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The1stSgt
12-20-06, 12:25 PM
I heard that a Marine scout/sniper team took out an insurgent mortar team at an unbelievable distance with a Barrett .50 cal. What's the scoop?

thedrifter
12-20-06, 01:34 PM
You Marines love to keep me busy;) :D

Marine Sniper Credited with Longest Confirmed Kill in Iraq

Story by Cpl. Paul W. Leicht

AR RAMADI, Iraq -- Seen through a twenty-power spot scope, terrorists scrambled to deliver another mortar round into the tube. Across the Euphrates River from a concealed rooftop, the Marine sniper breathed gently and then squeezed a few pounds of pressure to the delicate trigger of the M40A3 sniper rifle in his grasp.

The rifle's crack froze the booming Fallujah battle like a photograph. As he moved the bolt back to load another round of 7.62mm ammunition, the sniper's spotter confirmed the terrorist went down from the shot mere seconds before the next crack of the rifle dropped another.

It wasn't the sniper's first kill in Iraq, but it was one for the history books.

On Nov. 11, 2004, while coalition forces fought to wrest control of Fallujah from a terrorist insurgency, Marine scout snipers with Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, applied their basic infantry skills and took them to a higher level.

"From the information we have, our chief scout sniper has the longest confirmed kill in Iraq so far," said Capt. Shayne McGinty, weapons platoon commander for "Bravo" Co. "In Fallujah there were some bad guys firing mortars at us and he took them out from more than 1,000 yards."

During the battle for the war-torn city, 1/23 Marine scout snipers demonstrated with patience, fearless initiative and wits that well-trained Marines could be some of the deadliest weapons in the world.

"You really don't have a threat here until it presents itself," said Sgt. Herbert B. Hancock, chief scout sniper, 1/23, and a 35-year-old police officer from Bryan, Texas, whose specialized training and skill helped save the lives of his fellow Marines during the battle. "In Fallujah we really didn't have that problem because it seemed like everybody was shooting at us. If they fired at us we just dropped them."

Stepping off on day one of the offensive from the northern edge of the Fallujah peninsula, the Marine Reserves of 1/23, with their scout snipers, moved to secure a little island, but intense enemy fire near the bridgeheads limited their advance. Insurgents littered the city, filtering in behind their positions with indirect mortar and sniper fire.

"The insurgents started figuring out what was going on and started hitting us from behind, hitting our supply lines," said Hancock in his syrupy Texas drawl. "Originally we set up near a bridge and the next day we got a call on our radio that our company command post was receiving sniper fire. We worked our way back down the peninsula trying to find the sniper, but on the way down we encountered machinegun fire and what sounded like grenade launchers or mortars from across the river."

With a fire team of grunts pinned down nearby, Hancock and his spotter, Cpl. Geoffrey L. Flowers, a May 2004 graduate of Scout Sniper School, helped them out by locating the source of the enemy fire.

"After locating the gun position we called in indirect fire to immediate suppress that position and reduced it enough so we could also punch forward and get into a house," explained Hancock. "We got in the house and started to observe the area from which the insurgents were firing at us. They hit us good for about twenty minutes and were really hammering us. Our indirect fire (landed on) them and must have been effective because they didn't shoot anymore after that."

Continuing south down the peninsula to link up with the Bravo Co. command post, Hancock and Flowers next set up on a big building, taking a couple shots across the river at some suspected enemy spotters in vehicles.

"The insurgents in the vehicles were spotting for the mortar rounds coming from across the river so we were trying to locate their positions to reduce them as well as engage the vehicles," said Hancock. "There were certain vehicles in areas where the mortars would hit. They would show up and then stop and then the mortars would start hitting us and then the vehicles would leave so we figured out that they were spotters. We took out seven of those guys in one day."



Later, back at the company command post, enemy mortar rounds once again began to impact.

"There were several incoming rockets and mortars to our compound that day and there was no way the enemy could have seen it directly, so they probably had some spotters out there," said 22-year-old Flowers who is a college student from Pearland, Texas.



" Our (company commander) told us to go find where the mortars were coming from and take them out so we went back out," remembered Hancock. "We moved south some more and linked up with the rear elements of our first platoon. Then we got up on a building and scanned across the river. We looked out of the spot scope and saw about three to five insurgents manning a 120mm mortar tube. We got the coordinates for their position and set up a fire mission. We decided that when the rounds came in that I would engage them with the sniper rifle. We got the splash and there were two standing up looking right at us. One had a black (outfit) on. I shot and he dropped. Right in front of him another got up on his knees looking to try and find out where we were so I dropped him too. After that our mortars just hammered the position, so we moved around in on them."

The subsequent fire for effect landed right on the insurgent mortar position.

"We adjusted right about fifty yards where there were two other insurgents in a small house on the other side of the position," said Flowers. "There was some brush between them and the next nearest building about 400 yards south of where they were at and we were about 1,000 yards from them so I guess they thought we could not spot them. Some grunts were nearby with binoculars but they could not see them, plus they are not trained in detailed observation the way we are. We know what to look for such as target indicators and things that are not easy to see."

Hancock and Flowers then scanned several areas that they expected fire from, but the enemy mortars had silenced.

"After we had called in indirect fire and after all the adjustments from our mortars, I got the final 8-digit grid coordinates for the enemy mortar position, looked at our own position using GPS and figured out the distance to the targets we dropped to be 1,050 yards," said Flowers with a grin. "This time we were killing terrorism from more than 1,000 yards."

http://www.mfr.usmc.mil/Archive/2005.01/sniperkill.html

Ellie

The1stSgt
12-20-06, 02:21 PM
Ellie, that is great!

Thanks

hrscowboy
12-20-06, 03:35 PM
ooooooooooooooorahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Outstanding..

drumcorpssnare
12-20-06, 03:43 PM
"One Shot...One Kill."
SEMPER FI
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

Ed Palmer
12-20-06, 05:19 PM
The Telegraph reports:

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.

A single shot hit the Iraqi in the chest and killed him instantly. It had been fired from a range of 1,250 meters (1367 yards), well beyond the capacity of the powerful Leupold sight, accurate to 1,000 metres.

“I believe it is the longest confirmed kill in Iraq with a 7.62mm rifle,” said Staff Sgt Gilliland, 28, who hunted squirrels in Double Springs, Alabama from the age of five before progressing to deer - and then people.

“He was visible only from the waist up. It was a one in a million shot. I could probably shoot a whole box of ammunition and never hit him again.”

Later that day, Staff Sgt Gilliland found out that the dead soldier was Staff Sgt Jason Benford, 30, a good friend.

The insurgent was one of between 55 and 65 he estimates that he has shot dead in less than five months, putting him within striking distance of sniper legends such as Carlos Hathcock, who recorded 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam.

M24 Rifle manufactured by Remington.

Leupold scopes.

Carlos Hathcock.

The1stSgt
12-20-06, 08:16 PM
Unf**king believable! That just makes me proud to be Marine.

RLeon
12-20-06, 11:15 PM
Unf**king believable! That just makes me proud to be Marine.
Too bad Staff Sgt Jim Gilliland is an Army dude...:D
Oh well.
:marine:

The1stSgt
12-21-06, 06:28 AM
Well, I bet SSG Gilliland has a secret desire in his heart to be a Marine.

As a matter of fact, when he made that shot he probably was asking himself, "what would a Marine sniper do here".

Just joking........ still a great shot, even if a GI Joe made it.

drumcorpssnare
12-21-06, 11:27 AM
Going back a few years...in my many years of Civil War research, I once read about a long-range kill by an officer from the 147th NY Vol. Inf.
Seems this guy was a mathemetician of sorts, whose hobby was ballistics. He had purchased a custom rifle in Oswego, NY with a 23lb. octaganal barrel.
Anyway, his Regt. was camped across a river from the enemy. This officer loaded and set up one morning, in hopes of picking off a Confederate. He sees a rebel officer come out of his tent. With his 'brass-scoped' 'bull-barrel'
'sniper-rifle'...he squeezes off a round.
Then, the Confederate officer steps back into his tent, grabs his shaving gear, and steps back out of the tent.

"THWACK!"

DEAD!
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

RLeon
12-21-06, 01:51 PM
Well, I bet SSG Gilliland has a secret desire in his heart to be a Marine.

As a matter of fact, when he made that shot he probably was asking himself, "what would a Marine sniper do here".

Just joking........ still a great shot, even if a GI Joe made it.

LOL.

ggyoung
12-21-06, 04:21 PM
drum===----= Almost sounds like he was using a 30-40 krag. On long range shots you could eat your lunch waiting for the strike of the bullit. But when it hit the animal it was dead.

FistFu68
12-21-06, 05:17 PM
:evilgrin: WHAT'S THIS ESTIMATE ON NUMBER OF ENEMY KILL'S? DURING MY 'ERA THEY WERE CONFIRMED,OR GETTING REALLY PERSONAL(STEP-ON'S)!!!:evilgrin:

10thzodiac
12-23-06, 04:57 PM
You guys are taking the fun out of it, what ever happened to the .22 behind the ear ?

FistFu68
12-23-06, 05:03 PM
:evilgrin: THAT STILL HAPPEN'S,#10;EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT!IN THE ALLEY'S OFF OF RUSH STREET!!!:evilgrin: MERRY~CHRISTMAS~MARINE!

10thzodiac
12-23-06, 05:59 PM
THAT STILL HAPPEN'S,#10;EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT!IN THE ALLEY'S OFF OF RUSH STREET!!!MERRY~CHRISTMAS~MARINE!

Yeah, its been awhile since I was down there. The daughter had a would be purse snatcher on Rush awhile ago, lol. She's a black belt in Japanese full contact karate. Her then boyfriend that was with her, just got his murder conviction overturned with his mothers life insurance. He was doing time in Statesville. Shesh, I don't know where the hell she finds these guys http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/34.gif the purse snatcher is still wondering too http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/18.gif

Marry Christmas Marine

SF
10thz

RLeon
12-23-06, 06:30 PM
You guys are taking the fun out of it, what ever happened to the .22 behind the ear ?
We ain't the Mafia bud, although the 5.56mm is a .22 caliber bullet.:D

10thzodiac
12-23-06, 07:06 PM
We ain't the Mafia bud, although the 5.56mm is a .22 caliber bullet.:D

RLeon: We ain't the Mafia bud

10thz: General Smedley D. Butler did say the Marines are gangsters for capitalism. http://www.fas.org/man/smedley.htm

RLeon: Although the 5.56 is a .22 caliber bullet.

10thz: My 5 years in the corps all we were told was that the M-1 rifle and the machine gun were .30 caliber M-1.

After I left the Corps I purchased a M-1 Garand from the DCM. I then went to the local gun store to buy some .30 caliber ammo for it, I know by now the old timers reading this post are laughing knowing what happened. The clerk was a young smart ass off-duty cop that told me that I didn't know what the fuk I was talking about. Do you ?

SF
10thz

RLeon
12-24-06, 01:18 AM
RLeon: We ain't the Mafia bud

10thz: General Smedley D. Butler did say the Marines are gangsters for capitalism. http://www.fas.org/man/smedley.htm
Good grief, are you the president of the Smedley Butler Fan Club?


10thz: My 5 years in the corps all we were told was that the M-1 rifle and the machine gun were .30 caliber M-1.

After I left the Corps I purchased a M-1 Garand from the DCM. I then went to the local gun store to buy some .30 caliber ammo for it, I know by now the old timers reading this post are laughing knowing what happened. The clerk was a young smart ass off-duty cop that told me that I didn't know what the fuk I was talking about. Do you ?

SF
10thz
Gee, I don't know, maybe you should have been more specific to the clerk as to which .30 caliber you needed.
The M1 Garand uses the 30-06 which is a .30 caliber. The M14 uses a 7.62 x 51mm which is basically a .30 caliber(roughly .308) bullet as well, so does the AK47 (7.62x39mm). Maybe the cop thought you were trying to get .30 caliber M1 carbine ammo for a Garand. :marine:

10thzodiac
12-24-06, 03:22 AM
Good grief, are you the president of the Smedley Butler Fan Club?


Gee, I don't know, maybe you should have been more specific to the clerk as to which .30 caliber you needed.
The M1 Garand uses the 30-06 which is a .30 caliber. The M14 uses a 7.62 x 51mm which is basically a .30 caliber(roughly .308) bullet as well, so does the AK47 (7.62x39mm). Maybe the cop thought you were trying to get .30 caliber M1 carbine ammo for a Garand. :marine:

Another Ted Williams .400 http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/11.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/44/Ted_Williams_Time_Cover_1950.jpg/200px-Ted_Williams_Time_Cover_1950.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ted_Williams_Time_Cover_1950.jpg)

Merry Christmas Marine

SF
10thz

RLeon
12-25-06, 12:39 AM
Merry Christmas!

ggyoung
12-26-06, 12:18 PM
The 30---06,,308,30-30, 300win.mag, ak47 and anything that says "30 cal." is 7.62mm. It is the case that is differnt. All of them are very good.

Quinbo
12-28-06, 11:04 AM
I believe that Carlos Hathcock shot an NVA soldier off of a moving bicycle from 1.4 miles away. Check out this site http://oldbluejacket.com/CarlosHathcock.htm

:usmc:

ggyoung
12-28-06, 12:46 PM
Bulkyker-------------That is right. He used the M-2 50 cal., sandbaged in on a try pod. He used a Unertal scope. This was on hill 55. The Unertal scope has some history behind it. The guy that made the Unertal scope was John ( I think) Unertal. He was a german sniper in WW1 He killed over 700 of us good guys. After the war he came to America and bought out a scope company I can't remember the name and changed the name to "Unertal Scope Co. It is still going today. His scopes were used in WW2, Korea, Vietnam and evin now. Our Marine Corps still useing them. You will not tuch one of them for under $2700.00. I beleve they are the best made scopes you can buy today.

STA0311
12-28-06, 12:50 PM
Just FYI, the Marine Corps is NOT using the Unertal brand scopes any longer. Ever since he died the company has continously gone down hill and the scopes craftsmanship have gone to crap. Currently the Marine Corps has put the new Schmidt & Bender 3.5 x 12.

ggyoung
12-28-06, 01:34 PM
OOOOOOOOOOOOOK I have learned something new today. This day is not a tottle loss. Thankyou STA0311

RLeon
12-28-06, 02:48 PM
Okay, hate to be the killjoy, but the Canucks broke Hathcock's 35 year old record in Afganistan, but the conditions and the way that Hathcock got his shot showed more skill and good 'ol American ingenuity than the Canadian snipers.
The show Mythbusters tried to replicate the "bullet through the scope" shot that Hathcock used to take out a rival sniper. They couldn't, so they called it a busted myth...but Carlos Hathcock was a man of honor and integrity, so if he said he did it, that's gospel.

STA0311
12-28-06, 03:22 PM
As discussed on other boards though...Mythbusters did not use the same gear. So they can not totally deny that it happened.

Zulu 36
12-28-06, 06:06 PM
The show Mythbusters tried to replicate the "bullet through the scope" shot that Hathcock used to take out a rival sniper. They couldn't, so they called it a busted myth...but Carlos Hathcock was a man of honor and integrity, so if he said he did it, that's gospel.
Mythbusters made a mistake in their attempt to replicate Hathcock's shot (if it was Hathcock's shot they were doing). Mythbusters used a long hunting type scope. The communist scope Hathcock shot through is shorter than the Mythbuster's scopes and has less glass internally.

If anyone remembers the movie "Enemy at the Gates" about the Battle of Stalingrad, the rifle/scope combinations used by the Soviet snipers was the type Hathcock shot against (see photo below).

http://www.russian-mosin-nagant.com/images/9130sn5.jpg

Plus, Hathcock recovered the rifle/scope and brought it back to his base intending to keep it after the intel people looked it over. It disappeared from there.

Quinbo
12-28-06, 08:08 PM
I was lucky enough to serve with Carlos Hathcock III. I saw him put on SSgt and his dad recieve the Silver Star. Both of them always said Devil dog just call me Carlos and that is fine with me.

Early on when coaching asked Carlos III for help on a shooter. I said this guy is a train wreck..... he walked over and calmly said muzzle to toe, this guy can shoot if you can show him how.

RLeon
12-28-06, 09:08 PM
Burke reached the body first. He looked at his sergeant
and said, "Nobody's gonna beleive this unless they see it. Look
at that, you put a round through his scope!"
Hathcock took the Russian-made sniper rifle from his
partner and looked into the hollow tube of the telescopic sight
that had the glass blown from it as his bullet passed down
it's length and entered the enemy sniper's head throught his
eye.
"Burke, I just had a scary thought. What's the only way a
person could make a shot like this?"
Burke looked puzzled. "What do you mean Sergeant?"
"Stop and think about it. He had to be sighting his rifle
right at me in order for my bullet to pass clean through his
scope and get him in the eye like that."
"Why then he almost had you!"
"Yeah, Burke, when you get don to it the only difference
between me and him is I got on the trigger first."


from Charles Henderson's Marine Sniper .

SuNmAN
12-28-06, 09:48 PM
Burke reached the body first. He looked at his sergeant
and said, "Nobody's gonna beleive this unless they see it. Look
at that, you put a round through his scope!"
Hathcock took the Russian-made sniper rifle from his
partner and looked into the hollow tube of the telescopic sight
that had the glass blown from it as his bullet passed down
it's length and entered the enemy sniper's head throught his
eye.
"Burke, I just had a scary thought. What's the only way a
person could make a shot like this?"
Burke looked puzzled. "What do you mean Sergeant?"
"Stop and think about it. He had to be sighting his rifle
right at me in order for my bullet to pass clean through his
scope and get him in the eye like that."
"Why then he almost had you!"
"Yeah, Burke, when you get don to it the only difference
between me and him is I got on the trigger first."


from Charles Henderson's Marine Sniper .


I read that book

I have tremendous respect for Gunny Hathcock. The epitome of a man who had toughness, tenacity and the heart of a lion.

Zulu 36
12-28-06, 10:03 PM
I met Gunny Hathcock several times in 1973 at Camp Lejuene. I served with an old salt SSgt friend of Hathcock's from various shooting teams and Hathcock would come to visit. The guy was a double distingushed shooter (can't remember his name).

Hathcock was a quiet soft-spoken person, but he had an aura about him that said "dangerous."

10thzodiac
12-31-06, 02:11 PM
<BIG>Former Marine Sniper Slapped With 3,000-Yard Restraining Order</BIG>

November 1, 2006

MACON, GA—Citing Emily Holman's right to feel safe traversing vast open spaces, especially when within visual range of clock towers, parking structures, and tall buildings, a judge awarded the 28-year-old a 3,000-yard restraining order yesterday against her former boyfriend, retired Marine sniper Gordon Lee Blackwood. "When we broke up he started calling me 10 times a day from his job," said Holman, who realized Blackwood's office building, which had an open, flat roof, was only 1,800 yards away. "He had me flinching every time I saw sunlight glinting off any surface within two and a half miles." Blackwood would not comment on the judge's decision, saying only that he still loved Holman and was trying to understand the distance and crosswinds that separated them.

STA0311
12-31-06, 06:56 PM
<B><BIG>Former Marine Sniper Slapped With 3,000-Yard Restraining Order</BIG></B>

November 1, 2006

MACON, GA—Citing Emily Holman's right to feel safe traversing vast open spaces, especially when within visual range of clock towers, parking structures, and tall buildings, a judge awarded the 28-year-old a 3,000-yard restraining order yesterday against her former boyfriend, retired Marine sniper Gordon Lee Blackwood. "When we broke up he started calling me 10 times a day from his job," said Holman, who realized Blackwood's office building, which had an open, flat roof, was only 1,800 yards away. "He had me flinching every time I saw sunlight glinting off any surface within two and a half miles." Blackwood would not comment on the judge's decision, saying only that he still loved Holman and was trying to understand the distance and crosswinds that separated them.

This was retracted, as it was a hoax that the paper put out for fun and to get a reaction...not true

DWG
01-02-07, 12:36 PM
This was retracted, as it was a hoax that the paper put out for fun and to get a reaction...not true

Some stories are just too good not to repeat, though! And Hell, it was 10z, whaddya expect?:D

drumcorpssnare
01-02-07, 12:49 PM
D W - Hey, speaking of restraining orders...do you suppose Osama Bin Laden went to the ACLU and got a restraining order to keep US military personnel at a minimum 5 mi. didtance? Wouldn't put it past our ACLU!:evilgrin:
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

DWG
01-02-07, 01:01 PM
Personally, I think the sob is dead. He had a bunch of medical problems (dialysis) before he went into hiding. Guys I email that are embedded over there know I got a case of cold beer and 1.75 liter of good whiskey on who ever finds him in their sights. They swear there ain't gonna be any "saddam mistakes" with him! No prisoners! Let him try to restrain a .308 or .300 at 2800fps.;)

drumcorpssnare
01-02-07, 01:18 PM
DW- We should get word to Osama, that Saudi Arabia wants him in the next Olympics on their "Javelin Catching Team.":D
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

DWG
01-02-07, 01:28 PM
Just send him a set of lawn darts!

booksbenji
01-03-07, 03:30 PM
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyoswego/military/147thnypt1.html

I did not find no sniper kills.:D

drumcorpssnare
01-03-07, 03:38 PM
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyoswego/military/147thnypt1.html

I did not find no sniper kills.:D

booksbenji- Thanks for the refresher course on Oswego's 147th! While this is fairly detailed, it is not the definitive and total history of the regiment. My source was a paperback with a title along the lines of "Little Known Facts of the Civil War."
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

booksbenji
01-03-07, 03:41 PM
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyoswegohtmlmilitary/147thnypt1.html (http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyoswego/military/147thnypt1.html)

I did not find no sniper kills.:D

hears a sniper link for the Civil War: http://www.cfspress.com/sharpshooters/links.html

booksbenji
01-03-07, 03:53 PM
http://www.geocities.com/rbrown13b/union_history.html

my source: http://www.geocities.com/rbrown13b/sharpshooters_index.html

I found no 147th ny :( :yes:

drumcorpssnare
01-04-07, 08:52 AM
booksbenji- Man, you're persistent! Okay, first of all, I'm not 100% certain the officer mentioned was with the 147th NY. I am a native Oswegonian, home of the Regt., and my memory may be clouded by my interest in that unit.
This officer was NOT a member of a "sharpshooter" regiment or company. He was a line officer, who's hobbies included mathematics and ballistics. The info regarding the "custom made octaganal bull-barrel" made in Oswego, is accurate. I believe the weight was 23lbs. Might have been 28lbs.(?)
As for the sequence of events involving the "kill"...I wasn't there. I didn't see it happen. For all I know, it's a tall tale. An urban legend. A bold-faced lie!
I don't know.
I was just relating what I thought was an interesting story, related to the thread. If it ended up being a "maggie's drawers", my apologies.

drumcorpssnare:usmc: