A BRITISH Army sniper has set a new sharpshooting distance record by killing two Taliban machinegunners in Afghanistan from more than 1 miles away.
Craig Harrison, a member of the Household Cavalry, killed the insurgents with consecutive shots — even though they were 3,000ft beyond the most effective range of his rifle.
“The first round hit a machinegunner in the stomach and killed him outright,” said Harrison, a Corporal of Horse. “He went straight down and didn’t move.
“The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as my second shot hit him in the side. He went down, too. They were both dead.”
The shooting — which took place while Harrison’s colleagues came under attack — was at such extreme range that the 8.59mm bullets took almost three seconds to reach their target after leaving the barrel of the rifle at almost three times the speed of sound.
The distance to Harrison’s two targets was measured by a GPS system at 8,120ft, or 1.54 miles. The previous record for a sniper kill is 7,972ft, set by a Canadian soldier who shot dead an Al-Qaeda gunman in March 2002.
In a remarkable tour of duty, Harrison cheated death a few weeks later when a Taliban bullet pierced his helmet but was deflected away from his skull. He later broke both arms when his army vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.
Harrison was sent back to the UK for treatment, but insisted on returning to the front line after making a full recovery.
“I was lucky that my physical fitness levels were very high before my arms were fractured and after six weeks in plaster I was still in pretty good shape,” he said. “It hasn’t affected my ability as a sniper.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 113916.ece
Dead-eye Dick sets new record
Dead-eye Dick sets new record
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Dead-eye Dick sets new record
"more than 1 miles"?
The times needs a few editors.
The times needs a few editors.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.
Re: Dead-eye Dick sets new record
I shall write them a stiffly worded letter.
My god, this the Times we are talking about, the bastion of Englishness.
My god, this the Times we are talking about, the bastion of Englishness.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Dead-eye Dick sets new record
I think it was an edit that wasn't fully edited. I think it went from 1.5 miles to 1 miles.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.
Re: Dead-eye Dick sets new record
Still not good enough... 
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Dead-eye Dick sets new record
So where was Mexican Pete while all this was going on?
Why is it that when Miley Cyrus gets naked and licks a hammer it's 'art' and 'edgy' but when I do it I'm 'drunk' and 'banned from the hardware store'?