In 1936, the Americans used the M1 Garand, one of the first semi-automatic rifles. In simple terms, they go where there is a high concentration of enemy troops or an entire command. More commonly, they aim to shoot down precise enemies in the most vital hubs. Their goal is to provide cover for the advance of the troops, flank, or rear guards. Usually, two people make up a sniper team: a shooter, and an onlooker. The American Civil War and the two World Wars marked the peak of application throughout the sniper rifle history.ĭuring the Second World War, generals selected snipers for tactics that the military still uses today. The trench game was different and insidious. It was a massacre of men and horses, a tactical madness (as reviewed by thegunsource), that the military tacticians still remember today. The Russian entrenched themselves and attacked with various pieces of artillery. About six hundred British cavalrymen attacked the Russian positions. In this conflict, there was the beautiful, epic, useless, and disastrous cavalry charge in Balaclava. They went from the head-on collision of well-framed formations in the open field to the trench warfare with long-distance shots. During the Crimean War, for the first time, soldiers had to change strategy. Only with the use of modern tactics, and above all thanks to the technological advances made by the manufacturers of weapons, their use subsequently grew. The Napoleonic Wars were the first test for this new army specialty. By adopting tactics that we would call guerrilla today, the various American scouts armed with the first rifles were able to inflict heavy losses on British officers. In England, the royalty gave the order of forming the first regiment of new-concept riflemen, which became operational four years later.Īfter the experience gained during the American War of Independence and also of other conflicts in American territory fought against France, the British were the first to understand the strategic importance of this new way of waging war. The use of the sniper as a real weapon in itself dates back to 1798. The sniper rifle history reflects a real weapon system made up of a single person with a rifle. The threat is invisible and often deadly silent. With just one active sniper, the enemy operations slow down because the troops try to stay as much as possible indoors. If well positioned, a single sniper can nail a whole company and force it to drastically slow down its progress if not even to give up.