military science

I really enjoyed this book. I pick it up and at least glance at it every other day. Many aspects of sniping is covered. I spoke to a United States Marine Sniper about this book and he really emphasized that this book is very basic. I happen to agree for many reasons. The ghillie suit instructions could have been done much better. Even a civilian like me know that ghillie suits can be much better than what is written in the book.

This book covers BASIC marksmanship very well. Even the stuff that is labelled "advanced" is still very basic. There are many helpful bits in this book. I thought that the camouflage section was covered in not enough depth. The counter-sniper section was a pretty good introduction.

Major Plaster has done a very good job at presenting the world of the sniper through this book. Though this book won't make the "Ultimate Sniper" it will educate people pretty well. Let's face it, if you aren't an active military/police sniper this book won't be very practical for you.

Keep in mind that snipercraft is a very deadly art where people can get killed. This book give many bits of information about how police and military snipers are trained. This book will not give you enough training to be a sniper, as no book on the market will. Make sure you know the laws and regulations about wearing ghillie suits and weapons because you can break the law by using some of the techniques that this book teaches. Remember that this book is for information purposes or at the most a helful guide at the shooting range (though that is not authorized by the author).

This book is a valuable resource for the novice to intermediate level rifleman or sniper. I found a credible amount of useful information within it. The ballistics tables are real-world--unlike the dry, theoretical tables found in reloading manuals. Major Plaster sticks to the heart of the subject matter; he doesn't go off on those lame, sorry "soldier of 'fiction'" tangents that many authors do. He even authorizes the reader to photocopy range cards, practice targets, etc..., as long as the credit line is not removed. You can't get much fairer than that. If I mentioned every good thing about this book, I would exceed the 1,000 word maximum that Amazon has limited me to.

Robert, 11B/EIB, U.S. Army, 1981-1984

The problem with this book is that it contains a significant amount of wrong information. Space doesn't allow me to list them all here. By the time you are in a position to pick through it and identify the bad from the useful you don't need it at all! If you want to learn about sniping purchase a book like C.F. Shore's "With British Snipers to the Reich" or either of Derrick Bartlett's books on police sniping.