Snipers

I’m not a big sniper fan. Now before you misunderstand, know that I’m am in awe of distance shooters. They are amazing! I also understand and appreciate their value in combat. I’m just no good at it. I can hit a deer or an elk (in other words, the side of a barn!) at about 200 to 300 yards. That’s about my limit. I have not even tried that for well over 20 years. So that’s why I’m not a sniper fan. Because I’m horrible at it. Everything I have is zeroed at 50.
Having said the above I do have heroes who are snipers. Carlos Hathcock, to me, is the “father” of modern sniping. Even though there are some good ones who went before. Chris Kyle is also one of my favourites and not for the reasons of being well known with movies and other things. I admired him when he was alive when not too many people knew his name. I do feel he is deserving of his fame and remembrance. I take note of his birthday here on this blog every year.
So here I’d like to celebrate the record holders of military snipers.
The current record holder is 3,540 meters, just over 2 miles away.
His name is unknown at this time because he was still an active sniper in Afghanistan. But he is from the Canadian Joint Task Force 2 and he used a McMillan TAC-50 50 cal rifle. What an amazing shot.
Now Canadian Forces hold 3 of the top 5 spots for furthest sniper shot.
The others being:
Craig Harrison
In November of 2009, UK Corporal of Horse (CoH) Craig Harrison of the Household Cavalry Life Guards fired a shot from an Accuracy International L115A3 during the War in Afghanistan that traveled an astounding distance of 2,707 yards, again substantially beating out the previous record holder. This was no coincidental achievement either. Harrison had to creatively modify his equipment on the fly to achieve the level of accuracy needed to make the shot over such a tremendous distance. Nonetheless, Harrison does say in his reports that he owed part of his accomplishment to the fine weather, which was optimal for long-range shooting.
Rob Furlong
Furlong was a member of the Canadian infantry, and managed to beat out his Arron Perry’s record within the same month during the War in Afghanistan. After Perry set his record, Furlong beat it with a kill ranging 2,657 yards—a substantially longer shot, during Operation Anaconda. Furlong used the exact same type of weapon as Perry and the latest record holder, the McMillan TAC-50
Arron Perry
In March 2002, this Canadian soldier in the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry broke the long-held record by Carlos Hathcock, shooting a McMillan TAC-50 over a range of 2,526 yards during the War in Afghanistan.
Brian Kremer
Kremer holds the fifth spot for a shot placed from a range of 2,515 yards, narrowly beating out Hathcock’s record. This U.S. soldier used a Barrett M82A1 and was a member of the 2nd Ranger Battalion in the Iraq War. He was not however the first to break Hathcock’s record. Kremer’s shot came in 2004, two years after Corporal Rob Furlong and Master Corporal Arron Perry broke Hathcock’s record in 2002.
I include Carlos Hathcock in this list of great snipers. Carlos won the 1965 Wimbledon Cup at Camp Perry, Ohio which is a 1000 yards hi-powered rifle match.
This U.S. marine is still considered a legend, and rightly so. In over forty years, only five other snipers have managed to break his 1967 record.
Hathcock’s most respected work as a sniper was done during his two tours of service in the Vietnam War. He set the record (since broken) for the longest documented sniper kill—a confirmed kill at 2,500 yards (1.42 miles) with a .50-caliber Browning rifle. He was also in a five-day engagement that devastated an entire company of Viet Cong soldiers. One of the most disciplined kills he made was accomplished by crawling 1,500 yards across an open field over the course of three sleepless days to take one successful shot at a Viet Cong general. (Skeptics have commented that no Viet Cong general is known to have died of gunshot wounds during the years Hathcock was in Vietnam. But you be the judge.)
Perhaps Hathcock’s most legendary kill was when he shot an enemy sniper who was hunting him in order to claim the several-thousand-dollar bounty that the Viet Cong had placed on “White Feather,” a nickname that Hathcock had earned because he wore a small white feather in his cap. The kill was made without ever seeing his enemy; he saw a glint of light in the jungle foliage and gambled on taking the shot. The kill was confirmed, and the enemy’s sniper rifle was found next to the body with the scope hollowed out by the bullet that had traveled its length and entered into the enemy sniper’s eye. This shooting is widely imitated in movies, including The Sniper (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
Hathcock’s second tour in Vietnam abruptly ended on September 16, 1969, when he was riding an assault vehicle that struck a 500-pound mine near the South Vietnamese village of Que-Son. Despite being covered with flaming gasoline that burned him almost beyond recognition, he returned to the vehicle and rescued seven marines. He refused a recommendation for a Medal of Honor for this heroic act but was awarded a belated Silver Star in 1996. After recovering from the burns, he served for another ten years, training USMC snipers until his forced medical retirement in 1979; he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1975.
After battling multiple sclerosis for over twenty-five years, Hathcock died on February 22, 1999. He is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia.

On the team trophy at Camp Perry it depicts a soldier in a helmet holding a pack of 4 dogs depicting the Shakespeare line from “Julius Ceasar”:
"Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war,” (Shakespeare’s “Julius Ceasar”)

There is always a place for learning distance shooting. It can be challenging and fun, or can just put meat in your freezer. I’ve decided to shoot with my hunting rifle at least monthly to try and stay current on the weapon. Maybe with some practice I can hit the bra side of a barn!

Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn