One sinister weapon which was given to the members of the Auxiliary Unit patrols was a special .22 rifle - usually manufactured by BSA, Winchester or Remington. A report by Duncan Sandys to the Prime Minister in August 1940, confirmed that sniping would be in the Auxiliary Units' remit. This rifle, which was fitted with a powerful telescopic sight and a silencer, could either fire high-velocity bullets for additional lethality at extended ranges or subsonic bullets for virtual silence if the target was relatively close. The Auxiliers who received these weapons were told that they were for sniping at German officers and for picking off tracker dogs before they came too near.
The snipers' .22 rifle became Auxiliary Unit standard issue. In some instances it would be the only firearm carried on patrol because it was the only one that could be fired with a chance of continuing the mission afterwards – other weapons were carried as a 'last ditch' in the event the patrol needed to make a fighting escape. The wandering 'zero' of scopes was a problem but as the rifles generally retained their "iron sights", the scope could be removed if doubt about the zero was an issue. Officers sent out from Coleshill noticed that the telescopic sights needed constant realignment.