What kind of rifle can do this?

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psyCel

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I just saw the movie "The Shooter (starring Mark Wahlberg). It just got me thinking that what kind of rifle can shoot a target a mile away? Or was that just Hollywood? Or what would be best rifle shooting a half mile? What kind of scope, bullets and etc.

Sorry if this kind of topic is allready made.
 
It just got me thinking that what kind of rifle can shoot a target a mile away?
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Depends on how big the target is... quite a few rifles can launch a projectile a mile, including most of the stuff used for hunting and target shooting. You might check some of the precision shooting threads by Zak Smith using the "Search" function for your answer (or you can check the tacked "Reading Library" thread as well). 1,760yds = 1 mile.
 
This probably has been covered...

But, hey, why not. Although 1 mile shots are probably very rare, they can be done. The first thought is a 50 BMG. It has the range, and I think that a few snipers/ marksmen in Afghanistan and Iraq have made a few (highly publicized) one mileish shots.

The 338 Lapua Mag would also probably have the legs.

I have read about folks repeatedly making 2000 yard (1.136 mile) shots on a “humanoid target” with DL Sports specially designed 300 RUM. This is however a 30 something pound rifle (well, I think it’s a rifle) specifically designed for loooooong range.

I am sure that any of the big 6.5mm rifles could reach out there as well.

As far as glass and bullets go, I would not have the foggiest. Zak might know and would probably be the best people to answer your question.
 
Hitting a target at a mile requires a lot more than just a good quality rifle. It takes an amount of skill, science and luck that most people will never comprehend. If I was going to shoot at a target that far away, I would start with a 50 BMG at a bare minimum. I may even try to get one of those 20mm rifles I have seen. I hated that movie simply because it sounded like someone looked through a book about snipers and pulled some random terms and stuck them in the script. An awful lot of stuff in that movie was mostly crap.
 
The Barrett M99 in .416 is claimed by Barrett to more accurate at distances shot by enthusiasts and it's on sale for a mere $3750. I'll take ten if they throw in 2500 rds of ammo.
 
Billy Dixon shot an Indian off his horse at 1538 yards (9/10 mile) with a 50 caliber Sharps in June of 1874 at the Battle of Adobe Walls.
 
“I just saw the movie "The Shooter (starring Mark Wahlberg). It just got me thinking that what kind of rifle can shoot a target a mile away? Or was that just Hollywood? Or what would be best rifle shooting a half mile? What kind of scope, bullets and etc.”
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If your experience is Sniper Dude movies, and Nuts and Ammo magazines, in that media market it is commonplace, almost an afterthought to hit a teacup from 1000 yards first shot. In fact now, the 2000 yard shot is what they brag about. Everybody seems to be one shot one kill at a thousand.

Which recalls to me a moment when I was on the 1000 yard range with a Wimbleton Cup winner, who is one of the top five shots in the US. Just before sighters, we were discussing just how seldom either of us ever hit the 36” black with our first shot at 1000 yards. We concluded that all Sniper Dudes and such just had to be the most awesome shots in the whole wide universe, and wished we could see one of these superhumans in action on the firing line.

But not one have we seen…..……….


If I wanted to hit someone first shot at a half mile, I would call in the Artillery.
 
... the rest of the story is that even though he was a well known long-range shooter and buffalo hunter, Billy Dixon admitted his shot was nothing more than luck.
 
Another flagrant flaw of "sniper dude" movies is that the camera shots through the scope are usually at 100x magnification or more. Never mind the hitting, even seeing a real target at a mile is extremely difficult.
 
One mile shots are doable, and have been done. I am NOT claiming to have made one! HOWEVER, rarely is it the first shot - more likely that the spotter helped the shooter 'walk' the bullet onto the target.

I read a statistic somewhere, too bad I cant remember the source, that the longest sniper kill was somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 miles. I remember thinking that it would take the bullet something like at least 3seconds (before air resistance) to reach the target. Calcualating the drop and guestimating the wind drift would be a nightmare!
 
I have personally made 1 miles shots with my .50, was it the first shot? No, took me about 10 rounds the first time. We also have a 2000 yard target set up where we shoot long range. The three rifles that have the best chances of making these shots that I've personally seen are, .50 BMG, .408 CheyTac and .338 Lapua Mag.
 
Jack Bean made a shot nearly as long as Billy Dixon's, at least 1300 yards, maybe farther, the survey and the report allow of several different spots; and he hit the man he was aiming at. But he was using his own rifle (Billy had a borrowed gun.) with scope sight! In the late 1870s (Sharps went out of business in 1881.) as many as 25% of Sharps rifles were sold with factory fitted telescopic sights.
 
Billy Dixon's is the only one actually documented by the US Army Corp of engineers....and you are correct IT was a borrowed rifle and it was with open sights.

He went on to win the Creedmore competition later on against the rest of the world using a run of the mill 30" Sharps Business, they all used the most state of the art target rifles of the day with extravagant sights, his had a standard mid-range ladder sight. From then on he was paid not to compete, but did demonstration shooting at the contests. He was also hired by the US Army Corp of Engineers to do the long distance testing in New Jersey in the late 1880's....proving that the Army should stick with the .45-70 cause it still could be affective at 2000 yard ranges. Apparently he had no trouble going over a mile.
 
While we are on the topic, what brand/model of gun was Mark Wahlberg's rifle (the camo one with the leftie action)?
 
The esteemed Carlos Hathcock made a confirmed shot at 2500 yards with a 50 BMG.
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Bingo. Then again Mr Hathcock was a Wimbeldon Cup winner. I believe this competition is open to military and civillian shooters, so he might in fact have been the best shot in the world at that time.
 
It's been awhile since I read "Marine Sniper" so my recollection might be a little fuzzy, but wasn't Hathcock was shooting a M2 .50 BMG Machine Gun which was mounted on a tripod, and upon which he had mounted a scope, when taking that 2500 yard shot? Not that it's any less impressive, but not exactly your usual sniper rifle, or even the one he used most of the time.

Tex
 
Tex,
Yes, Hathcock used an M2 set in single (semi) fire mode. The part that strikes me as funny is that he hit the bike first that the guy was riding. You would've thought that he would've ran for cover.

When the Canadian sniper made his record shot, he actually blew something out of the Taliban soldiers hand. What the heck was he doing still standing there after the first shot?
 
if i were walking along a wall and i hear a .50 gunshot a mile away and see brick flying everywhere in front of me.... i might just die of a heart-attack :p
 
"...2500 yards..." 2500 yards is equal to 2,286.00 meters.
The CF sniper using a .50 BMG rifle and American ammo, made a 2430 meter shot. 2,430 metres = 2,657.48 yards. They made more than one 2400 plus meter shots, using 2 to 5 rounds to make the kill. Both he and his spotter were nearly killed by the USAF some time later. A dud 220 pound bomb landed 30 meters from where they were trying to become one with the dirt.
Both were recommended for the U.S. Bronze Star. Of course, our government is still dithering about letting them accept it. That's nothing new. When 2PPCLI(same Regmt as our snipers) was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation in Korea, it took 8 years for our twits to let the Regmt wear the badge.
"...he would've ran for cover..." The last words of the Mayor of Hiroshima come to mind? "What the f*** was that?"
 
The folks probably did think "what was that" because the bullet did what it did before the sound registered, quite a bit sooner. It is even possible (I don't know) that the second shot was down range before the noise of the first one completely registered with the victim. In other words, you're riding your bike and something hits it. But, riding a bike, things hit it from time to time, and you herd no noise, just a good whack. By the time you are deciding that perhaps somebody just shot at you, you discover someone just shot you.

Ash
 
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