There’s a running list of incredibly long shots made by snipers. Coalition forces in the barren desert landscapes of Afghanistan and Iraq have been using the long open sight distances to make some incredible shots. And the record has again been broken, this time by a Canadian who made a confirmed kill from more than two miles away.
The Globe and Mail described it like this: “A member of Joint Task Force 2 killed an Islamic State insurgent with a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle while firing from a high-rise during an operation that took place within the last month in Iraq. It took under 10 seconds to hit the target.”
A .50 caliber rifle is certainly capable of reaching out to that distance. To do so requires a significant amount of math. A sniper would have to adjust his point of aim for the distance (compensating for the drop of the heavy bullet), wind speed at locations between the sniper and his target, elevation and humidity. As the target is a ISIS soldier, the sniper also has to anticipate his movements between the time of the trigger pull and impact.
“The shot in question actually disrupted a Daesh [Islamic State] attack on Iraqi security forces,” an source confirmed for the Globe and Mail. The action was taken under the auspices of the Canadian government’s “advise and assist” mission. “Instead of dropping a bomb that could potentially kill civilians in the area, it is a very precise application of force and because it was so far way, the bad guys didn’t have a clue what was happening.”
The shot is now being marked as the longest military shot in history.
Those claims are being backed up by the Canadian military, who have what they describe as “hard data on this.” What kind of data? “It isn’t an opinion,” the source confirmed. “It isn’t an approximation. There is a second location with eyes on with all the right equipment to capture exactly what the shot was.”
“This is an incredible feat,” another added. “It is a world record that might never be equaled.”
British sniper Craig Harrison held the previous record. He shot a Taliban soldier with a .338 Lapua Magnum from 1.53 miles away in 2009. Sergeant Bryan Kremer holds the longest confirmed sniper kill by a U.S. soldier. He shot an insurgent in Iraq from 1.4 miles out in 2004.
The 3,450-meter shot equates to 2.14 miles.
The top five list now has three Canadians on it. The Canadian Special Operations Regiment seems to be holding its own.
1: Unidentified Canadian sniper in Iraq (2017): 3,450 meters.
2: British sniper Craig Harrison in Afghanistan (2009): 2,475 meters
3: Canadian sniper Rob Furlong in Afghanistan (2002): 2,430 meters
4: Canadian sniper Arron Perry in Afghanistan (2002): 2,310 meters
5: U.S. sniper Brian Kremer in Iraq (2004): 2,300 meters
