smearyllama said:
I've had this question for a while now that I didn't think deserved a thread of it's own, so I made an entire Q&A thread.
My Question Is:
What's the difference between a marksman, a sharpshooter, and a sniper?
They all do similar jobs, and use similar weapons, but what actually separates them from each other?
So ask a question, and maybe someone will answer it!
Let me preface this with the qualifier that I am a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Like any other operational definition, these terms may mean different things to different people. However this is how I define these terms from my experience.
First, in the Marine Corps, "marksman" and "sharpshooter" are qualifications that are based on a Marine's performance on their annual firearms qualification test. "Marksman" is the lowest, "sharpshooter" is intermediate and "expert" is the highest. There are two different tests, one for rifles (M16/M4) and one for sidearms (M9). Marines are awarded badges according to their qualifications. Every Marine from infantryman to cook is a rifleman and must pass the rifle and/or sidearm qualification test.
A sniper however is an actual separate job within the Marine Corps. Snipers must go to advanced marksmanship training and are deployed in a two man team with one sniper and one spotter. The spotter helps guide the sniper onto target by giving him correctional information based on a number of factors like distance, weather, wind, etc. The sniper himself makes the corrections and pulls the trigger. For more information on what a sniper does I suggest looking up Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, the most famous sniper in Marine Corps history.
As for the weapons question I partially answered it in my explanation of the USMC firearms qualification tests. However, snipers use various firearms based on their branch of service/organization and mission. I believe the most commonly used sniper rifle for the USMC is the M40A3. (I was not a sniper so I am not a subject matter expert on their firearms.)
