Rifle Shooting and Temperature Effect

By G&A Staff

For every 20 degrees of temperature change, adjust one MOA to compensate for the ballistics change.” Everyone who has ever heard that in a sniper school, please raise your hand.

It must be true, because it’s printed in the U.S. Army sniper manual and spoken in nearly every basic sniper school in the country. Those of you who know me know that I’ll tell you it’s B.S. Actually, it is technically true, but only at such far distances that they exceed any recorded law enforcement sniper shot ever made. This rule is dangerous because it tells police snipers to start changing their sights when it’s not necessary. Doing so leads you away from the correct firing solution. The problem is that it has been taught for so long now that it has nearly become sniping gospel.

This rule continues to be repeated and accepted despite the fact that it is so easily proved wrong by testing in the field under a variety of temperatures. As snipers, isn’t that what we are supposed to do? Shoot under a variety of circumstances and carefully note the results? Bad information can lead to bad results.

Sniper instructor John Simpson has a great saying: “If you can’t …Read the Rest

Source:: Guns and Ammo