A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting, using projectile weapons, such as with a rifle but most commonly with a sniper rifle, to shoot at small long-range targets. In the military, marksmen are sometimes attached to an infantry squad where they take accurate long-range shots at valuable targets as needed, thus extending the reach of the squad.
Another term for a marksman is a sharpshooter, which is derived from the German wor...
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A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting, using projectile weapons, such as with a rifle but most commonly with a sniper rifle, to shoot at small long-range targets. In the military, marksmen are sometimes attached to an infantry squad where they take accurate long-range shots at valuable targets as needed, thus extending the reach of the squad.
Another term for a marksman is a sharpshooter, which is derived from the German word scharfschutzen that was used in the early 19th Century.
The main difference between a marksman and a sniper is that a marksman is usually considered an organic part of a team of soldiers, whereas snipers tend to work solitarily or with other snipers.
In the Middle Ages, the first use of the term 'marksman' was given to the royal archers, or bowmen, of a palace guard, which was an elite group of troops chosen to guard a royal palace. This was approximately around the 10th century, although records of some 9th century English Kings show the...
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