The True Difficulty of a 2.2 Mile Sniper Shot – By TiborasaurusRex
A lot of ado has been made over the recent extreme long range confirmed kill by the Canadian sniper. A confirmed kill past 1,000 yards is impressive by itself, but to truly have a confirmed kill past 2 miles is a feat of legend – as it has been made to be.
Those of us not experienced in extreme long range shooting take the distance for granted. With 800 yards stretching the limits of an AR-15 in 5.56 and 1000 being a well-respected range for the .308 Winchester, its hard to fathom a 3,800 yard shot.
Fortunately, there are those who put their passion into relatable videos, such as one TiborasaurusRex. Where T-Rex can get off into the technical weeds once or twice and occasionally repeat himself in repetition for triplicate’s sake, he is a well-respected technical extreme long range shooter. Working with Colin Burns, a very-well respected ballistician, he breaks down how that shot would even be possible.
Hint – Its very hard and takes some specialized equipment.
As an added bonus, Rex and Burns really look at the exact equipment the Canadian sniper would have likely had, a Schmidt and Bender PMII scope on top of a McMillan Tac-50 rifle.
Was it lucky or skill? Watch the video to make an informed decision for yourself. If anything, you will truly appreciate the complexity of that shot and the skill it took to even be lucky.
TFB's FNG. Completely irreverent of all things marketing but a passionate lover of new ideas and old ones well executed. Enjoys musing on all things firearms, shooting 3-gun, and attempting to be both tacticool AND tactical.
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Luck or skill who cares? It's an impressive feat, but tactically irrelevant. This is what I think happened:
The unit probably spotted a target that they were allowed to engage, but not worth the cost of CAS or indirect fire. He made a bet with his spotter (who probably still owes him crates of beer) that he could hit the target. He made the shot, and some people take this way to seriously. If you need someone dead at 2.2 miles, heavy fire support is still the way to go even though a 2.2 mile shot is possible.
What if he used some kind of magnifier in front of the scope?