This is pretty gruesome stuff (though it's from a distance). I was sent this today by email, but it's on Youtube:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mYNPn_p4PwM

Here's the text that went with it:

January 02, 2008 11:05 AM

Canadian Sniper wiping out Taliban Snipers (Graphic)

Canadian Snipers in Afghanistan video attached - read article first

They never saw it coming. Canadian Sniper wiping out Taliban Snipers in Afghanistan. These video shots are not made through the shooter's telescopic sight. They are made looking through the spotter's scope. The spotter lies right next to the sniper and helps the sniper to find and home in on the target.

The sniper is using a 50 caliber rifle. A 50 cal. round is about 7-8 inches long and the casing is about an inch in diameter. The bullet itself is one-half inch in diameter and roughly one and one- half inches long.

Pay close attention to the beginning of the video. A Taiban is laying on top of the peak in front of you... when you hear the shot fired.... watch what happens. The sniper is also about a half mile away... or more.

A Canadian sniper in Afghanistan has been confirmed as hitting an enemy soldier at a range of 2,310 meters (about 7,579 feet), the longest recorded and confirmed sniper shot in history. The previous record of 2,250 meters was set by US Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock in Vietnam in 1967. The Canadian sniper was at an altitude of 8,500 feet and the target, across a valley, was at 9,000 feet. Canadian sniper units often operated in support of US infantry units, which were grateful for their help. The record lasted only one day, until a second Canadian sniper hit an enemy soldier at 2,400 meters!


The Canadian snipers fire special 50-caliber McMillan tactical rifles, which are bolt-action weapons with five-round magazines. The Canadian snipers were the only Canadian troops operating without helmets or flak jackets as they had too much other equipment to carry. Each three man team has one sniper rifle, three standard Canadian C7 rifles, one of them fitted with a 203mm grenade launcher.


PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THIS VIDEO SHOWS PEOPLE BEING KILLED.Sniper

[Edited on 15/2/08 by Jasper]

erm, linky?

Deffo NWS, but damn thats some sharp shooting.
i used to do .22 target shooting in Devon and got quite good at it but snipers amaze me, how they can get so accurate over such a vast range?

Practice, practice, practice.

I don't think that sort of thing should be shown.

That said, I saw the rather gruesome display of that very rifle at our War Museum not long ago. I got into a great argument with an old WWII veteran (a client of mine who is hard of hearing - I wonder why- who volunteers there) about how the admittedly interesting museum really just glorifies war. His reply was that Canada is and always has been a warring nation. He missed the point, when I suggested that perhaps war is a regrettable last resort that could maybe be avoided, and in any case, is a very sad event. That doesn't mean the poor guys and women who have to go to these horrible places should not be supported on a personal level.

[Edited on 15/2/08 by RK]

wont let me open it

it's also on youtube as shooting goats.

i can't believe even a 50cal round has enough momentum to make 100kg of sniper fly like that.
tom

Yeah - not sure I believe it either, but interesting none the less.

thats not real! A bullet cant do that! Even a whopping 50 cal

I remember an episode of Mythbusters where they were looking at the effects of various sized bullets and the effect on a pig carcase and trying to knock it off a precariously balanced hook and IIRC nothing they used would move the carcase. Just think of Newtons 3rd(IIRC) law of motion "to every action there is an equal and oposite reaction" so if there is enough force in the shell to knock a 100kg person 10m back when it hits then there was the same force that should knock the firer of the rifle backwards - no chance.

It depends on the rifle - if you look at one of those sniper rifles being fired you'll see that the recoil is heavily damped. Also, the rifle is mounted on a tripod.

A 50 caliber bullet is a monstrous round often capable of piercing armour. Snipers use it because an armoured vest is irrelevant when the target is hit with such a round.

[Edited on 15/2/08 by David Jenkins]

.50 cal is only 12.7mm, even when I was in the military, we has 20mm available to the snipers and that was 25 years ago.

While the .50 will make a mess out of someone, it won't do that to them. You'll find thats either small game being shot with a high powered rifle, or medium game with a .50cal.

If you want to know what the LRSW is capable of hop in your car and drive 2.4km (1.5miles) away then turn around and look home. Thats the longest confirmed kill. Shot by a Cdn sniper in afganistan in 2002. Crazy Normal max range is 1800meters or so.