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In military and law enforcement terminology, a special application sniper rifle is a crew service, man-portable, high precision, shoulder-fired rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. It is a common misconception that any scoped rifle is a ''sniper rifle'', and while certain long guns are more suited for the application than others, it is the act of using a firearm weapon strategically as a ''sniper qualified''-specialist that designates it as such. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military centerfire cartridge. The term is often used in the media to describe any type of accurized firearm fitted with a telescopic sight that is employed against human targets, although "sniping rifle" or "sniper's rifle" is the technically correct grammatical term for such a rifle. The military role of a sniper (a term derived from the snipe, a bird which was difficult to hunt and shoot) dates back to the turn of the 18th century, but the true sniper rifle is a much more recent development. Advances in technology, specifically that of telescopic sights and more accurate manufacturing, allowed armies to equip specially trained soldiers with rifles that enable them to deliver precise shots over greater distances than regular infantry weapons. The sniper rifle itself could be based on a standard rifle: it's hard to define a sniper rifle by the fire modes as some latest designed sniper rifles are semi-automatic fire, for example the M110; however, when fitted with a telescopic sight, it becomes a sniper rifle. ==History== The Whitworth rifle was arguably the first long-range sniper rifle in the world. Designed by Sir Joseph Whitworth, a prominent British engineer, it used twisted hexagonal barrels instead of traditional round rifled barrels, which meant that the projectile did not have to bite into grooves as was done with conventional rifling. His rifle was far more accurate than the Pattern 1853 Enfield, which had shown some weaknesses during the recent Crimean War. At trials in 1857 which tested the accuracy and range of both weapons, Whitworth's design outperformed the Enfield at a rate of about three to one. The Whitworth rifle was able to hit the target at a range of 2,000 yards, whereas the Enfield could only manage it at a distance of 1,400 yards.〔"Minutes of proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 19" By Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain)〕 During the Crimean War, the first optical sights were designed for fitting onto the rifles. Much of this pioneering work was the brainchild of Colonel D. Davidson, using optical sights produced by Chance Brothers of Birmingham. This allowed a marksman to more accurately observe and target objects at a greater distance than ever before. The telescopic sight, or scope, was originally fixed and could not be adjusted, which therefore limited its range. By the 1870s, the perfection of breech loading magazine rifles led to sniper rifles having "effective accurate" ranges of up to a mile away from its target.〔Raudzens, George. "War-Winning Weapons: The Measurement of Technological Determinism in Military History". The Journal of Military History. vol. 54, no. 4, 1990, p. 415.〕 During the Boer War, the latest breech-loading rifled guns with magazines and smokeless powder were used by both sides. The British were equipped with the Lee–Metford rifle, while the Boers had received the latest Mauser rifles from Germany. In the open terrain of South Africa the marksman was a crucial component in battle. The Lovat Scouts was a British Army unit formed in 1899 who were renowned for their expert marksmanship and their stalking skills. They wore ghillie suits for camouflage and were expertly skilled in observation. Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard said of them that "keener men never lived". After the Boer War the Scouts became the first official sniper unit in the British Army. It was not until World War I, that sniper rifles began to be used more regularly in battle and certain soldiers given specialized training to use such a rifle. In Germany these trained snipers were given rifles with telescopic sights, which illuminated at night in order to improve their accuracy.〔Pegler, Martin. Sniper Rifles: From the 19th to the 21st Century. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2010, p. 31.〕 German gunsmiths fitted the scope above the barrel for optimal accuracy.〔Pegler, Martin. Sniper Rifles: From the 19th to the 21st Century. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2010, p. 36〕 During the War, the accuracy of the sniper rifle was greatly improved.〔Pegler, Martin. Out Of Nowhere: A History Of The Military Sniper. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004, p. 222.〕 By the end of World War II snipers were reported to provide "reasonable accuracy" over with anything over this range being unpredictable.〔"Telescopic Sights For Rifles." The British Medical Journal. vol. 1, no. 2891, 1916, p. 765.〕 It was during World War I and II that the word ‘sniper’ began to be used commonly, whereas previously those who were armed with sniper rifles were referred to as sharpshooters, or marksmen.〔Pegler, Martin. Out Of Nowhere: A History Of The Military Sniper. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004, p. 16.〕 These marksmen, wielding sniper rifles, had a drastic and demoralizing effect on the battlefield.〔Pegler, Martin. Out Of Nowhere: A History Of The Military Sniper. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004, p. 19.〕 Soldiers would often remain hidden in foxholes, or trenches so as not to expose themselves to the deadly accuracy of a sniper. Some soldiers even began to disregard orders from commanding officers to protect against potential harm, which thus broke down the chain of command on the battlefield.〔Pegler, Martin. Out Of Nowhere: A History Of The Military Sniper. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004, p. 19-20.〕 The sniper rifle soon acquired the reputation of being one of the most effective and ruthless weapons of war.〔Raudzens, George. "War-Winning Weapons: The Measurement of Technological Determinism in Military History". The Journal of Military History. vol. 54, no. 4, 1990, p. 420.〕 Though sniper rifles had proved to be extremely effective in combat, there was still a great reluctance for many militaries to adopt a trained sniper regiment.〔Pegler, Martin. Sniper Rifles: From the 19th to the 21st Century. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2010, p. 6.〕 To effectively use a sniper rifle a soldier had to go through particularly rigorous training, and most people did not make it past the first week.〔Lebleu, Jon. Long Rifle: One Man's Deadly Sniper Missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Guilford: The Lyons Press, 2008, p. 11.〕 Sniper training was so expensive to conduct that even until as recently as 1970, the reasoning for having trained snipers as a part of an army was deemed questionable.〔 In Britain, sniper rifles were not seen as being an integral part of an army until after the Germans boasted so much success with sniper teams during the early months of World War I. The British army advisors supposed that the telescopic sights attached to sniper rifles were too easily damaged and thus not well suited for military use.〔 However, they soon realized that these telescopic sights could be improved and made sturdy enough to withstand a sniper rifle shot.〔 Sniper rifles have continued to be used consistently throughout the later part of the 20th century in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East as an integral part of the modern style of guerilla warfare. The durability, accuracy and power of modern sniper rifles are beyond anything in use even 10 years ago and would seem amazing in comparison to any World War II sniper rifles.〔Pegler, Martin. Sniper Rifles: From the 19th to the 21st Century. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2010, p. 75.〕 Now sniper rifles are extremely reliable and are able to fire repeatedly without losing accuracy, whereas earlier sniper rifles would lose accuracy the more consistently they were used due to wear and tear.〔Popenker, Max. "Modern sniper rifles". World Guns, 2001.〕 Sniper rifles continue to be adapted and improved upon with the effective range of modern sniper rifles exceeding , which make it one of the most accurate, deadly and efficient weapons in use now.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sniper rifle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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