TEAMWORK
to
is
M
D
S
e
th
f
o
le
o
r
“The
quad
s
e
th
t
r
o
p
p
u
s
y
tl
c
dire
ts at
o
h
s
d
e
c
la
p
ll
e
w
h
wit
d the
n
o
y
e
b
y
tl
h
g
li
s
s
e
g
ran
es”
c
n
ta
is
d
t
n
e
m
e
g
a
g
normal en
sniper fire) and keep the
heads of the opposing
forces (OPFOR) down.
Remember, the role of
the SDM isn’t to be a
sniper who engages the
enemy with precision fire
at extreme ranges but to
directly support the squad
with well-placed shots at
ranges slightly beyond the
normal engagement distances.
Let me give you a working example. My
local site has built a very heavily protected
bunker. Actually it is more of a pill-box, dug
into a slope with firing slits and ports for allround vision and camouflage netting over the
lot. It wouldn’t have looked out of place on
the Maginot Line!
With only one way in and out – a sliding
door at the rear – and a commanding view
across a valley streambed, to attack it from
the front would be suicide. The only way
to take this out is by approaching from the
flanks and putting grenades into the bunker,
but with half a dozen firing slits along each
side, flanking moves can be seen just as
easily. So, taking on the SDM role, I took a
fire-support team to engage the front of the
bunker and keep the OPFOR inside harassed
while the assault teams moved up.
Probing through the undergrowth, our
point men watched as the enemy let fly a
few ranging BB bursts from the bunker. Now
we had their range, we withdrew and moved
a little further along the high ground before
edging forward again. With a 3.5-10x30 scope
on top I could see the movement inside
the bunker and started to put suppressing
single shots at the front firing ports. Again
this is where the SDM rifle scores over a bolt
action sniper rifle as you can keep up a steady,
consistent rate of accurate shots.
I was joined by one of our squad who had an
M60, and between us we were able to keep
the enemy busy. They didn’t notice a team
coming along the bottom right of the stream
and up to the bunker; a ‘grenade in’ shout
spelled the end for
those inside.
So what equipment
is required if you want
to take on the role of
the SDM, and more
importantly what is it
going to cost? The fact
is most of you reading
this probably already
have a rifle capable of pushing accurate shots
out to 60-70m, it’s just never used that way.
Most rifles with a semi-auto selector and a
barrel length of at least 15in with a reasonably
tight bore can be used in this role. In the
military the ‘classics’ of the semi-automatic
world have been around since the late
1960s and include the likes of the M14 and
its variants, the Soviet Dragunov SVD, the
popular German G3 and the tried and trusted
FN FAL. I would avoid a spring Dragunov as
www.airsoftactionmagazine.com
089