Sniper shot that took out an insurgent killer from three quarters of a mile

Toby Harnden in Ramadi

Gazing through the telescopic sight of his M24 rifle, 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-barrelled Kalashnikov. Instinctively allowing for wind speed and bullet drop, Shadow's commander aimed 12 feet high.

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A single shot hit the Iraqi in the chest and killed him instantly. It had been fired from a range of 1,250 metres, well beyond the capacity of the powerful Leupold sight, accurate to 1,000 metres.

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(The Iraqi sniper had killed SSG. Gilliland's friend minutes before.)

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The Rest of the Story

Longer shots have been made. But, they were with a 50 cal. weapon. SSG. Jim Gilliand, was using an M24 7.62 for this shot. From Wikipedia:

Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock of the United States Marine Corps achieved 93 confirmed kills of North Vietnamese soldiers and Viet Cong guerrillas during the Vietnam war. He held the record of longest confirmed kill at a distance of 2,250 meters for 35 years until a Canadian team broke it in 2003. He is the subject of two biographies, Marine Sniper and Silent Warrior.


The longest-ever recorded and confirmed sniper kill was made by Master Corporal Arron Perry of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan during combat in 2003. Using a .50-caliber (12.7 mm) McMillan TAC-50 rifle, Perry shot and killed an opposing combatant soldier from a distance of 2,430 metres(1.5 miles).