Customer Reviews

The German Sniper: 1914-1945

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Author Peter Senich made his reputation as a sniping authority with this book. From its early beginning in the trenches of WWI, Senich describes the equipment, camouflage, weapons and tactics of the German Army. He makes a detailed examination of the rifles and the multitude of scopes, mounting systems for both wars and to a limited extend, supressor systems and infrared sighting units.

Senich does not neglect to provide the combat experience of snipers who fought the Red Army and their observations are invaluable today. However, no comparable account is given for German soldiers who fought the allies on the Western Front.

In an all too brief chapter, Senich also delves into the Soviet sniping experience and his text includes a translation of the role of the sniper in the infantry platoon/company. Unfortunately, he does not address the effectiveness of the Red Army sniper nor the propaganda so thoroughly dismissed by Shore (See, "With British Snipers to the Reich).

While the author acknowledges individuals who assisted him, a historian may be disappointed since the book lacks meaningful references. For a sniping enthusiast, this book is an invaluable resource. A collector of Mauser rifles will find the information and photos in this book very useful in identifying the many variations of German sniper rifles.

After owning this book for some time and only glancing through it, I took it upon myself to go through it in detail. Like all of the other books by Mr. Senich, the attention to detail and focus on the technical side of the German weapon systems (and supporting equipment) is second to none. The photography is splendid, the focus on equipment (including serial numbers) is accurate and sharp, and the archival work that must have gone into putting this together (both text and photos) is truly fantastic.

My only critique would be that in a book of this magnitude, a more precise listing of all references and sources be provided so that future historians can use it as a reference or "jump-off" point in their study of german snipers.

That being said, I have looked and found no better book on German sniping. One can only hope that Mr. Senich keeps on publishing.

Senich's book has become the Bible for advanced collectors around the world. When corresponding with other collectors about any detail relating to German sniper rifles, one need only mention a page number from this book to reach a complete understanding.

If anyone in this world knows about Sniping, whether it be a US or german sniper, this writer does. He is highly intelligent and uses the best terminology of any one in his field. I highly recommend this book as well as his others to anyone who is interested in it!!

I bought this book thinking that it would have info of how German snipers were trained in both world wars and maybe some notable accounts of great shots. However the book mentions very little about that. Instead it is a wealth of technical data that is mostly centered around the weapons, optics and miscellaneous equipment that were used by the Krauts during the war to end all wars and the bigger one that came a couple of decades later. Very detailed even going into specific scope mounts, special parts, telescope brands, even a couple entries of early night vision equipment! Since I have a huge interest in snipers I still enjoyed this book and every now and then I pull it off the shelf to use as a reference of sorts because of how incredibly detailed it is. This book would come in handy if you are a serious collector, museum curator or even guy working for the entertainment industry and need some good historical reference material. If you have as big of an interest in sniping as I do you would also like it too, but if you're looking for personal accounts or a training manual this is neither. A more exact title would have been The German Snipers Rifle And Equipment: 1914-1945.

The book had a great deal of information about the different models, production and specifics. A great reference or just general knowledge.

Outstanding book with very good detail about the history of German snipers in WWI and WWII. Covers the rifles, scopes and equipment like never before. A must for collectors or anyone with an interest in snipers.

I initially bought this book expecting in-depth details on German sniper operations and training in WWI/WWII. While it does touch on those facets, the bulk of the book focuses on the weapons systems used by the snipers during both wars. From the initial hunting rifles procured in WWI, through the GEW. 98, K-98, G-41, G/K-43 and STG. 44, the book is absolutely LOADED with photos and descriptions. Manufactueres codes are included, along with scope types, mount types, receiver mount types, carrying cases and ammunition types. Prototypes and one-of-a-kind weapons are also included. While not exactly what I initially expected, it was a very nice surprise to find all of the other information in the book. The photos, while in black-and-white, are very detailed and in focus with good descriptions of the systems assembled and in some cases, disassembled. The latter was nice to see how the scopes/mounts came apart for maintenance, cleaning, etc. Highly recommended!

Lots of information and pictures. I wish they had printed it on better quality paper and did a better job on the the pictures. They seem a little fuzzy to me and some were so dark, you almost couldn't understand them. It needs to be updated with a section on the known copies of these rifles now flooding the market. That said, this is still a must have for collectors.

I agree this is a collector's bible but it makes for some entertaining hours of reading as well. If you are interested in WWII or WWI German reenacting and also want to pick up actual rifle shooting as a hobby, this book contains the information to help you create a functional WWII German sniper impression. Worth the money.