We’ve had a lot of pictures from the winter lately, so it’s only fair to bring in some heat into our Photo Of The Day. Here we have a U.S. Marine with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, assigned to the Special Purpose Marine-Air Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command. He fires an M107 semi-automatic long range sniper rifle during a live-fire exercise where the distances were unknown. This happened in Kuwait last year.

Marines conduct unknown distance ranges to stay proficient in precision marksmanship skills. The SPMAGTF-CR-CC is a crisis response force, prepared to deploy a variety of capabilities across the region.

That magazine is huge, but so is the .50 BMG round.

Spotting and giving correction is an important part of successful sniping. I wonder if they were able to see the bullet trace in these conditions? I wish I was able to see it more often, but I rarely do.

All photos by U.S. Marine Corps, photos taken by Lance Cpl. Andrew Skiver.