Super Snipers to Target Terrorists

[SWJED]

15 Jan. London Daily Telegraph (via Washington Times) - U.S. Army Sniper Nails Record Shot (http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060115-111618-6393r.htm).

Gazing through the telescopic sight of his M-24 rifle, Army Staff Sgt. Jim Gilliland, leader of Shadow sniper team, fixed his eye on the Iraqi insurgent who had just killed an American soldier.

His quarry stood nonchalantly in the fourth-floor bay window of a hospital in battle-torn Ramadi, still clasping a long-barreled Kalashnikov. Instinctively allowing for wind speed and bullet drop, Shadow's commander aimed 12 feet high.

A single shot hit the Iraqi in the chest and killed him instantly. It had been fired from a range of more than three-quarters of a mile, well beyond the capacity of the powerful Leupold sight, accurate to 3,300 feet.

"I believe it is the longest confirmed kill in Iraq with a 7.62mm rifle," said Sgt. Gilliland, 28, who hunted squirrels in Double Springs, Ala., from the age of 5 before progressing to deer -- and then to insurgents and terrorists.

"He was visible only from the waist up. It was a one-in-a-million shot. I could probably shoot a whole box of ammunition and never hit him again."

Later that day, Sgt. Gilliland found out that the American soldier who had been killed by the Iraqi was Staff Sgt. Jason Benford, 30, a good friend.

The insurgent was one of between 55 and 65 Sgt. Gilliland estimates that he has shot dead in less than five months, putting him within striking distance of sniper legends such as Carlos Hathcock, a Marine who recorded 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam...

[SWJED]

14 April Daily Mail - The Super Snipers Who Will Target Terrorists ... From Three-quarters of a Mile (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=448604&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=) by Christopher Leake and with a Hat Tip to Council member Merv Benson at his Prairie Pundit (http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com/) blog.

The [British] Army is creating a new breed of super-sniper to take on insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan who use innocent women and children for cover.

Until recently the Army's regiments had an average of just four snipers each and they were taught the basics of their role within their units.

But now senior officers have decided to double the number of snipers - and to train them to a far higher standard on an intensive eight-week course at the Army's weapons training ground in Brecon, Mid Wales, where they will learn the kind of advanced skills previously limited to units such as the SAS.

To complete their transformation into super-snipers, they will be trained to use a devastating new weapon - the British-made L115A1 rifle which can bring down an enemy target nearly three-quarters of a mile away with remarkable accuracy.

Army insiders say its great advantage is that snipers will be able to kill with a single shot, avoiding the "collateral damage" of hitting innocent bystanders.

Although the L115A1 will not officially be used by regular soldiers until next year, Army sources admitted last night that a small number would probably be trialled in the two war zones in the next few months...

[goesh]

Innovate and advance - sounds like a winning program to me

[Stan]

we (both Americans and Canadians) have some excellent .338 rounds and rifles that bring down grizzlies at 500 yards.

I have nothing against our forces getting the best available, however...
Exactly why do we need to buy a weapon system from another country ?

The 338 Ultra, A poor man's Lapua: Check out any hunting magazine or American Rifleman's latest. The Lapua requires lots of modification to work in a Remington action and that means high cost. The Ultra round is a factory available chambering and requires no modification to the Remington. These can be built for almost the same cost as a .308 sniper rifle.

The British Army says:
http://home.swipnet.se/longrange/british_army_338.htm

“It had to convince us that it had a 70 per cent chance of hitting the frontal aspect of a Land Rover at 1,500m – that’s seven out of ten shots on target – and it will. And there’s enough energy in the round to do disabling damage at that range.”

I have to admit, I have never shot a Land Rover at 1,500 meters :cool:

Sorry, but smells of politics to me :mad:

[Culpeper]

I think some US Army dude was awarded a Silver Star for shooting some jackass with a RPG climbing a water tower at a range of over a half a mile using a .50 sniper rig during dusk hours. Half the jackass stayed up on the ladder and the other half fell to ground. Long range high caliber sniper systems have huge physcial and psychological impact. Unfortunately, these same types of weapons can also be made available to the other side on the open market. It's the type of round that makes the big difference here. The commercially available rounds don't make quite the same impact as the military version. I have a lot of respect for the .30 variety but the .50 is a monster with the right ammunition.

[bismark17]

That video of the snipers using the Barret in Afghanistan was just amazing. I just found that again the other day.

[Stan]

We had a real good thread herein on sniper's weapons beginning with a Canadian Soldier breaking the current distance/kill record (1.5 miles!). Sadly, no footage after the TAC-50 dropped the insurgent inside of a window frame !

Apparently, some do not like the relatively heavy .50's report, recoil and muzzle flash. We use frangible .50 rounds on suspect articles and IEDs, but nothing like a trusty 12-ga. watercanon round :cool:

Perhaps we should go back to the days without recoilpads, and the ol' man's Winchester 45.70...talk about recoil and report :D

Bismark, I'd love to see that video :) Link (s) Please ?

[kaur]

Here is good reading about calibres.

http://www.remingtonmilitary.com/articles/DA%202005.05MH.pdf

and about Hard Target Interdiction.

http://www.remingtonmilitary.com/articles/DA%202005.03MH.pdf

[Stan]

Kaur,
Thanks for the links. Chief Warrant Officer Haugen is very well known in SF circles. His bio and indepth knowledge of firearms can be found here:
http://www.boomershoot.org/general/mikebio.htm

BTW, the boomershoot folks add a whole new meaning to long distance marksmanship (Precision rifle shooting at exploding targets) :eek:

The typically tranquil community of Teakean-Cavendish will be shaken up as nearly 200 people gather in North Central Idaho for a weekend of explosives and guns at the 9th annual Boomershoot, April 28 - 30, 2006.

Diverse shooters and spectators from throughout the world are expected to attend Boomershoot, including law enforcement officers, scientists, engineers, computer programmers, and members of the Boeing Pistol & Rifle Club. Others are gun rights activists, such as Stephanie Sailor, three-time Illinois U.S. Congressional candidate (Independent), known for running cyber campaigns on a $0 budget.

[SGTMILLS]

We were asking for sniper training only weeks into our rotation because by the time our intel got up and down the chain of command, the infantry snipers would show up on the wrong day, or wrong time, etc. etc. engineers asking for sniper training was too off the wall for 101st, i guess. this is a def. improvement to the system. who doesn't need more accurate snipers on their side? :D

[sgmgrumpy]

Barrett Arms hopes to raise the bar even higher with the introduction of its new XM-109 25mm payload rifle.:rolleyes:

The centerpiece of the XM-109 system is the 25mm HEDP ammunition it fires. A scaled down derivative of the low velocity 30mm HEDP M789 ammunition fired by the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the MX-109's 25mm ammunition has been judged to be 2.5 times more effective at destroying targets than a .50 caliber armor-piercing round. It is expected that this ammunition can penetrate nearly 40mm (an inch and a half) of armor plating at 500 meters, or blast open doors from around the corner. In other words, it gives the Soldier breaching capability on fortified positions, while minimizing exposure to enemy fire, thanks to its effectiveness at greater distances. Also in the works are a number of specialized rounds, ranging from solid core AP ammunition to non-lethal/ crowd control munitions utilizing inert rubber balls, and RC agents.


XM-109 (http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_XM109,,00.html)