Longest recorded sniper kills

and point of impact, such as range to the target, wind di-

rection, wind velocity, air density, elevation, and even the
Coriolis eect due to the rotation of the Earth. Mistakes
in estimation compound over distance and can cause a
shot to only injure, or to miss completely.[1] Any given
combination of rearm and ammunition will have an
associated value, known as the circular error probable
(CEP), dened as the radius of a circle whose boundary
is expected to contain the impact points of half of the
rounds red.[2]
If the shooter wishes to improve accuracy and precision,
wishes to increase range or wishes to do all of these
things, the accuracy of estimates of external factors
Royal Marine snipers with L115A1 ries. These ries are simi- must improve accordingly. At extreme ranges, extremely
lar to the L115A3 Long Range Rie used by Craig Harrison but accurate estimates are required and even with the most
outtted with Schmidt & Bender 3-12x50 PM II telescopic sights. accurate estimates, hitting the target becomes subject to
uncontrollable factors. For example, a rie capable of
ring a 1/2 MOA (approximately 1/2 center to center
of the two holes furthest apart) 5-round group (often re-
ferred to using the verb grouping) at 100 yards will re
a theoretical 12.5 group at 2700 yards. Unless the group
is centered perfectly on the target at 100 yards, the 2500-
yard group will be centered 25 times the o-center error
at 100 yards. This example ignores all other factors and
The McMillan Tac-50 rie Corporal Rob Furlong used. assumes perfect no-wind shooting conditions and iden-
tical muzzle velocities and ballistic performance for each
Reports regarding the longest recorded sniper kill that shot.
contain information regarding the shooting distance and USMC Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcocks conrmed
the identity of the sniper have been presented to the gen- 2500-yard kill in Vietnam was primarily due to the enemy
eral public since 1967. Snipers in modern warfare have soldier stopping his bicycle on the spot Hathcock had red
had a substantial history following the development of at while sighting in his Browning M2 heavy machine-gun.
long distance weaponry. As weapons, ammunition, and
Devices such as laser rangenders, handheld meteoro-
aids to determine ballistic solutions improved, so too did
logical measuring equipment, handheld computers, and
the distance from which a kill could be targeted.
ballistic-prediction software can contribute to increased
Although technology such as electronics has improved accuracy (i.e. reduced CEP), although they rely on proper
optical equipment such as rangenders and ballistic cal- use and training to realize any advantages. In addition,
culators have eliminated manual mathematical calcula- as instruments of measure, they are subject to accuracy
tions to determine elevation and windage, the fundamen- errors and malfunction. Handheld meteorological instru-
tals of accurate and precise long-range shooting are the ments only measure conditions at the location they are
same as throughout the history of shooting, and the skill used. Wind direction and speed can and do vary dramat-
and training of the shooter and his spotter where appli- ically along the path of the bullet.
cable are the primary factors. Accuracy and precision of
ammunition and rearms are also still reliant primarily
on human factors and attention to detail in the complex
process of producing maximum performance. 1 History
The modern method of long-distance sniping (shots over
1.1 kilometres or 0.7 miles) requires intense training and The science of long-range sniping came to fruition in the
practice. A sniper must have the ability to accurately esti- Vietnam War. Carlos Hathcock held the record from
mate the various factors that inuence a bullet's trajectory 1967 to 2002 at 2,286 m (2,500 yd).[3] He recorded 93

1
2 2 CONFIRMED KILLS 1,250 M (1,367 YD) OR GREATER

ocial kills.[4] After returning to the U.S., Hathcock the minimum distance used to compile it, Hathcocks
helped to establish the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School second-longest conrmed kill was 1200 yards (1097 m)
at Quantico, Virginia.[5] using a standard USMC sniper rie chambered in .30-
In addition to his success as a USMC Scout-Sniper dur- 06 Springeld. At the time of Hathcocks service, snipers
ing multiple deployments to Vietnam, Gunnery Sergeant had essentially been eliminated from the USMC, and its
Hathcock competed in multiple USMC shooting teams. sniper ries were a hodgepodge mix of commercial Rem-
Hathcock also won the 1966 Wimbledon Cup, which is ington 700 and Winchester Model 70 ries chambered for
earned by the winner of the U.S. 1000-yard high-powered multiple cartridges. The major challenge for Hathcock
and other scout-snipers was improving the performance
rie National Championship. Even after being severely
burned during an attack on an Amtrac on which he was and reliability of their ries and ammunition.
riding and his eorts to rescue other soldiers, and after
being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Hathcock con-
tinued to serve, shoot and instruct. In Vietnam, Hathcock
also completed missions involving a through the scope
shot which killed an enemy sniper specically hunting
him, and a multiple-day solo stalk and kill of an enemy
general.
Hathcocks record stood until Canadian Master Corpo-
ral Arron Perry of Princess Patricias Canadian Light In-
fantry beat it with a shot of 2,310 metres. Perry held
the title for only a few days, as another man in his
unit (Corporal Rob Furlong) beat Perrys distance with a
2,430 m (2,657 yd) shot in March 2002. Perry and Fur-
long were part of a six-man sniper team during 2002s
Operation Anaconda, part of the War in Afghanistan.
The current record is held by a British soldier, Corporal
of Horse Craig Harrison, of the Blues and Royals,
Household Cavalry, who recorded two 2,475 m (2,707
yd) shots (conrmed by GPS) in November 2009, also
during the War in Afghanistan, in which he hit two Tal-
iban insurgents consecutively.[6] Harrison killed the two
Taliban machine gunners with shots that took the 8.59
mm rounds almost ve seconds to hit their targets, which
were 914 metres (1,000 yd) beyond the L115A3 sniper ri-
es recommended range. A third shot took out the insur-
gents machine gun. The rie used was made by Accuracy Carlos Hathcock in 1996
International.
Notes

2 Conrmed kills 1,250 m (1,367
yd) or greater
This list is not exhaustive, as such data is generally not
tracked nor managed under any ocial procedure. For
example, the Canadian Army 2002 sniper team that
saw two soldiers (Arron Perry/2,310 m and Rob Fur-
long/2,430 m) set consecutive new records, also made a
number of kills at 1,500 m that are not counted here.[7]
The list also shows that, in some cases, an armed force
command may choose to withhold the name of the actual
sniper for security reasons. The United Nations Secu-
rity Forces, such as in the Balkans, also had one Ameri-
can sniper (name withheld) attributed with a 1271-metre
shot.
While not on the list due to the range being less than
[1] During the Vietnam War Hathcock had 93 conrmed
kills of North Vietnamese Army and Viet-Cong person-
nel. During the Vietnam War, kills had to be conrmed
by an acting third party, who had to be an ocer, besides
the snipers spotter. Hathcock himself estimated that he
had killed 300 or more enemy personnel during his time
in Vietnam.
[2] Longest conrmed kill using 14.5114 mm ammunition
[3] Serving as part of the UN Force Intervention Brigade
[4] Christopher Scott Chris Kyle (April 8, 1974 February
2, 2013) was a United States Navy SEAL who claimed
to be the most lethal sniper in American military history
with 160 conrmed kills out of 255 claimed kills. This
gure has been corroborated by the Department of De-
fense, U.S. Special Operations Command, and the U.S.
Navy Special Warfare Command.

[5] Longest conrmed kill using 12.7 mm multi-purpose am-
munition
[6] Longest conrmed kill with a 7.6251mm NATO cham-
bered rie
3 See also
History of sniping
Francis Pegahmagabow, a Canadian sniper with 378
conrmed kills, the highest in World War I[29]
Simo Hyh, a Finnish sniper who, using a standard
iron-sighted bolt-action rie, recorded the highest
number of conrmed kills in any major war (505
or 542)[30]
Vasily Zaytsev, a Soviet sniper who amassed 225
kills during the Battle of Stalingrad[31]
Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a Soviet sniper during World
War II, credited with 309 kills, and regarded as the
most successful female sniper in history
SSG Adelbert Waldron, an American sniper who
has the highest number of conrmed kills for Amer-
ican snipers during the Vietnam War (109)[32]
4 References
[1] Plaster 1993
[2] Circular Error Probable (CEP), Air Force Operational
Test and Evaluation Center Technical Paper 6, Ver 2, July
1987, p. 1
[3] Henderson 2003, p. 181
[4] Gaijinass (May 6, 2010). The way of the Gun: USMC
S/S. Gaijinass.com. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
[5] Henderson 2003, p. 283
[6] Smith 2010
[7] Friscolanti, Michael (May 15, 2006). We were aban-
doned. Macleans. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
[8] Chandler 2010
[9] Alpert 2010
[10] Drury 2010
[11] Sheridan, Michael (May 3, 2010). British sniper Craig
Harrison (The Silent Assassin) breaks record, kills tar-
get from 1.5 miles away. Daily News. Retrieved May
3, 2010.
[12] Gibson 2013
[13] Helfrich 2013
3
[14] Hofstatter, Stephan; Oatway, James (22 August 2014).
South Africa at war in the DRC - The inside story.
Times Live. Sunday Times. Retrieved 22 September
2014.
[15] Murphy, Jack (26 August 2014). South African Special
Forces Sniper Takes Out Congo Rebels (2125m shot!)".
SOFRep.com. SOFREP. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
(subscription required (help)).
[16] Goldstein, Joseph (2010-05-30). How to shoot someone
from a mile away. New York Post. Retrieved 2012-09-
05.
[17] Buiso, Gray (January 1, 2012). Meet the big shot - SEAL
is Americas deadliest sniper. New York Post. Retrieved
2012-01-03.
[18] Zennie, Michael (2 January 2012). 255 conrmed kills:
Meet Navy SEAL Chris Kyle... the deadliest sniper in US
history. Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
[19] Sanchez, Raf (2 January 2012). "'The Devil of Rahmadi'
named Americas deadliest sniper. The Daily Telegraph.
London. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
[20] Jennings 2011
[21] ( May 7, 2016 ).
( in Arabic ).Al Arabiya.
[22] D'Alessio 2005
[23] Souter 2012, p. 40
[24] Johnsen 2008
[25] Sohail 2015
[26] Cannon 2010
[27] Charleston Courier 1864
[28] Harnden 2006
[29] Brownlie 2003, p. 63
[30] Westwood 2005, p. 212
[31] "
:: ". Warheroes.ru.
Retrieved 2012-09-05.
[32] Fredriksen 2010, p. 306
5 Bibliography
Alpert, Lukas (May 2, 2010). Sniper kills Qaeda-
from 1 mi. away. New York Post. Retrieved May
3, 2010.
Brownlie, Robin (2003). A fatherly eye: Indian
agents, government power, and Aboriginal resistance
in Ontario, 1918-1939 (2003 ed.). University of
Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-19-541784-5. - Total
pages: 204
4 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chandler, Neil (May 2, 2010). Snipers Taliban
shots earn him place in military record books. The
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Personal History of Gun Culture in the United
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9781597976909. - Total pages: 300
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Gibson, Erica (August 30, 2013). SA skerpskut-

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took out an insurgent killer from three quarters of a
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Henderson, Charles (2003). Silent Warrior (2003

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 5

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