Quote Originally Posted by Rhynn View Post
Question: How much of the skills needed to shoot accurately are shared between different weapons? How different are special situations like sniping from regular use?
Speaking purely about firearms, a lot of things are common no matter the weapon. Sight picture, breath control, trigger pull, relaxed tension, etc. Even the basic stances and methods of holding a weapon are the same within a given type (pistol vs rifle) and similar across the two. An experience shooter can easily pick up a weapon he's never used before and be at 90% of his skill level with half an hour's practice. That last ten percent will often take longer - it's about extremely fine differences in shooting mechanics.

One item that differs significantly is distance shooting vs short range. A sniper is going to have to learn to read wind changes and adjust for significant drop. There's a big difference between shooting a rifle at 200 meters vs a kilometer plus. Even minor things like humidity start to be a factor.