New Long Distance Shot Record: From 1.52 Miles Away

Craig Harrison, a British corporal of horse, broke the previous record for a long distance shot, not once, but twice at a distance of 8,120 feet or 1.52 miles.

"The first round hit a machine-gunner in the stomach and killed him outright," said Harrison.

"The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as my second shot hit him in the side. He went down, too," Harrison told the Sunday Times of London.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by sshuggi.


That is phenominal. That shot should not have been heard, or seen from that distance. I'm surprised he could see his targets. Must have been dots. I'd like to talk to him about that. Also, at that distance, how do you confirm a kill safely unless he saw the guys fall, which brings back the question "How clear were his targets to him?"
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Woo! Give it up for celebrating records for how radical someone is at taking human life!!! Well done. You killed a guy from really far while looking through a hi-tech scope.
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Initially read the article with a passing glance and then, wondering how small a target he was aiming at took a closer look. Was horrified to read that he killed two people. what a terrible way to set a record. (For the record I understand the "cost" of war. my comment is on the way the headline belays a darker message.)
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@detractors

it's less about the act of killing than it is about tossing some lead a mile and a half and hitting a man-sized target. ONE DEGREE of deviation at that distance is 92 feet. that means *just laterally* that he had a tolerance of ~1/184 of a degree (6 inches) that's a pie sliced into 66,240 pieces.

that's not even to mention windage, elevation, humidity, temperature, and trajectory arc. at this distance, the Coriolis effect comes fully into play, meaning that as the bullet flies, it's following a spiral path around a common center, and the spiral itself can be feet wide. that means you have to be able to predict at what phase in the rotation the bullet will be when it reaches its target.

to do it twice is in-fucking-credible.
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@detractors

oh and just to throw a little shadenfreude your way:

"In the weeks after his record shot, he suffered a minor gunshot wound and broke his arms when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb."
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Nutbastard said it best. Killing a man isn't the neat part but the science and skill that he had to pull it off. Besides, doing what he does helps provide the freedom and safety to be ignorant to what needs to be done to provide that for you.
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This (probably apocryphal) quote by George Orwell came to mind:

“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”
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Grandpa' always told me a story about a gunfight on the Rio Grande. He was a Border Patrolman then. MacAllen, Tx I believe.
He was on the US. side when he received rifle fire from the other side. A man on a bluff above him was intent on not letting him do his duty.
He, being a National Pistol Champion, returned fire. When his Commanding Officer arrived they found him with a pocket full of empty brass and a dead person on the riverside.
This story always taught me to never give up, even when things look hopeless.
(A scoped 50 cal. ain't your daddys' shotgun.)
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Even in the military snipers are held in low esteem...not a fair fight killing someone in cold blood from a far distance. Apparently Neatorama thinks its "neato"

Jill
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To: Timothy P. Are you for real? Don't believe everything "grandpa" told you about fighting the Mexicans on the Rio Grand. Nat. pistol champ my ass.

Jill
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That's hardly true, jill. Snipers are considered to be very skilled and held in very high esteem in the military. For instance, I'd bet that if you asked the men that were under fire from the two Taliban CoH Harrison hit, they'd probably say snipers are pretty great.
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@The people who are impressed.

Of course it was impressive, and I get that you're wowed not by his ability to kill people, but his to actually hit them from that far. Still... I don't get it. See, I can't actually take the people out of the equation, and insurgent or not, I don't think loss of human life should be celebrated ...at least not so cavalierly.
For me the reaction of both the public and the media just goes to show that society is starting to fall into the same levels of perversion (psychological term, not the Christian meaning of the word) as the Roman empire before it fell.
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Jill refers to the paradox that while snipers in their own army are respected as the best and the most highly skilled of all the warriors (a bit like ...Jedi's), in most wars, caught snipers get no quarter and have been and will be shot on sight without any trial by the opponents. If only because returning a sniper to his own side after having been detained as a prisoner of war can mean that this highly skilled individual will do further damage in ways that normal soldiers are not capable of doing.

War is terrible. Killing is terrible and it is beyond heartcryingly tragic that soldiers, snipers or any other specialists in murdering people are an unavoidable necessity. A good sniper is a tool that can be used in ways no other soldier or special weapon can be used.
This one is an expert that desevers all the respect on his craftsmanship.
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@S.David Z.H.

That's because you've fallen for the fallacy that life has some intrinsically high value, it doesn't, and there's 6 billion plus examples to prove it, and if you wait a few hours, there'll be another 100,000 or more to hammer home the point. Life is cheap, common, and spreads like a bad toe fungus.

Sure your life is important to you (and a small circle of family and friends) but to the 99.999999999999999% of the other 6 billion plus people - meh, they really don't care (and why should they?).

Just because we've made up a handful of religious myths to live by these last few thousand years doesn't mean we're suddenly civilized and can overcome millions of years of kill or be killed evolution.
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Killing another human being is not to be celebrated. However, could violent criminals and terrorists be classified as human? All the pacifists who are outraged by this article...carefully think how you will react next time a criminal kicks down your door and ties you up to watch him and his 6 friends rape your 6 year old daughter 11 times. Not nice, I know, but living in South Africa tends to make one celebrate the death of another degenerate criminal. Jolly good show, old chap!
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Those people that he killed would have no qualms about killing you, and for that reason alone, it's justified. Killing is not a nice thing, and it's a shame it has to happen, but in the end, pacifism brings about more innocent deaths than not. Welcome to the real world.

And this record is impressive no matter what the targets.
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"JGlanton
May 5th, 2010 at 10:04 pm

Time for the USA to take back the record from the Brits and the Canadians before them. Good shooting boys!"

Amen! They can practice on all these bed wetting left wingers that live in a fantasy world and have NO clue what warfare is all about. Or more importantly why it is sometimes necessary.
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@whitcwa

"Nutbastard,142ft/degree,I think"

mmmm i did it graphically in a cad program, 5280*1.52 line, duped the line, rotated 1 degree... lemme try again. whoops, coming up 141'8.822"

i used 1.52*5280 for the first one, shoulda used the 8120 feet in the first place, good catch.

this, of course, only makes the feat that much more impressive.
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To JK:

Are you for real?

If you were an Afghanistan civilian who had seen his wife and daughters blown to bits by an American Hellfire missile (fired from an R/C drone that was controlled by someone in Miami), MAYBE, you would consider the US to be the degenerate criminal. Think about it...jolly good to you too, old chap.

Grow a brain.

Jill
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Do I have issues ? Yes I do...My main issue is that most people think that THEIR viewpoint is the correct one, and that someone else is the "bad guy"...well, it all depends on your point of view, doesn't it.

Of course there are degrees of evil, but as Jesus is quoted as saying "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone". Look it up if you want to, John 8:7.

Jill
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Jill. That quote from the Bible was about sexual immorality. Not necessarily taking a life.

In fact, Jesus also says in the Bible "All who draw the sword will die by the sword." Matthew 22:21.
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To Jill,

I guess the point you are trying to make is regarding the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We all understand that the whole 911 incident was staged by the US government to blame Bin Laden, to invade Afghanistan. Why? Well, they needed a legitimate excuse to move the US war machine to the Gulf for the invasion of Iraq. Once in Afghanistan, the Iraq invasion was a mere formality. Why did they need Iraq? Oil...6.5 million barrels a day! Yes, I agree that George W Bush and Tony Blair are the real degenerate criminals here. The problem is that on the battlefield, neither George or Tony (cowards that they are) are in the line of fire. Soldiers are merely doing a job. The sniper merely did his job.

If you are using any form of modern transport that requires fossil fuels for combustion, then you pulled that trigger as well. The blood of innocent people are on your hands as well.

You OBVIOUSLY consider anyone that has a different opinion to YOU as being brainless (hence the comment grow a brain). Your comment from the Bible (out of context of course) indicates that you are a condescending Christian with no well formed opinions of your own, except what your pastor rams down your throat every Sunday. So, ignorant as you are, you sit on a Holy fence, judging everybody that does not share your opinions.

I guess then that you are without sin, as you cast the first stone around here. Please read 1 John 1 vs 8, do verse 9 and then come back with a snappy reply.

Eagerly awaiting more pearls of wisdom from you.
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I'm with Vonskippy. I can't even imagine calculating a shot from 1.52 miles, as far as killing people, I don't understand how someone can have such deep feelings for 6 billion strangers, how do you even function without being crazy?
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This L115A3 that Graig Harrison used is probably one of, if not the finest sniper rifle there is available. With it being a 8.59mm calibre rifle, its more than a match for a .50 calibre.

C'mon Brits, show the rest how to shoot.
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The shot wasn't incredible it was UNcredible.
At that range he didn't have enough scope. His hold would of been in the clouds. He was out of elevation and hash marks since the Schmidt only has approx 27 milrads and he would of needed to be aiming 46ish above target not to mention the crossair is thicker then the taget and with a 25x scope there is no way he could tell being the one shooting even if he had a 60x. Killed out right with a round to the stomach? I've seen dudes missing most of their pieces live.
The shot was confirmed by some other dude with a gps much later? Did he even measure the same two spots?
The only reason the other sniper was able to claim the longest shot was because his "spotter" was able to spot the fall of shot due to the use of a raufoss round (700g which detonates vs 250g which doesn't)on the 3rd attempt and actually stood beside the body.
Harrison your a fraud and real shooters (icluding some brits I have the pleasure of talking to)know it. 3 for 3 my eye your story is so full of holes....
And for those who cry about body's go ahead and sympathize let me know how that works out for you when they cutting off your head and murdering your children.
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I'm with the last bloke. This record seems so easy to break. I think I will claim it with my very own BS story. Let's see... Like the time I shot that taliban running right in the eye at 2999feet with my .303 Lee En...that was a good shot especially since I did it blindfolded... Come on Harrisson come clean, we know your mate is trying to do you a solid, not your fault I mean you didn't even know until months later.
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@Harrison is a phoney:

Am I not right in thinking that sights can be adjusted for distance, so rather than pointing his sight into the sky, this bloke could have estimated the distance his target is from him and adjusted his scope accordingly? Having got it right for the first kill, of course he wouldn't have to re-adjust for the second.
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