The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

snayperskaya wrote:

breacher wrote:Joe at Gunshop in Barnet had a great response to the "purists".

Whenever one stuck his nose in when another customer asked about such a modification......

He would say "Ok - you want it preserved - I will sell it to you then."

They usually had no slot or no cash or some other excuse.

Joe then gave them short shrift !!!

Would you take an issued, WW1-dated SMLE and fit a cheap repro scope and mount to it or leave it as is and enjoy shooting a classic Lee-Enfield as it was intended?.

Actually I would love a repro SMLE sniper. If there was a source of repro scopes and mounts in the spirit of the original I would be in there like shot, pardon the pun.

breacher wrote:It occurs to me that there were no purpose built sniper rifles during ww1 and ww2. Only service rifles with a scope added.

That is very true and what a lot of people don't know is that the Dragunov SVD was the first rifle in the world designed and built from the ground up specifically as a sniper rifle.

as a Marksman's rifle

if one uses a mount and scope in the spirit of the original, one is no more "ruining" a rifle than those who modified the originals.
100% agree Breacher, but it remains that in both cases, the rifle is not original any longer but the important thing is to shoot it and enjoy it

froggy wrote:as a Marksman's rifle

if one uses a mount and scope in the spirit of the original, one is no more "ruining" a rifle than those who modified the originals.
100% agree Breacher, but it remains that in both cases, the rifle is not original any longer but the important thing is to shoot it and enjoy it

As you know Tovarisch Glorious Red Army of The Motherland had no concept of what we know today as a designated marksman so "sniper" it was......Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova or "Sniper Rifle, System of Dragunov"

Sorry just never thought of Joe at Barnet as a Dude

froggy wrote:as a Marksman's rifle

if one uses a mount and scope in the spirit of the original, one is no more "ruining" a rifle than those who modified the originals.
100% agree Breacher, but it remains that in both cases, the rifle is not original any longer but the important thing is to shoot it and enjoy it

@nd wrote:Sorry just never thought of Joe at Barnet as a Dude

I dont think anyone has referred to him as a "dude" ?

Another favourite of mine was when idiots bleated on about how the pistol ban was not working and they could buy a glock for £200 in a pub.

He would say "Ok, get a couple and I will get them sent to a sect 5 dealer for commission sale - we can make a fortune" - turns out none of the idiots actually knew where the fabled pub was !

As you know Tovarich Glorious Red Army of The Motherland had evolved to a concept providing every combat group with above average shooting skills "sharpshooter" treating targets designated by squad leader, hence not the "sniping" role of individual 2 men teams. BTW, concept adopted by Imperialist French army with scoped MAS 49 and then dream FRF1

The Germans fielded sole snipers - not pairs.

froggy wrote:As you know Tovarich Glorious Red Army of The Motherland had evolved to a concept providing every combat group with above average shooting skills "sharpshooter" treating targets designated by squad leader, hence not the "sniping" role of individual 2 men teams. BTW, concept adopted by Imperialist French army with scoped MAS 49 and then dream FRF1

The Dragunov wasn't used as part of a two man sniper team, they were issued to two, sometimes three, members of an infantry platoon and were primarily to take out "high value" targets such as officers, radio operators and machine gun crews who were often beyond the range of AK equipped troops.By Soviet military doctrine they were classed as a sniper rifle, this has since changed to being classified as a squad support weapon.As I said the Dragunov was previously classified as a sniper rifle as at the time of it's introduction to the Soviet military the term "Designated Marksman" didn't exist.

Since the introduction of the SV-98, the Orsis T-5000 and the adoption of the AI-AW the Russian military, in particular Spetnaz GRU units, have adopted the Western practice of deploying dedicated two man sniper teams, especially in the counter-insurgency operations that are ongoing in the mountains of Dagestan against Islamic Jihadist forces.