In 2009 in Afghanistan, one soldier had found himself in a precarious situation.
The British sniper Craig Harrison was stationed in Afghanistan in a patrol vehicle in Musa
Qala when one day he spotted two Taliban insurgents running through a courtyard.
He decided to shoot.
The targets were a long way into the distance — around one and a half miles away, to be
precise — which seems way too far considering the range of his rifle.
But the conditions of the day were favorable: there was almost no wind and clear visibility.
So, he pulled the trigger.
For the next six seconds, the bullet flies through the air at supersonic speed.
Harrison had plenty at stake.
He had friends on foot patrol who were stuck in a gully and surrounded by Taliban.
They might die if he couldn’t make the shot.
He could see the machine gun of the enemy firing here, there, and everywhere — he
had to take out the gunner to protect his own men.
He missed.
The failed shot alerted the Taliban that there was an enemy shooter nearby, making the situation
even more desperate than before, as the soldiers tried to find the source of the firing.
Now, everyone was in danger.
He shot again.
But this time, the gunner collapsed.
Butterflies coursed through Harrison’s body, as he contemplated the significance of the
shot, but he tried to repress his excitement.
This wasn’t finished yet — he still needed to take out the second gunman.
He took another shot.
Once again, he missed the first time but was successful the second time around.
Both gunmen shot dead, from one and a half miles away.
Most importantly, Harrison’s friends were safe.
It was miraculous — at least, it seemed that way from where he was sitting.
The Taliban probably didn’t see things that way.
Later, a helicopter measured the distance the bullet had traveled.
It was 2,475 meters, meaning the shot broke the current world record.
As if this wasn’t impressive enough, Harrison’s gun only had a supposed range of 900 meters
— less than half the range of the actual shot.
The record was previously held by Canadian Rob Furlong in 2002, who shot an insurgent
in Afghanistan from 2,430 meters away.
Before him, another Canadian called Aaron Perry also shot an insurgent in Afghanistan,
this time from 2,310 meters away.
But the poor guy only got to hold the record for a few weeks before being beaten by his
comrade, who shot just over 100 meters further.
Little could any of them have known that their achievements would be blown out the water
just a few years later by another gunman.
It’s a sweltering day in Iraq, and there’s a sniper who faces high stakes.
Shoot his target over two miles away, or 3,540 meters away, or know his friends and comrades
will die because of him.
No pressure there, then.
He’s another Canadian.
So, don’t be fooled by their reputation for being polite and chilled out.
When it comes down to it, Canadians know how to handle a gun, and they’re the deadliest
snipers in the world.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Canada has an elite JTF2 special forces group, tasked with activities that include sniper
operations.
Their snipers are also part of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment.
Unsurprisingly, the sniper aiming his weapon in Iraq is a member.
If successful, the distance might make this shot a world record-breaking feat.
You could call it a long shot.
Get it?
The sniper’s companion gives him instructions on where to position himself and how to line
the weapon up, as he looks through the scope.
Everything is ready.
The shooter gulps.
It’s as if all his years of training in the elite special forces have been leading
up to this very moment.
Here goes nothing.
He breathes in, breathes out, pauses, and squeezes the trigger.
As the bullet flies through the air at an incredible speed, there’s nothing to do
but wait.
When making a shot, a gunman has multiple factors to take into account.
Above all, there’s the wind, the angle, and the light.
The further away the target is, the more complicated the shoot becomes, and the more variables
are involved, including even the curvature of the Earth- and that’s why flat-earthers
make terrible snipers.
Basically, there’s a lot of margin of error.
It actually takes excellent maths skills to make the right calculation about when and
how to shoot.
In fact, a classic sniper maxim is that sniping is weaponized math.
Sexy.
Let’s take a look at the aspects to consider in more detail.
There’s a hard limit to just how far a bullet can be shot.
They can’t keep moving forever because, you know, gravity.
A bullet loses energy when it exits the gun muzzle, and as it travels, air friction slows
it down, eventually resulting in a loss of energy.
This is known as the bullet drop amongst shooting circles: the further the bullet goes, the
more it starts to drop until it eventually hits the ground.
You don’t want to aim for the head and end up hitting the groin.
Or maybe you do, I don’t know what kind of person you are.
Luckily, there’s a simple way to counteract the effect of bullet drop: shooting from an
elevated position.
The Canadian shooter had this advantage when making his shot.
But then again, shooting downward from an elevated position makes operations even more
complex.
It also helps to have a scope mount, which you can attach to the gun to angle it upward.
Usually, the bullet hits the ground after around five miles.
Yes, that’s a lot further than the shot we’re talking about here.
But before you go thinking that shooting a target two miles away is easy, listen up.
Snipers need to think about ballistics.
I’m not talking about going crazy or flying into a rage, I’m talking about the mechanics
of what happens to a bullet when it’s fired.
The wind is one of the most important factors to consider.
It could change direction at any point, and this would affect the shot.
Especially when you’re talking about such long distances.
On that fatal day in 2017, there was very little wind.
By the way, as a heads up, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is said to be the least
windy place on earth.
Then, you’ve got to consider the light conditions, because they affect how the target appears
to the shooter.
Too much light can make the target seem smaller and further away, haze can make the target
indistinct, and scattered clouds result in an annoying mix of these two unfavorable circumstances.
This isn’t going to be a huge issue if the target is standing right in front of you,
but when they’re miles away, things can easily become distorted.
The ideal light conditions are overcast days since there’s no glare but the target can
be clearly seen.
Also, it might be stating the obvious, but great snipers need great eyesight.
Otherwise, even the finest and clearest weather conditions aren’t going to be much help.
This is just the basics.
Elevation, light, and wind are important for short-range shots too, but there are even
more things to think about when it comes to long-range shots.
When aiming at a target 3,800 meters or more into the distance, air pressure, altitude,
humidity, and temperature all become relevant.
Temperature, for one.
Everyone knows it’s harder to concentrate in extremely hot or cold weather, but these
conditions affect the bullet as much as the shooter.
Hot weather increases the rifle chamber pressure, which makes the bullet shoot out faster, altering
the typical dynamics of bullet drop.
If the weather is too cold, the opposite happens.
To help the process, tools like a wind sensor and barometric pressure reader are invaluable.
Think that sounds tough?
I’m not finished yet.
Then, there’s this thing called the Coriolis Effect.
It sounds complex and, to be honest, it is complex.
Basically, the premise is that bullets you shoot in the northern hemisphere drift to
the right, whilst bullets you shoot in the southern hemisphere drift to the left.
Also, the closer you are to the poles, the stronger the Coriolis effect is.
Another consequence of the Coriolis effect is that shooting east makes bullets go higher,
because they move with the rotation of the earth, and shooting west has the opposite
effect.
So, make sure you get your compass out before you take a shot.
Again, this is why flat-earthers are terrible shots.
Do you believe that this stuff is complicated yet?
Because my brain is hurting.
Even if an incredibly skilled gunman can manage to account for these factors, there’s still
an element of luck.
The target could move.
Considering it takes five to ten seconds for the bullet to fly through the air at long-range
distances, it’s perfectly possible that they could move out of the line of fire.
Or, certain conditions, like the wind, could change after you pull the trigger.
So, now you know everything you need to know to make that perfect long-distance kill shot
yourself — wait, maybe don’t try that one at home unless you just so happen to be
a professional.
Luckily, snipers don’t have to make all these calculations and decisions alone.
They almost always have a partner, otherwise known as an observer or spotter, who helps
with making the shot.
In fact, the spotter is even more important than the person actually pulling the trigger.
It’s their job to tell the shooter what to put on scope, make an analysis of the wind
conditions, and basically figure everything else out too.
All the hard work, none of the glory.
In contrast, all the shooter has to do is stick to the plan, maintain aim, and pull
the trigger.
Easy.
Finally, the type of rifle the sniper uses also makes a vast difference.
The Canadian in Iraq used a Macmillan Tac-50, commonly viewed as one of the best rifles
you can get.
The grooves in the barrel of the gun form a spiral-like pattern, which makes the bullet
spin in flight.
It’s not just for aesthetic purposes — this makes the bullet more stable and stops something
called spin drift.
Because I know you’re dying to learn yet more sniper terminology, spin drift is when
the bullet veers to the side of its original trajectory.
For example, a rifle with a right-hand spiral twist shooting for 10,000 yards could see
a bullet head ten inches to the right.
At an even larger distance, the bullet is likely to veer even further off course.
Having a fancy gun design isn’t going to stop the bullet moving on a windy day, but
it can limit the drift that takes place during normal conditions.
Now, I’m sure you’ve had quite enough of the theory.
Let’s head back to Iraq, where our brave sniper has just pulled the trigger after doing
some complex math calculations.
For such a long-range shot, there’s a tantalizingly long wait until you find out whether you’ve
been successful.
If you’ve seen the title of this video, you probably have a good idea of what the
outcome could be, but you can at least act like you’re shocked.
The bullet traveled at a speed of 940 feet — or 286 meters — per second when it hit
the target, making an impact of roughly 1,472 foot-pounds of energy.
If you don’t know what that means, it’s a lot.
It was a moment that would go down in history.
The JTF2 special operator beat Craig Harrison’s record from 2009 by just over 1,000 meters,
or three-fifths of a mile.
As much as we don’t condone killing and violence here at The Infographics Show, we’ve
got to admit it.
That’s a pretty good shot.
The target was an ISIS militant the sniper shot to protect Iraqi security forces, who
the insurgent was about to attack.
If he hadn’t succeeded, the forces would have been left with no choice but to use a
bomb instead, most likely harming innocent civilians.
We’ll never know who the sniper was or where exactly it took place, except that it was
somewhere in Iraq.
This is all classified information kept under wraps by the Canadian government.
It’s probably for the best — when previous record-holder Craig Harrison’s identity
was revealed, he became a target for terrorists and ended up with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sorry to put a downer on things.
Now, watch this video about the world’s most hardcore American sniper, or the most
lethal special forces units around the world