New sniper record

[Pyro]

It does sound like that story has its facts mixed up.  I wonder what the real story is.

[RTHolmes]

I call BS on this story completely...and I have shot the Lap 338 out to 1000 yards...

how does the energy look if you use 270-300gr CNCd low drag bullets @3,070fps, then adjust for 3,300'ASL, 30degC, 10% humidity?

[Greebo]

Could it be the British Army doesn't want the enemy to know about some sort of secret very long range sniper rifle and they invented the Lapua 338 part of the story?

[Tec]

If that were the case I doubt we would have heard about it at all.

[RipChord929]

Neither did I...

thanks oneway, for showing the ballistic charts    I wanted to call BS on the original story, but didn't feel like getting into one of those BB pizzin matches...  Some news writer/reporter probably got the numbers wrong, it is pretty easy to do..

  RC

[RTHolmes]

looks like someone has done the calcs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Harrison_%28sniper%29

The external ballistics software program JBM Ballistics further predicts that the bullets of British high pressure .338 Lapua Magnum cartridges using 16.2 g (250 gr) Lapua LockBase B408 bullets fired at 936 m/s (3,071 ft/s) muzzle velocity under International Standard Atmosphere conditions at 1,043 m (3,422 ft) elevation (air density ρ = 1.069 kg/m3) and assuming a 100 m (109 yd) zero arrive at 2,475 m (2,707 yd) after approximately 6.017 s flight time at 251.8 m/s (826 ft/s) velocity and have dropped 120.95 m (4.762 in) or in angular units 48.9 milliradian (168 MOA) on their way.

16.2g at 250m/s (560mph) is roughly 1KJ (740 ft-lb), still plenty of energy. more than a .357mag at point blank range. the same as say a cricket ball at 180mph. or a baseball at 190mph if you prefer  

[Flench]

how does the energy look if you use 270-300gr CNCd low drag bullets @3,070fps, then adjust for 3,300'ASL, 30degC, 10% humidity?

Never seen a 270 with a 300grain lead and that's all I shoot .Found that a 100grain lead will do more damage to meat anyway .

[curry1]

I think it is magic.

[kilo2]

They could also be shooting at a higher elevation than there target increasing range? Also i read somewhere being in the mountains the air being thinner plays a key role in the long shots being possible

[Ghosth]

Exactly my thought kilo.

If the sniper was considerably higher than the target, shooting downhill, that would reduce the bullet drop considerably. Distance remains the same but the trajectory is different.

Also time of day would make a difference on wind, esp in mountain canyons.
Dawn and dusk can get pretty still.

[Masherbrum]

Oneway missed the "rested the bipod on the compound wall" part of the story. 

  Cpl.

[BowHTR]

They could also be shooting at a higher elevation than there target increasing range? Also i read somewhere being in the mountains the air being thinner plays a key role in the long shots being possible

shouldn't have been in the mountains. the shot was taken in the Helmand Province

[USRanger]

Hitting his mark twice in fairly quick succession though?

[Jebus]

Oneway you have to also remember what alt they are taking the shot at.  The Canadian that had the previous record did the shot at I believe around 10k.  When he was interviewed he stated at that alt it was a mixture of the american bullets he was using with his weapon (not sure what he shot with) and the altitude.  Altitude he was getting much greater range because of the less dense air.

Yes I know It is the History Channel but they explain what happens at alt and the different effects it has on sniping.  It explains how Furlong got the previous record the the factors into it.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3jVEB_UiQE

[jdbecks]

Hitting his mark twice in fairly quick succession though?

Looks like you ranger boys need to learn a few lessons from us