cases were in low light conditions, which adds to the role of night vision devices;
- there were several cases where several snipers shot at one target, but none of the 219 cases when one sniper had to shoot at multiple targets;
- the shortest shot distance was 5 yards. Yes, exactly five yards, a shot was taken in the room when the hostage was rescued by a criminal. On command he stood on his partner (he held him for greater stability) and fired from behind cover. The situation was also complicated by poor lighting and a short time to resolve it;
- the longest distance was 187 yards. The case in Washington when the shooter was terminated from 450-485 yards was not considered, since 14 policemen who were tasked to stop the truck at all costs (according to assumptions) were simultaneously firing at it. As a result, the car was riddled, and 4 bullets fell into the criminal himself.
- average shot distance was 51 yards;
- 95% of all shots were firing from a distance of less than 100 yards;
- the most commonly used bullet is the 168-gram MatchKing, also known as the HollowPoint BoatTail;
- 90% of hits (which is not surprising for a rifle cartridge) were through, which made us think about the danger of unwanted injuries;
- for 20 years, about 200,000 times snipers were involved in the events, but only 172 of them ended in the murder of the suspect.
In sniper police schools, training was conducted mainly from a prone position and the firing range rarely exceeded 100 yards. While the reports of all these cases showed that it was not possible to lie down during the shot and the shooting was carried out mainly from a standing, sitting position, on a knee and other non-standard positions dictated by the situation.
