Posted on 05/01/2010 5:02:52 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Hotshot sniper in one-and-a-half mile double kill Michael Smith
A BRITISH Army sniper has set a new sharpshooting distance record by killing two Taliban machinegunners in Afghanistan from more than 1 miles away.
Craig Harrison, a member of the Household Cavalry, killed the insurgents with consecutive shots — even though they were 3,000ft beyond the most effective range of his rifle.
“The first round hit a machinegunner in the stomach and killed him outright,” said Harrison, a Corporal of Horse. “He went straight down and didn’t move.
“The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as my second shot hit him in the side. He went down, too. They were both dead.”
The shooting — which took place while Harrison’s colleagues came under attack — was at such extreme range that the 8.59mm bullets took almost three seconds to reach their target after leaving the barrel of the rifle at almost three times the speed of sound.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
I assume you are referring to this comment by " Fu Man Chu ":
Have I woken up in 1898 or something? This kind of nasty news makes me ill. Killing is killing. Killing of men is not sport. Its not akin to cricket or a game of ruggah. You might get medals and brisk handshakes but most rational people see what you are - a murderer...
(and he goes on for a bit...)
They gave him some pretty good replies...
Well Fu Man Chu, all I'd say is that soldiers don't get the option of where their sent and what to do when they get there. They just go and do the best they can.
And with that in mind my two pennyworth's says that Craig Harrison is a genuine role model and I'd consider it a privilege to shake him by the hand and tell him so to his face.
Fu Man Chu. Some of your observations are correct but most are the rantings of a fool.
Man only has one purpose in life and that is to protect and promote his family, tribe and country, anything else is just icing on the cake.
Life is a matter of survival of the fittest and the devil take the hindmost.
The UK has strayed from this universal natural law and is now the country of the survival of the weakest.
Well Fu Man Chu - do we need any more proof that manhood is dying out with you to look to? What is your method of defending your countrymen - hide under a convenient bed? Thank God there are still a few good men like Craig Harrison left around to keep you safe while you hide. You completely overlooked the point that Harrison was firing at two enemy machinegunners firing at your countrymen. His precise shooting and consummate skill saved their lives and those of their subsequent victims. Evil exists and is present now as it always has been. If men (and lately women) aren't available to risk their lives to confront and defeat evil, evil wins as it always has. People like you never face fire, never risk anything for anyone yet never seem to run out of nastiness for those who do have courage. Rage away Fu Man Chu - you'll never be a tiny fraction of those men and women that face our enemies for all the rest of you.
Fu Man Chu: If everyone thought like you there would be no war, no crime and no violence. Unfortunately, there is no utopia - just reality. And for that we need men and women strong enough to defend the rest of us from evil, be they the police or our Armed Forces.
Ah poor,poor Fu. Some good points and of course all of us recognise the ultimate senselessness of war and combat while at the same time acknowledging that until the human race changes in some fundamental way we are stuck with it. I read something the other day and as i read your passage i immediately thought of you.
War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worse than war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he cares about more than his own personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
Fu Man Chu: I respect your views and share some of them. But to denounce a professional soldier for doing his job to the best of his ability is below disrespectful. The hearth and homeland is defended wherever you can meet and face your enemy; he who threatens you. And you destroy the enemy by whatever means at your disposal, before he destroys you or your family, friends and comrades. I assure you that the TB take great pleasure in killing Westerners be they military or civilian. Soldiers take a grim satisfaction and little more. Enter the arena friend; and feel the stress, heat and fear. And thank God for people like Craig Harrison. RIP Harry Patch.
@ Fu Man Chu, and all his Recommenders.
There are many arguments to bring 'the boys' home: righteous anger, more in sorrow than in anger, wouldn't it be a sensible thing to do, think of the waste of money, we'll never win, etc..
Yours is a new angle (the brotherhood of man argument) on what really amounts to 'leave my Muslim brothers in Afghanistan alone.'
But it doesn't work. Everyone sees through it. And your real name, by the way? It certainly isn't Fu Man Chu.
INBN
Gesundheit.
Danke schon.
So then, you qualify as a “minority”.
Speed of sound varies with altitude, at sea level it is 1056 fps. So 3 * 1056 = 3168. Article said 3 seconds to travel 1.5 miles so 7920 /3 = 2640. Since the bullet would slow down during flight I’d say mussel V is close to 3,000+ fps.
“Well, now we have to dope the wind. And that’s not easy. Either it was dead calm (which I doubt), or they were very, very good about doping the wind and dialing in a wind correction.”
The artical says:
“Conditions were perfect, no wind, mild weather, clear visibility. I rested the bipod of my weapon on a compound wall and aimed for the gunner firing the machinegun.”
Full details on the rifle (and everthing else they make) on the company’s website:
http://www.accuracyinternational.com/agents_distributors.php#industry_3
And we CAN own them in the UK as it’s a bolt action rifle, albeit a very sophisticated, powerful one. About $7500...start saving :-)
At first, we looked around to see what had happened. There was no sound of the rifle firing, only the smack as the bullet hit and splashes of sand at the point of impact.
As per our training, we began firing in the direction from which the bullets came. Then, someone saw a slight flash of movement on a far hillside. The range was far beyond the range of our M-16's, so we started firing with an M-60 machinegun. Nope, still out of range. So, in frustration and a little dose of competitiveness, we hauled out an M-2 .50 caliber machinegun. It took a while to get it set up, and in the meantime, the sniper was moving. We could see the slight flash of sun on his plastic rain poncho as he moved away, laterally across the face of the hill.
Bringing the .50 to bear, the gunner walked the rounds in on the figure as he scrambled to get out of the area.
Ultimately, we got him after multiple rounds from the .50.
When we went out to recover the body, we found he was armed with a World War II 7.92 mm German Mauser with no scope. The ladder sight on the rifle was set at 1900 meters (over 1.4 miles)
Although he didn't hit anyone that day, the distance from which he shot (and barely missed) was astounding. Good shooting for an old rifle with iron sights.
Much history has been made with a single man and his rifle.
THank you for sharing your story.
Was this up by Plakue?
I know the rifle. It’s a very nice piece of work - and while people think it is a spendy piece, compared to a fully custom rifle of the same capabilities, it is only a little high in price compared with the costs associated with putting a rifle like that together from custom components. If you hunted down all the components for a .338 Lapua before handing them over to a smith, you might be able to shave $500 to $800 off that price.
If you want a better deal on the same cartridge, look at the Sako TRG-42. There’s some things you could clean up on it - a better scope base, perhaps better muzzle brake, some stock work... but you could be into one of the TRG-42’s (with aftermarket work) for less than $3500.
Shooting these big cartridges isn’t cheap, no matter what aspect we’re talking about. A piece of glassware worthy of one of those rifles will run you $1800 to $2500. Heck, the last time I looked at .338 Lapua brass, it was nearly a dollar a round - that’s just for the unloaded, unprimed brass from Lapua.
Whoops - I misspoke. Just looked at Midway - Lapua .338 brass is running $2.50/round:
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=253474
Not far off. It was down by Qui Nhon. Actually a place called Phu Than. We were supposedly “in the rear” and safe...
There’s also altitude and temperature to factor in, since those affect air density.
“I could go on but I left the military, army and then marine commando’s after years of service and thought why did my mates die , why was I shot at , for this, for people sitting on their arse claiming welfare, for pakistani muslims to take over the country, to have no free speech”
As was said long ago about foreign born persons who joined the Spartans, “they were more spartan than the Spartans.”
Many of our legal immigrants, such as yourself, tend to be better Americans than many of those defaulted into citizenship by birth.
Yes - and the modern Kestrel meters will give you those readings as well to punch into the PDA.
Want to see some irony? One of the modern ballistics apps is on a iPod.
http://www.knightarmco.com/bulletflight/index.htm
Bump!
“Household Cavalry”
I love that the Brits still have the old great names for their regiments.
Glad others commented....
Thanks
if the ladder sight was set for 1900 meters, what was the acual distance of the shooter from you?
I don’t know but he was hitting within 50 feet or so. I suppose that’s what he figured the distance was. He was dead so we didn’t ask him any questions.
Still a .338 at 2700+ yards with two concecutive one shot kills - I could beleive one center mass shot but two? - sounds like a B.S. story to me!
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