Sniper tells of long-shot success(1/2 mile shot in the chest)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk ^ | 4-06-03 | OXENinFLA

[OXENinFLA]

Sniper tells of long-shot success From Nick Parker with the Royal Marines in southern Iraq

A BRITISH sniper told yesterday how he killed an Iraqi gunman from more than half a mile. Corporal Matt Hughes, 28, a Royal Marines marksman, was ordered to “take out” an Iraqi holding back a vital advance during a fierce gale. He pulled off an incredible feat of marksmanship by gauging perfectly the wind speed to bend the bullet to its target. The 7.62 calibre round from his L96 sniper rifle curved 56ft in the air before striking its target in the chest, killing him instantly.

Next to him, another Royal Marines sniper killed a second Iraqi at exactly the same moment.

Corporal Hughes, of the Marines’ spearhead brigade patrol troop, said yesterday: “It was a bit like David Beckham taking a free kick. I knew I only had one shot and had to get the angle exactly right. It was hot and the wind was blowing strongly from left to right as we crept up to a vantage point about 860 metres from the target.

“I saw I had a clear shot at my man — he was in what he thought was a secure position, but his head and chest were exposed. He was still wearing his green Iraqi uniform and was holding the rifle he’d been using to shoot at Marines.

“My training then took over and I got myself quickly, but calmly, into the perfect sniping position. We follow a set pattern, placing parts of our bodies in the optimum position, starting with the left hand followed by the elbow, legs, right hand and cheek.”

His sniping partner fixed a separate sight on the target, then the pair calculated the bullet’s trajectory by studying the movement of heat haze and dust across the arid desert landscape.

“I was concentrating so hard that I didn’t have time to think about him as a person or the fact that I was about to kill him. He was just a distant shape magnified ten times in a telescopic lens. He was a target — the enemy.”

[OXENinFLA]

NICE SHOOTING BOYS!!!!

[mel]

that is incredible

[Republic of Texas]

From what I understand, the Royal Marine snipers are causing the Baathists a bit of "consternation" in Basra. Death from "out of nowhere" will do that to you.

[AF68]

Extreme Kentucky windage. I'm impressed.

[templar]

One shot at 1/2 mile in a strong crosswind with a .30 caliber rifle and ten power scope. Damn, that guy is good!

[Mulder]

The 7.62 calibre round from his L96 sniper rifle curved 56ft in the air before striking its target in the chest, killing him instantly

56 feet at 900 yards? The must mean "inches".

[husky ed]

Our troops are the true "Elite"!

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Sat Apr 5, 8:36 AM ET

A British sniper looks through his rifle in Al Zubayr, southern Iraq (news - web sites), April 5, 2003. Real signs of pressure are building up within Iraq's government but the war is not over yet despite U.S. tanks rolling into Baghdad, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) said on Saturday. REUTERS/POOL/Brian Roberts

[spodefly]

This is a great tale, and I am glad he got the hit, but I suspect the reporter missed some of the specifics on the ballistics. The wind would have to be blowing a few hundred miles per hour to laterally displace a 7.62 round by 56' in 800 meters. Perhaps he did mean inches, even centimeters.

[Straight Vermonter]

Ping

[Polybius]

FYI

[New Horizon]

Not exactly "our troops" this time, but definitely our allies!!!!

[Republic of Texas]

Either way that was a damn good shot and I'll bet this is NOT the guy to challenge to a friendly wager on a game of snookers.

[DudleyDoright]

I wonder what the ballistic up/down is on a shot @ 860m with a 7.62mm sniper rifle? I remember the ballistics of the M-16 were such that the round passed thru the "point of aim" at 25m (on the way up) and 250m (on the way down). To get a 7.62 round out to 800+ meters, I imagine there has to be some vertical deflection, too. But certainly not 56ft!

:)

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

I saw that, too. I made a quick stab at trying to calculate what the wind speed would have to be to cause a 56 foot lateral deflection, but gave it up as a bad job.

Another case of a reporter telling us about a subject he doesn't really understand, I'm afraid.

[KC_Conspirator]

It was a bit like David Beckham taking a free kick.

Yeah, a new meaning of "Bend it Like Beckham".

[RipSawyer]

"One shot at 1/2 mile in a strong crosswind with a .30 caliber rifle and ten power scope. Damn, that guy is good!"


This is the kind of shooting that requires real training. I almost threw up listening to the so-called experts saying that the "sniper" killing all the people in the Washington area "obviously had to have military training". Now it seems that most of the shooting was done by the kid, in any event the kind of shots they made would have been cakewalks to anyone who ever hunted squirrels with a twenty two.

[spokeshave]

Issue that man a Barett 0.5 BMG kit

[joesnuffy]

308 Ballistics

[scouting around]

google search for some ballistics softare, At 850 yards a 30mph crosswind will move~make a 175 grain .308 drift sideways almost 60 feet. At 850 yards a 175 grain at 2500fps drops 24.6 feet also. Just a bit of info i thought would be worth adding.