I've seen a few videos on the History Channel (sniper documentaries), Military Channel(Top Sniper II) and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3cJYsey15U) of USMC and Army snipers. The thing that really stands out to me is that some Marine snipers cycle their bolt MUCH faster than that of Army snipers. Are they trained to do this, and what's the reason behind it?

ah a question for Bolt Ripper................

It's called "practice".

An empty chamber only favors the enemy.

UUUUhhhh.its because us Marines are trained so much better than you army dawgs!!! J/k Army guys,bustin yo chops!!!!

Actually,really couldn't tell ya.What I can tell ya tho,is I'd rather have a semi-auto!!!

Is this a serious question?

ok, I'll play.............. The M24 has a long action and does not feed as well as the short action of the M40 series. If you try to work some of those long action rifles, shooting a short action caliber cartridge's FAST you get problems.

BTW, The job is Sniper, not SAW gunner. Looks cool if you're out on the range.... maybe.... but in reality working the bolt real fast creates movement which gives away your position, which creates dead snipers. Teams are small, concealment is to your advantage.

All that being said, the above video does not looks like a training exercise, it look like some guys messing around on the range (it happens).

Well you do speak the truth!

Rapid bolt manipulation is a key skill to develop in a urban environment. quick follow up shots are often required when engaging multiple targets and missing the primary target does happen.

as far as the USMC vs Army.... i think that is an individual by individual case. the short action of the M40 does give it an advantage over the long action M24.

Also, I don't think it's an Army v. Marines thing. It's just an individual thing. It's also dependent on your situation. It's a common technique on a stalk to run the bolt fast to get your next round in the chamber before the observer gets his glass on you. Depending on the concealment in front of you it can give you an advantage.

In shooting High Power these days Vs the 70s and earlier, I've noticed less and less Bolt gun shooters. Now people are shooting either service rifles or bastard race or space guns. Bolt shooting seems to be a lost art. I use to love watching the old masters in rapid fire with a bolt gun.

I dont think its a marine vs army, short vs long action. From what I remember most of the bolt guns in my early days of shooting were Winchesters. These guys would maniplitate the bolt and the muzzle end of the rifle never seemed to move, fast and smooth.

Captain Crossman, in his book "Military and Sporting Rifle Shooting" has a good section on bolt gun rapid fire shooting. An older book, (they were using the '03 Springfields back then.

It really is nothing more then practice be it a short or long action.


Having said that I want to add.


GOD MADE ARMY PARATROOPERS SO MARINES WOULD HAVE HEROS

come on, we all know that the Marines do all the real fightin and then the army just occupies. i got a good kick outta that one