Posted: 7/22/2005 9:18:53 PM EDT
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Likely there has been a thread about this book before, but I wanted to here how others felt about the book. For those of you who have not read Shooter, it is "The Autobiography Of The Top-Ranked Marine Sniper." It is written by Gunnery Sgt. Jack Coughlin, USMC and Capt. Casey Kuhlman, USMCR and Donald A Davis. The majority of the book focuses on Iraq where the author had 36 confirmed kills (12 in one day!). I think the most noticeable thing in regards to his shooting was the constant range finding. I have never once read a thread here about range finders, however, it's now obvious (to me) that they are critical in a real world situation. I suppose this is because we are all accustom to a range on which we know the exact distance. That said, what is a good laser range finder. Are there any scopes with a laser range finder built-in? Are there any rangefinders that mount to rails? (not that I would ever have a need for such a thing, I'm just curious) Also I am assuming that he is using a mil-dot scope although this is not stated. However, rather than miling he always dials the scope to be dead center. Perhaps I don't understand what miling is about? The weapon used by Gunnery Sgt. Coughlin in Iraq was an M40A1 with a 10x Unertl scope. He was shooting 173-grain Lack City Match Ammunition. Most of his kills where between 600 and 1000 yards (or meters the editing is inconsistent and meters and yards are used somewhat interchangeably). IIRC he has over 60 confirmed kills! He also describes using a Barrett with two team members in Mogadishu. The book is $24.95. I would recommend it to anyone even if they are not interested in this sort of thing. It is certainly not a technical read by any means and is targeted at the everyday person that doesn’t know anything about firearms or shooting. The focus of the book is just as much about his actually job as it is how he deals with his career emotionally. He says that, "an experienced sniper can hate what he does when he pulls the trigger, but at the same time, he understands the important fact that he is involved with something much larger than himself." Anyway I would just like to here other's thoughts on the book. |
The cover says he is the "top-ranked Marine Sniper." On the inside jacket it says he has accumulated one of the most successful sniper records in the Corps. So I don't know what to make of it. I think he is certainly the top ranked sniper since Vietnam. Sixty+ confirmed kills sounds like a lot to me. He also implies that he has more kills that he never wrote down in his logbook. |
I'm sure ALL snipers have more kills than they write down... sounds kinda interesting though, may have to check it out. Thanks 
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I just read it and enjoyed it very much. Hunters (both rifle and archery) have been using rangefinders for some time now. The basic technique is the same as that described by GySgt Coughlin. You set up in your blind or stand and start lasing prominent objects around your field of fire. You can either memorize them or write them down. The object is that once a deer (or enemy soldier) walks into your field of fire you do not waste time (and chance spooking a deer) by fumbling with the rangefinder then. You merely look at your range card and either adjust elevation or hold over and shoot. I do not know of any laser rangefinders that are integral with rifle scopes, but there are binoculars made by Leica, Nikon, Bushnell and a few others that do have a laser built in. The .mil has laser rangefinders that mount on 1913 rails, but obviously Cabelas doesn't. As far as mil-dots, the Unertl and Leupold scopes used by Marine and Army snipers respectively have them. They can be used for rangefinding if the height or width of the target is known using a simple math formula (see below) but a laser is much faster and accurate. Mil-dot reticles can also be used to estimate leads on moving targets and favoring into the wind. All that said, if the range is known from a range card or from the spotter calling out a laser and the windage is estimated by the sniper and spotter, it is faster to simply add those corrections (in MOA) to the scope using the windage and elevation knobs than it is to go through the math to convert from MOA to mils and then hold off or over using the dots. Mil dot formula: The Measured Object’s Width Or Height In Yards x 1000/Object’s Width Or Height In Mils = range in yards |
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I've got two range finders - one is a laser, the other are my Mk. 1, Mod. 0 eyeballs. I live in an urban environment so I'll be defending my castle. I've lased out each end of my short street at less than 100 yards to the west, and 150 yards to the east - that's less than point blank range for everything short of my .22 LR weapons. From the roof I can see the freeway off 350 yards away. When I practice in the desert I set up 18" steel plates and life size silouettes on cardboard boxes. I'll laser off 100 yards and zero or check zero on some bulleye targets and then start walking down the road stopping to ring the gongs. I'll practice off hand, kneeling, and prone way out. Then I'll cross over to the hills to one side or the other and come back from out at 600-800 yards. Once I get inside of 100 yards I'll walk up with the pistol for a bit. I'll reload with fresh magazines and head off along a different vector shooting in the same manner. Looking at the 18" targets (the width of a man's chest) and life sized sillouettes through the scopes or over the irons calibrates my eye to distances. |
True enough. But step outside of point blank range, or try to hit the vitals of a game animal precisely at the edge of PBR, and you had best know exactly how far the target is. |