Canadian elite special forces sniper makes record-breaking kill shot in Iraq - The Globe and Mail Our brothers in the Empire's glorious frozen colony have brought glory to Her Majesty The Queen!
Ya, I just saw that, too. More than two miles? Shot from the top of a building? Hits a person? That's ridiculous. It's like Luke Skywalker's Death Star kill -- an impossible shot. Must have used the Force.
This guy shot somebody further away than the Javelin Missile system I used in country could reach O__O I didn't see what type of rifle or optics he used in the article. All the long range shots listed are crazy distances. The M40A5 firing a 7.62 caliber round only has a max effective range of 1,000 meters because it's a 1MOA rifle, meaning at 1,000 meters holding a perfect bead on a target the bullet can still land within an area the size of a human's head (hence why that's the maximum effective range). To shoot beyond 1,000 meters for a shot placement in a vital area (head/vital organs) would require luck factored in beyond actual shooting skill. You could shoot perfectly and miss due to factors not in your control. The M40A5 is built to be pretty versatile. You can bang it around and treat it pretty bad without effecting the accuracy. I wonder if this guy was using the standard Canadian sniper rifle, which upon quick research has a max effective range of 1,200 meters. As awesome as this is I feel like a lot of these shots are a "hold my beer bro" instances that could never be repeated xD. That's a crazy freaking distance. I would love to see the video footage. I didn't even think the bullet would have enough velocity to penetrate at that distance (max penetration velocity is at 600 meters for the 7.62 round in the M40A5). Maybe it just penetrated and didn't exit, which would really suck to be shot by ::tear::.
The rifle used was a McMillan TAC 50, which goes some way to explain how the round retained enough velocity for a kill shot after 2 miles. For non-mil types, the "50" in the rifle's name refers to the .50 caliber cartridge - it's essentially an anti-materiel cannon designed to take down trucks and helicopters
For a bit more context - and because you can never have too much talk about guns - this image highlights the relative size difference in the types of cartridge used. From L-R: .50 cal (the type used by the sniper in the original article); .300 Winchester (British AWM); .308 Winchester (AR-10); 7.62mm (GPMG, AK-47); 5.56mm (SA-80, M4A1); .22 (water pistols).
For those like me that like maths and too much time on their hands, the round was in the air for around 4.13 seconds before hitting.
Its for shooting at stationary material like ammunition/fuel dumps, parked aircraft, communication arrays or for using it to stop soft skinned vehicles like trucks by shooting the engine.
Canadian Sniper Hit A Target More Than 2 Miles Away, Military Confirms NPR article with a little bit of detail. (original link isnt opening for me!)
I can understand telescopic view, but I can't get my head around the practicalities of this! I'm amazed and confused at how they could see someone, take in all environmental factors and still hit!