Oh you mean the guy with the water balloon launcher. Didn't he do a Magpul DVD on slingshots?
Oh you mean the guy with the water balloon launcher. Didn't he do a Magpul DVD on slingshots?
More about Aleppo
If you are interested I have a few new blog entries up with more images from Aleppo.
A. A day at the hospital: A day at the hospital. Aleppo, Syria. - FotoProspektFotoProspekt
B. Portraits Series: Portraits from Syria - FotoProspektFotoProspekt
C. Daily life: A day in the life, Aleppo. - FotoProspektFotoProspekt
If you are interested I have a few new blog entries up with more images from Aleppo.
A. A day at the hospital: A day at the hospital. Aleppo, Syria. - FotoProspektFotoProspekt
B. Portraits Series: Portraits from Syria - FotoProspektFotoProspekt
C. Daily life: A day in the life, Aleppo. - FotoProspektFotoProspekt
Another sniper illustrating the common 'unslung bicycle seated' position'. He also gets points for the fitness regimen. My friend Hamid Khatib shot this. Hamid risks his life every day shooting for reuters. You might see his work and the work of his wife Nour Kelze in Time, Newsweek, and New York Times. They are both from Aleppo.
Great photos, thanks for sharing!
@ Nishgriff - if you had to estimate - what percentage of fighting aged males are actively fighting on a daily basis for the FSA? What percentage for fighting age females? Do you see a significant level of both men and women (of all age groups) that have never and do not intend to ever take up arms in support of the FSA?
TIA
TIA
It would be an estimate, of course just based on my observations and could be WAAAAY off. I would say less than 15-20% of Syrian/Arab men pick up arms, maybe more if you count those who just own or carry a firearm for self protection. Fighting on a daily basis, like 2 or 5%, that's not really based on anything except my realization that even in the middle of a war most people are just trying to go about their daily lives and just want it to end. Remember they had a population of more than 20 million before the war, more than 4 million have fled, a huge percentage of the population.
Zero women fight for FSA, or at least close enough to zero to make it zero. The women who are fighting are Kurdish, and they represent about 15-20% of the YPG (Kurdish Defense Units) Fighting strength. I have no idea what percentage of the Kurdish population has taken up arms or is fighting. The kurds have a big population in Syria, and have taken the brunt of the fighting until recently against the Quaeda-linked groups in towns like Raqqa.
I guy I know was killed yesterday by an ISIS 'sniper' in A'zaz. He was an activist, not a fighter, and ran a media center. My Kurdish fixer had to flee last week after being threatened by ISIS. It's gone from bad to worse now that FSA has to fight Al-Quaeda, the Iranian Republican guard, Al-Nusra, and Hezbollah in addition to the Regime.
@ Nishgriff - thank you for your insight on the level of participation by the populous.
ETA - As an aside, I find it curious - the mindset that one would have if they chose not vacate the area, and not to take up arms, but allowed themselves and their families to be shot at / shelled.
I would like to infer that it has something to do with historic levels of conflict throughout the region, which translates to 'this too shall pass'; but then I recall that it has been estimated that during the American Revolution only @ 2% -3% of the fighting aged males carried the fight.
ETA - As an aside, I find it curious - the mindset that one would have if they chose not vacate the area, and not to take up arms, but allowed themselves and their families to be shot at / shelled.
I would like to infer that it has something to do with historic levels of conflict throughout the region, which translates to 'this too shall pass'; but then I recall that it has been estimated that during the American Revolution only @ 2% -3% of the fighting aged males carried the fight.
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I would slay everyone of those muj.
Liwa Al-Tawheed appears to have been busy getting more modern long range rifles.
Oh great. Jihadis with semi-auto .50 caliber sniper rifles that aren't even for sale to civilians.
Do these idiot politicians sending them this stuff not understand that we will be getting shot at by these weapons sooner than later? It isn't like the guns are going to evaporate once (if) peace returns to Syria. And they sure as hell aren't going to remain in Syria forever either.
Do these idiot politicians sending them this stuff not understand that we will be getting shot at by these weapons sooner than later? It isn't like the guns are going to evaporate once (if) peace returns to Syria. And they sure as hell aren't going to remain in Syria forever either.
I was with a group of guys firing out of fighting holes in a concrete room. One of the rifles had a muzzle brake, and every time that guy fired the guy next to him got his bell rung. They stopped the action and left because of it. I was DYING laughing, despite the seriousness of what was happening.
For those who call these guys jihadis, these guys are not. The guys with the rifles above are Tawhid (Unity) brigade. They are a group with secular aims, despite being made up of many people with conservative religious beliefs. EVERY group there has flags that say 'There is no god but allah, etc etc". The problem is that these guys now are fighting AGAINST the jihadis and mujihireen. These weapons are being used against al-quaeda. I'm not saying we should be arming everyone over there, and as a matter of fact, I have no idea how we could help over there beyond humanitarian means. But just because these guys fit some image we have of what a jihadi or mujihireen is, does not make it so. The biggest Jihadi groups now are Dawla, and ISIS. They are al-quaeda affiliates and they consist mostly of foreigners; Iraqis, Chechens, Afghanis, Pashtuns, Britons, Americans, Dutch, Norwegians, etc. These Mujihireen (foreign fighters) are imposing Shariah on an unwilling population, and the secular groups like FSA are having to fight rearguard actions in previously free and open territories like northern Aleppo province just to protect civilians.
Sorry for the lecture, but knowing some of these guys and being welcomed by them because I am american makes me want provide better information than you might see on the news.
Another sniper illustrating the common 'unslung bicycle seated' position'. He also gets points for the fitness regimen. My friend Hamid Khatib shot this. Hamid risks his life every day shooting for reuters. You might see his work and the work of his wife Nour Kelze in Time, Newsweek, and New York Times. They are both from Aleppo.
Explains how he keeps that figure...
Thanks for sharing with us here. Just goes to prove that nothing is as simple or black and white as the zealots and ideologues would have us believe. Please keep working to shine the light, and stay safe.
Why don't you lobby congress members to get some of these snipers trained to US mil standards by US mil trainers/contractors. Also looks like somebody is ripping them off by making useless scope mounts and Chinese scopes.
Surely they can get DSarms etc to make a large number of FAL scope mounts and leupold can make supply some Mark 2 series scopes and rings. A few million spent could be a game changer there.
Then they will be thankful to the West and will be nice to us when they win.
Surely they can get DSarms etc to make a large number of FAL scope mounts and leupold can make supply some Mark 2 series scopes and rings. A few million spent could be a game changer there.
Then they will be thankful to the West and will be nice to us when they win.
The CIA has a training program going on, and it's been ongoing since mid last year. Not sure what they cover, but I assume real sniping is not the main thing. I would guess they are teaching basic small unit/fireteam tactics and insurgency tactics but I have no real info about that.
As for scope mounts, the Dragunovs have that sort of integrated scope mount, but most of the other scope mounts I saw were simply pieces of metal welded to the receiver to base the rings. A lot of their weapons have come from Libya, some from Croatia, and various other places.
If we had supplied arms to the rebels at the beginning we would have made friends with them and earned goodwill. I think it's too late at this point since the quaeda groups have moved in and you don't have a way of keeping the arms in the right hands short of putting advisors and boots on the ground, and NO ONE wants that.
With that said, the Kurdish groups (YPG) and the FSA are now actively fighting ISIS in Aleppo, and across the north. In the last week Kurds have cleared 19 towns and cities that ISIS had claimed. IN Aleppo FSA and YPG units are actively engaged to push out ISIS fighters. Some of the guys in the pictures I've posted are fighting al-quaeda fighters as I type this.
I am sure some of these people "rebels" on the pictures did already fought against USA soldiers and they will in the future as well. The difference that they get somewhat better weapons from the west now. Those "rebels" are mostly foreigners that are either belong to known terrorist groups or some new groups with names that contains "Islam" and financed by the exact people who finance Al-Qaeda.
Sorry but NONE fo these guys are secular, claiming such is either straight bull shit or just for media purpose.
I respectfully disagree. Tawhid means not UNITY but "The Oneness of God in Islam"
They couldn't be more far from being secular. They are also backed the the Muslim Brotherhood and one of the main goal is to create a new Islamic Republic of Syria.
They are supporting the rebels while themselves are being so called "rebels', but you say they are opposing them. You cant have both ways.
There were reports in European magazines about members of this group belonging formerly to jihadist terrorist groups. So I just wonder why do you defend them.
Taking photos of "rebels' are one thing, siding with them is very much something else.
Those weapons will all end up in the hands of bad guys when this is over. I don't care whose hands they are in now, they will all be sold to the highest bidder, not put away in dirt farmer Ahmed's barn.
I've been watching footage coming out for a while now. There are some real dealers on both sides of this thing. They would whip most ANA Snipers I have worked with, and they had brand new M24's courtesy of the US of A.
I've been watching footage coming out for a while now. There are some real dealers on both sides of this thing. They would whip most ANA Snipers I have worked with, and they had brand new M24's courtesy of the US of A.
Hey, I have not been on this forum for a while, been…. busy… with some other things… I have a couple questions.
1. What's the difference between if a round 'cracks' as it goes by you or if it 'whizzes' or 'hisses'? Let's just say that due to a dumb mistake on my part I got to hear a lot of both of these sounds a few days ago. I was probably 600-800 meters from the shooters.
2. Can anyone ID this rifle? It has a Leupold scope. Chambered in 7.62. They just shoot ball ammo, no access to match rounds. This guy knew how to zero the rifle, and kept it zeroed at 300m, and held over/under for distance changes. They depended on spotters to adjust.
3. How the hell do you take a good picture through a scope? I can't seem to get it right. Bonus points if you recognize this reticle, which was my best effort.
1. What's the difference between if a round 'cracks' as it goes by you or if it 'whizzes' or 'hisses'? Let's just say that due to a dumb mistake on my part I got to hear a lot of both of these sounds a few days ago. I was probably 600-800 meters from the shooters.
2. Can anyone ID this rifle? It has a Leupold scope. Chambered in 7.62. They just shoot ball ammo, no access to match rounds. This guy knew how to zero the rifle, and kept it zeroed at 300m, and held over/under for distance changes. They depended on spotters to adjust.
3. How the hell do you take a good picture through a scope? I can't seem to get it right. Bonus points if you recognize this reticle, which was my best effort.
Holy shit, how did you know it was a T-62?!?!? I was sure no one would get it!
seriously, how did you know it was a t-62? I only knew because I was sitting inside the thing looking through the gunsight.
As for the regime soldiers who shot at me, because they revealed their position in this building by firing on us some SRF guys got a fix on them and hit it with a 105 I think.
As for the regime soldiers who shot at me, because they revealed their position in this building by firing on us some SRF guys got a fix on them and hit it with a 105 I think.
Keep them coming, great photo's!
I haven't exactly kept up with this conflict. Which ones are the good guys?
There are no good guys? Why is the US involved?
Did they actually get all the ammo that Homeland Security took from Americans? IF not, who did?
There are no good guys? Why is the US involved?
Did they actually get all the ammo that Homeland Security took from Americans? IF not, who did?
'eye relief'
I guess I just like OpticsWhat Camera do you use? What about editing software? I looked at your site you have some nice pictures.
Thank you. My new work isn't up there yet, I'll post links when it's published. Til then I can't post anymore pics. I use 5dMkIII's with a set of L-Primes. I process mostly in ACR, with a little retouching in photoshop if I need to push/pull dodge/burn.
EDIT:
Also, here's a link to a story I wrote about Aleppo last year. Now that Islamic Front, SRF, FSA, Nusra, etc have kicked ISIS out of most of northern Syria it's possible to go back in, but I decided not to go back to Aleppo because of the intense barrel-bombing campaign. A canadian friend of mine was killed by one about a month ago, the Assad regime is razing the city with oil drums filled with TNT and scrap metal.
Aleppo Struggles On
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Awesome work! Checked out your website as well, love it. Thanks for all the photos, I always wondered what it would be like for these people, some good, some very bad. An everyday fight of good and evil and here in the USA we are clueless at times to how good we have it and then the Liberals want to change all that.
It means they're way too goddamn close to occupying the same space as your body. People commonly think that a bullet "just missed them!" when they hear the whine of any projectile impacting or flying by within 100-200 yards or so. When you're hearing the crack of the bullet and it's painfully loud, that's a different story. Others here can probably give a better estimate of how many feet away you have to be to hear that distinct noise.
2. Can anyone ID this rifle? It has a Leupold scope. Chambered in 7.62. They just shoot ball ammo, no access to match rounds. This guy knew how to zero the rifle, and kept it zeroed at 300m, and held over/under for distance changes. They depended on spotters to adjust.
3. How the hell do you take a good picture through a scope? I can't seem to get it right. Bonus points if you recognize this reticle, which was my best effort.
It's definitely a Mauser of some kind, but I don't recognize where it's from. The receiver is visibly marked 7.62x51 - doesn't look like an Israeli marking though. The stock looks suspiciously like an original 98k stock that was significantly recut into a more sporting configuration. The muzzle brake and sights are the sort of thing I'd expect from a post-WWII sporterization project.
Anyone with a better guess than me? It looks almost like someone did a semi-nice sporterization job on a 98k many years ago in the US, and then that rifle somehow migrated over to Syria. I wouldn't expect a local gunsmith in Syria to produce something like that in either style or quality. The fact that the shooter knows how to use it at least semi-effectively makes me wonder if he didn't bring it with him from somewhere else out of the area when he came to fight.
I've head the 'crack' many times before, and this time I wasn't particularly worried about how close they were. I've heard rounds crack right by my head VERY loud, and these were just sort of of in my general direction. But honestly it sounded like the buzzing was close, and I'd never heard that sound before. It makes sense that they were subsonic, maybe tumbling ricochets (They were shooting uphill at us as we (stupidly) crossed military crest) or just 7.62x39 rounds that had slowed significantly. I estimated the range at 600-800, but I guess it could have been further. When does that round go subsonic?
As for the rifle, my first thought is that it was from a Turkish hunting supplier. They have a lot of hunting stores and gunsmiths there. But it is speculation I guess. The group I was with is the primary one on the USA's 'good guy' list and did a lot of the fighting against ISIS last month, very effectively kicking them out of most of the north. But they are not getting american weapons and ammo, they are very vocal about that. They work with arms dealers to try to get things, but it's mostly light and heavy machine guns, ammo, small arms, some RPG's. I saw one LAWs rocket, and some RPG29 launchers, but they have no ammo. They have Konkurs anti-tank missiles now and they are using them very effectively. What they ARE getting from america is Flashlights, tires, boots, and civilian trucks (like isuzu moving vans) that they can use for transport or ambulances. No body armor, no nvgs. They buy a lot of their trucks from the gulf states so there are a lot of big ford and toyota pickups.
And 98% of the fighters in Syria are Syrian. Of course there are foreign fighters, but even though that's who makes the news, they make up a tiny percentage of the opposition. I think the regime is getting fighters from Hizbollah, Iran, and some other random people like those two crazy LA Armenian Gangsters, but I'm not really up on that info.
So, anyone have ideas how to take better pictures through optics? I can't seem to get it right.
Cut yourself a piece of cardboard tube like toilet paper or paper towel tube and use it to hasty set your focal length against the back of the ocular lens and between your camera lens. Somewhere around 3" length is probably a good place to start. PVC tube works great too along with rubber hose if you have some. Just adjust your focal length,w/b and aperature settings until you get the Image your after. Most times in automatic you will get a good picture in daylight.
Any updates?
On a sidenote, I really hate to see .50 cal rifles in the hands of these guys, good guy or not we all know where those weapons are headed eventually. Lets just hope the people that those weapons do end up with display just as bad or worse technique as the guys in the picture(note trigger discipline or lack thereof).
On a sidenote, I really hate to see .50 cal rifles in the hands of these guys, good guy or not we all know where those weapons are headed eventually. Lets just hope the people that those weapons do end up with display just as bad or worse technique as the guys in the picture(note trigger discipline or lack thereof).
'eye relief'
Looks like he is about you "relieve" his eye ball from his head LMAO.
It is a rubber eye cup.
Its 85° there, mr sniper thinks hes the fonz or something saterday night fever with that tactical jacket
Yes, that is stuffed so far in his eye socket that damage would insue...
Just a little humor...
That's just a photo shoot where their selling their new bomber jackets!
interesting thread
The 7.62x39mm round from the AK47's will go subsonic somewhere between 500 and 600yds depending on the ambient temp. Heard that buzzing, whizzing sound right before one hit me in the thigh. Fortunately it was going so slow that it did not penetrate too deep. Looked down and said WTF?
You could drive a Peterbuilt through that gap between the barrel and action....
Run whatcha brung
'eye relief'
No wonder they aren't winning.
