Brit Sniper Makes Double-Kill at 1.54 miles with .338 Lapua Mag
IMPORTANT UPDATE: In a subsequent BBC Interview, Harrison reported it took about NINE shots for he and his spotter to initially range the target successfully. Then, he reported, his first shot “on target” was a killing shot. That makes the story more plausible.
In a stunning display of marksmanship, and the ultra-long-range capability of the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge, a British sniper killed two Taliban machine-gunners at a confirmed range of 1.54 miles. The distance to the target was GPS-ranged at 8,120 feet or 2,706.6 yards — well over a mile and a half. According to Britain’s Times Online, this successful engagement was the longest ever: “The previous record for a sniper kill is 7,972 feet, set by a Canadian soldier [in Afghanistan] in March 2002.” (Canadian Cpl. Rob Furlong used a McMillan Tac 50 in his 2002 engagement.)
The amazing shots were made by Corporal Craig Harrison of the Household Cavalry using an Accuracy International L115A3 rifle, chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. L115A3 rifles, part of the British Army’s Sniper System Improvement Programme (SSIP), were first deployed to Afghanistan in May 2008. Corporal Harrison, with the assistance of his spotter, Trooper Cliff O’Farrell, dropped two Taliban machine-gunners with successive shots while providing covering fire for an Afghan national army patrol south of Musa Qala last November. Harrison told the Times that: “We saw two insurgents running through [a] courtyard, one in a black dishdasha, one in green. They came forward carrying a PKM machine-gun, set it up and opened fire on the commander’s wagon. I rested the bipod of my weapon on a compound wall and aimed for the gunner firing the machine-gun.” Harrison fired three rounds, the first killing one machine-gunner, the second killing the other (who had taken over the weapon), and a third to disable the enemy gun.
A shot at this ultra-long-range requires a superbly accurate rifle, a highly-skilled marksman, and favorable conditions. Harrison said: “Conditions were perfect, no wind, mild weather, clear visibility.”
Corporal Harrison is a brave soldier. During an ambush later in his Afghan tour of duty, a bullet pierced his helmet but failed to penetrate his skull. Some weeks after that, he broke both arms when a road-side bomb exploded under his vehicle. After recovering from his wounds, Harrison volunteered to return to Afghan duty.
READ MORE: Daily Star Story | TimesOnline Story | N.Y. Post Story.
Photo and illustration courtesy The British Army website.
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Tags: .338 Lapua, Accuracy Int'l, Afghanistan, British, Household Cavalry, Sniper
Nice job to Trooper O’Farrell also. Makes my 1000yd shooting seem like the short course.
What mount did he use? He needs around 180-190moa of elevation at 2400m (and his bullet would not do much damage doing 200fps).
This is incredible… in the dictionary sense of the word “incredible.”
This did not happen at that distance 3 times in a row! Sorry to make anyone mad but the math does not support it.The standard deviation between shots would have to be 1fps.
Dash,
If you run JBM with the Lapua CD data, it says a 300gr Scenar bullet, launched at 3000 fps, would still be traveling 900+ fps at 2700 yards, assuming zero up/down angle. However, the bullet is no longer supersonic, which can’t help for accuracy. But I think there’s no question that there would be enough killing power; retained energy is about 540 ft-lbs (at 2700 yards). One other thing to consider — if the shot was taken at a fairly high altitude (above 5000′, say), the bullet would stay supersonic longer and the retained energy could be much greater. Again, you can play around with the variable using JBM.
You can run the numbers yourself. Select Lapua (CD) .338, 300gr Scenar from the “library”.
http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi
I do wonder how the shooter could see man-size targets at that 1.54 mile range. But remember how clear the air might be. We could do a test with a spotting scope set at 25 power.
Dash, I ran the numbers in JBM based on Lapuas website info of the 338 Lapua Mag and it showed approx 880 fps at 2700 yards. 516 foot lbs of energy. It still might sting a little bit.
Joe
I’d just like to point out that the calculator mentioned above shows about 4000 inches drop at 2700yds… That’s more than a football field. I’m putting my money on “not true.”
Or just over 1700 clicks of elivation….
Rob Furlong and Carlos Hathcock made similar shots. So rifle set up is definitely possible. Carlos also did it with a 10x Unertl scope. There are many factors at the range, one being luck.
My understanding is that Hathcock made his 2500yd combat kill using a scoped M2 machine gun. My guess is that it was not a first-shot hit; probably more like spotting mortar fire.
UK troops are not outfitted with 300gr SMK going 3000fps out of a standard AI. Maybe on a custom rifle with reloads.
Myth busted. Sorry, don’t buy it. Bob-Lee would be jealous.
Dwight,
You are correct on the weapon but your guessing is wrong. Look it up and see for yourself.
Harrison told the Times that: “We saw two insurgents running through [a] courtyard, one in a black dishdasha, one in green…………” I also seriously doubt that one could determine the difference between a black and green garment at 2700 yards.
The second part no one has commented on is that the third shot supposedly disabled the enemy weapon. That shot is at least five times more difficult than the shots vs. the human targets.
All this with three shots in a row?
At 2700 yards with a 25x scope is like looking with the naked eye at a man a little further than 100 yards.
This is BS big time.
With a scope with max. 26 mil of elevation, he would have to zero at around 1800Meter.
And the crosshair way to thick to see the pkm.
I guess that Dash and Gabe are Americans, how galling for them that the Brits have out shone the Americans again. :-))
We need to get an American back in the Lead! Yeah pretty good string of shots. Lapua has a special ammo for military ammo which is different than the thin copper jacketed ammo that civilians get. For instance the .338 AP ammo BC is .669 There are also loads in the field that are solid CNC turned brass rounds that companies are sending over there as R and D. Those are usually in the Upper BC .930+ If you look at those numbers the .338 is still Supersonic at that range.
We should praise this Sniper and his spotter because he bagged him 2 talis. As long as taliban are dieing that is all I care about it.
Yeah you arm chair gunslingers…they said Billy Dixon never made the shot at Adobe walls either! Maybe you should enlist and go try it yourself! You Ballistics programs and computer crap does NOT always match what happens in the real world!
Nice shot(s)my friend!
spot on CHRIS ‘ Craig H your the man keep it up mate and be safe. dont you just love these armchair marksmen with thier anorack stats. bunch of pricks.ps sorry about my spelling.
for Franky The FLY ‘ PRAISE indeed for the elite snipers and every single person over their doing their job in the coalition their all the bollocks or as you boys in the States say Awesome’ but mate its not a compatition where all on the same side, and i know if one of your boys takes one of those terrorist scum out from 2 miles C Harrison would be the first to buy the man or woman a drink.keep up the support mate.
I am sure we will hear all about it in more detail as time goes on.
There are a ton of factors which can play with the shooting distance.
powder, powder burn, elevation just to name a few. Powder burn can be exploited by laying the rounds out in the sun to heat them and give a faster burn.
I would like to know if the 9 targeting shots has been confirmed or not.
What I want to is the elevation of the shooter and the elevation of the target, lets not forget about the advantages of high angle shooting.
This will have the U.S. sniper assets going crazy until they beat it! There’s a lot of pride at stake in this tight-knit profession!
I am in awe of these shots. What an amazing accomplishment!
All of you trash talkers are forgetting that he was professionally trained and the situation was ideal. The military gets a lot of cool types of ammo that are extremely precise and that the .338 LapMag was designed for distances like this. So if you wanna talk trash why don’t you go enlist, then make it through sniper school. Just because you can’t make the shot because you have a POS rifle/scope or arnt a good shot doesn’t mean that no one else can.
First, the people who would have us believe this didn’t really happen are, themselves, MORE unbelievable than the article. At least the article has some elements of credibility.
Second, anyone who isn’t at least skeptical of what governments do and do not tell their civilians is naive. There could be plenty of successful shots taken at longer ranges than this that have been classified. For that matter, there could be weapons that are just as classified that would enable such shots to be made.
can be done.well done mate` from south africa
good shot man
we use to do that to the Brits with our old mauser open sight 7×57 in 1903
Good on you for getting it right at last
Paddy ‘I guess that Dash and Gabe are Americans, how galling for them that the Brits have out shone the Americans again. )’.
FYI the previous record holder was cpl rob furlong, a Canadian. Yanks haven’t been in the running for a while, although Chris Kyle, seal, RIP, shot a LOT of bad guys …
The article tells you the range, the gun, conditions, but they do not tell you the type of ammo or the manufacturer. Most military and law enforcement snipers I have had the honor of knowing meticulously load their own ammo. So all of you nay sayers should try a few of their rounds before questioning their ability to make more than one shot at that distance. As far as the accuracy, he said it took 9 rounds to range the target. After that, I’m sure he could have just has easily plinked Coke cans. Nice shots soldier, nice shots. Oh rahhhhhhh!
bloody well done soldier,i would have made the shot,i,did not think anyone else could julian davies cpl[retd]
Sounds like a lot of VERY envious Americans (and armchair warriors) on this site who just can’t stomach the fact that it is anyone other than a good ol’ boy from the States that pulled off these shots. Suck it up and accept it boys, the British boy did the business. Live with it.
When I was in the Navy many years ago. I was on a picket ship. We ran picket stations. One being off the coast of N.C. back then the ammo was a lot different. The every day person could not get their hands on the some of the ammo we had. On a clear day the ocean was smooth as glass. With a B.A.R. and iron sights you could make long shots. A closed container with a flag on it you could make pretty long shots.You could barely see the flag with B’nocs. The men and women that protect us need better equipment than the average person.
At what point do numerous missed ranging shots detract from or nullify the official “record distance”? If the answer is that they “never do,” then to me, the record distance means much less. If one may “bracket” a target with a spotter’s aid until he finally scores a hit, this and like records are not so remarkable. At 1.5 miles, a typical male torso still presents just a bit less than a 1 m.o.a. sized target, – not particularly tiny. Harrison’s 300 grain bullet was still going as fast at that distance as a .45 Auto is at the muzzle, so there is no doubt that the much heavier, pointier .338 most certainly remains lethal, as would have a .308. A 180 m.o.a. drop from a 100 yd. zero is not impossible to navigate when then scope and base give you close to, or all of that. Harrison might have had to hold above the target at that range, but such is not really pressing the limits of skill unless the first shot must hit. 10 shots, one kill has no ring to it.
With the right scope and base (mount) it is doable. Especially for a skilled and trained professional. On my .50 I can compensate for 160 MOA @ 100 meters (scope 120 MOA, rail 40 MOA). Beyond that you can use the reticle to do some holdover. It is for sure not an easy shot, but doable, if you do the math and conditions favor the shooter. The 338 LM is a very capable round, especially at crazy ranges. It even beats the good old 50 in terms of long range precision.
The Accucracy International series of rifles are phenomenal, combined with the British-Norwegian Lapua .338 makes it the worlds deadliest small arms weapons platform.
People can never just give you credit for your accomplishments. If people doubt you it usually is that they are jealous.