After 37 Shots — Claimed ‘World Record’ 5000-Yard Hit
An American shooter has hit a 40″ square steel target at a distance of 5000 yards (2.84 miles). This has been hailed as a New Long Range World Record. That’s quite a feat… except that it took thirty-seven (37) shots to put one .408-caliber bullet on the steel target (by a whisker). Is that really good shooting — or just a lucky impact? (The 37th shot just barely hit the right side of the 40″ x 40″ steel plate). This purported “Long Range World Record” was shot on September 30, 2017.
Should we acknowledge this as a meaningful record? Is this a noteworthy achievement or just a stupid stunt? Watch this video and decide for yourself:
ELR at 5000 Yards — World Record or Just a Lucky Shot?
The Firearm Blog explained: “After shooting through three [10-round] batches unsuccessfully, Charlie Melton connected on target with his 7th shot in the fourth batch; round number 37. According to some number crunching … the bullet that finally connected on target was likely in flight for 12.816 seconds!”
Can this lucky shot really be claimed as some kind of meaningful record? Our friend Dennis Santiago, a Service Rifle competitor, and very brainy guy, observed: “Ha! 37th shot works out to a 2.7% probability of hit single-shot. That figure … fails the test of operational viability. Any hits are incidental within the beaten zone. It’s a gimmick.”
And William W., a retired military ordnance specialist, stated: “Dispersion and random Circular Error Probable (CEP) says if you fire enough shots, you will eventually hit what you are aiming at. It could have taken one shot or one hundred or more. Do the math for a radial error of .05 MOA at 15,000 feet and see what comes up. This is what we call ‘hardstand dispersion’ which only accounts for the gun and ammunition bias. Add environmental factors and CEP gets much bigger. A true test is a series of shots that strike the target, not a holy poke.”
Shot Made with Armalite AR-30 Fitted with 31″ Barrel Chambered for .408 Tejas
The lucky shot (37th attempt) was made by former SEAL Charlie Melton of Charlie Mike Precision. He was shooting an Armalite AR30 rifle with 31″ Pac-Nor barrel chambered for the .408 Tejas, a 50° wildcat based on the .408 Cheytac cartridge. The bullets were 420 grain solids launched at 3065 FPS.
Rifle: Armalite AR-30, with 6 oz. Jewell trigger
Barrel: 31″ Pac-Nor chamber for .408 Tejas
Bullet: 420 Grain Monolithic (solid) Bullets – 3,065 FPS
Bi-Pod: Shots Gunsmithing Bipod for Armalite AR-X
Optic: Nightforce NXS 12-45x56mm fitted with Charlie TARAC Prism (see below)
Rings: Ivey Adjustable Scope Rings
Photo by Brad Stair of Performance Guns
Innovative Elevation Booster — Charlie TARAC Prism System
The Charlie TARAC Prism from TACOMHQ helps ELR Shooters hit very distant targets, by elevating the actual target image, effectively augmenting the scope’s internal elevation adjustment. The latest TARAC is an adjustable unit that adds up to 120 MIL of elevation to any scope. Current high-end scopes typically offer around 30 MIL of vertical. With the Charlie TARAC fitted to the scope’s front objective, you can add +120 MIL elevation.
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Tags: .408 CheyTac, 5000 Yards, Armalite AR30, ELR
It’s a world record for lamest claim to any sort of record, much less “world”.
I’m sure if you gave me enough ammo, I could lob a 30.06 round onto the target eventually. Applying the Ko2M format, he might have hit some closer targets, but you only get so many tries.
There was a Canadian sniper that “got lucky” on his first shot at 2.5 miles.
Congratulations on your hit. Why does our community eat itself? If he’s so lucky let’s see you do it. It’s a World record. If anybody can beat that than do it. Peanut gallery
My thought, when I first read about this was, “I hope he did it twice to show it wasn’t just an accident.” Apparently not.
All these extreme long range shots i keep reading about are wearing a bit thin, theres a point where luck is playing more of a part than the shooter and i am afraid this is one of those times..
And i am not sure the canadian got lucky on his 1st shot either
These guys did it in 3 (or maybe 4) shots.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/08/26/world-record-4380-yard-shot/
37 shots and only got one hit? That’s failure in my book!
I think that this article shows lack of class on the part of the website and author(s).
While I may not disagree with the premise, it is pretty ugly to write this long an article calling out a shooter on the open internet to thousands and thousands of viewers. That is made all the more egregious by having called out a former Servicemember, regardless of his resume with the Navy.
Having written and posted this accomplishes nothing other than to satisfy someone’s ego.
It would be appropriate to pull the article.
I read it as a lighthearted and entertaining account of a fun endeavor. The shooters know there is no real record category for a hit on whatever target you happen to choose, after as many misses or “sighters” as you want to take. They offered up the fact of 37 misses for the story indicating they acknowledge the role of multiple shot dispersion. I think the “record” theme is just a little hookline and the canvas to paint the story on of how difficult a 5,000 yard hit actually is. Even that bullet’s path is akin to a javelin throw at that point.
Ok it may look to be a useless stunt, even to try hit something at 5000 yards. But progress as been done on long range shooting by shooters that said, 2000 yard I want to try, 3000 I want to try… now its 5000. Took 37 shot.The next one will improve on the technique and do it in 15… and the next one in 5. This is how progress is maybe, knowledge is acquired.
Now who need a 5000 yard shot considering it just too far to be practical for any use. But at first it was also a question of this was ever going to be possible at all.
Are you kidding me! That is just a lucky shot.
Congratulations to Charlie Melton and thank him for his service to OUR country!
Having been a part of URSA (Unlimited Range Shooters Association) since the beginning, I have the hard data. Our normal shoots start with 2 sessions of 5 shots for practice shots, then 2 x 10 shots for qualification. If a shooter get 3 in 10 during a qualification session they move on to record round (“record” just means the “scored” event itself, as in we go forward – further distances based on how well the shooters do from this point in the event). The shooter does NOT have to take any shots beyond hitting 3 times during one of the two qualification rounds. That said, the shooter is allowed up to 30 shots to get those 3 in 10. Going forward to the next distance, about 2600 yards, requires that at least two shooters get 4 in 10 or better during record. So, after 30+ events, how have shooters done? Based on what people seem to think – some of the posters above, and us only shooting at 2054 or 2080 yards – we should be running close to 10 in 10 all the time. The facts. In southern California the best has been 6 in 10, done once. In northern California the best has been 7 in 10, done once. Those that talk should bother to come out and see what reality is all about. If you want to see the data, visit the Stats and News pages at unlimitedrange.org We try to put on events every month – one in NorCal and one in SoCal. Anyone shooting a locally-legal rifle is welcome to shoot with us – NO fees. BTW, for three (3) months in a row now we have NOT had enough shooters to run an event in SoCal (i.e., we did not have just 5 shooters signed up). Lots of talkers, not a lot of doers.
Again, congratulations to Charlie Melton and thank him for his service to OUR country! God bless the United States of America!
37 shots to hit anything is just funny. I would be embarrassed to admit that. Just a silly stunt and frankly a waste of time and money.
Paul
What a couple of dorks. Not impressed. Take enough swings at a Par 3 and you’ll eventually get a hole in one too. It doesn’t make you a good golfer.
When I was much younger, I got the chance to go dove hunting for the first time. I was thrilled of course but at the end of the day when we had to report in to the DNR, I found nothing but embarrassment. We were required to tell the officer:
-How many birds harvested
-How many birds lost
-How many shots fired
I answered honestly, 15 (limit), 1 lost and 101 shots fired. There was an immediate outburst of raucous laughter from the other hunters still in the shed. I hung my head in shame. The DNR officer stood up to say ‘at least he is an honest man’.
The fellas above are honest men, no doubt about it and they reported the truth as it took place. It’s our responsibility to ourselves to make up our minds as to just how to react to this information.
First of all, we gratefully acknowledge Mr. Melton’s service to his country and for we, the people. But this has nothing to do with this claim or the occasion.
When you examine other claims to establishing ELR records, you will notice a couple of things; the shooter involved receives the accolades and he usually has a business interest which suddenly booms due to the attention he receives. Look at the booming business AB is experiencing. Then realize that this shooter has a business to train individuals for long range shooting. Note his signage in one of the photos. My guess is that this will have a very positive effect on his business.
I do not demean the effort or the consequences at all, self-promotion is what can help businesses grow.
The math is what troubles me. The technical explanations are enough for me. The analogy of the hole in one is applicable. Land speed records at Bonneville require 2 back-to-back runs within a time limit to attempt to eliminate sheer luck.
Just some thoughts.
Regards.
There are NO established standards for an unlimited range record.
PLEASE also note that the YouTube video on the shooter’s website says “5000 Yard Shot” – NOTHING about a record! So…it appears the only folks that are using the word “record” are the article writers.
The video is is poorly presented. Ultra long range is the final frontier of shoulder fired rifles and these guys should have told a better story. In particular, why shots were not hitting, where the effective range ended, and where luck in the group causes the bullet to stumble into the target.
ELR Researcher is right, no records are claimed. Need to correct this story.
This is the type of garbage that is denigrating to real competitive shooting from the sling. Whether smallbore or bigbore competitive shooting requires time, effort and discipline. This stunt required time and money and certainly distance. As a long time competitive shooter it is amazing how many “Shooters” claim they are taking part in “competitions” that simply require them to hit somewhere on a target. Their requirements do not involve hitting the center but instead anywhere in a defined area. You can do the same with artillery the last time I checked.
I’m saddened by the rather inflammatory nature of this article. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but a far different tone and presentation in this article would have gone a long way towards a more respectful discussion of this feat. The vitriol displayed here towards a member of our community who is pushing the boundaries of what we believe possible is disheartening.
It’s plain disrespectful to suggest that simply shooting a rifle in the direction of a target 5000yards away is in any way analogous to what this team did. If you think it is in fact apt, then I challenge you to go try it and report back how many shots it took you to get a hit.
I certainly remember my first attempts to put a bullet on steel at 1300 yards. I was lucky to have it happen 1 in 20 or 30 with the 30-06 hunting rifle I was using, but with practice and adjustments to what I was doing and how I was reloading, that 1 in 20 quickly fell to more consistent and repeatable groups.
Regardless of where you stand on the importance of this single shot, I think we can all agree that this is how our views on what is “long range” evolve and that this will progress into a more repeatable feat as we learn what it takes to do it.
Neither the shooter nor his website CLAIM a world record or any record whatsoever. ONLY the Guns America writer, AND by carry over WITHOUT correction, this site’s editor, “claim” a record. PLEASE fix the title and make it clear in the article that NO ONE except the Guns America writer is claiming a record of any sort. Thanks.
I’ve read the source material that ELR Researcher has pointed out and, while it is poorly written, it tells a different story to this article.
Again Editor, for the sake of your ethics, and to avoid accusations of fake news to spread to this well respected forum, please pull this story and re-write it. The Accurate Shooting story is the the loading technique and the shooting technique and the lessons learned by the team.
It appears they want to do it again, tell that story too.
But do not leave this article up.
So many factors come into play at 5000 yds. Hitting your intended target at that distance is not easy and regardless of the shots taken is an accomplishment. I would like to do that and may try it one day just for fun. In so far as world record go I think there has to be a set of rules that must be adhered to and verified to claim a world record. Probably should be caliber specific at the very least. Simply increasing the caliber and MV and clamming a world record is not enough. It does not spur bullet development well. Rules matter. One can see that in ELR competitions where guys with 338s can handily beat guys with 416s.
Charlie Melton never hit his intended target at 5000 yards with Brad Stair’s rifle. And Brad Stair never hit his intended target at 4000 yards with a factory Riter and Stark rifle. I built the 1 moa targets for the shoot and witnessed the entire event. Brad Stair lied and took credit for a failed attempt.