"Sniper vs Sharpshooter":

Jody Commander

I have seen police sharpshooters called "Snipers" here, and in other places,both cyber and print. I wonder if those that hold the job title of Sharpshooter are offended? I remember that during WWII no one liked being referred to as a "Sniper", the term held some onus among the troops. A "Sniper" killed from concealment and was feared and hated by GIs, so accordingly, our troops called the GI counterpart to the snipers "Sharpshooters" I remember reading about this in one of C.Askins articles in the Rifleman I believe.

bullelk

Recently I was reading some articles on the Marine 5th Regiment Scout/Sniper Platoon, and they seem to refer themselves as Snipers. There was no mention of sharpshooters that I saw in their articles.
They had some pretty interesting articles on their site.

bullelk

"If All Else Fails, Read The Directions"

gruntled

I would suspect the term "sharpshooter" may have originated during the War for Southern Independence. It would seem a natural term to apply to snipers equipted with Sharps rifles.

steve45

Gruntled is right. During the civil war elite troops that used Sharps rifles were called Sharpshooters.

airborne

I think of a Sharpshooter as one that's better than Marksman, but could not qualify as an Expert.

A Sniper is a Sniper.

B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze

Jody Commander

Airborne:
A valid distinction in N.R.A. classifications but I have noticed when someone is killed, it is the work of a "Sniper" but if the target is wounded or is neutralized in some non lethal manner- The term used is usually "Sharpshooter", perhaps there is some semantic distinction in lethality.