PUBG – Understanding the Mechanics of Sniping

This guide will teach you how to snipe in Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds at a high level.

Other PUBG Guides:

• Survival and Gameplay Tips.
• All Skins Overview.
• Guide for Airdrops.
• Best Places to Aim.
• Weapon Information in Bar Charts.

Requirements when Sniping

Being able to snipe is the most feared skill in Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds. It is also essential to becoming a good player. However many players have basic knoweledge when it comes to sniping and therefore I shall refine the basics and teach you the advanced skills much-needed to become truly feared upon the battlefield.

To snipe in game is it common sense that you need a bolt action rifle. There are a few in-game shown below.

Note: It is also possible to snipe with other rifles such as the SKS, however it is unreliable due to the high recoil and low damage.

Next, A scope is nessecary to actually snipe as the definition of Snipe is – “Shoot at someone from a hiding place, especially accurately and at long range”. Ideally the only 2 scopes you can snipe with are the 8x and the 15x scope.

Note: Sniping with the 4x scope can be done however it lacks in precision as well as the mechanical aspects of a long range scope.

There are also many attachments which can be used to upgrade the snipers however for the purpose of this guide they are not needed. They can reduce recoil as well as hide flashes and suppress the noise of the shot which are added bonuses.

Physics Of Sniping

This chapter focuses on the fundamentals of sniping explaining the physics along the way which will lead to an excellent shot with true accuracy.

In game there are factors that affect your shot, these factors that affect your shot include:

• The distance of bullet drop (Gravity).
• Whether or not the player is moving (Shot Prediction).

Adjusting for Bullet Drop

If you have used a rifle in-game before you will know that it says something along the lines of “Zeroing Distance ??? m” when you scope in. This is used to ensure the middle of the scope stays on the target so you don’t have to manually adjust it everytime you scope out.

The distance of the enemy has to be guessed or calculated by shooting once as there is no other way implemented yet.

If the shooting method is used follow these instructions to calculate the distance:

• Shoot the gun at the enemy with the reticle (middle dot) on the enemy at zeroing mark 100m.
• Ensure you hold down LEFT MOUSE BUTTON when shooting as this will prevent the gun from cocking so you can observe the flight path.
• If the bullet lands above the target the zeroing is too close to the enemy and therefore zeroing is not an option and you have to manually adjust for ranges < 100m.
• If the bullet lands below the target the zeroing is too far thus the zeroing has to be adjusted accordingly by increasing it to settings > 100m, either guessing based on the first shot or carrying out new measurements by repeating this test with 200m for example until the bullet lands on the target. 

Shooting to obtain a correct measurement is often risky however it is sure to guarantee an accurate shot where as guessing provides the element of surprise.

Hitting Moving Targets

There is no sure way of ensuring a hit on a moving target in the game as there simply aren’t enough effects like windspeed to calculate how far you need to place your scope infront of them so guessing is the only option here.

It is extremely important to remember that the further away the enemy the longer the bullet will take to hit them so you must place your scope a few millimetres infront of the direction they are running.

The above image shows the calibration to adjust the shot for a running target.

An example of the result of applying the rules to counter factors

A combination of these factors using the appropriate rule to counter-act them can often lead to clean shots. Below is a shot I hit in-game using prediction aswell as adjusting for 200m zeroing however after watching the clip over and over it seems as if the correct zeroing mark is 250m however this is not possible.

Example of Zeroing and Prediction

Executing the Shot

After all the planning and calculations have been made lining up the shot is just as important therefore ensuring that you either instantly down/kill the enemy is better than scuffing their armor and letting them live. It goes without saying that aiming at the head should always be the place to aim however at really long ranges this would not be easy to do.

Below is a table of the sniper rifle damage table:

Take this into consideration when shooting.