We were recently contacted for sniper related information for a Washington Post online article at Slate.com. With all of the talk about snipers in the news recently, they came to us as the subject matter experts to help them discover what considerations are made during a sniper mission.

Thanks to our recent feature on the Discovery Channel, we have to add even more classes to our training schedule to keep up with demand!  We have added the following classes to the calendar and they are already filling up fast. Check out our course descriptions and calendar for details.

Sniper Experience May 16-17

Warfighter Sniper Course June 01-11

Warfighter Sniper Course July 27-Aug 06

Sniper / Counter Sniper Oct 05-09
Advanced Sniper Oct 11-12
Sniper Instructor Oct 13-14

Warfighter Sniper Course Oct 19-29

Sniper Experience Oct 31-Nov 01

Judging by the 3000 visits to our site during the first airing, and the 5000 visits during subsequent airings, of our school featured on Wreckreation Nation on the Discovery Channel, many of you already have seen the segment where the host attends our school during an actual sniper class.

If you have not seen the episode yet, you may see the viewing schedule on Discovery’s site BY CLICKING HERE, or you may view the video of the segment soon BY CLICKING HERE.

Our rifles are custom designed based upon our school’s 11-year experience teaching hundreds of students in 12 to 15 sniper courses per year - not by sitting in an office discussing ideas.

Why are we selling 18″ and even 16″ sniper rifles? Because we actually shot these rifles with our students on the range and saw and recorded the results. Why aren’t other manufacturers? Obviously they never went to the range and tried it. We feel our students performance is more valid info than a computer ballistic program and lots of discussion - and apparently so do our students who requested we build these rifles. Let’s all wait and see how long it takes until other manufacturers come up with their “new and great idea”!

See the new Sniper Rifle page on our website.

Check out the Apparel Section of our Sniper Gear Store to purchase one of our new T-Shirts or GPS Defense Fleece today!

Check out this video of 82nd Airborne Sniper Students assaulting our village during one of our courses.

After the 360 degree stalk and live fire exercise, the sniper support element approached and assaulted the village as the snipers stayed in position and over watched their movement.

In this fun little video, you can see a preview of what it takes to employ proper sniper camouflage and concealment techniques.  Watch the video and see how well a little bit of natural vegetation works on a sniper without a full ghillie suit.

Here is a video we found in the archives of FOX News covering our school.  The footage was filmed in 2003 while we had HS Precision Rifle Co. as our sponsor and before we had moved to our new facility.

Here is a picture of our November Sniper Course shooting over 1200 yards. Anyone that has been through one of our courses can attest to our desire to focus on technique and skill over distance alone as a measure of ability. But, it is still nice to see our students shoot over 1200 yards across one of our valleys on our sniper training facility.

Look closely in the picture and you can see one of the students shooting 5.56! Yes, 77 grain 5.56 did hit reliably at over 1200 yards. Now, we know that many self proclaimed internet ballistics experts will call this impossible. We, and the students that shot and spotted the rounds, can say with real (not theoretical) certainty that not only is it possible, it was reliably repeated. The students shooting .308 (both 168gr. and 175gr.) were able to reliably hit the target with an average of 55 minutes of angle (100yd zero) on their scopes.  Many of these .308 rifles have short barrels that many people believe ruins the rifle’s ability to perform at distance… this shows that this is just not true.

The student shooting the 5.56 was only able to hit the target by coming up the 55 minutes of angle that his scope would allow and then holding over an additional 4.5 mils for a total of 70 minutes of angle.  This data was used in our very next class for some more 5.56 shooters and it worked for them just as well.

Come on out and we’ll let you shoot it too.

We are proud to announce that the videos we have shared with you all on YouTube.com have been watched over 73,000 times!  You may watch our videos on our website and view all of our video updates by clicking HERE or by watching them below, and you may view our unique channel on YouTube.com by going to http://www.youtube.com/gpsdefense

We are proud to enter yet another year of training students at GPS Defense Sniper School!

To all of our alumni, military snipers, police sharpshooters, and citizens… We thank you for the opportunity to serve as your source for sniper instruction for 11 years!

The Discovery Channel is currently filming for an upcoming new series, “Wreckreation Nation”.  The show’s theme was originally intended to showcase the host, Dave Mordal (of Last Comic Standing fame), participating in extreme adventure activities.  The original title for the show, “Adventure Man”, fit the plot of Dave taking on more adventures than just trying to survive in the woods.  But, as Dave and the producers soon learned, his involvement in such activities ended up beating him around as he tried out things that were actually common place (even recreational) for some people.  Dave and the crew came out to the GPS Defense Sniper School to film one of their episodes and they did in fact learn something we tell all of our students from day one, “[Being a sniper] looks easy enough until you learn properly how to do it” - Sir Baden Powell.  After seeing that some of us do this for fun and many of us do this for a living, I think that Dave and the crew decided that the new title, “Wreckreation Nation” was fitting.

As Dave went through the course with the rest of the students, the Discovery Channel camera crew followed.   This provided some extra hurdles for Dave to overcome during the course.  In this picture, Dave is learning how to construct an urban hide for himself and his spotter, but is having a bit of trouble not being seen with his camera crew in tow.

It can be said that we were both a bit amazed at how much actually goes into our respective jobs.  There is a lot of behind the scenes support for shows like this… more than just the host you see on screen.  Likewise, there is a lot that goes into an effective sniper team completing their mission… a lot more than just a good shooter behind a good rifle and scope.  Despite what either of us usually see, once you learn what is really going on, yo ugain a new appreciation for what is required to make something so difficult look so simple.

It was a pleasure for us to have Dave come through the course as part of Wreckreation Nation on the Discovery Channel.  We were able to help them showcase what some of us do for a living by having him complete a GPS Defense Sniper School course.  Look for our Sniper School episode of Wreckreation Nation in early ‘09 on the Discovery Channel, and then sign up for your own course!

According to a recent article in an Oklahoma Newspaper, NewsOK, Dave said, “…Sniper camp was my favorite, It’s a camp in Phoenix, and it’s ex-military that run it, like Navy SEALs and Army snipers. You will learn exactly what skills are involved in being a sniper.  Once in a while, there’s a civilian, but mostly it’s military and law enforcement. It’s live fire; it’s not pretending, but they’re very safe.”

And in the AZ Star Net, Dave said this about his experience at our school, “…That was one I was most proud of. Even at 48, I went through a lot of it. I had first round hits from 500-900 yards out. I was doing really well with that.  The camp is made up of mostly military, law enforcement and government agents. There were people there we could not show on film. And you could go in as a civilian, but they will only show you the basic stuff. There are some courses there they will not show civilians, and with good reason.”

Here are some pictures of an Air Force SOCOM student of ours during his unit’s training.

Photo of GPS Defense speaking to the Commandant of the Marine Corps at a private reception and parade honoring President Bush. This event was held at the Commandant’s residence in Washington, DC

Below is a picture of a GPS Defense trained Pentagon Snipers on duty on a corner of the Pentagon on September 11, 2008

We have been many requests for these scopes and we are now offering them as Special Order items in our store.  Please check out these scopes in the Tactical Scope Section of our Sniper Gear Store.

Mark 4 4.5-14×50mm LR/T M1 Illum. Matte

60000 Illum.TMR MSRP $1,599.99        Our price $1,195.00

Mark 4 6.5-20×50mm LR/T M1 Illum. Matte

60075 Illum.TMR MSRP $1,664.99        Our price $1,235.00

Mark 4 8.5-25×50mm LR/T M1 Illum. Matte

60065 Illum.TMR MSRP $1,724.99        Our price $1,330.00

New slots have been added to the Sept/Oct Warfighter Sniper Course!

The course is already 75% full… Enroll today to ensure your slot!

SEPT 29 - OCT 10 WARFIGHTER COURSE

If you’ve ever fired an AR15 - this is for you!

SPR Course - October 17-19

Click HERE to view the SPR Course Page

About SPR’s:
Special Purpose Rifles are basically accurized AR15 rifles with a sniper style scope mounted on flattop rail systems. The accuracy comes from a 1/7 or 1/8 twist match barrel which is able to properly stabilize the heavier 77 grain ammunition complimented with a match grade trigger.

The Green Berets, SEALs, Rangers and even the Marines now use the accurized rifles since there is such an easy transition from the standard M4 or AR15 style rifle that everyone is so familiar with. This same weapon platform carries many names: Marines call them SAM-Rs, Special Forces and Rangers call them SPRs, Navy SEALs call them Mark-12s or Recon Rifles, and you may know them simply as accurized AR-15s. In order for an accurized AR-15 to be considered an SPR, the rifle needs to have a free-floated barrel with a tight twist (1:7 or 1:8), a tactical long-range scope (2.5-8x or 3-10x) on a flat top receiver, and preferably a match grade trigger. Our students consistently shoot these rifles accurately well past 900 yards. With less recoil students can really focus on marksmanship fundamentals and learn more in a shorter period of time. Then they can easily transition to up-close targets, engaging multiple targets from 5 yards or clearing corners and doorways with the same rifle!

Marines using an SPR to engage targets

Since the original September and October courses sold out so fast, we decided to add a new set of September sniper courses! 

Sign up now for these Sniper and Advanced Sniper courses before they sell out too!

Check out our realistic training facilities!

This video was shot entirely on our property… it is as close as you are going to get to training overseas! If you didn’t know better, you might think it was a small town in Afghanistan!

Since adding our article on Sniper Rifle Barrel length (Original article can be seen HERE), we have noticed that we have created a bit of a stir in the tactical community. People are starting to notice our method of not believing information simply because someone said it but rather because we have actually tested and confirmed or disproved it.

A recent student of ours who had read the article prior to attending our course was a bit skeptical. He came to the course with an open mind and was amazed as we dispelled the rumor that a shorter barrel reduces the accuracy and effectiveness of a rifle. He watched as we cut four rifles in front of the class and allowed the students to see the data for themselves.

Again, we here at GPS Defense do what works, not what somebody says should work. This is why the method of cutting a sniper rifle’s barrel shown by us below may shock you… but it works. And when you are trying to engage a target, theory doesn’t do a thing for you, what actually works, does.

Here are the student’s own words and pictures from a popular tactical forum:

“…To preface, 1 MOA accuracy was expected from the rifles. Many were box stock but all were Remington 700 variants. All shooting beyond 100 yards was on steel targets (except for the 150 yard high angle shoots and urban hide stuff). 6″ steel at 200yards and from 300 to 640 yards were the USMC silhouette shaped targets that are 9″wide x 12″high for the torso and a 3″ x 3″ head. The targets for the 740 and 920 were similarly shaped but were 18″w x 30″h overall with the 6″ head. While I have no pics of groups, all dopes for elevation were adjusted so that hits were mid-line or center of the target. On all the targets at all distances impacts within 1 MOA are pretty apparent. This school had a purposes and that purpose moved rather quickly everyday and taking the time to just prove this lone issue was not one of the main agendas. Therefore I am trying to recount accurate information as I had little time to write everything down for all the differing rifles and take exact pics that people want to see. However all of the dope and zero targets were accumulated and kept by each shooter who had 18″ barrel weapons provided by the school and 4 guys who brought their own guns cut their barrels while there and they developed dope prior to and after cutting the barrels. Ironically the only guys who cut their barrles on site, all shot the Black Hills ammo purchsed from the school. Everyone who shot the Federal ammo brought their own.

The schools standpoint which I echo is don’t talk about it, get out there and do it and prove it for yourself. We didn’t internet analyze the issue, we did it and the proof is in the puddin so to speak.

Anyway, here are a few pics.

Cutting included measuring 2 sides of the barrel to align duct tape. Then a steady hand on the sawzall followed the straight edge. The crowning tool is off to the left of the pic on the table. It was a hand held and hand cranked unit…”

We now have six identical Remington 700 .308 sniper rifles for rent!

Above all else, we here at GPS Defense want to train snipers how to do their job to the best of their ability. We have spent much time and energy crafting our curriculum so that the correct information is relayed to the sniper in order to make the sniper more effective. Unfortunately, the availability of appropriate equipment can hinder a sniper’s ability to learn.

We can control what goes on at our school. We can not, however, control the budget of military and police units and of individual citizens. To help solve this problem and allow ALL students to learn at our school, we provide 6 identical bolt action sniper rifles for rent. This allows students to learn on quality equipment as well as provide back-up weapons for student’s rifles that may break during the course of training.

The rifles pictured to the left are 6 identical Remington 700 .308 sniper rifles with 20″ Barrels. They are fitted with match grade bases and rings and Mark 4 Leupold scopes (all are available for purchase through our online sniper gear store).  The rifle pictured below is one of our six custom built rifles from DPMS.  These rifles are also equiped with match grade rings and Mark 4 Leupold Scopes.  All of our school rifles are capable of engaging targets past 900yds and maintain at least 1 minute of angle.

Those that have been through one of our sniper courses or warfighter sniper courses understand that we take teaching seriously. We do not believe that a school with a high attrition rate is a good school. A school is meant to teach, not to test. Therefore, providing these rifles for rent is just one more step we at GPS Defense Sniper School can take to ensure that our students learn the most they can from their experience with us.

We fail if a student doesn’t learn because of budget preventing them from having a rifle. We fail if a student can not complete the course if their equipment breaks. We are doing what we can to make you a better sniper… are you? Enroll today

We are extremely proud to announce our 10 year anniversary! We have been teaching snipers, military government and citizen, for 10 years now!

For our anniversary we are giving away a FREE T-Shirt to every student who has ever been in one of our courses! This includes ALL courses taught by GPS Defense for the past 10 years…. even those while HS Precision and McMillan were our sponsors. CLICK HERE TO CLAIM YOUR FREE T-SHIRT

We thank you for your business and look forward to providing all of your sniper training needs in the future!

Back in 2002 during the infamous Washington area shootings, USA Today wrote an article about the skills of the shooter(s) involved. USA Today looked to EXPERTS in the field to draw conclusions about the skill level of the sniper(s).

When needing professional advice, USA Today turned to the same company that many turn to for accurate sniper information… GPS Defense. In the article, you can find information from GPS Defense’s owner, Bill Graves as he answers questions form USA Today about information pertaining to snipers.

See the article on USA Today’s Website

Experts: Sniper may not be highly trained

By Toni Locy and John Ritter, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Firearms experts say the sniper who is stalking the Washington area may not be a highly trained marksman because of the choice of ammunition and shooting distance.

Experts say the shooter has proved to be proficient, having killed nine people and wounded two others.

But the choice of the .223-caliber cartridge may be a clue that the sniper is not the military- or law enforcement- trained shooter who was initially portrayed.

The .223-caliber ammunition is popular because it has little recoil. It is light, fast and accurate at relatively short distances. It is a favorite among small-game hunters and target shooters.

As a result, “there are hundreds of thousands of people in the country” who could’ve pulled off the attacks that have terrorized the area since Oct. 2, says Ernie Clarke, president of the Anne Arundel Fish and Game Association in Annapolis, Md.

And that “literally opens up the pool” of potential suspects, says Paul Erhardt, director of public relations for the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Even so, experts say the sniper probably went to a range, a farm or open field to align the weapon’s sights accurately. They say the shooter could be using the gun’s open sights or a scope.

The sniper is said to have fired from about as far away as 150 yards.

At those distances, wind and temperature — which along with distance are the biggest variables in long-range shooting — have little impact on a bullet’s trajectory.

But at longer distances, 500 or more yards, wind and temperature can alter a bullet’s course substantially and adjusting to those changes requires sophisticated equipment and training.

Investigators have not revealed what kind of rifle is being used.

Experts say it could be a semiautomatic rifle, such as the Colt AR-15, the civilian version of the M-16, or a bolt-action rifle that must be reloaded manually after each shot.

Many guns use .223-caliber ammunition, which, when stripped of its casing, leaves a projectile no bigger than a .22-caliber bullet, one of the smallest made. The .223-caliber cartridge starts out fast but loses its speed after about 300 yards. It also loses its accuracy as gravity and the air affect its trajectory. Wind also can throw it off.

According to experts, the .223-caliber round travels at about 3,300 feet per second as it explodes out of a rifle’s muzzle. After 300 yards, the speed drops to 1,900 feet per second.

William Graves, a sniper instructor at GPS Llc, a private marksmanship school in Phoenix, says professionally trained snipers prefer the heavier, more accurate .308-caliber cartridge because it is not as affected by distance, wind and temperature as .223-caliber ammunition.

Graves says trained snipers also aim for the head.

The Washington sniper has hit some victims in the head, but others have been shot in the upper body.

“I can take someone in the morning and by lunch have them shooting as well as this guy,” Graves says.

“Shooting at 100 yards is not that big a deal with practice and proper training,” he said.

We at GPS Defense Sniper School believe in training snipers for real world scenarios. Although we love seeing great shot groups on a flat range just like anybody else, actual sniper deployments don’t tend to happen on flat known distance ranges… they happen in the real world. The real world has curbs, tires, and other obstacles that often prevent the strictly prone style of shooting that some schools are so fond of.

To prepare for these real world scenarios, our students are taught a rapid deployment drill that allows them to engage a face size target from 100 yds from three different sling supported positions. This allows them to quickly drop into position, and transition lower if the situation allows for it rather than diving to the prone only to realize that they can not see the target.

Our standard is to complete two shots from each of the three positions with a mandatory reload in 60 seconds or less. Watch the videos and even try it for yourself… when you are ready to get better at it, sign up for one of our courses!

We at GPS Defense Sniper School believe in training snipers for real world scenarios. Although we love seeing great shot groups on a flat range just like anybody else, actual sniper deployments don’t tend to happen on flat known distance ranges… they happen in the real world. The real world has curbs, tires, and other obstacles that often prevent the strictly prone style of shooting that some schools are so fond of.

To prepare for these real world scenarios, our students are taught a rapid deployment drill that allows them to engage a face size target from 100 yds from three different sling supported positions. This allows them to quickly drop into position, and transition lower if the situation allows for it rather than diving to the prone only to realize that they can not see the target.

Our standard is to complete two shots from each of the three positions with a mandatory reload in 60 seconds or less. Watch the videos and even try it for yourself… when you are ready to get better at it, sign up for one of our courses!

The July 7-11 and 14-18 Warfighter class is filling up fast!

We just put the class on the calendar yesterday and it is already 50% full!  If you want in, you better act fast!

You can enroll by contacting us through our ONLINE CONTACT FORM or by enrolling through our ONLINE STORE.

Marine officer testing a new urban sniper qualification during Sniper Instructor Development course at GPS Defense Sniper School www.sniperschool.com

Snipers start with rifle unloaded, load and fire 5 rounds from three positions at six inch steel targets ranging from 100 to 300 yards. No misses are allowed. Lowest time takes highest score.

Note immediate use of sling in sitting position and relaoding without lifting head off rifle or taking eyes off target.