The post SHTF Sniper.

I have been putting a lot of thought of late into defensive capabilities and counter measures. I have solid defenses against almost all external threats. The one potential threat that I can't get around is death from a great distance via a concealed sniper. LOL the older I get the the more my marksmanship declines from a bit of shake in the hand and the eyes even with glasses not working as well as they once did. Where I could land respectable grouping on a target at 1000 yards 10 years ago, I am having a real good day making groupings in the 6" rings on the target at 500 yards now days.

A few days ago me and the neighbor were hiding in the rows of round bales and calling Coyotes in and taking turns shooting them. My first one with the .300WM I fired at about 400 yards out and the coyote dropped. Neighbor watching through his scope says nice shot, right behind the shoulder in the chest. I was aiming for the neck and throat...... At 500 yards I would have missed the shot completely Neighbor who is mid 30s was using his .30-06 and picking them off in the 700-750 yard range with 90% straight on head shots. If we were trying to kill each other from long distances I would lose the competition now day LOL. Close in hand to hand and with sidearms I dominate him when we spar and target shoot. I am still damn fast and accurate on the draw under adverse conditions and it annoys him that I am always showing him a new nerve to hit in our hand to hand and knife (Dull Wood training knives) fighting rounds. But in the long range shooting and sniper aspect he totally dominates me.

So this got me to thinking someone equally as good as he is, could just hide in the tree line on the far side of the field and pick me off pretty easily when I walk out the door in the morning. Short of a lot of luck or always wearing 200 pounds of over lapping plate body armor and still some luck I am having a hard time coming up with a defense against a sniper.

In a post SHTF collapse free for all with no rules the concealed marksman would be the single most dangerous thing out there and nearly impossible to defend against. I do have motion cameras around the perimeter of the farm that cover the best spots of concealment with clear fields of fire to the primary buildings that alert and send a picture to the computer every time a deer, coyote, turkey stray dog gets in their field of view. Beyond that does anyone have some knowledge or wisdom I am missing here in defending against snipers.

 

Never have figured out a defense against either snipers or traitors. One outside, one inside, but until they act, you don't know that they are there.

 

Cameras work great. I’d purposely choose a few places I’d like the snipers at and then trap them- that way you wouldn’t have to shoot at them and could go retrieve them as you see fit. I would probably also install some strobe lights as well so if they are there at night you can easily destroy their night vision.

I’ve never dealt with a sniper these are just some ideas I have to take them in alive.

 

prolly need early warning tech beyond the potential sniper range (2k yards plus?)... so you'd know they are inbound well before they would reach any possible hide and/or sighting/casing the farm...

Added benefit is you could go to predetermined spot and start sighting them in....

 

Play the part,
Get your self out in the field of range and mark and identify each potential position a sniper might use. Map all these positions so that you can know where to look and may be make it uncomfortable by remote control.

 

Counter sniper tactics are going to make or literally break you, but until there is a threat, your kinda stuck!
That said:
1) remove any and all aids to a sniper when prepping, deny him a place to hide, make him work for it. Make his journey as hard as possible. don't give him any place to shoot from
2) set up your area so you control his moves, set your choke points.
3)set up your defense's to counter him, don't give him line of sight to you, and vary your movements to keep him from getting a shot.
4) bait him in, set him up to take a shot while you set an ambush within your reach and take him down.
5) ether bury him quick and make it seem like he was never there, or hang his head and broken rifle on a fence post as a warning to others!

If said sniper is really good, your hosed!
If he is using something bigger then you shoot, and has the skills to use it, your hosed.
6) if you cannot defend against a sniper where your at, don't be there when he comes, give him the win for now and then set him up once he takes what he wants and gets lazy, slap a 300 grain solid through his gob and take it all back!
Most sniper types and especially wannabe's are very arrogant types and that makes them both stupid and short lived, take advantage of that arrogance to end him!


If your sniper has good gear, feel free to relive his corps of any of it, he won't mind at all, and you might just get a nicer rig and ammo!

 

Lots of solid advice from Ura-ki there . All I could add would be infra red or heat seeking instruments and scopes . Other than that ,, try and find an old surplus Tank , or armored vehicle .

 

Someone that can make consistent headshots from '700-750 yards' is a rare individual, even finding a location to practice at this range can be difficult but defending against such an individual can be damn difficult if not impossible. However, you do have a serious advantage over the amateur sniper, even if he/she is a good shot. You know the area - meaning - you also know the most obviously places he/she will set up. So, you can prepare these locations by clearing them of cover and possibly with traps/alarms plus prepare quick reaction plans against them. However, against someone that is talented and consistent at 700+ yards or against a trained professional its more of not given them the shot (which is impossible unless one's in a deep trench) rather than preventing it.

 

Charolais bulls.

 

Here is our firing range looking South from where I am standing to the far tree line is exactly 3000 feet, the cabin and buildings are 600 feet behind me. Behind the trees is roughly 40' at peak sloping ridge line rising from the East side to around 100' peak on the West side, East Being left and West Right. For target shooting we use standard round targets and cardboard cut human size targets and place them partiall concealed at the old haybine to the left, the dirt mound center, in and around the the old South Barn and in the far South tree line. The cardboard cut out do range in size from Red Fox up to Deer/Human size. The South Barn is at about 450 yards, Don't know why but this pic makes everything look a lot colser than it actually is. The Neighbor is good he rarely misses head shots at the 450-500 yard range and center off mass shots in the tree line targets. My last great feat of marksmanship was shooting a T post leaning on the west side of the South barn in half. At this stage of life any target I hit in the tree line is more a act of sheer luck than skill LOL.

Just got back from the tree line and scoping in on the building area. I found 3 lines of unobstructed fire into the living and primary working areas two I can easily obstruct by parking the box truck or a trailer in the line of fire. The third line of fire from the SW not so easy to obstruct. It is about 150 wide lane that is open from trees to front door of the cabin and to windows in the other buildings. I am not real worried about closer than the tree line as inside the fence there are almost always cattle and very curious hogs patrolling it. The tree line to the East(Left) is the Dirt Road that goes down and make a 90 degree turn to the west and continues on down into the bottoms to the West and a over grown fence row that offers concealed all the way down to the far South Tree Line, also where I primarily walk to hunt rabbits and quail. North, Straight East and West is totally obstructed with 30 acres of woods that sets off all kinds of bells and whistles when anything bigger than a deer enters the woods........... which is problematic because the deer traveling through woods are constantly setting off the bells and whistles lol.

So it seems obstructions and narrowing fields of fire are the only real defense. LOL I hate being reactive rather than proactive in defensive things. I am finding the worst things about getting older is you still have the skills and knowledge with continually declining abilities

 

You piss off the wrong people?

 

Berms and barriers near your primary location will force things closer, even a trained sniper isn't going to be able to correct for barriers!
Water hazards will also choke things down to manageable defensive lines, and if you make your self some low spots to shoot from while remaining below line of sight, you can control everything! High ground dosnt matter ether, see the first!

Giving the photo above, if that was the most dangerous setting you have, I would worry about the far tree line the most and secure for that. If I were a shooter after you, I would hit you from one of those trees, I would be deep enough to prevent you from detecting me or my shot, and you wouldn't ever know what hit you! If you had a good berm, that would make such shots impossible and force me to take things kenetic, then you have the advantages, but I can still take you, but few others could!

 

Landmines.

 

Best defense against a sniper is a sniper and most defense positions mark with a range finder areas that will be a good sniper hide and have artillery set up to hit the areas or have your sniper with range book set up to hit the spots

 

Wonder what tannerite in a coffee can filled on 3 sides with nails, old spark plugs, nuts and bolts, lead round balls would do taped, nailed, screwed to a tree out there on the edge of the woods, I'd like to see the damage !!!
Almost like a poor-mans claymore except you shoot it?

 

Enter Syrian hell cannon.

 

Give them excellent places to hide where they feel safe but you know your clacker can take it away in an instant.

 

There are many ways one could set up things and stuff to effect the threads concerns, note, I will not recommend anything, just pointing out that there are many good "tools" in the tool box!

 

Short of these guys, there are breeds of dogs that stalk silently. Very dependable roving patrol.