Posted on 05/02/2010 9:40:06 AM PDT by Steelfish
British Sniper Shoots Dead Two Taliban Fighters... From More Than 1.5 Miles Away
2nd May 2010
Hero: Craig Harrison s[Pic in URL] aved his Army colleagues by killing two Taliban machinegunners from more than 1.5 miles away A British Army sniper has earned a place in military history by killing two Taliban machine gunners from more than a mile and a half away. Craig Harrison's record-breaking sharpshooting felled the insurgents with consecutive bullets - even though they were 3,200ft beyond the effective range of his rifle. The Household Cavalry veteran's kills from a distance of 8,120ft eclipsed the previous sniper record by 150ft.
His pinpoint accuracy saved the life of his troop commander who was trapped in a vehicle under fire from the enemy in Afghanistan. In an extraordinary tour of duty, Corporal of Horse Harrison cheated death twice - surviving being shot in the head by a Taliban bullet and escaping with two broken arms when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.
The elite marksman killed the two insurgents with his British-built L115A3 Long Range Rifle, the Army’s most powerful sniper weapon. The shooting was from such extreme range that the 8.59mm bullets took almost three seconds to hit their target, despite leaving the barrel at three times the speed of sound. The firearm, which has slayed scores of Taliban fighters, is so deadly that it has been dubbed 'The Silent Assassin'.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
That the story is totally accurate but the
photo and the name and other personal info
has been changed is probably way too much
to ask of the media, unfortunately.
A ton of work, will get you a pound of luck.
My father-in-law did a lot of hunting in Alaska, he has taken bear, big horn sheep and mountain goat with his 30-40 Krag. It’s his favorite.
7 pound trigger?
Good grief.
A good round in the right rifle. Musta been good to go or the US Army would not have picked for issue, eh?
I guess the men were just stronger in 1897.... it was a benchrest piece.
Would he have had to elevate the front of the weapon in order to accommodate the arc of the bullet?
“What would be the verticle drop of the bullet at that range? That’s what blows my mind...to accurately gauge that..”
That’s what I wanted to know. But seeing the diagrammatic picture, I think I see that maybe the scope takes care of that. The shooter dials in the estimated distance and the scope tilts to raise the front of the barrel.
/
Stamp “GOTCHA” on each bullet.
Took time for bullet to arrive- be looked at- and readioed back to shooter.
Today’s benchrest guns have triggers down to 2 ounces. You merely “think” about squeezing the trigger and the shot is gone.
How about ‘NEXT’ on each bullet?
If my calculations are correct, a .338 Lapua Magnum projectile still has more energy in it at 3300 meters than a typical .44 Magnum cartridge has at the muzzle.
Small correction. :)
Not even on their own posts. Disarmed there, don't you know. (except of course when actually training, and even then except when on a live range, they'd have blanks in the weapons.
Not really. If he was firing his machine gun, he likely didn't even notice the other guy getting hit. And even if note firing, there'd be nothing to hear except "thud".
Muzzle velocity of .45-70, with heavy (405 grn) bullet is 1330 fps, it's down to 1055 fps at 200 yards. Target is 2500 yards, or 7500 feet. Even averaging 1000 fps, that's 7.5 seconds, but it would be longer than that, since for most of the way it would be slower than 1000 fps. Also need to allow some time for reaction by the pit crew.
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