The Sun (UK): Super Sniper's World Record Kill

[zoony]

That's not impressive it's down right scary. I have problems hitting a target 100 yards away.

Agreed. Anyone who has any experience with shooting rifles and looking thru scopes, etc. realizes how ridiculous this shot was.

I used to work with a guy who won the Wimbledon Cup in the 1950s. It's the 1000 yard competition. He was a civilian- beat all the Marine Snipers . Anyways- he would tell me about all of the preparation and attention to detail required to hit a target at 1000 yards... I mean it was enough to fill a textbook, literally. Everything from the design of his rifle (custom) to the loads he used and the jacket he strapped himself in... his breathing, etc. etc.

A mile and a half though? I'm calling either BS or pure luck.

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[twa]

A mile and a half though? I'm calling either BS or pure luck.

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I would be curious how many shots it took total,you could certainly dial them in at that range(in the right conditions) though it gets to be more like lobbing mortars than rifle rounds

Luck is made

[Corcaigh]

In the similar situation with the Canadian sniper apparently he used one or two shots which missed to adjust.

Hitting someone at that distance on the first attempt has a huge element of luck because of all the physics involved. Latitude (due to Coriolis effect), altitude, air temperature and other factors will all make a significant difference at that distance. If he practiced the same shot back home in the UK he would get very different results compared to conditions in Afghanistan.

[China]

A mile and a half though? I'm calling either BS or pure luck.

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A single shot might be luck, but two kills at that distance? That's more than luck.

"The second insurgent grabbed the weapon as my second shot hit him in the side. He went down too. They were both dead."

[ABQCOWBOY]

In the similar situation with the Canadian sniper apparently he used one or two shots which missed to adjust.

Furlong, I believe, is who you are referring to. The amazing thing about Furlong's shots were that he was not using his own ammo. Furlong's weapon was a Tac-50 but he used American ammo as opposed to his own Canadian loads. It seems that Furlong borrowed Ammo for that shot and used American made Hornady A-MAX 750 Gr VLD loads. Furlong was not at all used to using this Ammo, which makes the shot even more amazing.

I doubt that same shot could ever be reproduced in the UK or in Canada. At that distance, 1.5 miles, you have thermals which effect the flight of the bullet but you also have temperatures that, in many cases, are used to heat up rounds to get that extra distance. Essentially, loads left in the Sun build pressure and when fired, add pop and distance. You won't get those same temperatures in Canada or the UK. In addition, the elevation in Afghanistan, about 9000 ft ASL in Shah i Kot Valley, are not typical to the UK. The Air Density is more favorable. The highest elevation in the UK, I believe, is just over 1300 Ft. so you have no chance of duplicating that in the UK. You could find those kinds of elevations in Canada but the Barometric pressure associated would be significantly heavier in Canada so again, I don't believe you could duplicate that shot in Canada either.

[kuraitengai]

How about the guy in Vietnam who shot the guy through the scope and into his eye thats pretty impressive

if its the story im recalling, i rank that slightly higher due to the fact he was getting shot at back. while the guy in this thread was backing up his unit and in no immediate danger from who he shot. unless he was about to get shot at, i didnt read the article.

not that im not impressed with it.