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Andy_Copland

New Sharpshooting Distance Record

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This sharpshooter actually had to calculate in the curvature of the earth to make this shot. Over 1.5 miles from origin to target.



It doesn't say that in the article. That's just standard bullet drop calculation.

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The victim didn't even hear the shot, because it was so far away.



This is likely true. The sound would have reached the victims about 5 seconds after the bullet hit them, if it could be heard at all at that distance over their own screaming. But they probably thought the incoming fire was from the convoy that they were attacking.

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Whats really remarkable is the fact he done it twice in a row.



Once the first shot was on-target, proving that he had a good "zero", then the 2nd shot isn't such a big deal. The story does say conditions were ideal, with no shifting or gusting wind to contend with. It's getting that very first shot in the right place at that distance that is remarkable.

Good shooting!

Note: "8.6 mm" rifle would be the .338 Lapua cartridge in American lingo.

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Once the first shot was on-target, proving that he had a good "zero", then the 2nd shot isn't such a big deal. The story does say conditions were ideal, with no shifting or gusting wind to contend with. It's getting that very first shot in the right place at that distance that is remarkable.



John,

the significance to me of the second shot is that the first one wasn't mere luck.

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Amazing talent to hit something beyond the effective range of the weapon! And with a .338 that far out. I would've expected new records to come from more recent technology like Cheytac .408 M200 B|.

"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

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George W Bush getting elected the second time around, now THAT was a long shot, but damn it if he didn't make it too.
When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7113916.ece

Whats really remarkable is the fact he done it twice in a row.



Strategy Page:

Smaller Bullet Gets The Longer Shot
May 4, 2010: It was recently revealed that, last November, a British sniper (corporal Craig Harrison) set a new distance record when he killed two Taliban in Afghanistan, at a range of 2,620 meters (8,596 feet). He did this with a L115A3 rifle firing the 8.6mm Lapua Magnum round. The previous record was held by a Canadian soldier, corporal Rob Furlong, who dropped an al Qaeda gunman at 2,573 meters (7,972 feet) in 2002, also in Afghanistan. Furlong, however, was using a 12.7mm (.50 caliber) rifle. These weapons are good at 2,000 meters or more, but weigh twice as much as the 6.8 kg (15 pound) 8.6mm rifles.

Three years ago, the British Army began replacing most of its 3,000 7.62mm L96A1 sniper rifles with one modified to use the .338 (8.6mm) Lapua Magnum caliber round. This Accuracy International "Super Magnum" rifle is basically a L96A1 "Arctic Warfare" rifle modified to handle the larger, 8.6mm Lapua Magnum round. The new rifle (the L115A1) weighed 6.8 kg (without a scope), was fifty inches long and had a 27 inch barrel and a five round magazine.

Snipers in Iraq, and especially Afghanistan, have been calling for a longer range round, but find the 12.7mm (.50 caliber) weapons too heavy. The .338 (8.6mm) Lapua Magnum round has an effective range (about 1,500 meters) about 50 percent greater than the 7.62mm standard NATO round. Like most long range rounds, if the weather (clear) and winds (calm) are right, you can hit targets farther away. Those were the conditions Harrison encountered when he took his three shots (the third one hit the machine-gun the two Taliban were using.)

The 8.6mm round entered use in the early 1990s, and became increasingly popular with police and military snipers. Dutch snipers have also used this round in Afghanistan with much success, and have a decade of experience with these larger caliber rifles. Recognizing the popularity of the 8.6mm round, Barrett, the pioneer in 12.7mm sniper rifles, came out with a 7 kg (15.5 pound) version of its rifle, chambered for the 8.6mm.

Corporal Harrison, a member of the Household Cavalry Regiment, recently returned from Afghanistan. While there, he was lightly wounded by gunfire, and later suffered a broken arm when his vehicle encountered a roadside bomb. It took a while for someone to go double check the distance of his shot, using GPS. He only learned that he broke a record after he returned to Britain last month.
"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

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Ever hear of Billy Dixon? He made a long shot. Adobe Walls, the second battle-1874?



Yep. In fact, I tried to hike to the site once while in north Texas, but it's on private land now.
That was a ballistic trajectory. ;-)
And it convinced the Indians that they were no match for the white man's guns.

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