4000 meter rifle shot

While this is not particularly practical it may be that research into how to make such shots have application in extending the range in more ordinary situations:

They started at 100 m to establish zero

Then to 1000 m to confirm zero. Then to 3000 m. They ran into problems with ranging binoculars (Steiner & Vextronix) “stalling out.”

Consistent muzzle velocity is key. Their loads were within a small range, but a 1 m/sec change in muzzle velocity causes an 80 cm vertical shift in impact point — meaning 1 fps change alters that impact point almost 10″ in the same direction. So you see that firing at 4000 meters is really at the ragged edge of what’s possible with field-employable sniper-type equipment, in 2016. At 4000 m

Third, or possibly, fourth, shot was heard to connect by a forward observer.

Also, dropping a projectile in on a group of bad guys from such distances may cause them to slow or stop their current activities and attempt to deal with the perceived threat with low cost and little risk to the shooter. Sometimes slowing down enemy activities or distracting them, even by a small amount, can result in significant changes in outcomes.

Via email from kb.

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3 thoughts on “4000 meter rifle shot

  1. joe:

    for such a shot, you would want about an 80 lb rifle, mounted on a trunion and carriage, with dialed gears like an artillery piece. because at that range, that is what it would be, a small artillery piece.

    and, one shot out of four is incredible. shit house luck, actually. but, an exercise much to be admired.

    john jay

  2. That’s what I’ve come to refer to as “harassment distance”. When we talk about “effective range” then, we must be clear about the effects we’re discussing. Harassing an opponent may indeed be very effective, especially if they don’t know for sure from which general location the harassment is coming.

    Many of the old military rifles for example have sights indicated to extremely optimistic distances. That doesn’t mean you’re shooting the heads off squirrels (or officers) at those distances, but that you can have positive effects especially with volleys.

  3. I used to deal in those distances when I was a tanker. 4K is a long way off, the target is tiny even with tank reticles. About the longest distance we could shoot safely at Knox was 3200 meters and we were tretching the physical footprint of the range as far as possible, while still allowing for a ricochet impact area. At that distance, using the gunner’s telescope, the target was just a small, tiny dot, almost obsured by the reticle. We fixed that problem by painting the target (an old Sherman turret) bright yellow.

    I’m told that during the Isreaeli ’68 war, the Isreeli gunners had some luck at 10K, but they were on the Golan Heights firing at tanks approaching across a long plain.

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