Hero sniper Craig Harrison, 35, nailed the killers with a rifle bullet each as the pair manned a machine gun – then for good measure let rip a third shot that took out their weapon.
His marksmanship was all the more amazing because the enemy were firing on his trapped troop leader from 3,000ft BEYOND his rifle’s effective range.
Household Cavalryman Craig, of Cheltenham, Gloucs – who went on to be the scourge of the Taliban by killing a dozen more and wounding seven – said of his record-breaking feat yesterday: “They were firing on the troop commander – I gave them the good news. They didn’t f****** like it.”
The previous record for a sniper kill was 7,972ft (2,430m) set by a Canadian in Afghanistan eight years ago. Corporal of Horse Craig, armed with the Army’s latest L115A3 sniper rifle, beat it by 148ft (45m).
The weapon is designed to be effective up to 1,500 metres. To compensate for the spin and drift of the .338 bullets as they flew 1.54 miles – the length of 25 football pitches – Craig had to aim 6ft high and 20ins to the left. Despite the bullets travelling at almost three times the speed of sound, the married dad of one was so far away it took them 2.64 seconds to reach their targets.
That is some great shooting. Under ideal circumstances to be sure, but YOU go try to hit a person from a mile and a half away and see how easy it is.
How soon you think it will be before scope manufacturers start building scopes with a bit more elevation and windage?!
For the military, you know ……
Did it with a .338 Lapua Magnum too.
We’ll have to set Breda up with a 2-mile shot at Blogorado.