New kill shot record

[CS1983]

I don't know about luck. There's a lot of prep that goes into a shot like that from the team. I'd say the lucky part is simply the guy didn't move for almost 10 seconds. That's kind of amazing to me that the bullet and the live, moving target were in the same place 10 seconds after pulling the trigger.

With the inbreeding and perpetual retardation of the Middle East, he probably got distracted by something shiny on the ground.

[Jer]

I don't know about luck. There's a lot of prep that goes into a shot like that from the team. I'd say the lucky part is simply the guy didn't move for almost 10 seconds. That's kind of amazing to me that the bullet and the live, moving target were in the same place 10 seconds after pulling the trigger.

There's so much that goes into a shot of even half that distance that you have to agree that there's no small amount of luck at work. Any one of a number of things could have changed ever so slightly and that projectile would have been three feet off by the time it arrived at its Target. I like to think of the saying "luck is when preparation meets opportunity" applies in this case. When you think of it that way it's not taking any of the credit away from the shooter because it's still an incredible shot but it does point a light at the fact that it's still about a one-in-a-million shot even for the most amazing shooter ever.

[Ronin13]

I'm wondering what Canada is feeding their snipers. 3 of the top 5 shots are canucks.

I was wondering this as well. I saw a thing on the Canadian with the longest shot on record before this, he was talking about how much goes into a shot at that distance. Never mind that it was his 3 round that hit. Can you imagine if had been at that range cold bore with no reference POI? Even worse, can you imagine being on the receiving end? You see dirt spurt up near you seconds before you hear the crack. I guess like that old sniper adage goes: "If you hear the shot, it wasn't meant for you."

I have heard of US Army snipers taking 2200m shots at targets and first time hit on steel, but that was a very controlled, non-combat situation.

[CS1983]

DTA has some videos of them doing very long shots for ammo testing. Russ from DTA shoots ELR a lot and it's not easy. A lot of things have to line up perfectly.

[hatidua]

What is the theoretical limit?

[Ronin13]

What is the theoretical limit?

The upper limit of a .50 cal round is 2500m, that's the upper end maximum effective range on paper. I'd be surprised to see this record be broken because it's really pushing the maximum range the round can travel without some serious dope on the optic. 3500m is really pushing the shooter's capability to the absolute maximum, not to mention optics and what they're zeroed to. I imagine the zero for this sniper was somewhere out to 1000m, which not sure what kind of optic was used, but I can imagine the target being outside the view of the scope.

[RblDiver]

That's kind of amazing to me that the bullet and the live, moving target were in the same place 10 seconds after pulling the trigger.

Well, the goat had quite the "Come hither" look that day...

[Bailey Guns]

That probably explains a lot.

[hatidua]

At 3,800 yards, how much does writing "to whom it may concern" come into play on the projectile.

[Ronin13]

At 3,800 yards, how much does writing "to whom it may concern" come into play on the projectile.

The longest shot up until now, (2475?), the Canadian sniper had 3 Taliban targets, missed the first two shots, and used those two misses to gauge roughly where his hits were impacting before making the record kill-shot. At that range, cold-bore, like foxtrot said, you have to be damn good, damn lucky, and the factors have to really be in your favor.