Question about Snipers

[Wilpar76]

I saw this article earlier.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wo...ig_Harrison_Sets_Record_After_Killing_Taliban

Sorry for the long link, I am doing this from my blackberry. Anyway, I can appreciate the distance from which this soldier hit his targets. However, not having any military or real experience with guns outside of a firing range, I wanted to know from some of the B&B vets or experienced riflemen, exactly how difficult were his shots even with state of the art weaponry?

 

[Sullybob]

Its the longest distance recorded kill on record. To make not one but two shots at a mile and a half is really tough.

 

[Strikermike]

I have not shot a rifle much since I left college. Back then I was a good shot out to about a thousand yards. Was that a tough shot. Let me see if i can put in perspective. About as hard as winning the grand prize in the lottery.

 

[DSB]

Thank you for sharing that article. That man is absolutely amazing.

 

[JoshD]

I routinely make 300 yard shots on the range with open sites with my M16. But 1.5 miles! The enimy looks like gnats at that distance. You have to know where to look to even see them. Then once you have them in the scope and zoomed in on, it is very hard to keep breath control and trigger squeeze so you don't make the shot miss that way. Then you have a little thing called spin drift. you have probably heard about it in the movies, yes, it is real it is the gyroscope effect of a bullet. after the round leaves you muzle it will want to move up and to the left if the rifleing is right handed. There is so much math that you have to do "on the fly", it hurts my head just to think about it. This man needs more medals than his uniform can hold. He gets my salute!

JoshD

 

[Fairlight]

The previous holder of this record, Carlos Hathcock, is something of a legend among snipers. He'd take off his hat to the guy who made this shot, I think. One mile is a really hard shot. Two and a half miles is a little bit past the commonly accepted version of "possible". That's what makes it a record.

 

[JPM]

That's amazing!

 

[The Nid Hog]

That is a very impressive shot. Unbelievable.

 

[Jim]

I am glad he is one of ours.

 

[michael.scheller]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minute_of_arc

Most hunters are happy with being able to beat Minute of Arc accuracy. That's a grouping of shots within an inch of each other at 100 yards. Extrapolate that to this shot of 2706 2/3 yards and the resulting group would be 27 inches and this is just accuracy. Accuracy is the ability to put groups of round close to each other, not necessarily the target. Precision is the ability to hit the target. Precision does rely upon some accuracy but a shot of this distance takes in many, many variables which modern technology makes easier; pda computers hold all of the computations but some things, such as wind along the bullet path must be read and estimated by the shooter or spotter. .

Very, very impressive shooting.

 

[C Reed]

I would hate to be the kid who eventually dates his daughter.

 

[tejasjeff]

I have a hard time with that distance in 338 Lapau , more believable in a 50 cal.
At any rate, if true, he made 2 of the luckiest shots of the war in perfect conditions.
Six foot holdover says it all.

 

[DFrancis]

Now that definitely needs some steady hands and amazing control of ones breath.

 

[lenard]

Lol, am I the only one who thought this thread was going to be about Ebay. Great article!

 

[Wilpar76]

Wow. So from what I gather, it was a perfect storm of conditions that allows for a shot like this, i.e, training, sight, breath control, knowledge, weather conditions, etc..

 

[Sullybob]

Lol, am I the only one who thought this thread was going to be about Ebay. Great article!

I thought so too.

 

[valmara1971]

Fantastic story and I'm guessing he isn't the kind of guy who would make up such a thing goodness knows him and his buddys went through enough on the tour. Ironically Gunny Hathcock was injured in a road side bombing at the very end of his tour of Vietnam. I have fired the AI .5 but I'm not a sniper neither would I claim to be but I knocked down 9/10 plates at 1km which was the best score of the course.
I have also been out on task under protective cover by a sniper detachment. To snipers everywhere, you have my upmost respect and heartfelt gratitude.

 

[Unknownsoldier]

I have not shot a rifle much since I left college. Back then I was a good shot out to about a thousand yards. Was that a tough shot. Let me see if i can put in perspective. About as hard as winning the grand prize in the lottery.

The target point you are trying hit is about the size of a 5p piece (or a dime?), now take a 5p or similar, then walk it a thousand yards out, roughly half a mile, and try and see it...... At 1000 yards, over Iron sights (my preference) with a 7.62mm, that's a hard shot, needing account of wind resistance, drop, angle of trajectory etc. etc. but that guys shot was amazing, using the L115A3 Long Range Rifle (8.59mm round), it's effective range is generally 5000 feet, he hit the target at over 8,120 feet, 3000ft further than it's effective range! that takes some doing........

Tom

 

[Unknownsoldier]

Wow. So from what I gather, it was a perfect storm of conditions that allows for a shot like this, i.e, training, sight, breath control, knowledge, weather conditions, etc..

Pretty much, the chances are always against you, but fate has habit of helping out when a buddy is in need......

 

[BCatl]

Jeez, I never knew people studied this kind of thing at 1.5 mi.

This is why a smart man never walks on flat terrain, and he always keeps moving.

If you do have to walk across some flat terrain, and you are a high profile target, buy some of those health shoes that make you bobble up and down.

And don't forget to make a lot of 90 degree turns while you walk, even if it takes you longer to get where you're going.