Record for long-range sniper shot in Afghanistan – 1.5 miles

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Calibre44

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Summary of article:

A British Army sniper has set a new record by killing two Taliban machine gunners in Afghanistan from more than 1 miles away.

Craig Harrison, a member of the Household Cavalry, killed the insurgents with consecutive shots.

The distance to Harrison’s two targets was measured by a GPS system at 8,120ft, or 1.54 miles. His L115A3 long-range rifle, the army’s most powerful sniper weapon, is designed to be effective at up to 4,921ft and supposedly capable of only “harassing fire” beyond that range.

The previous record was held by Corporal Rob Furlong, of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, who was using a 12.7mm McMillan TAC-50 rifle and recorded a sniper kill at 7,972ft in March 2002.

Full story here:
 
Wow. One shot I could see being a mixture of skill and a lot of luck - but three hits and no misses are a true testament to that guys skills, and the precision of that rifle.

Mighty impressive.
 
Kudos to the Brit who took the record with not one but two kills.
 
Makes me a bit embarrassed that I have trouble hitting the bulls-eye from 50 yards with my .22
 
You have got to wonder what that does to the body. The first guy probably never knew what happened. The second likely was trying to get out of there when his partner spontaniously exploded.

:what:
 
You have got to wonder what that does to the body. The first guy probably never knew what happened. The second likely was trying to get out of there when his partner spontaniously exploded.
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Not nearly so dramatic. His rifle was chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. At 1.54 miles, I'd be surprised if the bullet had more energy than a 9mm parabellum at the muzzle.
 
1.54 miles is 2710 yards. At that range the bullet is most certainly subsonic. .338LM utilizes bullet weights between 200 and 300gr. Assuming a 250gr bullet, if it's doing 900fps, that's right in 9mm/.45acp territory in terms of energy.
 
I wonder what elevation he was at, because I've heard that was one of the big advantages Rob Furlong had when he made his shot. Plus a 300 grain bullet even at 600-700 fps is nothing to sneeze at....
 
Carlos Hathcock reported kills at 2700 with .50s, but they weren't confirmed.
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He was also pioneering his tool selection, making the job much harder. He didn't have the type of rifles issued to such individuals that they have available now.
For example he made some impressive shots with a scope he managed to attach to an M2 while improvising in the field.
A scope on an M2 machinegun and firing single shot makes the shot quite difficult. Was he also using standard ball, rather than the precision rounds specifically for long range shots used today?
I don't think he had MatchKings. :neener:

It is like the new Olympic records. Yeah they are better, but it is hard to compare say a swimmer from 50 years ago with one using state of the art fabrics that cause them to glide through the water cutting seconds off each lap without them.
It would be like comparing the times of race car drivers of 50 years ago with those of today. When the capabilities of the vehicles used are totally different.

In the future these shots may seem like nothing. Just wait until they start widely fielding rifles with computers that calculate the wind, where to aim to compensate for shooting uphill and downhill, and of course distance. Shaving the time off obtaining these details and allowing shots to be taken more often because they can be taken sooner. Taken instantly with no manual calculation at all.
They may very well have guns that aim themselves in the future, where the shooter looking through the optics aims the sights and that is where the gun adjusts itself to hit. It is certainly possible with existing technology.
Comparing a shot from such an auto aiming gun that hits a target at almost 3 miles would not be an accurate comparison to what is being used today.
Technology changes, and will continue to change. Which means the difficulty of the same feats is reduced, and new feats are achieved by highly skilled individuals.
 
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A quality suppressor still reduces felt recoil and muzzle report significantly, to the effect of a more pleasant and repeatable (and I would argue, more accurate) shooting experience.
 
what is really impressive is that the next two longest shots were both taken with the .50 BMG...plus the .338 made a first shot hit

Harrrison actually made 3 shots at that range: 1) the PMK gunner, 2) the guy who took over for the fallen gunner and 3) a shot to take the gun out of commission
 
Major kudos to the soldier but did you see the comments? Some of them were bellyaching about the fact this man's skills were even being reported! And this was a country that once ruled an empire?
 
but did you see the comments? Some of them were bellyaching about the fact this man's skills were even being reported!
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It would appear for the fight to be 'cricket' troops would have had to charge the MG to take it out. He really is stuck in 1898- ours is not to reason why mentality. I wonder if Fu realizes just how little regard for human life he shows with his comments?
 
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