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A few humble clarifications for the various firearms discussions on this thread:

A 100 yard shot with a rifle (head shots included) should *not* be a problem for any practiced individual with almost any decent rifle, including AK47 variants. Talk of "advanced marksmenship training" is just silly. Police SWAT snipers do train extensively at that range, but the price for a miss (potentially, a dead innocent person) is much higher than for psycho-boy. In this case, the news reports 5 hits and at least 1 miss through the glass (which, granted, IS harder). But how many other individuals could have been shot at and don't even know it? With almost a 20% miss ratio at an unknown distance, I hardly think that psycho-boy is some kind of shooting phenom.

I promise you that AK47s shoot the 7.62x39 cartridge. This is a metric measurement which indicates that the projectile is 7.62mm in diameter and the shell casing is 39mm long. (7.62 is roughly 30 caliber for us Americans) This round has about the same power as a 30-30 round. Please note that many a deer has been killed at 100+ yard range by typical hunters with 30-30 lever action rifles.

Before the AK47, the Russian military used the 7.62x54R cartridge in the Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle. The "R" stands for "Rimmed". This round is also used in the Dragunov sniper rifle, which is an accurized, longer barreled AK47 style action. This round is close in size to the American 30-06, or the British .303.

The typical, unmodified AR-15 is much more accurate than the typical unmodified AK47. Design and tolerances give the AR-15 a huge advantage in accuracy. Can someone build an AK to outperform an AR-15? Yes, and an AMC Gremlin could be made to outrun a Mustang GT - at a higher cost than the GT, but that would just be wrong.

That being said, the AK47 is plenty accurate to hit and kill people at the distances that most people tend to shoot at each other. Note: once you've killed someone with a cheap weapon, you can't really have killed them any "better" with an expensive optical-sight, night-vision, sub-MOA high-velocity wunder-rifle. They're just dead.

AK47's are not sloppy on purpose so that "nitwits can use them to blast away indefinately w/o having to maintain them". They are manufactured with loose tolerances so that they will go boom everytime you pull the trigger, whether you are laying in the mud, sand, or what have you. The simple design is reliable and effective. They're also easier and cheaper to make, making them popular with people who need a cheap, reliable weapon with which they can kill things. (or just plink, like me)

Mini-14's are *not* engineered like an AR-15. They're engineered like a smaller version of the military M14, hence the name... Mini-14.

I must say this is the first post I have seen on this topic that states the facts. Mr. Fletcher is correct in his assement of the weapons and the skill required to hit a human size target at 100 yards.

Unless there has been a cartridge case recovered from the scene, I would say there are two pieces of speculation thus far. The first is the exact caliber of the weapon. The AK-74,yes 74 not 47, uses a round very similar to the .223 Remington or 5.55mm NATO (they are the same round). Also there are an abundance of rifles (and T/C handguns) that are chambered for the .223 Remington,it is a popular varmit and deer cartridge. Yes, the AR-15 and variants along with the Mini-14 are also chambered for this round. Secondly, the distance of 100 yards is likely to be speculation. Is there a witness to place the shooter at a specific spot? Not that I have heard (I could have missed it).

Bottom line, nearly any hunter could have made these shots as far as we know. Likewise, nearly any terrorist could have made these shots. They are not superhuman feats marksmanship.

Greg - www.defensivesolutions.com

I agree that "advanced markmenship training" isn't required. But some level of training or practice is.

I've shot a lot of prairie dogs beyond 100 yards with a .22.
Lot's of folks are good enough shooters to place bullets into targets (or animals) at that range. But doing it to a human is something I can safely say, most of us could not do. And to do it one after another while driving around looking for victims is on another level again. That takes both a certain level of technical proficiency and psychological fortitude.

I know I don't have it--I get rattled when I shoot anything bigger than a rabbit. Lots of cops are a mess after shooting someone too so I don't think we can assume that it's merely an exercise in markmanship with a minimal amount of training.

I don't intend to glorify the shooter's actions--not for a minute. But neither should we assume that most any garden- variety psycho is capable either.