Canadian sniper breaks world record for longest confirmed kill shot

[MechAg94]

http://www.newsweek.com/world-record-sniper-kill-isis-iraq-canada-628156


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/canadian-sniper-iraq-world-record-longest-kill-shot-rifle-military-a7802151.html

The bullet traveled 3,450 meters—over two miles—and took less than 10 seconds to reach its target: a fighter for the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in Iraq.

The sniper used a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle—the standard long-range sniper of the Canadian military—and fired the shot from a high-rise building in an undisclosed location.

3,450 meters is quite a ways off.  They said it disrupted an attack on friendlies so I wonder if they would have taken the shot in other circumstances. 

I looked on one ballistics site and it showed the bullet velocity was still over 900 feet per second at that distance. 

[K Frame]

Ah. Browning .50 BMG round.

When you care to kill with the very best...


And at that range that's STILL over 1,300 foot pounds of energy, assuming a standard 750-gr. bullet.

[Fly320s]

A hair over 2 miles.

I want to know what kind of scope he was using to identify the target at 2 miles.

[MechAg94]

A hair over 2 miles.

I want to know what kind of scope he was using to identify the target at 2 miles.

It is probably the same one they use in all the movies and TV shows.  Those things are small and compact and can zoom right in on someone's head at very long range.  They also have some sort of stabilization as the scope doesn't shake or move at all.   

[Ben]

Man, the US needs to step up. The image is from The Sun and bullet path is obviously exaggerated, but the list should be accurate.

[MechAg94]

I would be curious if we even authorize our snipers to shoot at targets at that range.  I assumed the only reason this shot was made was because they saw an imminent attack.

[Ben]

I would be curious if we even authorize our snipers to shoot at targets at that range.  I assumed the only reason this shot was made was because they saw an imminent attack.

Good point.  I wonder what the longest non-combat (e.g., training, etc.) shot is for US snipers?

[Perd Hapley]

Man, the US needs to step up. The image is from The Sun and bullet path is obviously exaggerated, but the list should be accurate.

'Murican snipers ain't skeert to get close, and get a good look a the enemy's face. Murica!!

[HankB]

I would be curious if we even authorize our snipers to shoot at targets at that range. 

Good point - it wouldn't surprise me if there are all sorts of asinine restrictions imposed on our troops.

Bureaucracy rules these days. IIRC, in his book American Sniper, Chris Kyle wrote that he had to fill out paperwork for EVERY shot he took - in combat! 

[Brad Johnson]

Man, the US needs to step up. The image is from The Sun and bullet path is obviously exaggerated, but the list should be accurate.

To the contrary, I don't think it's exaggerated enough.

3450 meters is 3773 yards. Rounding to 3775 and using the Barrett M33 specs from their web page, ShootersCalculator.com gives a bullet drop of 16558 inches at 3775 yards (3450 meteres = 3773 yards). For the math-challenged that's 1340 feet.

A quarter-frikkin-mile of elevation correction!!??!!??  Daaaay ummmm!

(That, or I fat-fingered the entry. Could someone more experienced in ballistics calculators please verify.)

Brad

[Angel Eyes]

Man, the US needs to step up.

... but the Canuck used an American rifle (McMillan TAC-50) firing the all-American .50BMG.  So . . . half credit?

[griz]

... but the Canuck used an American rifle (McMillan TAC-50) firing the all-American .50BMG.  So . . . half credit?

Cultural appropriation.  We get full credit.

[griz]

A hair over 2 miles.

I want to know what kind of scope he was using to identify the target at 2 miles.

I wondered about the specifics too.  I'm sure the spotter talked him on to the specific target, but with 12 X scope the bad guy wouldn't really be that easy to pick out at 2 miles.  Maybe they make more recoil tolerant target scopes now, they didn't used to.

[zxcvbob]

How long did Billy Dixon's record hold, about 100 years?   

[Andiron]

Good point.  I wonder what the longest non-combat (e.g., training, etc.) shot is for US snipers?

Texted a friend that was a scout sniper,  his personal longest in the states was 2600 yards, at camp Pendleton.

corrected misspell

[RoadKingLarry]

Ah. Browning .50 BMG round.

When you care to kill with the very best...


And at that range that's STILL over 1,300 foot pounds of energy, assuming a standard 750-gr. bullet.

When you absolutely, positively have to kill that mother *expletive deleted*er wa-a-a-a-yy over there, right *expletive deleted*ing now.

[Hawkmoon]

To the contrary, I don't think it's exaggerated enough.

3450 meters is 3773 yards. Rounding to 3775 and using the Barrett M33 specs from their web page, ShootersCalculator.com gives a bullet drop of 16558 inches at 3775 yards (3450 meteres = 3773 yards). For the math-challenged that's 1340 feet.

A quarter-frikkin-mile of elevation correction!!??!!??  Daaaay ummmm!

(That, or I fat-fingered the entry. Could someone more experienced in ballistics calculators please verify.)

Brad

Ignoring ballistics calculators and just using high school math, I come up with a bullet drop of 590 feet (not factoring in the earth's curvature over two miles).

[Fly320s]

Ignoring ballistics calculators and just using high school math, I come up with a bullet drop of 590 feet (not factoring in the earth's curvature over two miles).

Did you just use the flight time times the gravity acceleration?

[Hawkmoon]

Did you just use the flight time times the gravity acceleration?

Yep.

I averaged muzzle velocity with the 900 fps terminal velocity cited, and came up with a flight time of 6.xxxx seconds.

The article said the sniper was on a building. It didn't say how high, and it likely wasn't 600 feet, but any height above ground level had to help him.

[just Warren]

Unfortunately for the sniper, when the carny handed him the giant stuffed teddy bear for making the shot it burned his location and he ended up having boogie out of there.

[230RN]

The proverbial "Half-inch howitzer." :D

I don't want to claim originality on that phraseology:

There was a letter in the American Rifleman a month or so ago (I can dig up issue and page if someone begs me) about a team of quad fifties who used to pepper a North Korean road crossing from, oh, say, two miles away.   They called their unit "Home Of The Half Inch Howitzer."

I hope the Canadians are smarter than we are and keep the sniper's name secret instead of making a big hoo-ha over him personally.  There may be certain very barbaric rules of vengeance in play otherwise.

Terry, 230RN

[dogmush]

Yep.

I averaged muzzle velocity with the 900 fps terminal velocity cited, and came up with a flight time of 6.xxxx seconds.

The article said the sniper was on a building. It didn't say how high, and it likely wasn't 600 feet, but any height above ground level had to help him.

I suspect, but don't know, that you'd find that the deceleration is not linear as there is both a trans sonic barrier in that flight and drag is a function of (among other things) the square of velocity.

[K Frame]

Ah... the M45/M55...

Here's some fun Utoob footage of one in action at Khe Sanh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aczpm9r-K18

[K Frame]

"There may be certain very barbaric rules of vengeance in play otherwise."

So... just another regular day in the sandbox?

[T.O.M.]

Watched this video last night. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b658zDEXZUk

Group of guys shooting 4210 yards.  Looks like it was an all-day affair with multiple spotters, computers, and a lot of shots to produce a hit.  Why point it out?  Sniper in the OP pulled it off without all of the support, with far fewer shots.  Just posting to show how impressive the shot was.

Now, if he could have snuck in another 2500 meters or so, he could have used a handgun...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3XwizTqDw