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How to realistically control your weapons.


Modern day rifles, which you will be using as a Marksmen, are based off of three primary foundations: The Bullet, The Barrel, and the Trigger group.


Bullets
Bullets are propelled by a nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine mix propellant, activated by the propellant, that deflagerate, building up gas pressures as a result of the breech and cartridge, and expanding, these expanding the bullet down the path of least resistance, usually the barrel. The barrel captures the expanding gases and directs the bullets; most barrels are rifled, as well. The rifling imparts spin on the bullet; this both stabilizes the round due to centripetal force and also prevents lateral deflection, given strength. The rifling acts much like the force on a spinning top, although it is given to a moving target. Thus the round is stabilized in flight, and essentially more accurate. A longer barrel usually results in superior accuracy and firepower.


Bullets work by having a cartridge filled with propellant, usually smokeless powder which is termed Nitrocellulose, that explodes and then puts a large amount of force behind a bullet. This is typically detonated by a more impact sensitive primary charge (usually the same material but powdered to provide more surface area) that when struck with a hammer of the gun, explodes. This explosion causes a large amount of expanding gases, that when confined, are capable of launching a bullet a considerable distance. The gun, and more specifically the barrel, directs the bullet down a path, and most modern day bullets incorporate something called Rifling to help increase the accuracy of the bullet. This essentially gives spin to a bullet, forcing energy onto the bullet that actively causes it to stabilize in the air, instead of simply having forward, or linear energy. By creating lateral energy from the initial explosion, a round will remain pointed in the same direction it was fired in, increasing accuracy.

The trigger releases the hammer is by the trigger pushing down on a spring, this spring releasing a series of other springs and then releasing the spring of the hammer. This hammer, attached to a series of other springs, is then released, coming in contact with the primer of the bullet and strikes the primer, causing it to deflagerate and set off the rest of the propellant.

The breech opens after being fired, and often times after the expansion of gases, is ejected from the chamber.


Over all length of a weapon





How to adjust your scope.


Telescopic sights are usually designed for the specific application for which they are intended. Those different designs create certain optical parameters. Those parameters are:



Magnification — The ratio of the focal length of the eyepiece divided into the focal length of the objective gives the linear magnifying power of telescopes. A magnification of factor 10, for example, produces an image as if one were 10 times closer to the object. The amount of magnification depends upon the application the telescopic sight is designed for. Lower magnifications lead to less susceptibility to shaking. A larger magnification leads to a smaller field of view.

Objective lens diameter – The diameter of the objective lens determines how much light can be gathered to form an image. It is usually expressed in millimeters. Thus 10 x 50mm scope, would be 10x zoom scope, with a 50mm lens diameter, or 50mm field of view. 4x 35mm would be 4x for 35mm.

Field of view — The field of view of a telescopic sight is determined by its optical design. It is usually notated in a linear value, such as how many meters (feet) in width will be seen at 100 m (or 100 yd), or in an angular value of how many degrees can be viewed.

Exit pupil — Telescopic sights concentrate the light gathered by the objective into a beam, the exit pupil, whose diameter is the objective diameter divided by the magnifying power. For maximum effective light-gathering and brightest image, the exit pupil should equal the diameter of the fully dilated iris of the human eye — about 7 mm, reducing with age. If the cone of light streaming out of the eyepiece is larger than the pupil it is going into, any light larger than the pupil is wasted in terms of providing information to the eye.

However, a larger exit pupil makes it easier to put the eye where it can receive the light: anywhere in the large exit pupil cone of light will do. This ease of placement helps avoid vignetting, which is a darkened or obscured view that occurs when the light path is partially blocked. And, it means that the image can be quickly found which is important when aiming at game animals that move rapidly. A narrow exit pupil telescopic sight may also be fatiguing because the instrument must be held exactly in place in front of the eyes to provide a useful image. Finally, many people in Europe use their telescopic sights at dusk, dawn and at night, when their pupils are larger. Thus the daytime exit pupil of about 3 to 4 mm is not a universally desirable standard. For comfort, ease of use, and flexibility in applications, larger telescopic sights with larger exit pupils are satisfying choices even if their capability is not fully used by day.


Eye relief — Eye relief is the distance from the rear eyepiece lens to the exit pupil or eye point[3]. It is the distance the observer must position his or her eye behind the eyepiece in order to see an unvignetted image. The longer the focal length of the eyepiece, the greater the eye relief. Typical telescopic sights may have eye relief ranging from 25 mm (1 in) to over 100 mm (4 in), but telescopic sights intended for scout rifles or handguns need much longer eye relief to present an unvignetted image. Telescopic sights with relatively long eye relief are favourable to avoid recoil induced facial and eye injuries and use in instances where it is difficult to hold the eyepiece steady. Eye relief can be particularly important for eyeglass wearers. The eye of an eyeglass wearer is typically further from the eye piece which necessitates a longer eye relief in order to still see the entire field of view.

Scopes in general- A scope's type is measured by it's magnification and field of view. Thus, a 10x 50mm scope, would be 10x zoom scope, with a 50mm lens diameter, or 50mm field of view. 4x 32mm would be 4x for 32mm. Larger weapons, such as sniper rifles, usually tend to utilize 9-12x x 50-60mm scopes, designed with much larger apertures, field of views, and zooming capabilities. These scopes are generally heavier, and somewhere more powerful. A 4 x 32mm scope is fairly standard short range scope, for use on rifles and carbines. In general, smaller scopes with shorter ranges are more suitable for close range weapons; the more zoom there is, the less peripheral view there is, and the larger things appear, thus narrowing the field of view. Thus, it is wise to use shorter range zoom scopes for close range, or further range zoom scopes for long range. You might adapt scopes with a wider zoom range for multipurpose uses, such as a 4-12 zoom scope, and in close ranges wider field of view scopes tend to be preferable. Thus, a large adjustable scope might be preferable if weight is not a significant factor. A scope with iron sights on it is also preferable, thus allowing for multiple forms of target acquisition, and a laser can also be useful.



A telescopic sight can have several adjustment controls.

o Focusing control at the ocular end of the sight - meant to obtain a sharp picture of the object and reticle.

o Elevation or vertical adjustment control of the reticle.

o Zero-stop elevation controls can be set to prevent inadvertently dialing the adjustment knob "below" the primary zero (usually 100 meters or 100 yards for long-range scopes), or at least prevent dialing more than a couple adjustment clicks below zero. This feature is also useful on long-range scopes because it allows the shooter to physically verify the elevation knob is dialed all the way down avoiding confusion regarding the elevation status on two- or multi-revolution elevation knobs.

o Windage or horizontal adjustment control of the reticle.

o Magnification control - meant to change the magnification by turning a ring that is generally marked with several magnification power levels.

o Illumination adjustment control of the reticule - meant to regulate the brightness level of the lit parts of the reticles crosshairs.

o Parallax compensation control.


Most contemporary telescopic sights offer the first three adjustment controls. The other three are found on telescopic sights that offer a variable magnification, an illuminated reticle and/or parallax compensation. A rather common problem with the elevation and windage adjustment controls is that once smooth working adjustment turrets ‘get stuck’ over the years. This is generally caused by long time lack of movement in the lubricated turret mechanisms.

Some modern mounts also allow for adjustment, but it is generally intended to supplement the scope adjustments. For example, some situations require fairly extreme elevation adjustments, such as very short range shooting common with airguns, or very long range shooting, where the bullet drop becomes very significant. In this case, rather than adjusting the scope to the extremes of its elevation adjustment, the scope mount can be adjusted. This allows the scope to operate near the center of its adjustment range. Some companies offer adjustable bases, while others offer bases with a given amount of elevation built in. The adjustable bases are more flexible, but the fixed bases are more durable, as adjustable bases may loosen and shift under recoil



Mil Dots
Modern military and law enforcement reticles are generally designed for (stadiametric) rangefinding purposes. Perhaps the most flexible ranging reticle is the "Mil-dot" reticle, which consists of duplex crosshairs with small dots at milliradian (Mil) intervals in the field of view. A milliradian equates to 3.43774677078493 MOA, that is, approximately 21.6 inches at 600 yards; each MOA equates to 1.0471975511966 inch at 100 yards, often rounded to 1 inch at 100 yards for fast mental calculations.

Users who use the metric system are better off with a Mil-dot reticle, since they do not have to hassle with the unnecessary complications of a non metric system of measurement during mental calculations. Also the Mil-dot measurements and ranging calculations are always exact in the metric system.

A trained user can relatively accurately measure the range to objects of known size, the size of objects at known distances, and compensate for both bullet drop and wind drifts at known ranges with a Mil-dot reticle-equipped scope.

This is what a Netherlands Army sniper sees through his Schmidt & Bender 3-12x50 PM II[4] telescopic sight. The Mil-dots can be seen on the cross hairs. By means of a mathematical formula - (width or height of the target/ number of mil of dots) x 1000 = distance - the user can measure the range to a target. An object of 1 meter tall or wide is exactly 1 Mil tall or wide at 1000 meters distance. If the user sees an object of 1.8 m tall for example as three mil dots tall through the riflescope the object is at 600 m distance - (1.8 / 3) x 1000 = 600.

The four horizontal bars over the horizontal line are also intended for (quick) ranging purposes.




How to aim.

To aim, a person must first direct the rifle in coordination the direction of their target. Depending of the distance and elevation, you may need to raise or lower your weapon in coordinate with the distance. As previously discussed, your scope will contain a huge factor in this. To accurately describe aiming, you must describe all the minute details considered, including wind resistance, air resistance, distance, and even the Coriolis effect. These of course, can be estimated. Simply make sure that your rifle is pointing towards your target, or appropriately above or below your target in coordination with distance and elevation in relevance to your target.


Which kind of weapon to use for the different engagements.

Different weapons often times offer different kinds of capabilities. Although guns are all based around the same primary function, they do not all preform the same way. Certain guns are often designed for many specific reasons and, when job requires a specific function, often times certain guns are incapable of achieving these things. Because of this, you will need to choose your gun wisely.

For instance, if you will be engaging in primarily long distance single target objectives, you might want to bring a high grade, single action bolt action high powered rifle. If you will be engaging in close range multiple target situations, you may want to choose a medium powered decently accurate scoped automatic/semi-automatic rifle.

Because you are human, you are unfortunately limited to human actions. You are technically incapable of carrying around a 30 pound sniper rifle everywhere you go with 300 rounds of high grade 12.7mm BMG rounds. This is not becuase you are not strong enough, but becuase on certain missions the area required to fit such a weapon will not be granted and, your endurance levels are not this high. Also, aiming and adjusting a 30 pound round rifle everywhere you go is almost impossible, becuase of the bulk of the weapon and not even necessarily the weight, and despite your strength physics will disallow your 12 foot long rifle to be accurate while standing becuase the barrel will warp, changing the direction and velocity of your bullet. Because of this, appropriately matched rifles to your situation are an important thing to consider. Being a marksmen you are given access to a wide array of rifles; use them. You must incorporate both common sense and your self knowledge over weapon in order to be achieving this objective.

For a rough outline, imagine yourself carrying around a weapon. If your only targeting small troops at short range, would you like a fast, medium range weapon that you could break out into a spring with, or shoot a guy five feet away from you, or a heavy, bulky, unwieldy gun that would require a minimum of 50 yards away in order to strike it.

Remember, realism is the key to all roleplays and adhering to this strict philosophy will not only make your roleplay more beneficial to yourself and others, but also more fun as well.

What kind of round you are using.

Choosing the kind of rounds you are using is almost as important as choosing your gun; as a matter of fact, it's basically the same thing. When choosing your round, you must consider a large amount of factors. For general reference, nato has decided to standardize several rounds, and so have we, to make acquiescing rounds something with is extraordinarily easy to do. The basic rounds used are-

5.56mm x 45mm
6.5mm x39mm Grendel
6.5mm x47mm Lapua
6.8mm x 43mm
7.62mm x 51mm
.308
.300 'magnum'
.338
.408
.500 BMG


How to realistically roleplay a modern day gun roleplay.

Bringing it all together- Remember, you must roleplay loading your rifle, adjusting your optics, aiming, pulling the trigger, the hammer connecting with the bullet, the bullet primer exploding, the bullet traveling down the barrel, the bullet leaving the barrel, and then if your opponent allows, the bullet hitting it's target. Any fault can result in your opponent taking advantage of this and roleplaying the situation for you. Although you don't have to always roleplay every action, against players who present themselves as specifically exploiting this, you must of course roleplay the entire sequence. Remember to be both creative and detailed; you can roleplay the entire sequence and then call it the "firing" cycle for instance, so that you may roleplay the all the mechanics as a single unit without having to have a wall of text explaining it, so long as you predesignate this the first time. Failure to do so can result in the loss of a mission. Marksmen are part of the snipers role as the reaper of the battle field, and other players will be hunting you down like your a treasure box. If an enemy succeeds in removing you, he'll become a hero to your team. Don't allow this to happen.

As previously discussed, remember to incorporate all the previous actions and their details into your posts.

Also, remember that roleplaying is turned based. Each turn represents roughly three seconds or three total actions that you can preform (I.E. loading, cocking, aiming). You cannot roleplay shooting someone without their discretion, and you never hit someone. You squeeze your trigger, you load your weapon, you adjust your scope, but you never hit someone. Firing a weapon is always done after you post- your opponent may say that your weapon jams or that you didn't specify your weapon or bullet correctly. To avoid making silly mistakes and goddmodding, never fire your weapon until your opponent has responded to your last post. When roleplaying a weapon, you must designate your weapon, you must load your weapon with the appropriate ammo, you much 'c**k' or open the breech and allow a round into your weapon, you must aim, you must make adjustments, you must squeeze the trigger, you must roleplay the round going down the barrel, and then you must roleplaying the bullet flying through the air. Your enemy can roleplay the bullet contacting him; if not, then you may roleplay what the bullet does. A proper post set-up should be as follows-

After you designate your weapon, you gear, your location, your ammo, and your personality traits, roleplaying using a weapon is as follows.


Post 1- Loading, Cocking, Aiming
Post 2- Aiming and adjusting, squeezing the trigger
Post 3- roleplaying the bullet flying down the barrel, roleplay the bullet leaving the barrel
Post 4- (Optional)- usually up to enemy, but the bullet hitting the target


After you have loaded your magazine into your rifle, you can create a new post structure. If semiautomatic, skip 'cocking', as your initial round is already loaded into the breach. If bolt action or manual, then this counts as an action.


Post 1- Cocking (manual only), aiming, adjust aiming, squeeze the trigger (skip one of these if necessary)
Post 2- roleplaying the bullet flying down the barrel, roleplay the bullet leaving the barrel
Post 3- (Optional)- usually up to enemy, but the bullet hitting the target


Countersniping- You are your units most valued form of protection. You not only extend the range, power, and flexibility for your unit, but clear the way of any obstacles. Snipers are an extremely annoying part of this and, not only that, an extremely dangerous one. Spotting snipers is a very difficult thing to do, and your actions should constantly be controlled with snipers in mind. Remember, snipers are highly trained individuals; even more trained than you are. Use your training and the basics of the firing sequence to exploit any loopholes in your enemies tactics. Remember, snipers are dangerous, but they're in the same game as you are. If you use your head, and exploit the foundations and basics of this (such as understanding what kind of weapon they have and understanding their limits) you can assault a sniper group and remove them. The main advantage of a Marksmen over a sniper is their squad. As a team, you can do anything. For example, while distracting the enemy sniper with your teamate, you can fire onto his position, and with a multiple round weapon the enemy won't have enough time to respond to your shots and you can remove him.

Like all roleplay, be creative, be descriptive, be realistic, and most of all, have fun.