US Sniper rifle???

[Marek_Tucan]

Deputy said:
The Sherman tank had the nickname of "Zippo" among the US troops because of it's tendency to blow up in flames due to it using gasoline as a fuel.

A myth, it was due to unexperienced US crew in African campaign often keeping all kinds of flammable stuff inside the tank and due to relatively exposed ammo in pre-wet storage. Under combat conditions there is nil difference between diesel and gasoline in flammability after penetration.
Just for illustration, German tanks are hardly considered "Zippos" and they used gasoline as well. And they even had worse fuel storage (Sherman got the fuel separated from the crew at least).

As for the tank riders, hey, maybe they're just naturally good at spotting 88 fire and quickly jumping from the tank?