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The Water Cooler
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The Carlos Hathcock Method of Sighting in a Rifle.
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<blockquote data-quote="_CY_" data-source="post: 1289640" data-attributes="member: 7629"><p>Well, after a few months, we had shot a single round in most every kind of condition there was. Then about the 12th of December, it was REALLY cold and it seemed like an artic wind was blowing, there was about four inches of snow on the ground and freezing rain was falling. He called me up and told me to meet him at Range 4 at noon. I had gotten to know him well enough to joke, "Do you really want to watch me shoot in this kind of weather? He chuckled and said, "Well, are you ever going to hunt in this kind of weather?" I sighed and said, "See you at noon."</p><p></p><p>By the next spring, I had records for sight settings for the first shot out of a "cold" barrel for almost any weather, position and range I would use and temperature/wind/humidity condition imagineable. He had informed me months before that was bascially how he wanted all Marine Snipers to sight in their rifles as only the first shot counts, though of course they would do it out to 700 yards on a walking target and further on a stationary target. They also practiced follow up shots, of course and we did some of that as well. It gave me great confidence that I could dial in my scope for anything I would come across.</p><p></p><p>Some years later in the late 90's or realy early this century, I was talking to a Police Sniper and he was really impressed I knew Carlos. I told him about the way Carlos had me sight in my rifle and suggested he do the same thing as he was a sniper for the Henrico Country SWAT team. He had never heard of that and took it to heart. About two and a half years later, he got called to a domestic situation where a husband had a handgun to his wife's head and was going to kill her. After the Sergeant in charge and the Pysch guy determined the husband was really going to do it, the Police Officer was asked if he could hit the guy at just over 200 yards and not hit the wife. He said he knew he could (because he had followed Carlo's method), so they told him to take the shot. One shot and the perp's head exploded. The wife was scared crapless, but unharmed. When he told me about it about when I saw him the first time a week after the incident, the first thing I asked him if he was OK about taking the shot. He understood I was talking about the pyschological aspects and he really appreciated it. He said, it had bothered him a little that night until he remembered that if he had not taken the shot, the wife would have died. I checked back with him and he really was OK with having taken the shot. I've checked back every gun show I see him at and I know he is doing fine about it.</p><p></p><p>A little more about who Carlos Hathcock was.</p><p></p><p>Carlos was a rather quiet and unassuming man. He was very approachable and was highly regarded by most everyone who knew him. His favorite Marines were L/Cpls and below who he called "Snuffies," and that was a term of great endearment to him. Needless to say, Snuffies really appreciated working for him.</p><p></p><p>He did not have a "big head" like others who weren't as good as he was. He freely shared his knowledge, but it was with the caveat that you would do your best with the information. If he got the idea you were screwing around, then it was all over. He rarely even raised his voice when that happened, but he no longer had much to do with those people. He didn't believe in wasting his time casting pearls to swine.</p><p></p><p>Carlos didn't brag about his exploits, if you didn't know of them or someone else had told you about them, you probably would never realize he had done so much. He would never have agreed with this description, but he was a true Southern Gentleman in the old style. With Carlos, it was natural and not something he learned by going to high faluting schools or raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. He always considered himself a poor country boy who was lucky enough to have found a talent in shooting and then was able to have "done well" with that talent.</p><p></p><p>One thing many people may not realize is his psychological bent on sniping. When they started the Scout Sniper Instructor School, they wanted and still want snipers who look at sniping something like hunting varmints. They don't want psychological nut jobs. Carlos occasionally joked that he might not have qualified for the Sniper School with that psychological requirement. I'm quoting him now as best I remember. "You know, we are not supposed to like killing the enemy. But with me, I love killing communists. I don't have a desire to harm anyone else, but I will kill every Communist I can." He looked at sniping as a way to defend other Marines and his country and do his duty as a Marine. Duty was extremely important to Carlos, though you realized that by his actions more than by his words. I can think of no more accurate description of him overall than to state he was truly a noble soul.</p><p></p><p>I was extremely lucky to have been around so many people like Carlos and others in my formative years in the Corps. The members of THE Marine Corps Rifle Team in the 60's and 70's were a bunch of real characters, even by Marine standards. (Yeah,there are PLENTY of stories there including how Dave Willis and Jim Land as Ist Lt.'s billeted THE Marine Corps Rifle Team in a whorehouse at one shooting match and almost got kicked out of the Corps.) I took much of that to heart and is a good part of the reason I was deep selected to MGySgt well ahead of my peers. I will always be grateful for what they taught me.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="_CY_, post: 1289640, member: 7629"] Well, after a few months, we had shot a single round in most every kind of condition there was. Then about the 12th of December, it was REALLY cold and it seemed like an artic wind was blowing, there was about four inches of snow on the ground and freezing rain was falling. He called me up and told me to meet him at Range 4 at noon. I had gotten to know him well enough to joke, "Do you really want to watch me shoot in this kind of weather? He chuckled and said, "Well, are you ever going to hunt in this kind of weather?" I sighed and said, "See you at noon." By the next spring, I had records for sight settings for the first shot out of a "cold" barrel for almost any weather, position and range I would use and temperature/wind/humidity condition imagineable. He had informed me months before that was bascially how he wanted all Marine Snipers to sight in their rifles as only the first shot counts, though of course they would do it out to 700 yards on a walking target and further on a stationary target. They also practiced follow up shots, of course and we did some of that as well. It gave me great confidence that I could dial in my scope for anything I would come across. Some years later in the late 90's or realy early this century, I was talking to a Police Sniper and he was really impressed I knew Carlos. I told him about the way Carlos had me sight in my rifle and suggested he do the same thing as he was a sniper for the Henrico Country SWAT team. He had never heard of that and took it to heart. About two and a half years later, he got called to a domestic situation where a husband had a handgun to his wife's head and was going to kill her. After the Sergeant in charge and the Pysch guy determined the husband was really going to do it, the Police Officer was asked if he could hit the guy at just over 200 yards and not hit the wife. He said he knew he could (because he had followed Carlo's method), so they told him to take the shot. One shot and the perp's head exploded. The wife was scared crapless, but unharmed. When he told me about it about when I saw him the first time a week after the incident, the first thing I asked him if he was OK about taking the shot. He understood I was talking about the pyschological aspects and he really appreciated it. He said, it had bothered him a little that night until he remembered that if he had not taken the shot, the wife would have died. I checked back with him and he really was OK with having taken the shot. I've checked back every gun show I see him at and I know he is doing fine about it. A little more about who Carlos Hathcock was. Carlos was a rather quiet and unassuming man. He was very approachable and was highly regarded by most everyone who knew him. His favorite Marines were L/Cpls and below who he called "Snuffies," and that was a term of great endearment to him. Needless to say, Snuffies really appreciated working for him. He did not have a "big head" like others who weren't as good as he was. He freely shared his knowledge, but it was with the caveat that you would do your best with the information. If he got the idea you were screwing around, then it was all over. He rarely even raised his voice when that happened, but he no longer had much to do with those people. He didn't believe in wasting his time casting pearls to swine. Carlos didn't brag about his exploits, if you didn't know of them or someone else had told you about them, you probably would never realize he had done so much. He would never have agreed with this description, but he was a true Southern Gentleman in the old style. With Carlos, it was natural and not something he learned by going to high faluting schools or raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. He always considered himself a poor country boy who was lucky enough to have found a talent in shooting and then was able to have "done well" with that talent. One thing many people may not realize is his psychological bent on sniping. When they started the Scout Sniper Instructor School, they wanted and still want snipers who look at sniping something like hunting varmints. They don't want psychological nut jobs. Carlos occasionally joked that he might not have qualified for the Sniper School with that psychological requirement. I'm quoting him now as best I remember. "You know, we are not supposed to like killing the enemy. But with me, I love killing communists. I don't have a desire to harm anyone else, but I will kill every Communist I can." He looked at sniping as a way to defend other Marines and his country and do his duty as a Marine. Duty was extremely important to Carlos, though you realized that by his actions more than by his words. I can think of no more accurate description of him overall than to state he was truly a noble soul. I was extremely lucky to have been around so many people like Carlos and others in my formative years in the Corps. The members of THE Marine Corps Rifle Team in the 60's and 70's were a bunch of real characters, even by Marine standards. (Yeah,there are PLENTY of stories there including how Dave Willis and Jim Land as Ist Lt.'s billeted THE Marine Corps Rifle Team in a whorehouse at one shooting match and almost got kicked out of the Corps.) I took much of that to heart and is a good part of the reason I was deep selected to MGySgt well ahead of my peers. I will always be grateful for what they taught me. [/QUOTE]
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