As you may have learned over the last day or two, there are a lot of things that go into long range shooting. (1) How many grains of powder in the cartridge? What kind of powder? In other words, what will be the explosive power behind the bullet as it comes out of the barrel of the gun? (2) How much does the bullet weigh, and what is its shape and metallic composition? How much friction will it produce in the air, how fast will it slow down? What are the aerodynamic characteristics of the bullet? (3) What will be the effect of gravity on the path of the bullet over 100 feet, 100 yards, 200 yards, etc.? (4) How fast is the wind blowing, and from what direction? What effect will that have on the path of the bullet over similar distances? (5) What is the relative humidity and how will the moisture content in the air affect the friction on the bullet? (6) What is the movement of the target, how fast and what direction? (7) What is the angle of the shot from level ground and how will that affect the above calculations?
These things all change according to the type and manufacture of the weapon being used.
I've heard it said that Paddock was a novice shooter with little or no military training. Frankly, novice shooters don't know spit about the above considerations or how to make the appropriate calculations, let alone how to employ them in actual shooting conditions. Someone told Paddock about all of these things. Someone trained Paddock on how to make the calculations and that the barrel of rapidly fired automatic weapons would quickly get too hot to touch. Someone had to put him through the paces of moving from one gun to another with smooth rapidity. He had to have someone to talk with about the logistics of getting the weapons and ammo into the hotel suite. He had to have some knowledge and experience in setting up a video surveillance system.
Steve Paddock did not work alone.
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