The 1 & 1/4 mile shot; what weapon would he be using?

[John Kepler]

You seem to forget that the guy he shot was DIRECTING other taliban who WERE a danger to the troops. I thought you were the guru of long range shooting. Or is it because the shooter was British?

Heaven's no John....the Brits are damn good at it, that chap in particular.

I "forgot" nothing John. The "art" of being a sniper isn't about being an elite-level marksman.....ordinary marksmanship skills will generally do. No sir, the real "art" of the sniper involves being a ghost. If he's doing his job right, he's NOT being shot at because no one knows he's there until the target is getting acquainted with his 72 Virgins! Snipers rarely waste their time on "low-value" targets. Of course the target prosecuted was a larger threat/higher value individual...cutting the head off a snake is always the best/easiest way to go, and why the sniper exists in the first place....a stiletto in the eye rather than a cutlass-slash to the torso of the enemy!

Occasionally, you get a unique individual that is not only a master at being a ghost, but also an elite-level marksman.....these men, like Carlos Hathcock, become legends.

[dryheat]

Hee's another story about Brit snipers, although parts are a little critical of some American actions, they like our ammo. This was done with a "Big Mac" .50 They are real fond of the Accuracy International rifles in .338 Lapua, having some 500 in their inventory. British snipers are about the best there are and their military takes it serioously. Consider the AI rifles run from 30 to 40 thousand a piece.

Killing shot made at distance of 2,430 metres

[Jim K]

Hmmm. I would say that a shot like that is difficult, lucky (or unlucky!), though not impossible. But I would say that it definitely requires an "elite-level marksman".

Jim

[John Sukey (Deceased)]

And those SAME snipers were reprimanded by their government when they told a Canadian chaplain to basicaly "pi*s off" when he complained about their treatment of a dead terrorist.

[John Kepler]

Hmmm. I would say that a shot like that is difficult, lucky (or unlucky!), though not impossible. But I would say that it definitely requires an "elite-level marksman".

Jim

I could teach you the rudiments of how to do it and have you "on-target" in about an hour. I can do it....you can learn...and I'm far from an "elite-level" shooter! What the truly "elite-level" shooters can do is quite a bit different....I know several of them. Oh....and "luck" has NOTHING to do with it!

"The harder I work, the 'luckier' I get!" L. Trevino

[gunner]

He made a fine shot ! And he must had a damn good Scout to.
Good job, and i know something about this. Sometimes they use also the AI AW .50 .

Regards

Gunner

[jon_norstog]

My thought:

he had to be using a 450/577 Martini

jn

[Mark in Ottawa]

Actually that story is not quite correct. The longest confirmed sniper kill was made by Cp; Rob Furlong of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at 2,430 m (1.51 miles) in 2005 in Afganistan. See wikipedia at Rob Furlong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[John Kepler]

And he was shooting a McMillan TAC-50....not QUITE the same thing. And if you want to be REALLY picky....the actual longest "sniper shot" ever was made was probably by Tom Lanphier and Rex Barber on Adm Isoroku Yamamoto in WWII.....THAT was an 1100 mile "sniper shot"!

[gunner]

Can you tell me how many grains of wich powder they used ?

Hi jn : With a 430grs bullet and 400 - 410 m/s and an outgoing angle of 40° -50° and if you send him a email : "be so kindly an dont move !" then it is possible that you hit him after 5 seconds or so. :-)

Gunner