Longest recorded sniper kills
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Reports regarding the longest recorded sniper kills that contain information regarding the shooting distance and the identity of the sniper have been presented to the general public since 1967. Snipers have had a substantial history following the development of long distance weaponry. As weapons, ammunition, and aids to determine
ballistic Ballistics may refer to: Science * Ballistics, the science that deals with the motion, behavior, and effects of projectiles ** Forensic ballistics, the science of analyzing firearm usage in crimes ** Internal ballistics, the study of the proc ...
solutions improved, so too did the distance from which a kill could be targeted. In mid-2017 it was reported that an unnamed Canadian special forces operator, based in Iraq, had set a new record of , beating the record previously held by an Australian sniper (also unnamed) at .


Sniper technology

Although optical equipment such as rangefinders and ballistic calculators have largely eliminated manual calculations to determine
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and
windage Windage is a term used in aerodynamics, firearms ballistics, and automobiles. Usage Aerodynamics Windage is a force created on an object by friction when there is relative movement between air and the object. Windage loss is the reduction in e ...
, the fundamentals of accurate and precise long-range shooting remain essentially the same since the early history of shooting, and the skill and training of the shooter, and the shooter's spotter where applicable, are the primary factors. Accuracy and precision of ammunition and firearms are also still reliant primarily on human factors and attention to detail in the complex process of producing maximum performance. The modern method of long-distance sniping (shots over ) requires intense training and practice. A sniper must have the ability to accurately estimate the various factors that influence a bullet's trajectory and point of impact, such as the shooter's distance from the target, wind direction, wind speed,
air density The density of air or atmospheric density, denoted '' ρ'', is the mass per unit volume of Earth's atmosphere. Air density, like air pressure, decreases with increasing altitude. It also changes with variation in atmospheric pressure, temperature a ...
, elevation, and even the
Coriolis effect In physics, the Coriolis force is an inertial or fictitious force that acts on objects in motion within a frame of reference that rotates with respect to an inertial frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the force acts to the ...
. Mistakes in estimation compound over distance and can cause a shot to only injure, or to miss completely. Any given combination of firearm and ammunition will have an associated value, known as the
circular error probable In the military science of ballistics, circular error probable (CEP) (also circular error probability or circle of equal probability) is a measure of a weapon system's precision. It is defined as the radius of a circle, centered on the mean, wh ...
(CEP), defined as the radius of a circle whose boundary is expected to contain the impact points of half of the rounds fired. If the shooter wishes to improve accuracy, increase range, or both, the accuracy of estimates of external factors must improve accordingly. At extreme ranges, highly accurate estimates are required and even with the most accurate estimates, hitting the target becomes subject to uncontrollable factors. For example, a rifle capable of firing a ½ or 0.5
MOA Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...
(approximately 0.5 inch center to center of the two holes furthest apart) 5-round group (often referred to as "grouping") at 100 yards will theoretically fire a 12.5 inch group at 2,500 yards (0.5 × 2,500/100 = 12.5). Unless the group is centered perfectly on the target at 100 yards, the 2,500-yard group will be centered 25 times the off-center error at 100 yards. This example ignores all other factors and assumes no-wind shooting conditions, identical muzzle velocities, and identical ballistic performance for each shot. USMC Gunnery Sergeant
Carlos Hathcock Carlos Norman Hathcock II (May 20, 1942 – February 22, 1999) was a United States Marine Corps (USMC) sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock's record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a l ...
's confirmed kill in the Vietnam War was primarily due to the enemy soldier stopping his bicycle on the spot Hathcock had fired at while sighting in his Browning M2 heavy machine-gun. Devices such as
laser rangefinder A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in ...
s, handheld meteorological measuring equipment, handheld computers, and ballistic-prediction software can contribute to increased accuracy (i.e. reduced CEP), although they rely on proper use and training to realize any advantages. In addition, as instruments of measure, they are subject to accuracy errors and malfunction. Handheld meteorological instruments only measure conditions at the location they are used. Wind direction and speed can vary dramatically along the path of the bullet.


History

The science of long-range sniping came to fruition in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock held the record from 1967 to 2002 at . He recorded 93 official kills. After returning to the US, Hathcock helped to establish the Marine Corps
Scout Sniper United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper (MOS 0317, formerly 8541) is a secondary MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) designator of U.S. Marine Corps infantrymen and reconnaissance Marines that have graduated from a U.S. Marine Corps Scout Snip ...
School at
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. In addition to his success as a USMC scout-sniper during multiple deployments to Vietnam, Hathcock competed in multiple USMC shooting teams. Hathcock also won the 1966 Wimbledon Cup, which is earned by the winner of the US 1,000-yard high-powered rifle National Championship. Even after being severely burned during an attack on an Amtrac on which he was riding in his efforts to rescue other soldiers, and after being diagnosed with
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, Hathcock continued to serve, shoot and instruct. In Vietnam, Hathcock also completed missions involving a "through the scope" shot which killed an enemy sniper specifically hunting him, and a multiple-day solo stalk and kill of an enemy general. Hathcock's record stood until Canadian sniper
Arron Perry Arron Perry is a former master corporal in the Canadian Forces who in March 2002 broke the 34-year-old record for the Longest recorded sniper kills, longest recorded sniper kill in combat, completing a kill at a range of during the War in Afghani ...
of
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricia's) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patrici ...
exceeded it with a shot of . Perry held the title for only a few days, as another man in his unit, Corporal
Rob Furlong Rob Furlong (born 11 November 1976) is a Canadian former military sniper who, from March 2002 until November 2009, held the world record for the longest confirmed sniper kill in combat, at . Friscolanti, Michael"We were abandoned", Maclean's, Ro ...
, beat Perry's distance with a shot in March 2002. Perry and Furlong were part of a six-man sniper team during 2002's
Operation Anaconda Operation Anaconda was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. The operation took place ...
, part of the
War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...
. Corporal Furlong's record was bested by a British soldier, Corporal of Horse Craig Harrison, of the
Blues and Royals The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) (RHG/D) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment. The Colonel of the Regiment is Anne, Princess Royal. It is the second-most senior regiment in ...
, Household Cavalry, who recorded two consecutive shots (confirmed by
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
) in November 2009, also during the War in Afghanistan, in which he hit two Taliban insurgents consecutively. Harrison killed the two Taliban machine gunners with shots that took the 8.59 mm (0.338 inch) rounds almost five seconds to hit their targets, which were beyond the L115A3 sniper rifle’s recommended range. A third shot took out the insurgents' machine gun. The rifle used was made by
Accuracy International Accuracy International is a British firearms manufacturer based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The company produces the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare series of precision sniper rifles. The company was established in 1978 by Britis ...
. In June 2017, an unnamed sniper from Canada's Tier 1 special forces unit,
Joint Task Force 2 Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2; french: links=no, Deuxième Force opérationnelle interarmées, FOI 2) is an elite special operations force of the Canadian Armed Forces, serving under the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. JTF 2 is known to wo ...
, surpassed the 2009 record by over , with a shot in the Iraqi Civil War. As with the previous two Canadian records, a
McMillan Tac-50 The McMillan TAC-50 is a long-range anti-materiel rifle. The TAC-50 is based on previous designs from the same company, which first appeared during the late 1980s. As of 2017 it holds the record for the longest confirmed sniper kill. McMillan mak ...
with .50 BMG ammunition was used.


Confirmed kills or greater

This list is not exhaustive, as such data is generally not tracked nor managed under any official procedure. For example, the
Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...
2002 sniper team that saw two soldiers (Arron Perry/2,310 m and Rob Furlong/2,430 m) set consecutive new records, also made a number of kills at that are not counted here. The list also shows that, in some cases, an armed force command may choose to withhold the name of the sniper for security reasons. ;Notes:


See also

* History of sniping *
Francis Pegahmagabow Francis Pegahmagabow MM & two bars (; March 9, 1891 – August 5, 1952) was a Canadian First Nations soldier, politician and activist. He was the most highly decorated Indigenous soldier in Canadian military history and the most effective snip ...
, a Canadian sniper with 378 confirmed kills, the highest in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
being a gamer *
Simo Häyhä Simo Häyhä (; 17December 1905 1April 2002), often referred to by his nickname, The White Death ( fi, Valkoinen kuolema; russian: Белая смерть, Belaya smert’), was a Finnish military sniper in World War II during the 1939–1940 Wi ...
, a Finnish sniper who, using a standard iron-sighted bolt-action rifle, recorded the highest number of confirmed kills in any major war (505 or 542) *
Ivan Sidorenko Ivan Mikhailovich Sidorenko (russian: Ива́н Миха́йлович Сидоре́нко; 12 September 1919 – 19 February 1994) was a Red Army officer and a Hero of the Soviet Union, who served during World War II. He was one of the top Sov ...
, was among the top
Soviet sniper Snipers of the Soviet Union played an important role mainly on the Eastern Front of World War II, apart from other preceding and subsequent conflicts. In World War II, Soviet snipers used the 7.62×54mmR rifle cartridge with light, heavy, armou ...
s in
World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, with over 500 confirmed kills. * Vasily Zaytsev, a Soviet sniper who amassed 225 kills during the
Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...
*
Lyudmila Pavlichenko Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, (russian: Людми́ла Миха́йловна Павличе́нко; uk, Людмила Михайлівна Павличенко (romanized: Lyudmyla Mykhailivna Pavlychenko), ; 10 October 1974) was a So ...
, a Soviet sniper during World War II, credited with 309 kills, and regarded as the most successful female sniper in history *
Adelbert Waldron Adelbert F. "Bert" Waldron III (March 14, 1933 – October 18, 1995) was a United States Army sniper who served during the Vietnam War with the 9th Infantry Division. Until 2011, Waldron held the record for most confirmed kills by any American sn ...
, a US sniper who has the highest number of confirmed kills for US snipers during the Vietnam War (109) *
Chris Kyle Christopher Scott Kyle (April 8, 1974 – February 2, 2013) was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He has over 150 c ...
, a US Navy SEAL sniper credited with the highest number of kills (160 officially confirmed) for an American sniper.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Sniper warfare Sniper kills