Improving as a Solo Sniper in Tarkov

As someone who enjoys using bolt-actions and generally longer ranged weapons a little too much in Tarkov, I have always tried to get better at using these weapons. They are by far the most difficult type of weapon to use. You don't get the luxury of full auto, and you need to make sure that your aim is true. It’s a great deal of pressure in a game where people are going to outpace you with rifles and SMGs. But again, as someone who really enjoys this playstyle, I’ve come to terms with the downsides of these weapons and embrace their flaws as to what makes them so compelling to use in the first place. If it's one thing veteran players of Tarkov love to do, is self-handicapping themselves in a plethora of ways. And while I wouldn’t say using a bolt-action is the same as doing a hardcore account, it's as close as you can get without adding rules or restrictions on how you play the game. Regardless, these weapons are hard to use; I enjoy using them, so I’ve learned a few things over the hundreds of hours I’ve put into bolt-actions. So, I’d like to share some of those harsh lessons of making mistakes, dying and learning from them. These are especially important if you are a solo player. With no one around you for support, being a sniper is scary, but it doesn’t always have to be.

I suppose we should start with what it means to be a sniper in Tarkov. Sounds trivial I know, but if we’re going to do this, we might as well do it right. Being a sniper is all about having a certain level of patience in the game. It doesn’t mean sitting in one location for the whole duration of the raid. It means being adaptable; ready to move on a fight heard from ways away. Having your head on a swivel and being able to have a guesstimation as to where other players might be. Because shooting scavs and AI from 100 meters away is easy enough. But if you want to go big game hunting, you need to know where they might be and when they might show their face. As for your equipment, technically, almost every weapon in the game can fill the role a sniper would need. But in reality, two types of weapons come to mind: DMRs and of course, bolt-actions. DMRs for their emphasis on long range scopes, but with added ability to fire a successive shot immediately after the first. Bolt-actions up the ante to a new level. They must manually cycle a new round into the chamber each time they fire, making them even slower than DMRs. They are usually longer and more unwieldy than other weapon types. And using them at any range other than extreme distances is asking for a swift death. But that extra challenge is part of the appeal for using bolt-actions. They are the most satisfying category of weapon to use in Tarkov, and it’s not even close. But getting that level of success comes with practice. A lot of practice.

Your goal as a sniper can be a lot of different things. But one that everyone should have in common is taking out targets at extreme ranges. You generally want to keep your distance from other players, unless specified otherwise to do so. The further away you are, the harder your shot will be, yes. But the less of a chance the enemy has to spot you and make a b-line straight towards your location. We want to be silent and swift; not letting anyone know where we are, taking out our targets before giving them a chance to shoot back. Easier said than done. You need to know how to navigate around the map without drawing too much attention to yourself. For this, getting good at one map can make a difference. Customs is my favorite playground, so naturally, running around with a bolt-action kind of feels like second nature to me. I still screw up plenty, sure. But I know where my mistakes were and can improve because of them. Scavs don’t make this easy; we’ve all been there. Having our sniper perch ruined by a walking scav. In these situations, it’s best to pack another weapon with you just in case. Ultimately it can be whatever you think will do the job. A simple pistol, an SMG, another rifle, or if you’re feeling particularly frisky, a shotgun is the last thing people expect a sniper to be holding in their hands as they approach. Regardless, a secondary of any kind will give you an extra layer of insulation in those situations where you are found out and have a mob of angry PMCs marching towards you. The trick, is to know when to swap into it. Anytime you are on the move, have your secondary out. Especially if you plan on performing a large flank around someone. Who knows? A humble scav could cross your path, or another unaccounted-for PMC. The last thing you want to experience is a snuffed raid experience because you got caught with your hand in your pants. The bolt-action should only be out when you are on your perch, wherever that might be. What should also be considered in this situation is relocating somewhere else to continue your hunt.

Knowing when, where and how to relocate across a map with a bolt-action will again take a lot of practice. But it can be one of the most powerful and baffling strategies to really mix people up, keep them guessing, and keep you safe. This also ties in with the idea of post-shot evasion that should be employed once you have let your target(s) know you want them dead. Obviously, if there’s only one and you kill him, good for you. That’s one less PMC to worry about. But should you miss, or if they have friends, you might want to immediately relocate so they can’t get a beat on exactly where you are. I wish I had recorded this, but I had an instance during punisher part 6 whereby moving back and forth from the train tracks that overlook new gas and the second floor of the newer construction building, I was able to take our four of a five man before any of them knew where I was. Luckily, with a team that large the comms on their end must’ve been crazy, but because it’s just me, I don’t have to worry about anyone else.

Some more minor considerations when using a bolt-action are making sure you have enough clearance for the barrel to get over any cover you might be behind, or more simply know as height over bore. If you don’t have clearance, your bullet is going to go straight into that piece of cover. Not only messing up your opportunity at a kill, but also giving away your location, which we don’t want. It’s bad enough when you just whiff the shot, it’s a whole other ordeal when it goes into an object. Another part of distance shooting in Tarkov is whether or not you should zero your weapon. There is a ton of debate on this, and people have done some science, however for myself I find that zeroing up to at least 100 meters usually feels pretty good for the ranges I will be fighting other players. For example, from Stronghold to crack house on Customs is 101 meters. Knowing this, if you simply zero your scope to 100 and use M62s, you’d be surprised how accurate that round feels. This will ultimately come down to personal preference, what guns and ammos you like to run, and what map you are playing on. Some people say zeroing helps them; some say it’s useless. It will come down to what you want to do. Ergonomics is something else to consider when using a bolt-action. The more you have, the snappier it will feel and the longer you can aim it down. Some bolt-actions have the luxury of different chassis or parts that can be added on to increase ergo, while some are a little more lost to time and don’t have that capability. For this reason, weapons the like suppressed DVL, T-5000, and M700 are usually my preferred bolt-actions of choice. The SV-98, Mosin, and AXMC just don’t have good enough ergo when modded out and suppressed to be used well. And plus, the AXMC is hard as balls to get your hands on in the first place.

Bolt-actions and general long range Tarkov gameplay is the most rewarding to engage with. You get a visceral satisfaction from lining up a shot from hundreds of meters away, clicking once, and seeing that bullet fly through the air landing into someone’s skull. Many shooters have sniper rifles in their games, but there is something about how Tarkov handles the weapons, the ammo, and the situations you will be put into that makes it top tier. Another good example of sniping would be something like DayZ; to an even greater degree in some respects. But Tarkov has less of the DayZ jank people love about it. Hopefully, you the viewer found some of this insightful or maybe inspiring enough to open the game and run into a raid with bolt-action in hand and attempt to enjoy one of most rewarding gameplay loops in a modern shooter game. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know in the comments down below if you learned something as well as if you enjoy using bolt-actions in Tarkov and be sure to subscribe for more videos about my favorite weapon category in the game. I hope to see you in future ones.