“But that’s even more true of the ammunition. Thus, what’s called reloading. It gives the shooter control over many more factors. He takes a spent shell, pops the spent primer, cleans the case. He reshapes it under pressure, primes it, puts a new and different kind and amount of powder into it, and loads a new and different type of bullet—same caliber, different shape, design, weight, material, whatever—and assembles it in a press. He documents all this carefully. It’s about recording each step in the process. Then he shoots it, usually in groups of five. He wants all five to go in one hole, or close enough to it. He very carefully documents the results of the shooting—that is, group size, response to wind, velocity, muzzle energy—and he compares it to factory ammo or, more likely, his other attempts. Maybe it’s better, maybe it’s not. The point of this trial-and-error process is that he is searching for a combination—it’s almost a musical thing, hunting for a chord—that gets the absolute most out of the rifle’s potential. Usually one load—a certain brand or make of shell, a certain ritual of preparation, a certain bullet weight, a certain bullet design, a certain powder, a certain amount of powder, a certain length of cartridge, a certain high degree of concentricity, and maybe half a dozen other empirical things—will produce the best load. That is the cartridge that meets its goal for accuracy, velocity, perhaps lack of muzzle flash, in combat considerations. Anyway, that would be his ideal, and it would be his round of choice. It would be significantly better than factory ammunition, across the board, for any usage.”

“And there is an industry that supports such behavior?” asked Gold.

“Yep. Chemical companies make dozens of different powders—different burning rates, different-shaped crystals, different fillers—while gun accessory companies make measuring devices, powder scales, reloading dies, primers, primer loaders, and bullet companies make different weights, shapes, interior structures, tips, composition materials. He’s just trying to find that right chord and build his harmony around it.”

“Superb,” said Cohen. “The Mozart of the sniper world. But do you also have a point?”

“Given that he had pounds and pounds of different kinds of smokeless powder, boxes and boxes of bullets, boxes signifying Wilson reloading dies, an arbor press for squishing all the stuff together, it seems to me he was doing a methodical search for a certain round for a certain task that would be far more efficient than anything he could obtain on the market.”

“He’s setting up for an extra-hard shot where maximum accuracy is mandatory?” said Gold.