1. MILITARY
World's longest sniper kill - 2.47km twice!
By Mike Hanlon May 5, 2010
World's longest sniper kill - 2.47km twice!
The sniper is without doubt the most feared combatant in any theater of war, the best of whom have an array of skills far beyond
simply being able to hit human targets at a distance. Snipers are the most cost effective way of killing the enemy. Individual
snipers routinely account for more kills than entire battalions operating in the same place at the same time, hit the target almost
every time, and each bullet costs around €2. What’s more, snipers inflict a psychological terror on an enemy force that restricts
its ability to operate effectively – when elite snipers are operating, they are invisible close up, and can strike from enormous
distance, so nowhere is safe. Indeed, an elite sniper's skills cannot be assessed with a single measurement, so the “longest
confirmed kill” record stands as the pseudo world championship for military combat riflemen, and as of now there's a new outright
champion - using an Accuracy International L115A3, British Corporal Craig Harrison killed two Taliban with consecutive shots at
a distance of 2.47 kilometres (8,120 ft.) in Helmand Province, Afghanistan last November (2009). He then fired a third shot and
hit the Taliban's PKM machinegun in perhaps the most prodigious feat of marksmanship in military history.
If you're wondering why it took so long for Harrison's kill to be made public, (it was made last November and only became
commonly known in the last few days), understand that the publicity such a feat brings may not necessarily be wanted, or
healthy, particularly if you are still "in theater". Harrison, who also survived a bullet passing through his helmet, and two broken
arms from an IED explosion, has now finished his tour of duty and the story can be told.
The previous longest kill by Canadian Army Corporal Rob Furlong had been spoken of by soldiers in hushed tones for five years
before it fell upon the ears of a reporter and become public knowledge and his name revealed.
Harrison's feat is clearly the stuff of legend.
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2. The previous record holder - Furlong - killed an al-Qaeda fighter from 2.43 km during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan in
2002. Furlong's shot was also legendary – he made military history. There would not be any military personnel in the world who
would not be aware of Furlong's feat, and subsequently Harrison's, and who would not measure that distance off towards the
horizon every day when they are in a combat zone. Harrison bested it TWICE – with consecutive shots – then fired at and hit the
much smaller target of the gun the Taliban had been carrying. This is completely without parallel in military history.
The rifle used by Furlong for his previous record was the “Big Mac”, the McMillan Bros Tac-50 used by Canadian Special Forces
and the best .50 sniper rifle in the world.
Like Juan Manuel Fangio's car, Valentino Rossi's motorcycle or Sir Donald Bradman's bat, a varying proportion of the glory
should also go to the champion's tool of choice – for snipers, the tool of choice is critical, with Harrison using an Accuracy
International L115A3 Long-Range rifle – a rifle originally developed by an Olympic gold medalist target shooter which we wrote
up two years ago in an article entitled – the best sniper rifle in the world.
Craig Harrison's AI L115A3 cost the British Ministry of Defence GBP23,000 (US$34,000), weighs 6.8 kilograms, and fires an
8.59mm bullet which is heavier than the 7.62mm round of the previous L96 model and hence less likely to be deflected over
extremely long ranges. The L115A3 has a five-round magazine, enabling the sniper to fire five rounds rapidly, though that would
almost never happen.
The L115A3 has an adjustable cheek piece to comfortably align the shooter's eye with scope, and a folding stock so the rifle can
be more easily carried in a backpack.
It comes with an adjustable bi-pod stand and a suppressor to reduce the flash and noise of the gun – once the enemy knows
where a sniper is, he too becomes a target – and a scope, in this case a 25 X magnification S&B 5-25x56 day scope.
In extremely skilled hands, the L115A3 can hit a human-sized target from 1400 meters (even at that range, it hits harder than a
.44 Magnum does in the same room), which means Harrison's shots put him in almost superhuman company, as he almost
doubled that distance, in combat, and killed a first then second Taliban with consecutive shots, then took a third shot at the PKM
machinegun they unfortunate pair had been carrying with the intention of disabling it – the gun was hit but damage could not be
assessed.
Firing one bullet with that accuracy over more than a mile and half, has never been recorded previously – Harrison did it three
times running. Though the bullet leaves the barrel at three times the speed of sound, it still takes more than two and a half
seconds to travel that distance. Though the day was clear and still and in thin mountain air, Harrison still had to aim six feet
higher than the targets, and two feet to the left to allow for the gentlest of breezes and bullet fall.
If the world of the military sniper is intriguing to you, I can suggest an excellent new book on the subject written by Hans
Halberstadt entitled “Trigger Men” I just spent seven and a half hours listening to the audio book though, go figure, exactly the
same book is much cheaper in printed form, despite the cost of paper and printing and binding and schlepping and postage.
The book more than adequately kept my brain busy during an international flight and covers the exploits of the modern sniper
with hours of anecdotes from Iraq and other recent wars. Halberstadt spoke with some of the most revered names in sniping
history to put the book together – names such as Carlos Hathcock II, who recorded 93 kills, including one of 2.29 kilometers
during the Vietnam War, and Sgt. James Gilliland, who also pulled off one of the most remarkable kill shots ever recorded in a
strong breeze. The role of the sniper has changed, and this book explains why.
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